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

Ford Fiesta eWheelDrive gets wheel hub electric motors

The Ford Fiesta eWheelDrive – a driveable research vehicle built by Ford and German specialists Schaeffler – may be a regular supermini in size, but it points towards a potential future EV which is much more compact and very manoeuvrable. Ford has taken a regular Fiesta and dumped its powertrain, replacing it with a battery bank where the engine would be and fitted a pair of in-hub electric motors on the rear wheels. But the plan is to build new cars with the batteries under the floor which frees up the space under the bonnet which can then be all but removed to create a very compact urban car that still has space for four.

Ken Block’s Gymkhana Five: The Streets of San Francisco

Everyone’s favourite Hooner and Drifter – Ken Block – is back with Gymkhana Five, a mad blat round the streets of San Francisco. If you want a car video full of tyre smoke, drifting and downright hooning madness, Ken Block’s your man. This time, with Gymkhana 5, the good Mr Block takes his 650hp Ford Fiesta on a blat round every familiar landmark in the streets of San Francisco, and manages to do it much more impressively than Karl Malden or Michael Douglas ever did.

JUNKER KEEPER: Federal database tracks totaled vehicles, clunkers

First, it was the hurricane-damaged used cars flooding the market. Now, it’s the clunkers turned in--and supposedly junked--as part of the federal Cars Allowance Rebate System “cash for clunkers” program. Following Hurricane Katrina, cars declared as total losses in one state were able to get clean titles in other states and were resold to unsuspecting consumers.