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

Driving the Chevy Volt isn't special, and that's good

We've had our first taste of the drive system under development for General Motors' pioneering Chevrolet Volt, piloting a test mule based on the Chevrolet Cruze at the company's Warren (Mich.) Technical Center, and it left us hungering for more. Yes, it's an electric car, but mostly, it's a car--one you could imagine driving every day without feeling as if you were engaged in a lab experiment. Frank Weber, vehicle line executive for the Volt, gets his nose out of joint if you call the drive system a hybrid.

Skoda has its best year ever

Skoda UK - Record sales in 2011 Skoda UK has reported sales for the first 11 months of 2011 have already beaten total sales for 2010. Long gone are the days when Skoda was thought of as a skip on wheels. In the little over a decade since it was brought in from the cold by VW, Skoda has gone from strength to strength.

CAR's review of 2009: the cars that die

It’s been out with the old for a host of models in 2009, some provoking misty-eyed fond farewells, some told not to let the factory door hit them on the bumper on the way out. We pick the saddest and happiest goodbyes of the year. A sculpted drop-top with rear-wheel drive and a frantically schizophrenic VTEC engine.  What’s not to like?