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

Porsche 918 Spyder to get 875bhp to take on McLaren P1 & LaFerrari

The Porche 918 Spyder – Porsche’s hybrid supercar – is to get a power boost and go on a diet to better compete with the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari. But the duo of hybrid supercars at Geneva will become a trio at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September when the Porsche 918 Spyder gets revealed in final production form before heading for a select group of customers in 2014. It does seem to have taken Porsche quite a while to get the 918 Spyder in production-ready guise  but it seems they may have been waiting to see what McLaren and Ferrari had up their collective sleeves before settling on a production specification for the 918 Spyder.

Electric Fiat 500e costs the same as 500 Pop – in the US

Sergio Marchionne reckoned Fiat would lose £7k on every 500e they sell, but that may be a very conservative estimate judging by the deal Fiat has put together for the 500e in California, where it’s just launched. For a very modest down-payment of £650 and then £130 a month, you can drive off in a brand new Fiat 500e. That’s exactly the same deal Fiat offers on the 500 Pop – a car that cost under £10k in the UK – making the 500e the first EV we’ve come across where costs are sensible.

Hyundai puts Michel Nandan in charge of WRC effort

Hyundai has appointed former Peugeot WRC technical director Michel Nandan to head up their assault on WRC. As Hyundai matures in to a credible mainstream force, improving brand perception is crucial to its long-term goals and 2012 is all about improving Hyundai’s brand experience and perceptions of the brand. A part of that focus is to take Hyundai back in to WRC rallying with a much modified i20, where Hyundai are hoping for a better experience than they had when they went rallying a decade ago – which should be a given considering the big strides Hyundai has made in its cars in the last few years.