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

Insurance group lists its Top Safety Picks

After increasing its standards for 2011 models, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that 66 vehicles--more than double the 2010 total--rate as best in the industry at protecting passengers from front, side, rollover and rear crashes. Only 27 vehicles qualified last year after the group, funded by the insurance industry, required that vehicles pass a roof-strength test to earn a good rating, claiming that stronger roofs would reduce the risk of serious or fatal injury by 50 percent in a rollover accident. The most mentioned carmakers on the 2011 list are Hyundai/Kia and Volkswagen/Audi, both with nine vehicles to get the Top Safety Pick designation.

Mercedes CLA 45 AMG gets the Brabus treatment

The Mercedes CLA 45 AMG gets the Brabus treatment The Mercedes CLA 45 AMG is already the most powerful 2.0 litre 4-door saloon/coupe on the market, offering an immense 355bhp and 332lb/ft of torque. But if you think the CLA 45 AMG is a bit too tame – and needs to shout its performance a bit louder – then Brabus may have the answer with their take on the CLA 45 AMG. Brabus have taken the Mercedes 2.0 litre turbo and had a play with its brain to release even more horses than the standard car so it now has an astonishing 395bhp and 369lb/ft of torque, which manages to cut the 0-62mph to an even more impressive 4.2 seconds.

Skoda Octavia Scout (2007): first official pictures

By Jack Carfrae First Official Pictures 23 January 2007 12:27 The new Skoda Octavia Scout… yet another soft-roader? Sort of. Skoda isn’t kidding itself into claiming that the Scout would win if it took on a Defender; think of it as a slightly chunkier alternative to the current 4wd Octavia estate, or a cut-price rival to the Audi Allroad and Volvo XC70.