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

General Motors fires back at Volkswagen

General Motors issued a terse response this week to published comments by Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, who suggested to the German press that Opel could be sold to a Chinese competitor. Detroit-based GM called Winterkorn's comments “regrettable” and accused him of “fanning speculation.” Opel was nearly sold to Magna and Russian investors in the wake of GM's 2009 bankruptcy. But then-CEO Ed Whitacre and the corporate board reversed that decision, igniting controversy from German political and labor leaders who have long chafed under American oversight.

State of Scion: What's next for the original alternative-rock car brand

“This is gonna be awesome!” the spiky-haired guy in the Scion video screams, epitomizing in five words the enthusiasm the youth-oriented brand has tried to stand for over its seven-year history. But now there's competition. It's not enough to make quirky cars and market them to the alt-rock generation.

2011 Ford Flex goes Titanium

Taking a page from its SEMA playbook, Ford is rolling out a top-of-the-line, semi-blinged-out people hauler for 2011, the Flex Titanium. It's dressed up for a night on the town, or a trip to soccer practice, and was devised by Ford product gurus who noticed most Flex customers tend to take high levels of content in their vehicles. The Flex Titanium has a unique black chrome-finish grille with Flex badging on the edge of the hood--a cue straight from SEMA models in 2008 and 2009.