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

Honda Civic 1.6-litre i-DTEC arrives

A new frugal Honda Civic has been revealed – the Civic 1.6 -DETC - promising official economy of 78.5mpg. Costs from £19,400. Honda revealed the current Civic at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2011 offering an evolution in style but quite a jump in the way the Civic drives, even though it still offers Torsion Beam suspension at the back.

Volvo XC60 R-design – more detail

Volvo has released more details of the XC60 R-Design Although the XC60 R-Design doesn’t get any sort of power boost, it does get some tweaks to the setup to provide a more sporty drive. Volvo has stiffened up the chassis and added more damping, and tweaked the steering ratios to give a quicker response.  But Volvo reckons this has virtually  no impact on ride quality (which begs the question ‘Why didn’t they do it to start with if there’s no trade-off’) and sensibly they have not gone down the lowered suspension route, so the XC60 still has good ground clearance. Volvo has added a rear seat entertainment package option to the XC60 On the cosmetic front, the R-Design gets body coloured lower section, matt silk metallic finish for the trim and chrome tailpipes.

Shocking stats reveal mobile use while driving

AS MANY as 13% of drivers are still using hand-held mobile phones while at the wheel, according to a survey. And 4% have admitted to regularly sending or reading text messages while driving, the poll by road safety charity Brake and insurance company Direct Line showed. The number of people owning up to using hand-held mobiles at the wheel has fallen from 36% in 2006 to the current figure of 13%.