Apdty 375412 Engine Oil Pan on 2040-parts.com

New 2013 Nissan Note gets more appealing

The new Nissan Note has turned in to a Ford Fiesta basher as Nissan turn the Note from a boring little MPV in to a convincing small hatch. We did think the Invitation would be watered down to produce a slightly titivated new Note for production, but much of the style has found its way through in to the new Note – which we first saw in the JDM Nissan Note last summer – and the Note now looks set to take on proper compact hatches like the Ford Fiesta. The nose of the new Note is now more convincing – with new headlights and grill – and the doors get a great big feature crease that looks like a giant smoothing iron has stamped its mark, although Nissan say it’s a ‘Squash Line’  whose ‘angles were inspired by the flight of a fast moving squash ball travelling around a court’.

Smart designs eBike

Smart has joined its fellow car manufacturers in designing a bicycle and is putting it into series production. The main components of the eBike such as the frame, battery housing, handlebars, lights and mudguards have been designed and developed specifically for Smart. The two-color concept is, so it's makers claim, recognizable as classic Smart, with the plastic battery housing forming a contrast to the aluminum frame.

BMW M3 and M4 on track, on video ahead of Detroit debut

The new BMW M3 and M4 on track at the Nurburgring The next instalment for the new BMW 3 and 4 Series is the arrival of the new range-topping, benchmark-setting BMW m3 and M4 at Detroit in January. Ahead of that, BMW has already given us plenty of the specs for both the 2014 M3 and M4. They include the arrival of a new 3.0 litre turbo engine for the M3 and M4 offering 424bhp and 369lb/ft of torque – more than the old 4.0 litre petrol could muster – attached to a manual gearbox as standard with a tweaked seven-speed dual-clutch auto as an option.