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

The Porsche P1 is lighter, greener and more exclusive than McLaren's new hypercar

Long before the legendary Porsche 911 -- before, even, the Porsche 356 -- Ferdinand Porsche was tinkering with alternative powertrains and designing road-worthy vehicles. Though it wasn't the first vehicle to bear his name, the “Egger-Lohner electric vehicle, C.2 Phaeton model” was the earliest result of his efforts. Perhaps getting the jump on the modern alpha-numeric craze/plague, it was shortened to a simple “P1.” The P1 (we'll refer to it as the Porsche P1 from here on out to avoid confusion) made its first appearance in Vienna on June 26, 1898, and it didn't last long in the public eye: Before Porsche decided to pull it out and put it on display, it had reportedly been sitting in a warehouse, untouched, since 1902.

Volvo's research proves car design invokes basic human emotions

Car design and human emotion are inexorably linked, according to new research from Volvo. The experiment, conducted in collaboration with Electroencephalographic (EEG) specialists Myndplay, tested respondents to analyse how the brain reacts emotionally to car design amongst other things. Participants were asked to rate a series of images whilst wearing an EEG headset that measured brainwave activity.

Subaru BRZ Turbo to get 280bhp

The much hoped for Subaru BRZ Turbo – the Subaru version of the Toyota GT86 – is set to arrive in 2014 with 280bhp. Last year we reported that a Subaru BRZ Turbo was in the planning (even though the official line was that the BRZ and GT86 would stick with natural aspiration) and now it looks like development is well advanced and the BRZ Turbo will arrive in 2014. Automotive News are reporting that Subaru are working hard on a turbocharged direct injection version of the BRZ with a single twin-scroll turbo they’ve developed in-house, as opposed to the port injection system currently used in the BTZ, which is a Toyota system.