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

AutoWeek Design Forum: McLaren evolves with carbon fiber

McLaren Automotive design boss Frank Stephenson detailed his company's transformation from strictly racing to producing road-going models on Thursday at the AutoWeek Design Forum. McLaren is launching the highly anticipated MP4-12C this year, and the company has been hard at work refining the use of carbon fiber, which it pioneered in the iconic McLaren F1. The company cut the amount of time required to design a carbon-fiber tub from 3,000 hours for the F1 to a mere four hours for the MP4-12C.

2011 Nissan GT-R: GT-R EGOIST & GT-R Club Track Editions added

2011 Nissan GT-R - arrives in February 2011 It may be that Nissan are following the Porsche 911 school of car updates by making endless changes to a car that ends up looking the same – the 2011 Nissan GT-R. But they also seem to be heading relentlessly down the 911 route in terms of model variations too. For 2011 there are two new models – the EGOIST and the Club Track edition, which we didn’t know when we first reported details of the 2011 GT-R in August.

Ferrari F1 drops ‘Marlboro’ graphics for Barcelona

Ferrari have dropped the ‘Pack of Marlboros’ graphic for the Barcelona GP A couple of weeks ago we reported that Ferrari have been accused of running subliminal tobacco advertising on their F1 cars, an allegation Ferrari strenuously denied. To be honest we can’t know for sure whether there was an intent to subliminally suggest a pack of Marlboros with the barcode graphics on the current Ferrari F1 livery or not. What we can be sure of is that now a jobsworth has made the allegation we all think of a pack of Marlboros every time we see the Ferrari livery.