Arp 235-5601 - Bbc Main Stud Kit on 2040-parts.com

MINI miffed at Spy Photos of 2014 MINI Hatch

MINI has released their own ‘Spy’ shot of the 2014 MINI hatch (pictured above) The rise and rise of the internet in recent years has seen the once niche market for spy photos of unreleased cars go mainstream, and whether car makers like it or not they can be sure the moment they take their new pride and joy on the road it will be papped and online. Most unrevealed cars go out testing covered in swirly camouflage and padded add-ons to disguise shape and form, but this week a 2014 MINI hatch was snapped with no disguise at all, and it didn’t look great. It didn’t look great because the photo was taken from such a distance it distorted perspective and made the new MINI look a very odd shape.

2013 Ford Fiesta production starts

Ford has started to build the new 2013 Fiesta at their plant in Cologne which means the new Fiesta will be in a showroom near you soon. The facelift for the 2013 Fiesta sees the arrival of the ‘Aston Martin’ grill bolted to the front of the new Fiesta – a pitch for the AM Cygnet contract, perhaps – together with new headlights with LED running lights and a bulge up the bonnet. Small changes, but they do make the new Fiesta bolder, even though it loses some of its finesse in the process.

VW Group planning 10-speed DSG, new powerful diesel engine & more plug-in hybrids

The end of the internal combustion engine is nigh, they say, as the world tries to clean up its environmental act and works towards a goal of electric motors to power our personal transport. But car makers are fighting that belief by extracting more power for less fuel from ICE engines, and there’s still a very long way to go before the ICE engine is consigned to the history books. Volkswagen has already reduced the fuel consumption of both their diesel and petrol engines by 30 per cent since 2000 and plan a further reduction of 15 per cent by 2020.