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

Land Rover Defender to return to U.S.

Land Rover will bring the redesigned Defender SUV to the United States as its entry-level vehicle, said Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover. The Defender could debut as early as 2015 and will be based on the DC100 concept shown at the 2011 Frankfurt auto show. The rugged Defender is currently sold in overseas markets and was last sold here in 1997.

Mini may drop Paceman, Coupe, and Roadster

Mini may discontinue the Paceman, Coupe, and Roadster models as it seeks to trim its lineup, following the introduction of the third-generation Mini Cooper three-door Hardtop. Instead, the company plans to focus on three "pillar" models: the Hardtop, the Countryman, and the Clubman. The third model, the Clubman, is technically still speculative as the company presented a Clubman only in concept form at the Geneva Motor Show last week, but given the amount of real-world testing of Clubman prototypes observed, coupled with the production-ready appearance of the Clubman Concept, this model is virtually assured to reach production in its current form.

VW Taigun Compact SUV heading for production

It was a good-looking and appealing effort from VW to tap in to the very compact SUV market, with a real family look (a Tiguan on a boil wash), peppy little 3-cylinder 1.0 litre engine delivering 108bhp and a 0-62mph of 9.2 seconds (with 60mpg economy) and enough room to carry stuff and people thanks to an extra 50mm in the wheelbase compared to the Up! Now it looks like the Taigun is heading for production after VW’s Chief designer, Klaus Bishoff, told Autoexpress that he deeply believed the Taigun would be heading for VW showrooms very soon, and could be sold in the UK and Europe as well as in emerging markets. So you can add the Taigun to the list of VW’s SUV offerings, and with new versions of the Tiguan and Touareg (perhaps based on the CrossBlue Concept) and a Polo based SUV on the way too, it looks like VW are covering all the bases.