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

Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge concept (2014) first official pictures

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 13 January 2014 17:41 Infiniti wants to be taken seriously as a performance car maker – and drizzle some of its championship-winning Red Bull F1 sponsorship garnish over its road car programme. It’s led to this: the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge concept. It’s a supersaloon version of the Q50, named of after the ballsiest corner at the Spa-Francorchamps F1 circuit, and pointing to a new AMG and BMW M-car rival from Nissan’s luxury arm.

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG: The gullwing takes flight

Before we reveal what it is like to hot-lap a prototype version of Mercedes-Benz's 6.2-liter V8-powered SLS around the 2.2-mile Sachsenring in eastern Germany, let us tell you one thing that puts the big rear-wheel-drive coupe into clear perspective. The SLS, planned to get its first public outing at the Frankfurt motor show in September, is not based on any existing Mercedes model. Rather, it has been conceived, designed and engineered from the ground up in a no-compromise approach by the German carmaker's in-house tuning division, AMG.

Build your Mini Cooper Hardtop

We suspect that your initial inclination upon the discovery of a new model's configurator is to throw gobs and gobs of equipment at a car to see just how high the price will go. After all, that's what we tend to do. It's especially satisfying with German automakers — notably Porsche and BMW — who seem to have turned option pricing into something bordering on absurdist theatre.