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

Audi A1 Quattro (2012) first official pictures

This is the Audi A1 Quattro, a 252bhp and four-wheel drive hot hatch that’s as exclusive as an R8 GT Spyder. Just 333 Audi A1 Quattros will ever be built so they’ll be a rare sight on the road – and particularly in Britain as the entire production run is left-hand drive, and Audi UK will import a tiny number only if there’s enough customer interest. So I probably can’t afford an Audi A1 Quattro, and I might never see one – what am I missing out on?

Volvo’s ‘Drive Me’ is the world’s first large-scale autonomous driving pilot project

Yes, you’ll be able to chat on the phone when the Volvo does the driving for you Like it or not, we’re rapidly moving to the point where autonomous cars will be the norm, with the driver only being involved in the act of driving by choice. Volvo – unsurprisingly with their stated goal of making sure no one dies in a Volvo in future – is at the forefront of the move to autonomous driving, and have teamed up with the Swedish Transportation Administration, the Swedish Transport Agency, Lindholmen Science Park and the City of Gothenburg in a project called ‘Drive Me - Self-driving cars for sustainable mobility’. The project kicks off next year with customer research and the development of the necessary technology and Volvo aims to have 100 autonomous cars on the roads of Gothenburg by 2017, where they’ll be driving round approximately 50 kms of selected roads, including commuter roads, motorways and regular queues.

Tyre labelling not telling full story

THE NEW TYRE LABELLING scheme to tell drivers how environmentally efficient a tyre performs is not giving the full picture, according to Emissions Analytics. Tests show that at certain speeds, tyres with a lower efficiency rating can perform as well as those with a higher rating. This means drivers could be paying more for higher rated tyres when they would be as well off with a more affordable tyre.