Yamaha Banshee Factory Rear And Front Brake Setup on 2040-parts.com

Dan Darancou appointed Chief Designer at CH-Auto

Former GM design manager Dan Darancou has become Chief Designer at CH-Auto, a major Chinese car design studio that supports numerous domestic car manufacturers as well as international car companies looking to sell vehicles in the burgeoning automotive market. Darancou, who started his new role on November 1, will be overseeing all design activities as well as facilitating the liaison between the styling and engineering departments so the company can deliver complete ready-for-production vehicles and services. As well as tackling these initiatives, Darancou will also be promoting the organization, furthering the company's goal to become the premier car design studio in China.

Toyota Verso is the first Toyota to get a BMW engine

The Toyota Verso (pictured) gets the option of a 1.6 litre BMW diesel engine from 2014 Two years ago we reported that BMW would be supplying Toyota with diesel engines in Europe from 2014, And bang on time (as you’d expect from the Germans and Japanese) the first Toyota with a BMW engine has been revealed. The Toyota Verso 1.6 D-4D goes in to production in January at Toyota’s plant in Turkey complete with a 1.6 litre diesel engine from BMW that comes with 111bhp and 199lb/ft of torque. It’s not the sort of BMW diesel that’s going to see the Verso turn in to a hot MPV, but it does give the Verso emissions of 119g/km and allow Toyota to offer an engine that appeals to frugal minded, diesel-centric European buyers.

Citroen DS Revival – update

We brought you news a few days ago of Citroen’s announcement that they are going to revive the Citroen DS, and launch the first model at the Geneva Motor Show next month. Citroen's DS Inside Concept to show at Geneva Old cynics that we are, we reckoned that this would be nothing more than a bit of badge engineering – Citroen’s ‘Ford Ghia’ moment. And to be honest, the release of the picture you see here, which is Citroen’s DS Inside Concept, and the basis for the first of the ‘DS’ cars, the DS3, hasn’t really changed our minds much.