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Mazda's rotary engine stalled, not forgotten

Development of the next-generation rotary engine from Mazda Motor Corp., first unveiled three years ago, is making slow progress despite missing emissions targets. A top Mazda powertrain executive said today that the 1.6-liter rotary engine, called the 16X, is about 30 percent more fuel-efficient than the current rotary engine used in the RX-8 sporty car. In fact, the 16X so far performs slightly better than Mazda's standard two-liter gasoline engine, said Mitsuo Hitomi, general manager of the Japanese carmaker's powertrain division.

John Hennessey unwinds modified Chevy SS

Perhaps it's not as impressive as John Hennessey's recent 200mph blast down Houston's new Grand Parkway in a warmed-up Stingray, but we figured we'd show you his latest run down the same road in a Chevrolet SS equipped with his company's HPE600 Supercharged package. Thanks to GM's engineers, the four-door hits its top speed of 163 in 5th, rather than 6th, but what impressed us the most was watching the numbers climb on the VBOX — the car pulls John-Bonham-hard all the way up to its top speed. Hennessey hasn't released details of the mods performed on the SS yet, but we're anxious to see what this anodyne-looking monster will do on the top end once the gearing nag's sent off to the glue factory.

College Exhibition: Coventry University Degree Show 2007

Undergraduate students from Coventry University's Transportation Design program had their initial show in the end of May this year, but the range of projects was so vast that a selection of work from the annual degree show was then chosen and displayed in Coventry Transport Museum on June 15. Car Design News was there to see what had been selected. Inspired by the Alfa BT4B with which Niki Lauda won the Swedish Formula One Grand Prix in 1978, Stephan Everwin created a modern interpretation of the 'Fan Car'.  Its rakish lines all culminate in a smooth aerodynamic shape that incorporates a huge fan between the rear wheels creating a massive vacuum under the car providing downforce at high speed.