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

Toyota to unlock secrets of black-box recorders

Reacting to criticism that data from black-box crash recorders in its vehicles can be accessed only by the company, Toyota Motor Corp. is moving to ship hundreds of data-decoding machines to the United States and make them commercially available to help diagnose vehicle problems. The devices, known as event data recorders, are similar to the black boxes on airliners and record information such as vehicle and engine speed in the seconds before a crash.

One lap of the Web: PT Cruiser Limo, Blackhawk Farms Raceway, and Swedish baby born in wrecked car

We love to cover the fastest race cars, strongest trucks and particularly the coolest vehicles in the world of automobiles. But we also cover the ridiculous -- like the PT Cruiser limo. Nothing says “I've made it” like a '50s-inspired crossover, and there is nothing like a night on the town in a PT Cruiser limo.

Citroen at the Paris motor show 2008

By James Foxall Motor Shows 02 October 2008 11:59 Citroen is one of the show stealers this year with a stunning-looking concept car that you can actually drive, courtesy of a tie-up with PlayStation. But the firm’s stand had something for everyone, with 34 models including the new C3 Picasso, BMW X6-like Hypnos concept and even a hybrid World Rally Championship car.  This was the first car the firm unveiled in Paris and the one it spent most time talking about. It’s a Renault Modus-rivalling baby people carrier which goes on sale early in 2009.