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

Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid at the Nurburgring – Video

The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid Nurburgring video below In February we reported that Porsche has developed the unthinkable – a hybrid 911. But this wasn’t a hybrid 911 with a bank of batteries and a fluffy-bunny conscience, but a rampant track 911 with a great big electro-magnetic flywheel and a KERS-like thump of an extra 160bhp – the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid. The 911 GT3 R uses technology developed by Williams F1 and comprises of a pair of generators in the front wheels that shove energy to a composite flywheel (conveniently located next to the driver – not sure how well that would go down on a road0going version) which is the stored and can be thrown at the back wheels whenever the driver wants, in a way very similar to KERS.

AutoWeek office swag: Mazda rotary-engine keychain with realistic motion

When I got the keys to our long-term 2011 Mazda 5 last week, they came with a surprise--this aluminum-and-brass keychain in the shape of a rotary-engine housing, complete with moving rotor. The rotor doesn't just rattle around or spin in a circle. Thanks to a thumbwheel on the back of the housing, coupled with a timing gear and offset crank journal, the thing actually moves in an approximation of epitrochoidal motion just like a real Wankel.

Buy a Renault Laguna – get a free Renault Twizy EV

Renault in Spain is offering buyers of the Laguna or Espace a free Twizy EV as new car sales plummet in Spain. Renault has solved the problem of slow selling cars in the UK by simply no longer offering them. Which means the UK no longer gets the Wind Roadster, the Espace, the Modus, the Kangoo and even  the Laguna. But in Spain it’s different, so Renault dealers on the Iberian Peninsula are stuck with having to sell big mainstream cars no one actually wants, plus they have Renault’s obsession with producing daft EVs to contend with too.