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

IDSA's 3D-printed car design contest gets underway

Aspiring designers have the chance to see their 3D-printed car designs launched down a miniature model of a ski jump and crash in the Launch Day 2013 competition due to take place at the 2013 IDSA conference, which runs from 21-24 August. Up to five designs can be entered for free until 12 August in the competition, organized by The Industrial Designers Society of America. All submissions will then be judged for both aesthetics and for "using unique attributes of 3D printing" which will whittle them down to just 10 designs that will be printed before the launch.

2013 Nissan LEAF updated

Nissan has updated the LEAF EV in Japan for 2013 with better range, less weight and a new LEAF S entry-level model. Revealed in Japan – but likely to come to the UK from 2013 when the LEAF starts rolling out of Nissan’s Sunderland factory – there are significant upgrades to the powertrain which result in both less weight and better range. Nissan has had a play with the electric powertrain and made it both smaller and lighter with a new motor that uses 40 per cent less dysprosium (a rare earth metal) than before, and comes in 30 per cent smaller and 10 per cent lighter, and a new streamline battery case and a few other tweaks drops the LEAF’s weight by 80kg.

1980s supercars

By Tim Pollard and Ben Oliver 10 July 2008 16:01 Supercars in the Eighties The Italians continued to innovate in the ’80s, but they also came under pressure like never before from a series of supercar wannabes. The Germans fettled the humble 911 Turbo into the race-spec 959, which showed how computers could sport brains as well as brawn. Meanwhile Honda showed the NSX, which became the first contender from the Orient.