Fiat unveils new 900cc TwinAir two-cylinder engine

Fiats of old used to feature noisy two-cylinders with a fetish for overheating, yet the Italians are at it again, this week releasing details of their new TwinAir two-cylinder 900cc engines. You can see how it works in our video below. The new engines, the first in a series of two-cylinders by the Italians, are designed to trump all other downsizing efforts. Headline figures from the 83bhp twin are 23% more power than the regular 1.2 four-pot and the same as a 1.4 16v - yet with 30% less consumption.

British Motor Show 2006 Highlights

Opel/Vauxhall Corsa The new Opel/Vauxhall Corsa is the most significant new design to be launched yesterday at the press day of the newly reintroduced British Motor Show. The Vauxhall brand is used in the UK, while the Opel brand is used in the rest of Europe The three and the five door versions have similar DLOs to the Astra three and five door versions to give them distinctly different identities to each other, with A-pillars pushed far forward to move the Corsa into a more mono-volume architecture. Influences from the very successful Peugeot 206 are perhaps evident in the lamp graphics and overall 'sporty' image, but the biggest impression is how large this small car is - it's 3999mm long, 1707mm wide and 1488 tall - 150mm longer, and 50mm wider and taller than its predecessor.

Porsche Macan production starts in December

The Porsche Macan (pictured) starts production in December with a bolder look It does seem that the baby Cayenne – the new, Audi Q5 based Porsche Macan – has been on its way for a while, but Porsche has now confirmed production will start in December, with first Macans hitting Porsche showrooms in early 2014. But despite the Macan having been spied many times, seemingly almost undisguised, we really don’t know what it will look like. That’s because Porsche’s man in charge of the design of the Macan - Michael Mauer – has admitted that Porsche has had to go back to the drawing board with the Macan to try and address its design in light of the huge success of the Range Rover Evoque.