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

First MINI Coupé rolls off the production line

MINI Coupe - first production car rolls out at Cowley We’ve only recently had the reveal of the new MINI Coupe – well, the production car reveal, that is. We had the first reveal of the MINI Coupe Concept nearly two years ago and, despite the production MINI Coupe looking almost exactly the same as the concept, MINI managed to do the production reveal in two stages – one with swirly disguise round the rump followed by a full reveal a week or three later. Still, all the pre-production marketing flim-flam out of the way, MINI are getting down to actually making the car that promises to be the most fun (modern) MINI so far, and the very first MINI Coupe has now rolled off the production line at Cowley – cue PR opportunity.

Infiniti EX35

The EX35 is a slightly smaller and more mainstream SUV than its FX bigger brother from which it takes its core 'coupe SUV' theme.  Despite the coupe design references, the vehicle is similar proportionally to the Lexus RX300 and BMW X3 which it will compete with in the US - and also in Europe when the Infiniti brand debuts next year.  Little different to the Infiniti EX concept shown in New York, the EX35 uses the core Infiniti graphic design signatures and soft form language but introduces a new flowing side feature line not seen on the Infiniti G37 Coupe launched a few months ago. Interesting technical innovations include the 'Around View Monitor' that uses four cameras to give a 'top-down view' of the outside of the car, and 'Scratch Shield' - a new self-healing clearcoat paint. Related Stories: Infiniti EX concept - New York Auto Show 2007 Infiniti G37 Coupe - New York Auto Show 2007

Audi Snook at the 2008 Michelin Challenge Design

German design student Tilmann Schlootz has been named one of the winners in the 2008 Michelin Challenge Design competition for his Audi Snook project. Selected for special exhibition at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit by a jury of professional designers and educators, the Snook scale model concept answered a design brief entitled: 'Sharing the Road - Big Safety/Small Vehicles', which called for enhanced real and perceived safety for smaller vehicles through design innovation. The visionary concept vehicle, which rides on a mono-sphere wheel, is heralded as a new vehicle category, implementing the principles of agility through instability learned from aerospace technology.