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

MINI Countryman Cooper & Paceman Cooper get ALL4 4WD

The MINI Countryman Cooper (pictured) & Paceman Cooper get ALL4 4WD We always find it astonishing that car makers ‘ration’ the availability of four wheel drive platforms in their cars, usually citing a ‘lack of demand’. But that lack of demand is usually predicated on the lack of supply, and increasing the supply of 4WD cars would see more sold, especially after a series of harsh winters where many motorists struggled to keep their cars in a straight line. So the decision by BMW to extend the availability of their ALL4 4WD setup to a wider range of MINIs is welcome, with the petrol Countryman Cooper and Paceman Cooper now getting the ALL4 option too.

First Dacia Duster SUVs leave India bound for the UK

The first Dacia Duster SUVs built in RHD for the UK market left India this morning to help satisfy Renault’s growing order book for the Duster. With the sort of response the Duster has received in the UK – with prices for the entry-level Duster starting at just £9k – Renault are no doubt wishing they’d brought the Duster to the UK sooner. But such was the demand for the Duster in mainland Europe and emerging markets that they just couldn’t get production of RHD Dusters organised for the UK until now, when Renault’s plant at Oragadam, near Chennai in India, finally managed to satisfy its home market demand sufficiently to leave enough capacity for RHD cars bound for the UK and Ireland to roll off the production line.

Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid qualifies for £5,000 taxpayer incentive

Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid qualifies for £5,000 taxpayer incentive When Porsche revealed the first facelift for the Panamera back in April, they also revealed the Panamera S E-Hybrid, a plug-in hybrid with the power of a V8 and the fuel consumption of a city car. It’s a brilliant demonstration of how car makers have worked their way round the daft CO2 tax regimes designed to strangle the marketplace for powerful, luxury cars by using technology to attain far lower official emissions figures than ever. In the case of the Panamera S E-Hybrid that means a plug-in hybrid with a 94bhp electric motor to boost the power from the 3.0 litre V6 to 410bhp.