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

Volvo confirms 395bhp four-cylinder for new 2015 XC90

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 08 July 2014 08:00 Volvo has confirmed engine details on the new 2015 XC90 - and it'll be crowned by the XC90 T8 plug-in hybrid, a 4x4 with 395bhp and around 60g/km of CO2. The Swedish seven-seat crossover hasn't been unveiled yet (expect full pictures in August 2014) and Volvo is busy building up the publicity machine with snapshots inside the new XC90 and now teasing us with engine details. The first photograph here is the XC concept car from the Detroit motor show 2014.

Could Michelin’s Active Wheel truly transform the car?

Cars today have evolved and been refined to an extraordinary degree, but carmakers – and car designers – are still always looking for ‘the next big thing'. Yet despite a myriad of recent technical innovations, ask the man on the street what is the problem with cars of today, and he'll likely reply along the lines of "they all look the same". Mass production processes, packaging requirements and safety and regulatory constraints are just a few of the reasons why it is hard to make a car that looks truly different.

Nissan GT-R Nismo confirmed as Nissan opens new Nismo HQ

Nissan has opened a new Nismo HQ in Yokohama and confirmed that there will be a Nissan GT-R Nismo flagship performance car built. So far, we’ve had the Nissan Juke Nismo arrive and the Nissan 370Z Nismo turned up recently too as a production model for the UK and Europe – and we’ve even had a concept of a LEAF Nismo – so we know Nissan are serious about offering Nismo versions even on their least sporty models. But the one car that really doesn’t need a Nismo version is the GT-R, yet to have a range of performance cars under the Nismo banner without having the mighty GT-R at the top of that range would seem odd.