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

Half of all used cars go wrong ‘within a month’

With over seven million secondhand cars purchased in 2012, you’d expect one or two to develop a problem soon after purchase. But rather shockingly, as many as half of all used cars sold develop faults within a month of changing hands. That’s according to a report by the Citizens Advice Bureau, which helped with over 84,000 problems with secondhand motors in the past 12 months.

Mazda Hazumi Concept previews new Mazda2 – teased for Geneva Motor Show

The Mazda Hazumi Concept (pictured) teased ahead of Geneva Mazda are gearing up for the Geneva Motor Show next week with the first teaser image of the Mazda Hazumi Concept. The Hazumi Concept – which apparently means ‘Spring up’ or ‘bound’ (as in ‘bound around’ not ‘bound up’) – is the firts clear view of the next generation Mazda 2 featuring the latest iteration of Mazda’s Kodo design language and clearly takes design cues from the new Mazda3. We’ll get more details on the Hazumi/new Mazda2 as Geneva approaches, but we’re expecting it to spawn a production version of the next generation Mazda 2 that will go on sale before the end of 2014.

Alfa MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde SBK Limited Edition arrives

There’s a new limited edition Alfa Romeo MiTo on offer – the MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde SBK – with just 28 cars on sale in the UK at a price of £21,595. Which explains why, when Alfa were scratching their heads to come up with a new Limited Edition MiTo, they settled on the the Superbike link with the Alfa MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde SBK Limited Edition. The MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde SBK has now arrived on UK shores – although there will only be 28 of them – complete with Superbike titivation and a few publicity photos featuring the MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde SBK on two wheels alongside a Superbike.