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

Recalls and stop-sale orders leave GM cars sidelined at dealers

Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest times of the year for car dealers around the country, but the recent spate of recalls and stop-sale orders for GM vehicles will be putting the brakes on a lot of potential sales. Specifically, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC dealers will be unable to deliver tens of thousands of large SUVs and crossovers, a segment that has seen a lot of demand in recent months because of unavailable parts for recalled cars, Automotive News reports. When it comes to large crossovers, the recall of 1.3 million examples of the GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave, and Chevrolet Traverse vehicles from the 2009-2014 model years is likely to hit dealers hard.

Driven: Honda FCX Clarity

It may be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell but the Honda FCX Clarity is no work-in-progress; its technology awkwardly shoehorned into an existing model. Nor is it a brittle concept without suspension banned from exceeding 30mph. It's a safety-tested four-seat executive sedan designed from scratch to accommodate hi-tech underpinnings.

New Mercedes S-Class Plug-in Hybrid to debut at Frankfurt Motor Show

The new Mercedes S-Class (pictured) will arrive with a plug-in hybrid version in September We’ve known Mercedes were planning a plug-in hybrid version of the new S-Class as far back as 2009, and it now appears it will debut – as a 2014 model – at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in September. When Mercedes revealed the Vision S500 Plug-in Hybrid Concept at Frankfurt in 2009, they had fitted it with a V6 petrol engine mated to a 44kw motor and a bank of lithium-ion batteries, and promised the hybrid S-Class would do 90mpg, have emissions of under 75g/km and manage 18 miles in EV mode. That means the hybrid S-Class would have performance comparable to the V8 petrol-engined S500 but attract no BIK or VED in the UK.