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

New Land Rover Freelander will actually be a Discovery

It seems – as we expected – that Land Rover are looking to make more sense of their range of off-roaders as new models are launched, and are going to concentrate on three core brands – Range Rover, Discovery and Defender – instead of the current mish-mash where many models really overlap with others (the top end Discoverys are really a cheaper Range Rover). So the next Freelander will become an entry-level Discovery with underpinnings borrowed from the Evoque (which is itself based on the current Freelander platform, a development of the Ford Galaxy’s platform), and arrive in both 5-seat and 7-seat guise, with the new Discovery ’5′ getting a platform based on the new Range Rover and perhaps spawning two models. The new Discovery range will be targeted as a ‘Lifestyle’ core range for Land Rover (much as the original Disco was) and the Range Rover range will be both sporty and luxurious, with a 7-seat Grand Evoque XL joining the current Evoque, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover.

Nissan LEAF – UK made EV +Video

Nissan will produce the Nissan LEAF EV in the UK from 2013 Carlos Ghosn – head of Nissan – is convinced that electric cars will account for 10% of the market by 2020. Which is a huge leap from where they are now. We’re not convinced he’s right, although if you include what by then should be viable hydrogen fuel cell cars then he may be getting close.

2012 Mercedes SL63 AMG – now it’s the video

Mercedes SL63 AMG Video The official public debut of the 2012 Mercedes SL63 AMG is at Geneva next week and Mercedes has divvied up a video to pique interest. It’s easy to think of the Mercedes SL as an old man’s convertible; a soft and soggy soft-top for those who are more interested in the pose than the drive. But that’s not really been true for a long time, and certainly not in the SL AMG models, which have offered real performance and decent dynamics since arriving as the SL55 AMG a decade ago.