2003-2005 Nissan 350z Rear Rim Wheel Alloy Factory Oem Used Original 18" 03-05 on 2040-parts.com

Old is new again: Will a floor-hinged throttle pedal be in your future?

If you think that every little nut, bolt, switch, gear or widget in your new car wasn't scrutinized by a team of highly educated, overworked car geeks (read: engineers), think again. A couple of recent conversations with automotive engineers confirmed that virtually nothing that goes into a car today is taken for granted. During the recent Pebble Beach weekend, I had the pleasure of spending time with an engineer for Jaguar, and the subject turned to materials used for various switches in the cabin.

BMW i8 Spied

The BMW i8 being filmed for BMW TV Just the other day we brought you the BMW i3 out playing in Scandinavia so, to complete the set, we thought we’d add to that with the BMW i8 doing exactly the same. These photos of the i8 being snapped in the snow are being reported as camouflaged cold-weather testing for BMW’s new “i” range of cars. Which – if you look carefully at the front of the i8 above – would seem unlikely.

MINI at the Detroit Motor Show – Video trailer

The MINI Beachcoimber will be one of the stars of the NAIAS Next week sees the start of the 2010 Detroit Motor Show – the first big Motor Show of the season. And there will be lots of new stuff – and some not so new – and maybe even a surprise or two we don’t yet know about. So the teases are now starting in earnest for the NAIAS and MINI has put together a video trailer for the goodies it’s planning on bringing to the party.