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

Maserati Granturismo S (2008): first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 26 February 2008 09:36 It’s only a year since Maserati whisked the covers off the delectable Granturismo and the Italians are unveiling a new, more powerful version.  The Granturismo S receives a heart transplant from the sister company Alfa Romeo – in the shape of the 4.7-litre V8 from the 8C supercar. The extra half litre provides more muscle, power rising to 434bhp, compared with the regular Granturismo’s sundry 400bhp. Maserati hasn’t issued performance figures ahead of the car’s Geneva show debut next week, but it’ll clearly be supercar-quick, with a 0-60mph time in less than five seconds.

New MINI 5-door Hatch revealed – but will you fit through the back doors?

The 5-door MINI hatch arrives We’ve already had the more BMW-like new MINI arrive, and now, for the first time, we get a MINI 5-door hatch to try and extend the appeal of the MINI range to families. The 5-door MINI gets an extra 72mm in the wheelbase and a pair of doors at the back – which do look very tight for full-size people to use – and there’s also an extra 15mm of headroom, a bigger boot and seating for three in the back. In terms of design, there’s little to choose between the 5-door and the 3-door, but the new 5-door does look a bit like the off-spring of the new MINI and the Countryman; just a little dumpy.

Saab 9-2 to use MINI platform – if Saab survives

The original Saab 9-2. The new Saab 9-2 will use the current MINI platform Things are still torrid for Saab, with big lumps of downtime at Trollhattan as they struggle to get suppliers to deliver parts when those same suppliers are already owed big chunks of money. The trouble is, not producing cars for much longer is going to leave Saab in between the same rock and a hard place as when GM were procrastinating about who to offload Saab to.