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

Mercedes AMG has best year ever

With car sales plummeting in 2008 (and likely to be worse in 2009) there aren’t many bright spots around. But performance saloons are certainly one of them. As we reported back in December, BMW’s M Division had a cracking year, with sales of nearly 27,000 for the year.

Tesla system will swap a Model S battery in 90 seconds

"This is the title fight," said Elon Musk, in typical brashness. "This is battery-powered versus gasoline." The Tesla CEO preached this to a crowd of Tesla owners and supporters while formally confirming the company's worst-kept secret: the fact that the Model S sedan's batteries were designed from the beginning to be swapped out. The system Tesla envisioned has plenty of ambitious, techno-wizardry automation, with a focus on as much convenience as possible: The Model S will drive over a pit containing machinery which automatically changes the battery from underneath in approximately 90 seconds -- and the driver doesn't even have to get out of the car.

New Mazda 6 debuts in Moscow

The 2014 Mazda 6 sedan will be unveiled at the Moscow auto show this week, but you don't have to fly to the Motherland to get details on the new model. We have them right here. As we expected, the new mid-sized sedan will make use of Mazda's SkyActiv technologies, including either a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 147 hp and 154 lb-ft of torque, or a 2.5-liter four making 189 hp and 188 lb-ft of torque.