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

2012 European Car of the Year shortlist announced

The shortlist for the 2012 European Car of the Year award has been announced today. There were 35 cars on the original list, but the first round of voting from the 59 jury members (including CAR Magazine’s editor Phil McNamara, and our European correspondent Georg Kacher) has whittled the list down to just seven. They are… • Citroen DS5• Fiat Panda• Focus Focus• Opel (Vauxhall) Ampera/Chevrolet Volt• Range Rover Evoque• Toyota Yaris• Volkswagen Up There will now be a second round of test drives, before the European Car of the Year jurors submit their scores and a winner is announced live at the Geneva motor show on 5 March 2012.

Toyota to build Corollas at revived Mississippi plant starting in late 2011

Toyota will resume construction on its mothballed plant in Mississippi and begin producing the Corolla there late next year. “We first needed to fully utilize our existing facilities as the economy slowed,” Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota Motor North America, said in a statement Thursday. “Now it's time to fulfill Toyota's promise in Mississippi.” The automaker said it will hire 2,000 workers “soon.” Corolla output would mark another shift for the project.

Quaker State offers cash reward for reaching 300,000 miles with its oil

If you're thinking of driving your car to the 300,000-mile mark, the maker of Quaker State oil will pay you as much as $3,000--as long as you use its oil. The oil brand on Monday launched the Quaker State Cash Back Program as part of its updated limited-warranty program. According to the company, the warranty is one of the first of its kind that follows the vehicle makers' recommendation for oil changes instead of its own.