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

BMW's Project-i will build 'premium vehicles'

By Ben Whitworth Motor Industry 05 March 2009 16:02 BMW’s much vaunted Project-i will adopt a radical new approach to mass transport for growing urban populations – but only for those that can afford it. 'These vehicles will be premium vehicles,' Project-i leader Dr Ulrich Kranz told CAR at the Geneva motor show. 'They will not be Tata Nano rivals – no way!

Audi A3 Clubsport Quattro Concept gets 518bhp – heading for Worthersee

The 518bhp Audi A3 Clubsport Concept (pictured) is heading for Worthersee The Worthersee Show is looming at the end of May, and we can expect some extreme and mad concepts from the VW Group queuing up for attention. And among those will be this, the Audi A3 Clubsport Quattro Concept. Based on the Audi S3, the A3 Clubsport eschews the S3′s 2.0 litre TFSI in favour of Audi’s 5-cylinder 2.5 litre, and in the A3 Clubsport the wick gets turned up considerably to 518bhp and 442lb/ft of torque.

New Peugeot 208 production cut as sales disappoint

Peugeot is cutting back on production of the new 208 as its sales fail to reach expectations, just six months on from launch. It’s not enough when Europe is ion the midst of an economic crisis and car buyers are polarised between ‘budget’ cars that offer more for less than mainstream offerings and ‘Premium’ models that are bought on the back of a preconceived notion of more kudos. That leaves car makers like Peugeot (and Renault, Citroen, Vauxhall, Ford, Opel, Fiat…) between a rock and a hard place, unable – or unwilling – to compete with the offerings from Korea and saddled with a brand that doesn’t have the ‘class’ of an Audi or a BMW or a Mercedes or even a VW.