Kawasaki 11065-1204-260 Cap,fr Fender,a.red on 2040-parts.com

Kia goes (dark) green

By Jesse Crosse Motor Industry 23 September 2008 11:00 Kia has unveiled a portfolio of new environmental technologies, including a 1.4-litre Ceed with stop-start (due in the UK in 2009), a Ceed hybrid and the latest version of its fuel cell-powered Sportage. The Korean manufacturer is investing heavily in research and development and will increase its spend on R&D from £2.2 billion this year to £2.6 billion by 2010, combined with a 40 percent increase in manpower at its research centres around the globe. The money is being spent on developing downsized, turbocharged engines, efficiency improvements to conventional engines such as friction reduction and the separation of accessories like water pumps from the engine.

Why the BMW M4 is better than the M3 V8 (2013)

It’s no exaggeration to say that the turbocharged engine in the upcoming BMW M3 (saloon) and M4 (coupe) models is one of the most important engines ever produced by BMW’s M Division. No, it’s not the first turbo lump the performance off-shoot has built – you'll probably know we’ve already had the X5/X6M mutants plus the brilliant 1M and M5 and M6 – but it is the first turbo ever to slot in a production M3, the car that personifies BMW’s iconic performance sub brand, which itself has always been defined by high-revving, naturally aspirated engines. All of this explains why M’s engineers have cut their teeth on other engines first before plucking up the courage to develop the M3/M4 turbo while turning their backs on the outgoing E92 M3’s exceptional V8.

Pagani Huayra Roadster still 2 years away

The Pagani Huayra Roadster is still 2 years away (Coupe pictured) The Pagani Huayra arrived three years ago as Pagani’s replacement for the Zonda (in fact, is was three years ago in January we exclusively revealed the first ever Huayra photo), and despite assurances from Pagani that a Huayra Roadster would arrive by 2014 there’s still no sign of it. We did have a little moment of anticipation that the Huayra Roadster was on its way when Pagani teased something new for Geneva 2013, but that turned out to be nothing more than a (posh) new set of speakers for the Huayra Coupe. In fact, the Sonus Faber Sound System for the Huayra Roadster is about the only Pagani news on anything new we’ve had in the three years since the Huayra arrived – although there have been plenty of problems for the Huayra along the way.