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

Middlecott Sketchbattle Experiment contest pits auto designers against Detroit talent

Local creative and design talent from outside and inside the car industry will go head-to-head in a multi-round competition for the title of Sketchmaster in the Middlecott Sketchbattle Experiment (MSBE). To be held at an underground afterparty for the Auto Show Charity Preview on 17 January at the Kunsthalle Museum in Detroit, the self-styled car design fight club will be attended by industry leaders, designers from Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota and Tier One suppliers. Car enthusiasts, artists and designers from around the globe will also be present.

Subaru BRZ Turbo confirmed

Subaru BRZ Turbo - which should be good for 300bhp Subaru in the US has confirmed that they are planning to build a turbo version of the new Boxer engine in the BRZ to create the Subaru BRZ Turbo. Finally, after promises that it was on its way for what seems like ever, we saw the arrival of the production versions of the Subaru BRZ and Toyota FT-86  at Tokyo (which had a small name change and arrive as the GT86). But what was a disappointment was that despite Subaru saying the BRZ would come with ‘less than 300bhp’, it actually came with almost exactly the same power as the GT 86 – a much less enticing 200bhp.

Porsche makes £14k on every car it sells, Bentley makes £12.7k

Porsche made £14k on every car sold in 2013 If you need an illustration of how much more profitable high-end sports and luxury cars are than mainstream cars, VW Groups sales figures demonstrate it perfectly. At the extreme ends of the profit per car spectrum, Porsche made an enviable £13,931 for every car it sold in 2013 and VW made just £615 (although SEAT actually lost £330 on every car it sold) . In fact, although you might expect the higher-priced Bentley range to make more per car than a Porsche, Bentley only managed a creditable second place on VW Group’s profit per car table, turning in £12,700 profit for every car it turned out (11,000 of them in 2013).