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

CES opens with fewer big wheels, including carmakers

There are some grumblings that the annual CES is becoming less relevant in this era of 24-hour news and instant globalization of information on the internet. And you can make a good argument that the relevance of the world's largest consumer electronics show is at least evolving, for carmakers as well as for other industry giants. It has always been an industry only show, with no public -- the “consumers” in "consumer electronics" -- allowed.

McLaren 650S Sprint revealed – debuts at Pebble Beach

The McLaren 650S Sprint arrives to hit the track The arrival of the McLaren 650S in February (and the end of the 12C, unless it’s being replaced by the McLaren 625C) meant, in all probability, that the various hardcore versions of the 12C would be replicated for the 650S. We’ve already has the new McLaren 650S GT3 at Goodwood this year, and now we get the car that fills the gap between the 650S and GT3 version for McLaren owners to take to the track – the McLaren 650S Sprint. The 650S Sprint – which we assume replaces the 12C Sprint – keeps the 650S’s 641bhp V8 but adds a hefty dose of track specific updates to make the Sprint more focused and with sharper responses.

New Aston Martin Vanquish Configurator now live

The online configurator for the new (2013) Aston Martin Vanquish has now gone live on Aston Martin’s web site. The reveal of the new Aston Martin Vanquish has only just happened, but in 2012 that’s not good enough for a supercar – you need to have a configurator to play with. So if you’ve got a spare half an hour at work today (or even if you haven’t) you can go to Aston Martin’s website and play with the configurator for the new Vanquish to your heart’s content.