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

Citroën designers: Design students have 'golden opportunity'

Today's car design students "have got a fantastic opportunity in a very different world," say Citroën designers. Though the automotive industry has been suffering in many regions in the current economic climate, the next generation of car designers "have got a fantastic opportunity," says Andrew Cowell, Senior Design Manager at Citroën, in conversation with Car Design News at the Royal College of Art, London. "The industry will evolve quite a lot, and these guys (the students on the postgraduate Vehicle Design course) will come out into a very different world." "They'll start in a very interesting period", says Alexandre Malval, Citroën Design Director and himself a graduate from the RCA course.

2014 Nissan Maxima priced at $31,810

The 2014 Nissan Maxima 3.5 S goes on sale this week and costs $31,810, including destination. The upgraded Maxima 3.5 SV now costs $34,900. The S model keeps the same price as 2013, while the SV goes up about $800.

New Volkswagen Golf Plus BlueMotion Introduced

Volkswagen has introduced the new VW Golf Plus BlueMotion The new VW Golf Plus Bluemotion is basically a Golf Plus with the standard BlueMotion tricks added to improve economy and emissions. These include low rolling resistance tyres, revised gear ratios, start-stop and regenerative braking – the usual box of tricks. The 1.6 litre common rail diesel engine in the Golf Plus BlueMotion – down from 1.9 litres in the old Golf Plus BlueMotion – manages 65.7 mpg and emissions of 114g/km, an improvement of 11% in economy and 10% in emissions.