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

Cars 2 Premiere: A closer look at Finn, Holley and Rod

Cars 2, which opens on Friday, stands to be one of the top box-office hits of the summer. Many of our favorite characters are back, such as Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater, but there are also a bunch of new rides rolling onto the big screen. Some, like Grem the Gremlin and Acer the Pacer, take obvious inspiration from real cars.

Alfa Romeo 4C Concept video – lest we forget

Alfa Romeo release an Alfa 4C Video One of the most appealing cars at this year’s Geneva Motor Show was the Alfa Romeo 4C, a good-looking, mid-engined, 2-seater coupe. Better still, Alfa let it be known that this 4C Concept wasn’t just for fun, it was on the way to a showroom near you. In fact we believed the Alfa 4C was the car that would be the halo model for Alfa Romeo’s return to the American market, at that time expected to be in 2012 but, as we reported recently, that plan is going a bit awry.

Volvo S60 L plug-in petrol hybrid heading for Beijing Motor Show

The Volvo S60L Plug-in (pictured) heading for Beijing The Volvo V60 Plug-in is already doing good business for Volvo – despite a price tag of £50k – but the V60 plug-in is a diesel hybrid which doesn’t suit all markets. So Volvo are ploughing ahead with a petrol engine based plug-in hybrid with the debut at the Beijing Motor Show next week of the Volvo S60 L Plug-in, a petrol hybrid version of the long wheelbase S60. At first glance the S60 Plug-in looks just like its regular ICE sibling, but under the skin sits a 2.0 litre Drive-E petrol engine with 238bhp and 258lb/ft of torque – which drives the front wheels – and a 68bhp electric motor with 147lb/ft of torque that can drive the rear wheels, which can be recharged in 4.5 hours.