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

Art Center BMW/Exa project

There's a new sponsored project that is just getting under way at Art Center College of Design, the likes of which hasn't been seen in a very long time - if at all. The school's Transportation Design department has helped bring together BMW with Exa Corporation, a Boston-based virtual aerodynamic simulation company, and has tasked the students to re-design the current BMW X5 Sports Activity Vehicle with the hope of dramatically increasing its aerodynamic efficiency while still retaining the BMW flagship SAV design language. This brief is quite timely in the context of the industry's ongoing focus with sustainability and strikes at the core of the BMW Group's long term energy strategy known as the concept of Efficient Dynamics.

Children more distracting than cell phones, study finds

Parents of small children will not be surprised by findings released recently by Australian researchers stating children pose a greater distraction to drivers than talking on cell phones -- a 12 percent greater distraction, to be exact. With all the screaming and crying infants bring to the commute and the fighting and other factors older siblings contribute, we wonder why nobody has pointed a finger at our precious angels sooner. Perhaps because there is little we can do to control when or where our kids decide to dissolve into fits of rage or sorrow.

Skoda Rapid Spaceback (2013) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the new Skoda Rapid Spaceback that’s basically an estate version of the Rapid hatchback that was launched in the UK last year. Skoda wants its miniature Audi A3 Sportback-lookalike to appeal to young buyers and trendy youthful families when the car goes on sale this October, and it shouldn’t cost much more than the regular Rapid, which starts at £12,905. Skoda Rapid Spaceback – more space you-know-where, then?