New BMW M3 and M4 engine secrets laid bare

BMW's M division has lifted the veil of secrecy on the inline six-cylinder engine bound for its upcoming M3 sedan and new-to-the-range M4 coupe and convertible, revealing a potent twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter direct injection gasoline unit that produces an official 424 hp at 7,500 rpm and what officials describe as "significantly more than 369 lb-ft" of torque. The newly developed engine, known under the internal codename S55 B30, shares its 84.0 mm bore and 89.6 mm stroke with BMW's standard turbocharged 3.0-liter in-line six-cylinder direct-injection gasoline mill, the M55 used across the German car maker's lineup, endowing the aluminum block unit with an overall swept volume of 2,979 cc. This represents a sizeable 990 cc reduction on the engine BMW's M division's new unit replaces, the S65.

One Lap of the Web: Porsche at Le Mans, F-150 reclaims the flag and Foose talks classic rods

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- We covered the 24 Hours of Le Mans top to bottom including every make and class, but if your preferred marque is Porsche you might enjoy the Porsche Purist's look at how cars from Stuttgart fared during the endurance classic, complete with photos, stats and results.

Interior Motives Design Awards 2010

As the doors closed to the press at the Mondial de L'Automobile in Paris, the world's top designers and automotive journalists gathered at the nearby Palais des Congrès d'Issy to watch a new generation of designers celebrate success at the 2010 Interior Motives Design Awards. Never before has the automotive industry been in greater need of fresh perspectives and innovation, and the students gathered here tonight provided both in spades - perhaps none more so than Kosin Voravattayagon of Sweden's Umeå Institute of Design, who walked away from the event with the Interior Motives Student Designer of the Year 2010 title and prize money totalling $5,000. Themed ‘Driving the Interior Revolution', this year's contest attracted entries from an incredibly diverse range of schools and nationalities - from Israel and Iran, to Slovakia and South America.