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

Acura retools lineup to put the focus on mpg

Honda will overhaul and reposition its Acura lineup over the next 18 months and abandon its long pursuit of top-tier luxury-car status for the brand. After years of trying to propel Acura into the front ranks with Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus, Honda says it will settle for offering mid-level premium vehicles that favor fuel economy over performance. With one exception: At the Detroit auto show in January, Honda will bring back the Ferrari-fighting Acura NSX--a new version of the mid-engine supercar that disappeared in 2005 after a 15-year run.

Poll: Would you buy a Hyundai i20?

Last week we asked you if you'd be interested in a Nissan Micra, which is built in Mexico and is available in Canada and dozens of other countries, but not in the U.S. A substantial majority of our readers, 77 percent, voted that they would be interested in buying the $9,100 Micra if it was sold in America, a slightly lower percentage than for most of our past foreign-vehicle polls (which were all quite different, it should be noted). The Micra essentially offers the same engine and almost the same amount of interior space as the Nissan Versa Note at 2/3 the price of a stateside Note, which is already considered to be about as spartan as it gets despite a $14,780 price tag.

Toyota GT86 Convertible? Meet the Scion FR-S Speedster

Scion FR-S Speedster Toyota Racing will debut a convertible GT86 in the shape of the Scion FR-S Speedster at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Even before the Toyota GT 86 hit the roads we were expecting a convertible version to be not far behind. In fact, Toyota’s chief engineer, Tetsuya Tada, confirmed last month that the GT86 / Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S was conceived as a convertible and that Toyota are working on a production version.