1996-2000 Toyota Rav 4 Front Wheel Hub on 2040-parts.com

Petrolhead spiders cause Mazda recall

Mazda has had to recall 42,000 vehicles in the US after it emerged that a species of spider had been weaving webs in fuel vent hoses, increasing the risk of fuel leaks and fires. The yellow sac spider’s curious domestic activities cause a build-up of pressure in the evaporative fuel vent that – in theory at least – could result in a cracked fuel tank and therefore an increased risk of fire. This isn’t the first time that the Mazda 6 has received the unwanted advances of a gas-guzzling arachnid, either – three years ago Mazda had to recall over 50,000 cars for precisely the same reason.

VW Cross Coupe Concept goes diesel

The VW Cross Coupe Concept goes diesel - and red Volkswagen are bringing the Cross Coupe Concept to Geneva, but even though it looks the same it now gets a diesel-powered hybrid powertrain. At the end of last year we saw the VW Cross Coupe Concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, an ‘Urban’ Crossover come SUV Concept from Volkswagen that looked as if it had stolen every current design trend and morphed it in to one concept. Oddly, it worked.

Crashing the Pixar Motorama car show

The animated film studio Pixar sits behind newly aged brick walls on a sprawling campus in the East Bay that looks and seems a little like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, especially since you can't get inside. But we've been inside, and it is a pretty wonderful place. On July 12 Pixar's Jay Ward, guardian of the "Cars" franchise and all the wheeled wonders that entails, organized the latest Pixar Motorama, the greatest car show you'll never see.