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

Dacia Duster (2010) first official photos

By Richard Webber First Official Pictures 08 December 2009 15:50 This is our first look at the new 2010 Duster – the new economy crossover from Dacia. My memory’s a little dusty – remind me about Dacia...Dacia has been building cars in Romania since 1966, and, since a Renault takeover in 1999, has expanded to produce over half a million cars annually, built at plants across the world and sold in countries as diverse as Germany, Iran, Russia, Morocco and Colombia.Since 2004 all of its cars have been based on the company’s B0 – that's zero, not a whiffy 'O' – platform, and top sellers are the mid-sized Logan saloon and estate, and the five-door Sandero hatchback. Didn’t Dacia present a crossover concept at Geneva 2009?So you don’t see the resemblance?

Land Rover Range-e plug-in diesel hybrid grabs SMMT Award

Land Rover Range-e wins SMMT Award Just like every other car maker in the world, Jaguar Land Rover are flirting with and developing hybrid powerplants to keep the government-targeted economy and CO2 levels in check, even though neither Jaguar or Land Rover are close to actually launching a hybrid. In fact, Jaguar recently said that 4WD was the next ambition for their cars – not hybrids – and we won’t see a hybrid from Land Rover until the next wave of Land Rover models start to hit the road in 2013. And even then, any hybrid powerplant is likely to be well after initial launch.

BMW Alpina D3 BiTurbo – a great diesel

The BMW Alpina D3 BiTurbo - a brilliant, quick and economical everyday drive Alpina has turned out some stunning versions of the BMW range over the years (and some not so stunning – their 8 Series springs to mind) and they fill a gap that is either not profitable in small volume for BMW or, in some cases, a hole that BMW hasn’t plugged. And this one is a good hole to fill with the BMW Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo, a 3 Series diesel with the heart of a hot hatch. Alpina has taken the engine out of the 1 Series 123d and given it a boost to 240bhp, in the process dropping the 0-60 time to a very creditable 6.9 seconds But it’s not the sprint that count,  but the way this peppy diesel unit delivers it.