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

Will your next new car stop itself?

Last week in Park City, Utah, a group of us were discussing the chutzpah that some manufacturers have in charging hundreds of dollars for outboard mirrors that dip downward when the vehicle's placed in reverse. The consensus was, “Since the electric motors in the mirrors are already there, and the computers know the car's set to back up, it's only a line of code. A very expensive line of code.” The European Union seems to be thinking along the same lines.

Rear-drive revelers: Spring Fest draws LX devotees to California love-in

Long before Eminem boosted the image of Detroit and the Chrysler 200, Fatchance was getting the West Coast party started for Chrysler's rear-drive LX cars. Fatchance is the Internet handle of John Fortuno, a man who--like many others we met at the Sixth Annual Spring Fest for LX owners--claims his car, a 2005 Chrysler 300C, changed his life. It introduced him to www.LXforums.com, a worldwide virtual car club that has more than 38,000 members dedicated to the Chrysler LX rear-drive platform used by the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Charger, Challenger and Magnum.

Mercedes SL (2012) first official pictures

All-new SLs seem to come around as often as Halley’s Comet, but here are the first Stuttgart-sanctioned shots of Mercedes’ sixth generation premium roadster – the 2012 Mercedes SL. If it looks familiar, that’s because it’s already had more lenses pointed at its disguised bodywork than Pippa Middleton’s derrière – and CAR’s own renderings earlier this year weren’t far wide of the mark. So what’s the big news with the new 2012 Mercedes SL then?