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

Essex boost for car loving home buyers

An Essex council is to make garages and drives bigger on new homes For most of the last decade the UK Government has waged a war on the motorist. Endless speed cameras, which are in reality just tax-raising  machines and have little to do with road safety; never-ending fuel tax rises; congestion charging; spiralling parking charges; road-charging schemes and the only coppers you see have a speed gun so non-speeding untaxed and uninsured drivers never get caught -  pushing up costs for the rest of us. But one of the most stupid, head-in-the-sand policies was the idea that new houses should encourage people to forsake their cars by making garages too small and off-street parking almost non-existent.

Aston Martin's Race plan

By Ben Pulman Motor Shows 17 October 2007 15:36 It’s only just over a week since Aston Martin was sold, but today it confirmed plans to race at Le Mans.The DBR9 will return to the famous La Sarthe circuit in June. Perhaps this was inevitable, since Aston’s new non-executive chairman is David Richards - the chairman of Prodrive, which develops the DBR9 and its FIA GT3-spec sister car, the DBRS9. The team will face a tough challenge, though, as the 24-hour Le Mans is the only race that Aston Martin Racing will compete in this year.

Mercedes-Benz OKs the CLS wagon

Mercedes-Benz will launch a wagon version of the second-generation CLS sedan as a rival to the recently introduced BMW 5-series GT and the upcoming Audi A7. The new four-door--presaged by the German carmaker's 2008 Concept Fascination two-door shooting brake revealed at that year's Paris motor show--is among a throng of niche-market models under consideration by Mercedes boss Dieter Zetsche. "We're seeking to improve our returns by better utilization of existing platforms," a high-ranking Mercedes source told AutoWeek.