Cardone 14-1011 Brake Caliper Bracket-caliper Bracket on 2040-parts.com

Mini Countryman JCW at 2012 Geneva motor show

This is the Mini Countryman John Cooper Works, set to be unveiled at the 2012 Geneva motor show. It’s the most powerful Mini so far, with 215bhp, and the first JCW product to boast four-wheel drive. Timed to coincide with much vaunted success in the World Rally Championship… Oh.

Vauxhall Adam gets new 1.0 litre 3-cylinder engine, Cascada new new 1.6 SIDI turbo with 197bhp

Vauxhall Adam & Vauxhall Cascada get new engines Vauxhall (and Opel, for that matter) are on a mission to fit new, more powerful and more efficient engines in cars across their range, and new engines are on their way for the Vauxhall Adam and the new Cascada. The Vauxhall Adam gets a new 1.0 litre 3-cylinder engine from GM’s SGE (Small Gasoline Engine) family that will ultimately offer 3 and 4-cylinder engines up to 1.6 litres. The 1.0 litre 3-pot for the Adam gets 113bhp and 122lb/ft of torque (it’s Vauxhall’s take on the hugely successful 1.0 litre EcoBoost Ford are busy introducing across their range) mated to a new six-speed gearbox.

Better Place EV Battery Swap business goes bust

It seemed like a good idea: take the cost of batteries out of the cost of buying an electric car and instead charge EV owners to use ‘Battery Swap’ stations where depleted batteries could be swapped for fully charged ones in the time it takes to fill an ICE car with petrol. But it’s all gone a bit Pete Tong. Better Place – which partnered with Renault in 2009 to make the battery swap technology viable – has failed to find anyone to add to the $750 million already involved in the project and has filed for bankruptcy.