2013 Mazda Cx-9 Factory Repair Service Manual on 2040-parts.com

Tomorrow's world: lightweight carbon composites

Once all the dust settles on The Great Battery Farce (the idea that the world's ills will be taken care of by sticking a battery in everything that moves and charging it up) we may eventually face up to the fact that the best way to move something around more economically, is to move less of it. That means making things lighter, a lot lighter. Car makers are working on it and manufacturers like Audi and Jaguar have already become masters in bringing aluminium to the mass production.

One Lap of the Web: Motel kitsch, Bentley dragsters and rusting Porsches

-- The roach motel lives on in these postcards from Petrolicious. The Googie signs and modernist architecture jump from the Howard Johnsons and Travelodges of the 1950s, when buildings were built in color. For a precious few decades in the tapestry of American interstate travel, before they became the refuge of schlocky horror movies, the motor hotel was the true King of the Road.

BMW Alpina B6 Bi-Turbo Convertible (2011) at the Frankfurt motor show

BMW’s M Division is busy readying M6 variants of both the 6-series Coupe and Convertible, but if you can’t wait until 2012 – or if you want a fast but understated Six – then Alpina has just the car for you. It’s the BMW Alpina B6 Bi-Turbo Convertible, just unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show. And I’m guessing the BMW Alpina B6 Bi-Turbo Convertible does exactly what is says on the tin?