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

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.

See craftsmen build the Maserati Alfieri

At Geneva earlier this month, Maserati debuted the Alfieri concept, a love letter to Maserati's first 100 years and a preview of the next few years, if not the next 100. Here, design chief Lorenzo Ramaciotti shows how the Alfieri -- named after one of the five Maserati brothers -- was inspired by the 1954 Maserati A6GCS/53, as previously threatened, especially in the proportions. But like any car, the key is always in the proportions.

New Vauxhall Astra VXR (2012) revealed

Vauxhall Astra VXR (2012) gets revealed We’ve been expecting news of the new 2012 Vauxhall Astra VXR for a while, especially as Vauxhall intend launching the hot Astra in 2012. And now we have a little more on the VXR – and some photos – although Vauxhall hasn’t put a price on the Astra VXR yet. The Astra VXR is based on the underpinnings of the Astra GTC – which Vauxhall managed to reveal at least three times before it finally went on sale – so it has two doors, a longer wheelbase and a wider track than its five-door rep-mobile sibling.