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

What you missed at the Detroit auto show

Press days for the 2014 Detroit auto show wrapped up on Tuesday, and the sum total was more big reveals than we can shake a stick shift at. Production cars included the Ford F-150, Corvette Z06, BMW M3 and M4, Subaru WRX STI and the Porsche 911 Targa, while on the concept front we saw the Toyota FT-1, Nissan Sport Sedan and Kia GT4 Stinger just to name a few. Here are some of our favorites, in no particular order.

New Nissan X-Trail starts at £22,995. But it’s FWD

The new Nissan X-Trail (pictured) falls in price The styling of the new Nissan X-Trail, which arrived last year at Frankfurt, has eschewed a lot of the boxiness of the old X-Trail and taken on many of the styling cues from the new Nissan Qashqai. And in the process it’s perhaps become ‘softer’. The old X-Trail was more rugged than most modern compact SUVs, but the new X-Trail has arrived with a choice of Front Wheel Drive versions – no doubt aimed at keeping the price down – as well as cuddlier looks.

Mini Vision concept previews future cars

Mini has just given fans of the British marque a glimpse at the future design elements that we're going to get with upcoming cars -- and those design elements and ideas can be seen in the Mini Vision concept. Perhaps the first thing that jumps out visually about this concept car is the fact that the bumper and the auxiliary lights have been integrated into the grille, giving the car's nose a slimmer appearance. All the classic Mini design cues are still there, though the car seems to have gotten a bit taller.