Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Map-reading driver gets ban and hefty fine

AN ELDERLY driver has been fined more than £1,000 and banned for a year after he was caught reading a map at the wheel. Peter John Rigby, 73, of Beamsley in Skipton, North Yorkshire, was captured by police cameras flicking through an atlas for at least 10 seconds while driving his Honda Jazz on March 4. The car caught the attention of a camera operator when it began to wander across the white line of the overtaking lane.

Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer revealed: Price from £49,500

Vauxhall has revealed the Estate version of the VXR8 – the Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer – which offers oodles of room and 425bhp. That sort of power in an estate car certainly offers a different experience to regular load-luggers with 0-62mph coming up in a slightly silly 4.9 seconds. But, despite looking a bit past its prime even though it’s a new model, the VXR8 Tourer gets a reasonably sophisticated setup with McPherson Strut with progressive coils at the front and a multi-link setup at the back, launch control and a limited slip diff, all conspiring to try and put the VXR8 Tourer’s 425bhp power down through the rear wheels.

Aston exec leaves for Chrysler

Beth Paretta, one of Autoweek's 10 Secret People in 2009 (Autoweek, Sept. 21, 2009) has left her position as operations manager at Aston Martin to join Chrysler Group LLC as marketing manager for SRT and motorsports. Her appointment is effective this month.