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

MIT researchers rethink electric-car batteries

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say a new battery design for electric vehicles could be a lightweight and inexpensive alternative. The goal for the team's three-year project, launched in September 2010, is to have a functioning prototype ready to be engineered as a replacement for existing electric-car batteries. At this point in the project, the prototype uses a “semi-solid flow” to separate the two functions of a battery--storing energy and discharging it when needed--into separate physical structures.

Audi RS6 Avant makes £120,000 for Elton John Charity

Elton John & David Furnish pictured with the Audi RS6 Avant auctioned for EJAF. Audi has a history of donating cars for auction at Elton John’s annual White Tie & Tiara Ball, and this year it was an RS6 Avant. But it wasn’t just any old Audi RS6 Avant, it was an RS6 with an interior signed by Audi-driving Hollywood start Gwyneth Paltrow.

Concept Car of the Week: Chrysler Lamborghini Portofino (1987)

In 1987, Chrysler purchased the bankrupt Italian carmaker Lamborghini to add an exotic brand to its portfolio. In celebration of its acquisition, Chrysler announced it would unveil a futuristic concept car at the Frankfurt motor show bearing a unique logo with the Italian raging bull framed inside Chrysler's famous Pentastar. It was during an internal aerodynamic study that designer Kevin Verduyn drew the lines of a four-seater sedan concept called the Navajo.