Yamaha 350 Raptor Electric Starter Motor Yfm350s #21 2006 on 2040-parts.com

McLaren plan to make windscreen wipers obsolete

McLaren plan to make windscreen wipers obsolete Much of the ‘clunkiness’ in cars – stuff like wind-up windows and a cranking handle – have been made obsolete in cars as technology arrived to make things work better, but one thing that remains on modern cars from the dawn of the motoring age is the windscreen wiper. Invented by Mary Anderson in 1903 after she realised drivers of the first motor cars were having to lean out of the window in rainy conditions to see where they were going, it became a standard fitting on all cars within a few years. Windscreen wipers have certainly improved over the years as technology has developed, but they’re still basically a strip of rubber moving across the windscreen to clear rain.

Watch Tesla Model S testing new titanium armor

In a missive signed by Elon Musk himself, Tesla announced it would be adding titanium plates and aluminum deflectors to all new Model S sedans and offering free retrofits for the 20,000 or so existing EVs. The company earlier offered an over-the-air software update to raise the ground clearance of the Model S so the car would be more likely to clear dangerous road debris. The actions were in response to well-publicized fires in the electric luxury sedans.

Ford Fiesta “Centura” – 100 years of Ford UK

Ford Fiesta Centura Ford isn’t a British company – even if many of us think of Ford as a patriotic buy – although they’ve been in the UK for 100 years. And to celebrate that landmark they’ve revealed the Ford Fiesta Centura, a limited edition of just 1,000 cars. Based on the Fiesta 1.25 Zetec, the Fiesta Centura gets £600 worth of extras – metallic paint (Panther Black only), chrome mirrors, 16″ alloys, auto lights and wipers, rear parking sensors, reversing camera and LED running lights – and costs £13,395 for the three-door and £13,995 for the five door.