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

Chevrolet and Disney develop virtual design experience

Chevrolet designers and Disney ‘Imagineers' will offer Walt Disney World Resort guests a glimpse inside a professional design studio. After 18 months of collaboration in the fields of industrial, automotive design to architecture and animation, visitors will be immersed in a multi-sensory virtual experience. The experience gives visitors the chance to create their own designs – cars, trucks or crossovers – with some help from Chevrolet designers before test driving it on virtual track surfaces that imitate the real performance tests.

See craftsmen build the Maserati Alfieri

At Geneva earlier this month, Maserati debuted the Alfieri concept, a love letter to Maserati's first 100 years and a preview of the next few years, if not the next 100. Here, design chief Lorenzo Ramaciotti shows how the Alfieri -- named after one of the five Maserati brothers -- was inspired by the 1954 Maserati A6GCS/53, as previously threatened, especially in the proportions. But like any car, the key is always in the proportions.

E85 makes inroads on cost and availability

Three years ago, we embarked on a Midwest road trip in search of what was then the Holy Grail of fuel: E85. Our findings weren't too positive--there were far more E85-compatible vehicles on the road in 2006 (5 million) than there were E85 pumps to fuel them (about 700 out of some 200,000 fuel stations nationwide). In addition, those burning the mix of 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol were paying a pretty penny for their earth-friendly ways, losing about 15 percent in fuel economy while often paying the same price as regular unleaded.