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

Boris planning war on diesel car drivers – London Mayor wants drivers of diesel cars to pay more

Boris wants to charge diesel cars an extra £10 to enter London We’ve long banged on about the nonsense of basing the cost of motoring on the Co2 emissions of cars, and it seems the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, also realises that Co2-based taxation has led to a real pollution problem. As we reported as far back as 2010, petrol cars – certainly before the introduction of Euro 6 emissions recently – are far cleaner than diesel cars when it comes to the sort of stuff that really matters – NoX and particulates. And the problem has been exacerbated by basing car taxation on Co2 emissions as lower Co2 levels have been much easier for car makers to achieve on diesel engines, which is why diesel-engined cars now account for around 50 per cent of all cars sold in the UK.

Car production increases again

THE SOCIETY of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said UK manufacturers built 91,282 cars in August, up 16.2%, or 12,705, on the same period in 2012, leaving year-to-date volumes 3.1% ahead of 2012, at 984,545. The figures showed 20,298 cars were made for the home market this year, up 21.1%, while 70,984 were for export, up 14.8%. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: "The past 12-months has been one of the most productive since late 2008." Samuel Tombs, of consultancy Capital Economics, said the CBI figures showed the manufacturing sector "continuing to go from strength to strength".

One lap of the Web: Syphilis, a scary monster and one huge remote-controlled car

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Karl Henkel, a numbers guru, brings perspective to the government's distracted driving fear mongering by sharing Mazda 626 monstrosity from 1:3 scale RC car that can travel up to 45 mph?