Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes previews technology before Frankfurt auto show

Future Mercedes will crash less often and use less gas doing so. We got a few insights into exactly how that will happen when we attended the Mercedes preview the night before the Frankfurt auto show. Inside its own enormous hall at the International Auto Austellung, Mercedes previewed gas-saving and accident-avoiding technologies we can expect to see on production cars within the next decade.

Ferrari-designed Santa's sleigh (2010)

Ferrari is used to building high-speed sports cars, but now it's undertaken a far more difficult design study: building the Ferrari sleigh for Father Christmas. Penned by the design team in Maranello led by Flavio Manzoni, the Ferrari supercar sleigh is said to use many of the design principles which underpin its roadgoing supercars such as the 458 Italia and California. It’s a lightweight sledge with the iconic Prancing Horse depicted on its flanks and racing numerals on the door panels.

Fewer people being killed in car-truck collisions, study finds

Death rates in crashes between big trucks and cars dropped 64 percent in 2008-09 compared with 2000-01, according to an insurance-industry study of government data. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety cited changes in vehicle design, particularly for SUVs and pickups, as a key factor in the decline. The number of deaths for car and minivan passengers involved in crashes with larger vehicles fell from 44 per million in 2000-01 to 16 deaths per million in 2008-09, the study found.