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

New Land Rover Discovery Sport final development testing

The new Land Rover Discovery Sport testing ahead of launch With the new Land Rover Discovery Sport expected to debut at the Paris Motor Show in October – and be on sale in early 2015 – Land Rover are busy testing it through its final development stage. That’s meant some pretty rigorous shakedowns going on, with a total of 181 prototype Discovery Sports covering 750,000 miles and completing 11,000 test at locations around the world, from extremes of hot and cold to all points in between. But instead of just giving us the test numbers, some new photos (above) and new video (below) of the new Disco Sport, Land Rover are taking the opportunity to big up their partnership with Virgin Galactic and the similarities in the two company’s aims and objectives with their projects.

Volvo V40 Cross Country & V40 R-Design: Paris 2012

Volvo has revealed the V40 Cross Country and V40 R-Design at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, and both are convincing. The sporty take on the new V40 is the V40 R-design, a cosmetic update for the already good-looking V40 that manages to bolt on go-faster bits without wrecking the good lines of the normal V40. We would like to have seen the Volvo V40 R-Design get the sports suspension as standard, but Volvo obviously feel that most R-Design buyers want the looks rather than the more dynamic ride the sports suspension offers, so it stays as an option. And as the R-Design option is available across the new V40 range – from the D2 to the T4 – it’s probably the right decision.

Vauxhall Ampera & Chevy Volt win European Car of the Year 2012. Are they mad?

Vauxhall Ampera - European Car of the Year 2012 The Vauxhall / Opel Ampera (& the Chevy Volt) has won the European Car of the year 2012. Which seems completely stupid. Last year we had a car that almost no one is buying – the Nissan LEAF – voted Car of the Year.