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

McLaren 650s Configurator goes live

The McLaren 650S Configurator The new McLaren 650S arrived at the Geneva Motor Show last week – and as the 650S Spider too – and looks, and performs, far better than the 12C. That seems to point to the McLaren 12C being allowed to whither on the vine as McLaren’s customers opt for the new 650S instead of the 12C – even with a price difference heading towards £20k – although officially you can still buy a 12C (although we hear 12C production has been halted). We hear McLaren have already built a number of 650S models and now they’ve even got the 650S Configurator up on their website so customers – and dreamers – can spec up their new 650S.

How Lexus execs rescued the GS sedan

Eighteen months ago, Toyota had all but scrapped its plans for the redesigned Lexus GS 350 sedan that was unveiled in Monterey, Calif., last week. At the time, the company was pouring engineering resources into resolving its unintended acceleration crisis and was busy changing quality and safety procedures. Plus, the GS' underwhelming sales in the United States and Europe made for a weak business case against the Mercedes E-class and BMW 5-series.

Essay: Variable Degrees of Translucency

Car door panels and fenders are generally made of steel, sometimes of aluminum or plastic composites, and you can't see through them. Car windows, on the other hand, are made of a transparent sandwich of glass and plastic - and you can see through them. But in the future there will be variable degrees of transparency: translucent elements where once there were none, traditional window areas that will have opaque elements and graduated progressions from opaque to see-through.