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

Car design: a reader laments current styling trends

No Sonny, They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Did In My Day Actually, back then, if they could be bothered to make them at all, they hardly ever made them properly, and much of what got made properly wasn’t worth the bother. So that’s nostalgia for you. But a post a while back from the clear-sighted Wittgenfrog echoed my own thoughts.

Chrysler moves design boss Ralph Gilles to lead new SRT brand

Chrysler Group on Tuesday shuffled the heads of its vehicle brands, placing design chief Ralph Gilles in charge of the newly created Street and Racing Technology (SRT) brand while handing his duties as head of the Dodge brand to Reid Bigland. The move is a way of getting all of the automaker's SRT efforts together under one leader, spokeswoman Shawn Morgan said. Gilles, 41, will still be in charge of Chrysler's motorsports activities and the design for Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep vehicles.

Future Audis may time traffic lights for you

Here's a trick efficiency-chasing hypermilers have been using for years: spotting the cycles of stoplights from 100 to 200 yards out and letting the car coast up to the light just before it turns green, then carrying on without ever letting the car come to a complete stop. These hypermilers, along with professional truck drivers, do this because they know that accelerating from a standstill burns the greatest amount of fuel, and because letting a car coast up to the light with the automatic transmission downshifting by itself is easier on the transmission than stomping on the brakes right beneath the stoplight. Oh, and it's easier on the brake pads as well.