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

Renault Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R Special Edition celebrates Nurburgring record

The Renault Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R (pictured) breaks a Nurburgring record We knew Renault were planning to take the Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy to the Nurburgring to have a crack at the FWD production car record and wrestle it back from the SEAT Lean Cupra 280. After some extreme weight saving measures – and some chassis tweaks – Renault managed to push the 275 Trophy round the Nordschleife in 7min 53.4 seconds, beating the SEAT’s time of 7min 58.4 seconds to take the record (video below). But not being one’s to miss a marketing opportunity, Renault has decided that they should celebrate the Nurburgring record with a new limited edition Megane – the Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R Special Edition.

BMW Group unveils in-car G-force and tea-drinking engine

BMW AND Mini have today unveiled pioneering new technologies that produce artificial G-force and even let an engine run on tea leaves. BMW has revealed plans for a system called Force Injection Booster (FIB), which when activated fires artificial gravity at the driver and passenger through the air conditioning vents. But the style-conscious needn’t worry, because the German firm has also patented AirNet, the world’s first in-car hair protection technology.

Mercedes AMG and Cigarette Racing team up for ultra-performance boat

Two celebrated performance brands--Mercedes AMG and Cigarette Racing--unveiled a custom Cigarette inspired by the SLS AMG (“Better Than the Original?”, AW, Nov. 30, 2009), at the Miami International Boat Show. Though the boat is based on Cigarette's 46' Rider, Cigarette says a clean-sheet approach was used to build the all-new boat.