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

Top international design talent to descend on Czech Republic for AutoDesign Prague 2013

The automotive design industry will head to Prague on 26 September to speak at the AutoDesign Prague 2013 conference at the National Technical Library. Now entering its third year, the one-day conference – organized by AutoDesign and Styling magazine – will be followed by a workshop the next day, which will focus on techniques including sketching and clay and 3D modeling. The speakers and presentation topics haven't been announced yet but last year's conference featured speakers such as Dassault Systèmes' vice president Design Experience Anne Asensio, while the 2011 edition saw presentations by speakers including Fabio Filippini, Pininfarina's vice president design and chief creative officer, and Peter Horbury, then-vice president of design at Volvo.

Jaguar hybrid cars due in 2013-14

Jaguar will launch its own hybrid vehicles soon after Land Rover, CAR can confirm. Parent company Jaguar Land Rover is developing battery-assisted hybrid versions for both brands but its strategy puts part-electric Land Rovers first on the launchpad in 2013.Hybrid Jaguars – set to include the XJ and XF, but eventually every model – are therefore likely to be on the market by 2013-2014, using a similar eight-speed ZF hybrid transmission to petrol-electric BMWs.The staggered roll-out of battery Jags and Land Rovers makes sense: heavy 4x4s have come in the firing line from green protestors who label them Chelsea Tractors. Hybrid Land Rovers will trim emissions and – in plug-in hybrid mode – enable even big bulky Range Rovers to drive in zero-emissions mode into central urban areas emitting nothing more unsaintly than an electric whir.So which Jaguars will go hybrid first?It's likely that the largest models such as the XJ will receive the hybrid power packs first; large cars reap the greater benefit and can more easily swallow the additional cost, put at around £10,000 in today's money.JLR's Midlands engineering bases in Whitley and Gaydon now employ 100 engineers in the expanding hybrid powertrain business unit launched 18 months ago.

One Lap of the Web: Lupe Fiasco, the Peel P50 and Dubai's supercar patrol fleet

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- This weekend was a car enthusiast's dream with the Indy 500, NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 and the Monaco Grand Prix.