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

MINI’s Olympic Marketing Masterstroke

BMW has spent £40 million sponsoring the 2012 London Olympics, but it’s a small fleet of remote controlled MINI’s that provide the value. BMW has done all it can to promote its sponsorship of the 2012 London Olympics, and with a spend said to be in the region of £40 million, who can blame them? But it’s not just local shopkeepers and enthusiastic small businesses that are hamstrung by Olympic rules on advertising, the Olympic sponsors are too.

Ford drives the Peel P50 in to the new Transit – and turns it around

The Peel P50 drives in to the new Ford Transit The new Ford Transit offers lots of room for ‘Stuff’, something Ford decided to demonstrate by enlisting the world’s smallest car to demonstrate. It may be simply a take on Jeremy Clarkson’s games with the Peel in and around the BBC Television Centre – and you don’t get John Humphries driving the Peel or Fiona Bruce (and her bottom) pushing it back out – but you do get a good idea of just how big the new Transit is. We’re not entirely sure that turning the Peel around in the Transit – and yes, this Peel is fitted with a reverse gear, unlike Clarkson’s – demonstrates the Transit is any bigger than just driving in and driving out would, but the endless faffing to achieve an about turn is an excuse to use some Benny Hill-esque music to pass the time.

Bonneville broadcast will add pepper to the salt

If you've ever been to Bonneville during Speed Week, you know what a thrilling corner of the motorsports world the place occupies: standing out on the endless, blazing-white expanse of salt, hearing the cars before you see them, seeing first the roostertail of salt rocketed into the air, then the tallest part of the rear fin, then the car itself, blasting over the curvature of the Earth, followed by engine cutoff, popping chutes, deceleration and the giddy celebration of driver and crew as yet another record falls. But most people -- those with jobs, kids, responsibilities (where are your priorities, people???) -- will never get a chance to go. So this year, the Southern California Timing Association has made a deal to broadcast audio of the entire Speed Week live, as it happens, direct from the salt, on the fabulous internet.