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

Toyoda says company is ‘grasping for salvation', fears big sales loss

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said his money-losing automaker is “grasping for salvation” as it struggles to return to profit. The world's largest car company was once targeting annual sales of 10 million vehicles but now expects sales of 7.3 million this year, down from 8.97 million in 2008, Toyoda said today at a news conference.

IIHS names safest cars for 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has named the safest cars for 2013, including 13 midsize sedans that qualify for a new “top safety pick+” designation. The designation is given to vehicles that earn “good” ratings for occupant protection in at least four of five tests, with no less than “acceptable” in the fifth test. A new test -- the small overlap test -- was added to assess how the vehicles perform during a front-corner collision with another vehicle or object, such as a utility pole.

One Lap of the Web: A wiseguy in a Cadillac

-- Not many car reviews feature a shot-for-shot remake of "Goodfellas." (We're still banking on Ford's re-introduction of the Crown Victoria for a shot-for-shot remake of Beastie Boys' "Sabotage.") Matt Farah of the Smoking Tire did for its review of the Cadillac CTS V-Sport, which took four days to shoot and six to edit, and probably three more to steal the dolly cam from Scorsese's basement. -- You might not remember the Saturn Pioneer, but back in 1979, "the new marque Saturn was developed to play on the increased attention to astronomy NASA's deep space probes were generating," writes automotive historian/inveterate liar Jason Torchinsky. One of GM's many H-Body cars, the Pioneer -- named after the probe, not the Probe -- carried an innovative version of GM's venerable "Iron Duke": it had both a carburetor and throttle-body fuel injection, which undoubtedly added needless complexity that could have better served the real Rocket Division, Oldsmobile.