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

McLaren gives MP4-12C power and gadget upgrade

McLaren has announced a surprise package of upgrades which will be offered to existing owners of its MP4-12C supercar, free of charge. Owners will benefit from more power, a tunable engine noise and fewer foibles - yes, the tricky swipe-to-enter door handles are banished for good. So what exactly has changed on the McLaren MP4-12C for 2013?

Nissan cuts the price of the Micra to £7,995

The Nissan Micra is getting a price cut in the UK, with the entry-level Micra dropping to just £7,995 and price cuts across the Micra range. That means the entry-level Micra 1.2 12v Visia comes down form a not exactly bargain basement £9,750 to a much more appealing £7,995. And Nissan hasn’t done it by cutting equipment levels, as they say every model still gets the same level of equipment, including Bluetooth.

Vauxhall Corsa now gets 85.6 mpg

The Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 CDTI ecoFLEX Start/Stop now achieves 85.6mpg with emissions of just 88g/km.  The Vauxhall Corsa –  and, for that matter, the Opel Corsa – has been revealed as the most economical car ever built by GM Europe after a series of tweaks has cut its already impressive fuel consumption. The Corsa 1.3 CDTI ecoFLEX Start-Stop )which, fortunately, isn’t emblazoned on the boot lid in full) can now squeeze 85.6 miles out of every gallon of diesel, which means emissions drop to just 88g/km. Vauxhall has had yet another play with their 1.3 litre diesel and fitted a variable displacement oil pump that delivered pressure to suit the load, had a tweak with the Corsa’s brain and filled low-viscosity oil in the gearbox  The result is in improvement of 7 per cent in economy over the current Corsa.