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

BMW i8: Mission Impossible

BMW i8 in Mission Impossible 4 Marketing new cars doesn’t have to mean an ‘in your face advertising’,  berating you with benefits and a call to action. It can be more subtle; simply raising awareness or putting the cars in a high-profile role in a popular film or TV show. Just like Aston Martin with James Bond (and Jaguar Land Rover in the new Bond, too) and Volvo with the Twilight franchise, BMW has placed its product in the new Tom Cruise outing – Mission Impossible 4 | Ghost Protocol.

McLaren P1 gets an Arctic shakedown (+video)

So McLaren are busy throwing the worst conditions they can at the P1 to make sure it can perform even in the harshest of conditions and be the best driver’s car in the world – even when there’s several feet of ice under its wheels. McLaren has had several XP prototypes of the P1 running round the world’s harshest climates – hot and cold – and have delivered a video of the P1 prototype playing on the ice in the north of Sweden – inside the Arctic Circle – to keep interest in the P1 bubbling along ahead of its dynamic debut in the UK at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. Despite its enormous power – 903bhp from a combination of its turbo 3.8 litre V8 and electric motor – the P1 does look composed and capable, even with sub-zero temperatures and a surface that has zero grip.

New designs make car buyers happy, J. D. Power APEAL survey finds

Buyers of 2011 vehicles are happier with their choice if the car or truck is a new design instead of a carryover model, according to a survey results released on Wednesday, even though new designs are more prone to quality problems. The Hyundai Equus luxury sedan was the top-ranked car in J. D.