12.7 Detroit Diesel Rebuildable Bare Block on 2040-parts.com

Toyota reveals new Le Mans car as Peugeot quits

Peugeot has announced that it’s closing its Le Mans and endurance racing programme with immediate effect. The unexpected announcement is a blow to the world-famous French endurance race, as the diesel-powered 908 HDi LMP1s have been the only cars able to challenge Audi’s dominance over the past few years – Peugeot won the Le Mans 24hrs in 2009. On the same day that Peugeot Sport announced the closure of its endurance racing programme, Toyota revealed its new 2012 Le Mans racer.

Toyota revamps Yaris line-up for 2014

Toyota has revamped its Yaris line-up and announced that the 1.4-litre diesel now has lower emissions – meaning it gets free road tax. The Yaris will now also come in a choice of four new trim levels: Active, Icon, Icon Plus and Trend. The Active and Icon replace the T2 and Tr, while Trend becomes the new top-of-the-range model.

Bungling thief caught after stealing hire car's steering wheel

A DIM-WITTED criminal has been convicted of theft after stealing parts of a brand new Audi A3 hire car and replacing them with old bits taken from his much older Audi S3. Alexander Keating, a 23-year-old former bodyshop technician who lost his job following the conviction, stole parts as obvious as the steering wheel and gear knob from the A3 that his mum had hired after damaging her car in an accident. Keating foolishly believed no one would notice the battered old steering wheel on the otherwise shiny, new car, but sure enough the mismatched parts were spotted and the hapless bungler was caught by the car hire firm’s bespoke anti-fraud team Asset Protection Unit (APU).