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

Classic vs. Modern, Part One: Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 or 2012 Kia Rio SX

A recent 220-volt shock administered by the $23K-plus window sticker of a loaded Ford Fiesta rental car made me think about what the same dollars would buy in a classic car, and what the relative cost of ownership would be. My favorite matchup doesn't even require as much coin as said fully accessorized rental Fiesta. The 2012 Kia Rio SX carries an as-tested-by-Autoweek price of $20,745.

Buy a Corvette Stingray, get a performance driving school discount

New Corvette Stingray owners can get a sweet deal at the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Nevada. The two-day program will cost owners just $1,000, instead of the usual $2,500, Chevy said on Wednesday. “We designed the Corvette Stingray to make its owners better drivers through technologies such as the driver mode selector, active rev match, electronic limited-slip differential and more,” said Tim Mahoney, chief marketing officer, global Chevrolet.

Skoda Octavia vRS breaks 200 mph at Bonneville

Skoda Octavia vRS breaks 200mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats You can tell just how far Skoda has come from its days as makers of mobile skips when they can justify going out to play at the Bonneville Salt Flats with a Skoda Octavia vRS, just for the glow the outing will cast on its range. But they haven’t just gone to play, they’ve also achieved the quite remarkable feat of taking a modestly modified Octavia vRS to 202.15mph, which is going to do no harm whatsoever in drawing attention to the very appealing vRS cars in the Skoda range. To drag an extra 50mph plus out of Octavia vRS did necessitate a tweak or three, but nothing overly dramatic.