Standard Size 5.0/302 Ford Pistons on 2040-parts.com

Volvo V40 Cross Country & V40 R-Design: Paris 2012

Volvo has revealed the V40 Cross Country and V40 R-Design at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, and both are convincing. The sporty take on the new V40 is the V40 R-design, a cosmetic update for the already good-looking V40 that manages to bolt on go-faster bits without wrecking the good lines of the normal V40. We would like to have seen the Volvo V40 R-Design get the sports suspension as standard, but Volvo obviously feel that most R-Design buyers want the looks rather than the more dynamic ride the sports suspension offers, so it stays as an option. And as the R-Design option is available across the new V40 range – from the D2 to the T4 – it’s probably the right decision.

Alfa Romeo is not for sale, Fiat chairman says

Fiat will not sell its Alfa Romeo unit and plans to relaunch the brand in the United States in late 2012, top Fiat executives said. “We would not sell Alfa even if we were offered tons of money,” Fiat chairman John Elkann told reporters at the Detroit auto show on Monday. Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said: “Alfa is part of Fiat's operational perimeter and we've already invested too much to get rid of it.” Volkswagen AG is rumored to be pursuing Alfa Romeo.

Kia Pro_Cee’d GT Turbo first photo leaks out

We have the first of the 2013 Kia Pro_Cee’d GT – Kia’s Pro_Cee’d with the Veloster Turbo engine – ahead of its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. We reported back in October that Kia were definitely going to stick the 1.6 litre petrol turbo from the Hyundai Velsoter in to the 3-door Pro_Cee’d to create a quite warm hatch to start chasing the hot hatch market, and Kia themselves teased the Pro_Cee’d GT in November. And now, ahead of the reveal of the Pro_Cee’d GT in March at Geneva, we get the first photo of the Pr0_Cee’d GT complete with the added butchness we expected to differentiate the GT from its more prosaic siblings.