Mercruiser Alpha One Gen1 1.50 Gear Ratio on 2040-parts.com

One Lap of the Web: We missed April Fools'

-- Yesterday was April Fools' Day, a holiday known in some cultures as "April 1st." We chose to ignore the staid, unamusing fake press releases touting everything from Ford C-Max charcoal grilles to Audi sushi to BMW's annual efforts. ("The Ultimate Sleeping Machine" is what Web commenters will inevitably post in an effort to deride the upcoming 2-series.) But Petrolicious did a tasteful video of a certain moneyed purist's most prized vehicle, a car with all the panache, style, and passione that only its beautiful curves could convey. The folks at Petrolicious begged for a ride in this dangerously exciting speed machine, and by Jove, they got it.

VW Touareg BlueMotion hits the UK

Volkswagen has announced the VW Touareg BlueMotion for the UK Offering improved economy and lower emissions, the Touareg BlueMotion manages to drop in to a lower Co2 band by emitting 219g/km (a reduction from 244g/km on the V6 TDi) and it delivers 34mpg as opposed to 30.4mpg on the V7 TDi. These improvements have been achieved by the usual ECU tweaking, low rolling resistance tyres, some aerodynamic tweaks and a lower ride height (exactly the same sort of stuff that Ford has done on the EConetic range). And the penalty for the lower emissions and better economy is very slight, with the Touareg BlueMotion still managing the 0-60mph in 8.5 seconds and a top speed of  126mph.

Geely’s Rolls Royce clone gets de-cloned

The Geely GE Facelift - no longer a RR Clone It’s amazing how much things have moved on in the last twelve months. A year ago we reported that China’s Geely had become the latest Chinese car maker to produce a complete rip-off clone of a Western car, in this case a clone of the Rolls Royce Phantom. The Geely ‘Phantom’ even sported a  single seat  ’Throne’ in the back so the owner could feel really important in his Chinese version of  a Western plutocrat’s carriage.