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

XFR Jag the fastest ever

They took with them the usual holiday toys, but they remembered to pack a nice new Jaguar XFR, with a few mods necessary to run at Bonneville (roll cage, fire extinguishers, etc). They had a little fiddle with the ECU to derestrict it (and yield 600bhp) but, it is claimed, made no further mods apart from adding a spoiler at the back to stop the XFR taking off on the Salt Flats’ wide open spaces. Jaguar XFR breaks 225mph at Bonneville So what happened?

Rated: self-braking cars that avoid a crash

The most recent advance in vehicle safety has to be the autonomous emergency braking system (AEB) – a sophisticated suite of sensors and electronics that monitors objects in front of your car, automatically applying the brakes for you if it senses you’re heading to hit something. Up until now these auto-brake features have not been rated, but ahead of a new 2014 test that will include AEB systems in its overall safety star scoring, Euro NCAP has put the some of the vehicles already equipped with this technology through their paces. MSN Cars has the results.

Volvo Group plans wirelessly charged bus line

There's one bit of futuristic transportation technology that seems to get trotted out almost as often as autonomous cars, electric cars and flying cars: Inductive, or wireless, charging for city buses. It's not as sexy or as memorable as the perpetually out-of-reach commuter-grade Harrier jet, but it uses proven technology (GM's EV-1 uses inductive charging, as do electric toothbrushes) to save or eliminate fuel and to reduce emissions. And unlike the flying car, induction-charged buses are hardly fantasy: They've been used in European cities for over a decade, South Korea started testing a fleet last year and Utah got in on the act recently.