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

Half of all drivers experience road rage

MORE THAN half of the drivers in the UK say they have been the victim of road rage at some point in the past 12 months. The same research showed that 11% of drivers in the UK have used full beam in an effort to annoy another driver, while 4% said they had threatened to damage another person’s vehicle. The study by the Van Discount Company showed that women over the age of 50 were the most common target for road rage, with 40% of women in this age bracket saying they experienced road rage at least once a month.

BMW ‘reveals’ new EfficientDynamics prototype

BMW has established a Web site called www.dontblogabouthis.com with the express purpose of revealing a prototype being used to test a new gasoline-electric driveline earmarked for a future sports car. It’s expected to be launched in 2012 as part of BMW’s EfficientDynamics program. Featuring two short videos and four photographs of a 6-series based prototype, the Web site provides no additional information about the prototype other than to suggest that the car in question is “more than a 6-series”and is “not in its final stage.” Close inspection reveals the matte black BMW mule has a new front end resembling that of the one-off EfficientDynamics concept revealed at last year’s Frankfurt motor show.

Land Rover Range_e – Hybrid test-bed

The Range Rover Sport based Land Rover Range_e Pragmatically, Land Rover are working hard to change the world’s perception of its products by shouting as loudly as they can about the ‘Green’ credentials they have, from off-setting carbon emissions to 45k miles on every car they sell to adding stop-start to the Freelander 2. But long-term Land Rover are looking to introduce new, lightweight cars in 2012/2013 with the same aluminium underpinnings as Jaguar, and introducing some hybrid technology on the way. With that in mind they’ve put together a Range Rover Sport based Range_e to trial the tech ahead of its use in the next generation of Land Rover’s cars and are planning on running five cars as test-beds this year.