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

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.

McLaren: The dealer network takes shape

The McLaren dealer network is starting to take shape Most of what we’ve written about McLaren in the last month or two hasn’t been about the new McLaren – the McLaren MP4 12C – but about McLaren’s venerable hypercar the McLaren F1. Firts we had Ron Dennis telling anyone who’d listen – quite rightly – that the showdown Top Gear staged between the Mac and the Bug had to be re-run repeatedly until the Bug actually won, but Ron being Ron had to go a step further and proclaim the Veyron a ‘Piece of Junk’. But it made his point.

Nissan Qashqai steering wheel falls off: Recall

Nissan are recalling a number of Qashqai, Qashqai+2 and NV200 vans in the UK after the steering wheel fell of a Qashqai in Finland. As problems with cars go, having the steering wheel fall off in your hands is not one you need to be a mechanic to diagnose. That’s exactly what happened to a Nissan Qashqai driver in  Finland who found his steering wheel had parted company with the steering column when he was parking his car.