Mercruiser 3.0 Engine on 2040-parts.com

3,000bhp supercar selection set for Birmingham

THE NEW age of efficiency appears not to be dampening manufacturers’ desire to build high-performance flagship cars, with 3,000bhp worth of shiny new models set to descend on Birmingham’s Performance Car Show in January. Among the headliners are the Jaguar XKR-S GT, the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, McLaren 12C Sprint and Aston Martin Vanquish. The Ferrari steals the outright performance headlines, with 0-62mph dispatched in just three seconds and 100mph disappearing in only 6.5 seconds, courtesy of a melodious 6.3-litre V12 engine under the long bonnet.

Scion sets sticker prices on limited-production xD, xB models

Scion has set base pricing for its 2012 limited-production xD and xB automatic models at $16,980 and $18,840, respectively, including delivery charges. For the manual-transmission versions, prices for the xD and the xB increase to $17,780 and $19,790 respectively. Both models debuted at the Texas State Fair on Thursday and are slated to begin filtering into dealerships in October.

No sign of global auto meltdown at Tokyo Auto Salon

With more than 600 cars on display and a record number of exhibitors, nothing at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Salon tuner show hinted at the global economic downturn. As always, there was a great mix of styles, from hard-core, 1,000-hp, supertuned machinery to weird customized scooter tricycles. Auto manufacturers tried hard to capture the minds--if not the wallets--of the younger-than-30 crowd with customized versions of production cars, while tuners were busy persuading power junkies to choose them for their next engine modification.