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

Porsche 918 Spyder hits the Nurburgring (video)

The Porsche 918 Spyder – Porsche’s hybrid replacement for the Carrera GT – has been caught on video at the Nurburgring. Incredibly, it’s more that two years since Porsche took the wraps of the 918 Spyder at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, yet we’re still more than a year away from actually seeing production cars. But Porsche are putting their time to good use. Porsche has made a few cosmetic tweaks already from the original 918 Concept, but they’ve also let it be known that the 918 Spyder will get a 550bhp 4.6 litre V8 to go with its electric motors on the front wheels  (one less motor than originally envisaged – there was going to be one one the back axle too), which will make the 918 Spyder a FWD Porsche when in EV mode.

CAFE standards set to rise to 54.5 mpg for 2025

President Barack Obama on Friday revealed ambitious plans to raise the corporate average fuel economy standard for cars and light trucks to 54.5 mpg by the 2025 model year, a landmark move that will dramatically remake carmakers' product portfolios and consumers' buying habits. Unlike the first CAFE standards passed by Congress in 1975, the Detroit automakers now publicly support the high requirements and have begun retooling their fleets to adapt the changes. “[This] represents the single most important step we've ever taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” Obama said in a morning press conference.

Volvo XC90 (2015)

After three highly-regarded concept cars and a rather extended gestation period, the first of the new generation of Volvo cars, the XC90 SUV, has been unveiled. Designed – at least latterly – under the auspices of Thomas Ingenlath, who joined the sole remaining Swedish brand from VW as its design director in March 2012, the new Volvo XC90 is the first to sit on the company's new, modular SPA platform (Scalable Product Architecture, if you're interested). This allows more freedom in terms of proportions, with a particularly generous axle-to-dashboard distance.