Skunk2 310-05-1320 Alpha Series High Compression Valve For B-series Vtec Engines on 2040-parts.com

Hyundai will launch Veloster Turbo in 2012

Hyundai has confirmed it will bring a 1.6 turbo version of the Veloster coupe to the UK in the second half of 2012, as first revealed by CAR. It should make an interesting alternative to the VW Golf GTI brigade. The new blown four-cylinder engine is called the Gamma 1.6 T-GDI by Hyundai - and it develops an unusually high specific output of 201bhp at 6000rpm and 196lb ft at just 1750rpm.

Audi R8 e-tron killed off for production – again

It’s more than six months since we reported that Audi were planning to kill off any production plans for the electric R8 e-Tron, with Audi’s head of R&D saying the production plans for the R8 were going to be scrapped. And it seems they have now gone in the bin. Autocar are reporting that Audi has confirmed to them that the R8 e-Tron won’t be going in to production and the ten latest e-Trons to be built will be used just for testing and development to help Audi with its ‘electrification’ plans, which will now almost certainly concentrate on plug-in hybrids and range extenders, rather than EVs.

Mini Beachcomber Concept at Detroit motor show 2010

This funky beach-biased concept car has just appeared at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show in January. Called the Mini Beachcomber Concept, this flight-of-fancy Moke-inspired show car gives us our first glimpse of how Mini's production-spec 4x4 crossover will look at launch - we'll see the real car at the Geneva motor show in March 2010 ahead of an autumn UK launch. This four-seater, four-wheel-drive machine has been designed without doors or a conventional roof, so that its occupants are not cut off from the outside world.