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

Fitness-focused autonomous vehicle pedals to victory in Interior Motives Design Awards

Earlier tonight, on the eve of the first Paris Motor Show press day, the world's top designers and automotive journalists assembled at L'Espace Clacquesin in Paris to witness sponsors Ford and Volkswagen announce the 2014 Interior Motives Student Design of the Year: ‘Life Cycle' by Jason Chen and Dirk Wan of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, USA. Launched in January of this year and themed ‘Beyond Styling: a Design for Life', the competition asked students to create projects around three diverse but specific briefs: ‘Beyond Autonomous', which posed the question of what would happen if we were to combine the latest developments in computing and robotics with automobile design; ‘An Interior for Life', in which students were asked to focus on one feature or element of a car's interior and adapt it for dual use in a user's ordinary life; and ‘Pickup Truck of 2030', which challenged the young designers to extrapolate what the future might hold for this popular and versatile mode of transport. This year's contest attracted more than 200 entries from students based at 57 schools in 24 different countries.

Children more distracting than cell phones, study finds

Parents of small children will not be surprised by findings released recently by Australian researchers stating children pose a greater distraction to drivers than talking on cell phones -- a 12 percent greater distraction, to be exact. With all the screaming and crying infants bring to the commute and the fighting and other factors older siblings contribute, we wonder why nobody has pointed a finger at our precious angels sooner. Perhaps because there is little we can do to control when or where our kids decide to dissolve into fits of rage or sorrow.

Mercedes S600 Pullman – 6 versions planned?

New Mercedes S600 Pullman rendered The Mercedes S600 Pullman – arriving in 2013/14 to replace the unloved Maybach – will come in a range of six versions. The demise of Maybach has finally been confirmed, with Mercedes-Benz deciding to concentrate its Rolls and Bentley bashing plans on the S-Class, with plans to add a range-topping Pullman model to the new S-Class when it arrives in 2013. We had thought it likely that Mercedes would offer just a proper halo S Class Pullman in the shape of an S600 Pullman with a thumping great V12 nestling up front.