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

Bedford Autodrome to get Ariel Atoms for 2012

Corporate track-days at the Bedford Autodrome will get lairier in 2012 - Somerset-based Ariel has announced it’ll supply ten cars for the PalmerSport track-day events next year. Stopping short of the unhinged Atom V8, the PalmerSport-spec cars get the normally aspirated 245bhp Civic Type-R engine, and some key changes to set it aside from the Joe-Public Atom. The Palmer-spec car will get a Sadev paddle-shift sequential gearbox, which swaps ratios in 60 milliseconds, whilst some choice chassis mods optimise the Atom for its full-time track-toy brief.

Tesla has room to grow with the Model S sedan, Calif. factory

We got a brief ride in a prototype of the Tesla Model S all-electric sedan, and as far as we could tell from the passenger seat, it seemed like a luxury performance bargain for just $57,400. Of course, being just a passenger means any evaluation is more or less just a guess. We should get to drive one of them sometime before the fully finished models go on sale next summer and then we will have a more definitive take on the car.

CDN-GM Interactive Competition launched

The Car Design News - GM Interactive Competition interior design phase has launched and is now accepting uploads from students studying any kind of design course in North America and Canada. You can register and upload an initial entry right now at www.cardesigncontest.com GM's four brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC have each set a brief, of which students can choose to answer one or several. It's traditional to focus your design efforts towards the close of a design competition, but GM, and our sponsors, Dassault Systèmes and Faurecia, have mentors standing by to guide your design work, so we encourage you to begin uploading work as soon as you can.