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

Ken Ma appointed VP Design at Chang'an

Former Shanghai Automotive Technical Center (SATC) design director Ken Ma joined Changan Automobile Group as vice president of the firm's Engineering Research Center late last year. Ma's new role puts him in charge of the Group's global design department, reporting directly to Changan group chairman LiuPin Xu on all design matters. But the move also effectively places him in the highest design position at any mainstream automotive company in China – a breakthrough for the country's automotive design industry.

Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer revealed: Price from £49,500

Vauxhall has revealed the Estate version of the VXR8 – the Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer – which offers oodles of room and 425bhp. That sort of power in an estate car certainly offers a different experience to regular load-luggers with 0-62mph coming up in a slightly silly 4.9 seconds. But, despite looking a bit past its prime even though it’s a new model, the VXR8 Tourer gets a reasonably sophisticated setup with McPherson Strut with progressive coils at the front and a multi-link setup at the back, launch control and a limited slip diff, all conspiring to try and put the VXR8 Tourer’s 425bhp power down through the rear wheels.

Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107 hit by Toyota recall

The Peugeot 107 (pictured) and the Citroen C1 are being recalled for faulty accelerators Update: We have heard from Citroen who tell us just 36 C1s in the UK are affected by the sticking accelerator problem. Update 2: We’ve now heard from Peugeot who say 6,000 Peugeot 107s in the UK are affected by the faulty throttle pedal. This last few days have turned out to be a real nightmare for Japanese car makers, with first the Toyota recall for a sticking accelerator and then the Honda Jazz/Fit recall for a faulty electric window switch.