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

New options make Prius pricey

High-tech features and luxury options will push the redesigned Toyota Prius into new territory--namely, $30,000-plus. The 2010 Prius hybrid will offer options found on luxury cars: systems that automatically park the car in a parallel parking space and slow the vehicle when a crash is likely. But Toyota is aware of a new competitor--the 2010 Honda Insight, a hybrid that is a little smaller and expected to be less expensive than the Prius.

Hyundai Curb concept

Hyundai has teased its NAIAS concept, the Curb, ahead of its official unveiling next week, where it will debut alongside a production version of the company's Veloster coupe. The Curb is a compact crossover with a coupe roofline, tapered DLO and exaggerated wheel arches reminiscent of the Nissan Juke, and is similarly difficult to judge in terms of scale from these images. While its exterior appears production feasible, the Curb's interior would seem to live up to its 'concept' billing, with extensive use of smart materials and touchscreen HMI.

VW Polo R confirmed for 2013

VW Polo WRC makes the case for the 4WD VW Polo R We speculated a year ago that the Polo GTI wouldn’t be the top of the Polo tree, and that Volkswagon would roll out the VW Polo R in 2012, but perhaps with FWD instead of the 4WD its big brother, the Golf R, enjoys. But just a few months later it seemed clear that we would end up getting a 4WD Polo R at some point after Audi lost its bottle at the last minute and pulled the Audi S1 badge off a FWD A1, instead calling it the Audi A1 1.4 TFSI. That change of heart by Audi – saving the S1 badge for a quattro S1 – meant that a quattro platform would be developed for the S1, and as the A1 uses the Polo platform it meant a 4WD platform would be available for the Polo too.