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

Interior Motives Design Conference 2005

Patrick le Quement, Senior Vice President, Corporate Design, Renault made the opening address in which he remarked that "the most profound change I and my team have made is the investment in interior design". He took the audience through a succinct overview of the recent history of Renault design and how far it has evolved from being 'the art of dressing up the hunchback' as a senior Renault manager remarked several decades ago. One of the interesting Renault Design processes he talked about was its 'Trends Missions' where groups of four or five designers make trips into creative areas adjacent to car design for a few days to explore, research and bring back to the studio valuable insight that enriches the design group as a whole and informs the many issues and tasks being grappled with, one of the most important at the moment being defining 'what is Renault'.

Heifer fuel

Unlike most people, when Michael Doyle drives past a herd of cattle grazing in a field, he doesn't see future tenderloins or T-bones. He sees fuel. The company Doyle co-owns, North Star Biofuels, is about to start production of biodiesel at a new $15 million, 20,000-square-foot plant in Watsonville, Calif., about 60 miles south of San Francisco.

Jaguar F-Type photo leaks ahead of Paris motor show debut

We've seen galleries galore of Jaguar F-Type testers running around the western United States in camo. Thanks to a leaky European website, though, this first official photo of the production F-Type has hit the Internet. The image shows a trio of F-Types, all with S badging in the front grille; no word on which powerplant is beneath each of the curvaceous hoods, but we'll find out next week at the Paris auto show.