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

LA Design Challenge 2011: studios compete to design Hollywood car

This year's LA Design Challenge will see competitors from around the world battle to design Hollywood's next movie car. Participating design studios from General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz Germany (Smart), Mercedes-Benz Japan (Maybach) and Mercedes-Benz US will all be showcasing their creative talents in an effort to secure top honors. Automobiles in Hollywood films produced throughout the years have become some of the most iconic symbols of the films – perhaps as important as the movies themselves.

Toyota will install brake override systems to prevent runaway vehicles

Toyota will install brake override systems on all Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles by year end as a way to prevent unintended acceleration. The new system will be put in all vehicles globally, said Yoshi Inaba, president of Toyota North America Inc., in an interview at the Detroit auto show on Monday. The initiative follows a recall last fall of 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the United States to correct the problem.

From Hooniverse: Spintires is a Soviet trucker video game

If you’ve ever spent an entire workday watching YouTube clips of Soviet-era logging trucks traversing the wilds of Siberia (who hasn’t?), then you’ve no doubt spent even more time cruising Russian classifieds for vehicles with three-letter names ending in AZ. Now, you may not have to import an eight-wheeled Russian monster truck to get an idea of what it might be like to run roughshod over some pristine forest. As our friends at Hooniverse report -- in great detail -- there’s a Kickstarter on and it’s aimed at bringing Spintires into reality.