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

Flower Power: Ford considers using dandelions to grow its green efforts

When most people see dandelions, they go for the weed killer. Ford goes for the fertilizer. The dandelion is a sustainable material being looked at for its use in cars--specifically, the rubberlike substance that the Russian breed of the plant secretes.

Upgraded Ford MyKey blocks explicit satellite radio channels

Teenage radio listeners might have to look somewhere else besides the family Ford for the Playboy channel or Howard Stern. The new generation of Ford's programmable MyKey system will let parents block "explicit" radio channels on the Sirius/XM satellite service in their cars. That would cover Playboy's and Stern's channels, as well as more than a dozen music channels, such as rapper Eminem's Shade 45 and the hard-rock Boneyard.

Listen: Upcoming Ford Focus ST to employ sound symposer

While BMW employs a digitally sanitized/perfected sound file to give M5 owners the proper sense of aggro urgency when motoring at pace, Porsche went a little more organic with its employment of a sound symposer to feed the 911's flat-six growl into the cabin of the extra-refined 991. Essentially, the sound symposer is an electrically controlled diaphragm in a tuned sound tube that brings the proper engine noises into the passenger compartment. It can be opened and closed by the car's onboard electronics to offer snarl when you want it and serenity when you don't.