Corvette Master Cylinder 1965 on 2040-parts.com

New Land Rover Discovery Sport final development testing

The new Land Rover Discovery Sport testing ahead of launch With the new Land Rover Discovery Sport expected to debut at the Paris Motor Show in October – and be on sale in early 2015 – Land Rover are busy testing it through its final development stage. That’s meant some pretty rigorous shakedowns going on, with a total of 181 prototype Discovery Sports covering 750,000 miles and completing 11,000 test at locations around the world, from extremes of hot and cold to all points in between. But instead of just giving us the test numbers, some new photos (above) and new video (below) of the new Disco Sport, Land Rover are taking the opportunity to big up their partnership with Virgin Galactic and the similarities in the two company’s aims and objectives with their projects.

Exclusive: Pierre Castinel resigns from Head of Design role at Tata

Tata's Head of Design, Pierre Castinel, has resigned from his post to accept a position at PSA, Car Design News has learned. Castinel was originally hired to develop the design direction and form a brand identity for Tata's full line of vehicles, including cars, pickups, SUVs, MPVs, trucks and buses, but things haven't been going well at the Indian automaker. According to insiders, Tata closed Castinel's design studio in the British midlands last year, forcing the UK-based team to move into the automaker's engineering center in Warwickshire.

GM bets on new four-cylinder family in Europe; U.S. plans unclear

General Motors' European subsidiary, Opel, has revealed a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder direct-injection gasoline engine that will be offered from early 2013 across its lineup, starting with the soon-to-be-revealed Astra-based Cascada convertible. The aluminum block unit, the first in a new range of so-called SIDI (spark ignition direct injection) ECOTEC engines, forms the centerpiece of the company's downsizing strategy for displacement. The engine is claimed to have improved torque characteristics and a significant reduction in consumption compared with its predecessor.