95 Honda Trx300ex Muffler Exhaust Pipe on 2040-parts.com

BMW Alpina D3 BiTurbo – a great diesel

The BMW Alpina D3 BiTurbo - a brilliant, quick and economical everyday drive Alpina has turned out some stunning versions of the BMW range over the years (and some not so stunning – their 8 Series springs to mind) and they fill a gap that is either not profitable in small volume for BMW or, in some cases, a hole that BMW hasn’t plugged. And this one is a good hole to fill with the BMW Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo, a 3 Series diesel with the heart of a hot hatch. Alpina has taken the engine out of the 1 Series 123d and given it a boost to 240bhp, in the process dropping the 0-60 time to a very creditable 6.9 seconds But it’s not the sprint that count,  but the way this peppy diesel unit delivers it.

James Bond car chases – 50 years in 2 compilation videos

With the James Bond film franchise celebrating 50 years, we have two videos of Bond car chases to enjoy. For those of us who grew up with Sean Connery and Aston Martin as the Bond ingredients that matter, nothing is better than James Bond in an Aston Martin DB5. But there have been many other Bonds in the 50 year history of the Bond franchise – from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig by way of Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, George Lazenby and Pierce Brosnan – and even more cars, from BMW to Lotus by way of Toyota and Sunbeam.

Mercedes E63 AMG (2011) gets twin-turbo V8

Mercedes has updated the E63 AMG super saloon with a range of minor tweaks, and one major one. Say goodbye to the 6.2-litre naturally-aspirated V8 engine which heralded the '63' badging, and hello to another downsized, forced-induction response to tightening emissions and economy requirements. The 2011 E63 receives the twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 engine first seen in the S63 AMG, and now powering the CL63 and CLS63 as well. So the Mercedes E63 AMG is actually an E55 AMG?