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

Mini Clubman concept (2014) first official pictures

By Damion Smy First Official Pictures 26 February 2014 09:00 This is the new Mini Clubman Concept and, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you – it has more doors than ever. The new four-door (well, six if you could the two-piece rear opening) is the first Mini to have two sets of cabin doors, and will offer the same range of three- and four-cylinder engines as the rest of the range. Just as the Fiat 500 range is expanding in terms of size, doors and oddity, the Mini family is growing too.  While officially it’s a concept, given the brand’s history of production ready showcars, you won’t have to squint too hard – or at all – for the road-going version.

Aston Martin Rapide – First official image – again!

As we’ve said before, the Aston Martin Rapide has been so long coming it feels like it’s already here. But it’s not, despite the spy pictures of the Rapide we’ve seen, and now comes the first official picture – apparently. We’ve seen an ‘official’ Aston Martin Rapide image before, but this looks more convincing, even though it is obviously a rendering.

E85 makes inroads on cost and availability

Three years ago, we embarked on a Midwest road trip in search of what was then the Holy Grail of fuel: E85. Our findings weren't too positive--there were far more E85-compatible vehicles on the road in 2006 (5 million) than there were E85 pumps to fuel them (about 700 out of some 200,000 fuel stations nationwide). In addition, those burning the mix of 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol were paying a pretty penny for their earth-friendly ways, losing about 15 percent in fuel economy while often paying the same price as regular unleaded.