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

Kia Rio (2011): first sketches of new supermini

It never rains, it pours in Kiaworld, it seems. Not long after showing us the new Kia Picanto city car last week and the KV7 concept car at this week's 2011 Detroit auto show, today Kia publishes these first design sketches of the new Rio. It's Kia's supermini to compete with the likes of the Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa and VW Polo.

Volvos get a facelift: V70, XC70 & S80 get tweaked

2011 Volvo S80 Facelift - tweaks to cosmetics and diesels Well, if you’re going to have a fiddle with one car, you may as well have a fiddle with three. That seems to be Volvo’s point of view as it performs a bit of plastic surgery on the Volvo V70, Volvo XC70 and Volvo S80, and fettles the oily bits in to the bargain. Under the skin, it’s tweaks to the diesel lumps that dominate, with both the D3 (2.0 litre) and D5 (2.4 litre) getting some work.

New Mercedes SL 400 replaces SL 350

The new Mercedes SL 400 (pictured) replaces the old SL 350 It’s a little over two years since the latest Mercedes SL arrived, and Mercedes has now decided to add a little zest to sales by dropping the old SL 350 and replacing it with a new Mercedes SL 400. The new SL 400 gets its power from the new E400 which means a twin-turbo 3.0 litre V6 with 328bhp and 354 lb/ft of torque – 26bhp and 81 lb/ft more than the old SL 350 – enough to let the SL 400 scoot to 62 mph in 5.2 seconds – 0.7s better than the 350 -= and on to a limited top speed of 155 mph. The new SL 400 has to make do with Mercedes tried and tested 7-speed auto – despite a new 9-speed now being available in Mercedes’ arsenal – which gives the SL 400 official economy of 38.6 mpg and emissions of 172g/km – not that you’ll come close in the real world.