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

Want to be a Racing Driver? Fiat’s Abarth could have the answer

Win the chance to be a racing driver with Abarth It’s every boy’s dream to be a racing driver and get behind the wheel of a race car for real, and Abarth - the go-faster bit of Fiat – may just be able to give you a leg-up in the right direction. Abarth are running a competition to find new racing drivers, with the winners of the competition being taken off to a 10-day camp to be assessed by motorsport coaches and helped by race car instructors. If you want to take part you’ll need to be over 18, not a professional driver already and willing to jump through a few hoops to get the chance to win a place at camp, and ultimately take part in a proper race at Monza.

Mercedes launch new 9G-Tronic gearbox on E350 BlueTec

New Mercedes E350 BlueTec (pictured) gets 9-speed 9G-TRONIC auto It’s not exactly a million years ago that automatic gearboxes offered poorer performance and economy than manual gearboxes, and came as standard with just three gears. But now, automatic gearboxes are so good they can  change quicker than any driver and, with the proliferation of eight-speed auto ‘boxes, offer improved economy and performance too. The next logical step is even more ratios in an auto ‘box, and Land Rover has already revealed they’ll be fitting the Evoque with a 9-speed ZF ‘box from 2014, and the new Jeep Grand Cherokee gets a nine-speed auto ‘box too.

Chrysler's new 300C John Varvatos Edition ad

Anybody remember Polocore? That weird little moment in the mid-'90s when a sect of hardcore kids were all decked out in Ralph Lauren finery? What seemed incongruous in '95 was simple, unvarnished fact a dozen years later, when it was announced that former Ralph Lauren designer John Varvatos would open a flagship boutique in the space formerly occupied by CBGB's.