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

Brits take the world steam land speed record – twice +video

The British Steam Car Challenge team has set a new land speed record for a steam car at 148.308mph All of which tends to suggest – admirable though the achievement is – that steam technology has not moved on much in 100 years. An improvement of around 1mph a decade. Still, a challenge is a challenge, and the team on the British Steam Car Challenge rose to the occasion.

Hot seats: from design to delivery [sponsored]

As the user demands on car interiors are increasingly influenced by their growing design consciousness, so suppliers like Lear strive to bring better-engineered seating to satisfy. 2013 was another big year for Lear, as Jeanette Puig-Pey, its global fabric & leather design manager, enthuses: "At our ‘Design2Perform' event we celebrated the unveiling of our brand new collection, with special emphasis on color and texture and our TeXstyle Enhance product, perfect for customization. Laser etching is part of this offering, it is exclusive to Lear Corporation and can be used to add refined design elements to cloth and leather." A mix of fabric and leather in seating is not new but is often seen by the consumer as a cheaper alternative to full leather.

GM files plan for stock offering

General Motors Co., moving to unwind itself from government control, on Wednesday filed plans to go public and begin selling common shares as early as this fall. The filing--anticipated for weeks--came just 13 months after GM was restructured in bankruptcy with $50 billion in direct aid from the U.S. government.