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

Concept Car of the Week: Pontiac Banshee (1964)

In 1964, the Pontiac Motor Division was headed John DeLorean, who would go on to become one of the automotive industry's most divisive figures. He believed that Pontiac needed a compact, exciting car to compete with the newly launched Mustang and approved funding for the experimental Pontiac two-seat sports-car program, codenamed XP-833. Inspired by another GM show car, the rear-engined Corvair Monza GT from 1963, the lines of the XP-833 were a perfect example of the Coke-bottle bodystyle: long hood, short deck and sweeping fender curves.

VW Group planning 10-speed DSG, new powerful diesel engine & more plug-in hybrids

The end of the internal combustion engine is nigh, they say, as the world tries to clean up its environmental act and works towards a goal of electric motors to power our personal transport. But car makers are fighting that belief by extracting more power for less fuel from ICE engines, and there’s still a very long way to go before the ICE engine is consigned to the history books. Volkswagen has already reduced the fuel consumption of both their diesel and petrol engines by 30 per cent since 2000 and plan a further reduction of 15 per cent by 2020.

Audi S3 Saloon goes on sale in the UK – price from £33,240

The Audi S3 Saloon (pictured) is now on sale in the UK If you want a relatively compact pocket rocket, Audi has you covered with the S3. So far, we’ve had the regular S3 and S3 Sportback (and the S3 Cabriolet is on the way), but if you prefer your S3 in a standard four-door saloon guise, you’re in luck – the Audi S3 Saloon has arrived in the UK. With the same 296bhp 2.0 litre TFSI engine as its S3 siblings, the S3 saloon offers strong performance – 0-62mph in 4.9 seconds – and an official combined economy of 40.9mpg (which means emissions of 159g/km (if you opt for the S Tronic gearbox).