1977-81 Trans Am Shaker Hood Scoop Seal Weatherstrip on 2040-parts.com

Mugen to sell tuning parts through UK Honda dealers

Remember last year’s hardcore and ludicrously expensive Mugen Civic Type R? Tuned by the European arm of the Japanese motorsport firm, the tricked-up Civic featured hotter cams, a new exhaust revised suspension and a unique body kit – but a £39k price meant only a few were sold. The good news is that you’ll soon be able to cherry pick some of those parts for your own Civic and even the CR-Z hybrid because Mugen has struck an agreement to distribute tuning parts through eight Honda dealers in the UK.

CES: Cranking up Harman's QuantumLogic 3D surround-sound system

Yesterday we reported how Audi was readying a lavish 3D sound experience with 23 speakers and 1,400 watts of goosebump-inducing audio power. Not to be outdone, Harman had been quietly developing a system of its own: Quantum Logic 3D brings together 25 speakers and more than 2,000 watts of Tubthumping power to a new car near you, like driving inside Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. Sitting inside the demonstration BMW 7-Series that Harman painstakingly lifted into the Studio at the Palms, Global Audio Engineering vice president Phil Muzio explained, "great music is delivered in stereo, yet our consumer research indicates that people enjoy surround sound." QuantumLogic 3D's surround sound expands beyond the boundaries of the vehicle's cabin, providing "a sense of detail and spatial placement that you don't get in stereo." Five height component speakers mounted in the corners of the headliner, and above the rearview mirror, elevates audio beyond the confines of the roof, "almost like you're in a convertible," said Muzio.

Jaguar Land Rover profits up 34 per cent to £1.5 billion

Just four years after Tata took over what looked like a basket case in Jaguar Land Rover, profits have hit £1.5 billion. It’s become the norm for Jaguar Land Rover to report ever improving profits and sales, but the news that JLR made profits of £1.5 billion in the year to end of March 2012 is still amazing. Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata four years ago as it unwound its faltering luxury car brands, and as recently as 2009 JLR were almost begging for government help to keep going.