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

Car spending 'more than holidays'

NEARLY HALF of drivers in the UK spend more disposable income on their car than anything else, according to a survey. Spending on cars (47%) easily outweighs the amount spent on holidays (21%) and socialising with friends (13%), the poll from Halfords Autocentres showed. But the survey also found that 10% of drivers were cutting back on car maintenance to save money.

Volvo creates Inflatable Child Seat

Volvo is a brand famously associated with safety, so let’s hope its latest effort doesn’t turn out to be a load of hot air: the Swedish brand has come up with a concept for an inflatable children’s car seat. Called the Volvo Inflatable Child Seat Concept, this does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s a child seat that instead of being made of rigid material can be deflated and folded away for easy carriage when not required. On Bing: see pictures of the Volvo Inflatable Child Seat Concept Find out how much a used Volvo costs on Auto Trader Noting that “children’s car seats are historically bulky, hard to move and tedious to mount,” Volvo says its new rear-facing inflatable alternative weighs just 5kg – half the weight of an equivalent conventional model.

BMW 6-series Gran Coupe (2012) first official pictures

If you want proof that the Mercedes-Benz CLS was an influential car, look no further than the new BMW 6-series Gran Coupe, unveiled at the weekend. It's a four-door 6-series, based very closely on the Gran Coupe concept car shown in 2010. The executive car market has changed a lot in recent years, and BMW is now chasing the same buyers as the Merc CLS, Audi A7 et al.