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

CAR tech: Audi's miracle e-fuel (2013)

Global warming; sky-high oil prices as reserves peak; spiralling crop prices and intense pressure to find fertile land – society faces immense challenges, as it strives to protect the planet and keep our cars on the move. Audi is working on a miracle fuel that could help mitigate these problems, in a facility under construction in the uncompromising, scorching environment of New Mexico, USA.  Not content with having a range more diverse than London’s World Pride parade, Audi is moving into the fuels business, in partnership with US biotech firm Joule Unlimited. The pair are developing carbon-neutral synthetic fuels, called e-fuels in keeping with Audi’s E-tron eco brand.

Senna to be honoured by Gran Turismo

FORMULA 1 legend Ayrton Senna is to be honoured by PlayStation franchise phenomenon Gran Turismo to coincide with the 20th anniversary of his death. May 2014 will see the milestone marked by the inclusion of Senna and one of his cars within Gran Turismo 6, after special instruction from the game’s creator and enduring Senna fan, Kazunori Yamauchi. “There were two things that I learned from Ayrton Senna,” he said at the game’s international launch at the Ascari Race Resort in Spain.

Car makers to be forced to disclaim ‘Official’ economy figures

We’ve banged on for a long time about the futility of official economy figures, especially as car makers get better and better at ‘gaming’ the official economy tests to produce the results they want. Much of the impetus to create the best headline economy figure for a car is driven by taxation, with car makers well aware that the better the official economy results are, the lower their CO2 will be (CO2 isn’t tested for – it’s just extrapolated from the official mpg) and the more appealing the car will be to buyers, particularly fleet buyers. But a ruling by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) against Audi could at least see car makers having to admit in their adverts that the ‘official’ economy figure bears no relation to what owners can expect to achieve in the real world.