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

Nissan to alter design philosophy to attract females and younger buyers

Nissan will transform its design philosophy in an attempt to reengage with its female and younger buyers, the carmaker's director of Global Upstream Planning Rachel Nguyen has revealed. Speaking at the Nissan 360 event in the US, she announced Nissan is planning new gender-specific concepts to explore what women expect from their vehicles. "When we study the ideal vehicle partner qualities that women customers want, we hear that they want vehicles with effective technologies, especially intuitive navigation systems," she said.

State Farm releases Driver Feedback app

Accelerometers aren't just for the autocross geeks who want to see whether they threw more than 1.0 lateral g's on their last apex. These gadgets have made their way to the iPhone. State Farm is releasing its Driver Feedback app, which uses the iPhone's high-tech guts (accelerometer, gyroscope and digital compass) to measure driving habits such as smoothness or aggressiveness during acceleration, frequency and abruptness of braking and how hard you take corners (ahem, BMW owners).

Kia goes (dark) green

By Jesse Crosse Motor Industry 23 September 2008 11:00 Kia has unveiled a portfolio of new environmental technologies, including a 1.4-litre Ceed with stop-start (due in the UK in 2009), a Ceed hybrid and the latest version of its fuel cell-powered Sportage. The Korean manufacturer is investing heavily in research and development and will increase its spend on R&D from £2.2 billion this year to £2.6 billion by 2010, combined with a 40 percent increase in manpower at its research centres around the globe. The money is being spent on developing downsized, turbocharged engines, efficiency improvements to conventional engines such as friction reduction and the separation of accessories like water pumps from the engine.