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

BMW Alpina D3 BiTurbo – a great diesel

The BMW Alpina D3 BiTurbo - a brilliant, quick and economical everyday drive Alpina has turned out some stunning versions of the BMW range over the years (and some not so stunning – their 8 Series springs to mind) and they fill a gap that is either not profitable in small volume for BMW or, in some cases, a hole that BMW hasn’t plugged. And this one is a good hole to fill with the BMW Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo, a 3 Series diesel with the heart of a hot hatch. Alpina has taken the engine out of the 1 Series 123d and given it a boost to 240bhp, in the process dropping the 0-60 time to a very creditable 6.9 seconds But it’s not the sprint that count,  but the way this peppy diesel unit delivers it.

Jaguar Land Rover strong September sales thanks to Evoque & XF 2.2

JLR Sales up in September thanks to XF 2.2 & Evoque We’ve had cause to take Jaguar Land Rover (well, Jaguar) to task lately for disappointing sales, particularly in the US and the UK. So it seems only fair, after dishing out disapprobation, that we should balance that with a story about a decent set of sales figures for JLR in September, especially in the face of weakening sales from other manufacturers in the UK. Unsurprisingly – although how long it will last is debatable – China was the strongest performer for Jaguar, certainly in percentage terms, with a rise of 156 per cent for Jaguar and 85 per cent for Land Rover and year on year figures up 60 per cent.

Call to cut school run car journeys

A 10% CUT in school run car journeys would boost Britain's economy by around £46 million a year, a sustainable transport charity has claimed. Sustrans, which is calling on the Government to formally recognise the right of every child to be able to walk or cycle to school safely, estimates that ferrying children to school by car accounts for 24% of peak time traffic. Using Department for Transport modelling to calculate the financial drain on business caused by rush-hour congestion, Sustrans estimated that a 14% reduction in car use for school runs would take 167,000 vehicles off the road with an annual "saving" of £66.2 million.