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

2012 Focus ECOnetic & Fiesta ECOnetic now even more frugal

2012 Ford Focus ECOnetic - now even more frugal If a little fairy from the future had come back in time, even as recently as the 1990s, and told you that a family sized Ford would have 100bhp and do more than 80mpg by 2012, you’d have laughed. But laugh no more – the 2012 Ford Focus ECOnetic average 83.1mpg and emits just 89g/km. Want something even more economical and even less emitting, where you can still have grown-ups in the back?

Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.

Porsche 918 infotainment system to be based on HTML5

While some automakers, like Ford and General Motors, are beginning to open up their code to outside developers via application programming interfaces, Porsche's taking a very interesting route for the 918 Spyder's infotainment system. The the hybrid supercar's dashboard interface uses the same code that the modern Internet runs on: HTML5. Germany's AutoBild reports that Porsche cites the ease of programming as part of their rationale for the system; smartphone integration is another.