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

Aston Martin unveils 2009 Le Mans challenger: first official pictures

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 27 January 2009 09:50 Those plucky Brits. This is Aston Martin’s new petrol-powered LMP1 Le Mans contender, designed to take on the diesel might of Peugeot's 908 and Audi's new R15. Aston is aiming for the overall win at the legendary 24-hour race on 13-14 June 2009, 50 years after Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori drove a DBR1 to victory. Aston’s new LMP1 car is based on the Lola-developed 2008 Charouz Racing Aston Martin that came ninth at Le Mans in 2008. For '09 the car has been further tweaked with help from Lola, Michelin, Koni and BBS.

Mitsubishi i MiEV Electric car launches in Japan

Mitsubishi i MiEV electric car launched in Japan at around £20,000 Until now, electric cars have been very much an oddity. The laughable G-Whiz and the Tesla Roadster are interesting in their own way, but unless you want to look like Noddy’s best friend (G-Whiz) or are happy to have a second-rate Lotus Elise at three times the price (Tesla), there wasn’t much to appeal to the normal car buyer. But it’s changing.

Suzuki puts kibosh on Kizashi sedan, report says

Japanese automaker Suzuki has backed off plans to build large cars and build assembly plants overseas, according to a report in the Nikkei business newspaper. Suzuki has shown a series of concept vehicles named Kizashi that executives said were pointing toward a production version of a large sedan. And pictures of sedan protoypes have been captured by spy photographers.