1982 Kawasaki Kz1100 Kz1100a2 Electronic Speedometer Drive/oem on 2040-parts.com

VW Passat: New distance world record

VW Passat World distance Record When you as old as I am (or at least as old as I feel) you can’t help but be astonished at the feats of economy car makers seem able to wring from even quite serious, upmarket cars. Yesterday we reported on the Mercedes S250 CDI which manages to perform like a 1990s V8 S-Class whilst simultaneously doing nearly 50mpg. Which to an old git like me – who thought his 3.0 litre Capri in his teen years was doing well if it got 18mpg – is a bit hard to acccept.

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.

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011 roundup & HUGE photo gallery

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011 with the E-Type sculpture outside the house It’s really quite hard to convey just how enjoyable the Goodwood Festival of Speed is to those who’ve never been. John waxed lyrical over the weekend (someone has to do the weekend news) saying that the Goodwood FoS is “Disneyland for petrolheads, with the world’s greatest cars and greatest drivers wallowing in three days of high-octane worship at the alter of the internal combustion engine” And he’s absolutely right, but there’s more to it than that. It it works because, despite the fame and ability of many of those who turn up to Goodwood every year, from Button to Moss and Evans to Martin, there is little in the way of them and us; it’s 180,000 diverse people drawn together by a common love of all things car.