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

Pace cadets: At AMG academy, students take their finals with their right feet

Mercedes-Benz USA launched the AMG Challenge in 2002, a program touted as "a chance to experience the thrill of driving the newest Mercedes AMGs on some of America's best racetracks." This year, MBUSA abandoned the Challenge in favor of the AMG Driving Academy, a multistage driver-development program pioneered by AMG in Europe. The difference? According to Greg Clark, AMG manager, "the Challenge was more about the cars, while the Academy is more about the driver." Having participated in both the Challenge and now the Academy, we'd say that difference is subtle, at least as it applies to the one-day program.

One Lap of the Web: Forsberg can't stop, won't stop drifting

-- Jann Mardenborough won the "Nissan GT Academy" back in 2011 and since then has finished on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as participating in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver program with aspirations of Formula One. He explains what it's like to move on from video games -- which he started playing at age 7 -- and transitioning into real sports cars. Mardenborough, it must be said, once drove too fast in British GT to be considered an amateur, but not quick enough to enter the pro class -- and race organizers, who didn't know what else to do, gave him a time penalty so the amateurs could catch up.

2014 Volvo XC90 to get a raft of new safety technology

The 2014 Volvo XC90 (pictured) will get a whole raft of new safety technology We know that the Volvo XC90 will be replaced (finally) next year with a new XC90 using Volvo’s new SPA platform and powered by their new range of 4-cylinder, high efficiency engines. We’ve also got a clue or two about how the new XC90 will look thanks to a design exercise by Volvo’s designers in 2011 to create their vision of the next generation XC90. Now we get details of some of the technology we can expect in the new XC90 as Volvo works towards their target of making sure no one gets killed in a Volvo involved in an accident by 2020.