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

Michelin Challenge Design 2007: The not so ugly truth about rising vehicle safety standards

Can cars be safe and beautiful at the same time? That may not have been the case a few decades ago when automakers were forced to hang those big, ugly so-called federal bumpers off the ends of their vehicles.  With vehicle safety standards on the rise around the globe are designers today feeling a little '70s deja vu when it comes to meeting the challenges of making cars safe as well as more fuel efficient? "(Back then) we said it was the end of automotive styling," says Patrick Le Quement, senior vice president for corporate design at Renault and one of the world's most influential automotive designers.

The cars of Ayrton Senna

Twenty years ago today – 1 May 1994 – the world lost arguably the most talented Formula One driver ever: Ayrton Senna. Numbers alone don’t quite describe the genius the Brazilian driver showed at the wheel of all manner of cars throughout his career, finding time and speed where others simply couldn’t. So, on the 20th anniversary of Senna’s death in a tragic accident at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola – only a day after Roland Ratzenberger, a young Austrian driver and friend of Senna, also sadly lost his life, while qualifying – we’re celebrating the life of one of Formula One’s most charismatic drivers.

Porsche Macan will sell 75,000 a year

The Porsche Macan – Porsche’s more compact SUV, based on the Audi Q5 – looks set to sell at a rate of 75,000 cars a year. The new Porsche Macan - the Porsche Cajun as was -  already looked set to take Porsche sales to another level with projected sales of 45,000 a year from 2013, but it looks like that ambitious target is going to be exceeded. German weekly WirtschaftsWoche is reporting that Porsche’s procurement boss, Uwe-Karsten Staedter, has put Porsche suppliers on notice that they are expecting to sell 75,000 Macans a year by the end of 2013 – an increase of 2/3rds on the original sales predictions.