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

New Jaguar XE OFFICIALLY launched – price from £27,000

The new Jaguar XE arrives After months of teasing, years of planning and huge sums of money spent, it’s here – the new Jaguar XE. Looking like a slightly smaller version of the XF, with an upright nose, longish bonnet, coupe-like profile and stubby tail, the XE is clearly a Jaguar – and a fairly conservative one at that – which is probably sensible when  entering such a competitive sector as the ‘Premium’ compact saloon market. But the new XE isn’t just a punt for a few sales in a new sector for Jaguar, but a car that could take Jaguar from an interesting maker of relatively low volume cars to a global ‘Premium’ car maker; nose to nose in a very competitive sector with, principally, Audi and the A4, BMW and the 3 Series and Mercedes and the C-Class.

Ferrari LaFerrari lands in China: Shanghai Motor Show

Ferrari’s hybrid supercar was as eagerly received as it was in Geneva, with a sea of photographers, press and visitors thronging to get a glimpse of what is undeniably an impressive ‘F70′ from Ferrari. But looking good is perhaps the second ‘must have’ for a supercar – especially one that replaces the Enzo – and LaFerrari looks to deliver on the number one priority for most supercar buyers - performance. With 798bhp from its naturally aspirated V12 and an extra 161bhp from its electric motor, LaFerrari promises a dose of green credentials – important, to a degree, on China’s polluted roads – to go with its performance and handling, performance that can see the car it get to 62mph in under 3 seconds and on to a 186mph in an even more impressive 15.5 seconds.

Lotus news at 2009 Tokyo motor show

Lotus was one of only three foreign manufacturers to exhibit at the 2009 Tokyo show, and as well as shouting about the success of the Evora (including a mention of it scooping CAR's PCoTY title), the company unveiled a special-edition Exige. Called the Exige Stealth is Japan – and the ugly-sounding Scura throughout the rest of the world – it's black all over. There's matt black paint, lots of carbonfibre bits and pieces, and the supercharged Toyota engine pushing out 257bhp.