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

Toyota overhauls engine plans

For years, Toyota Motor Corp. has put hybrids at the center of its powertrain-technology strategy, all but oblivious to the rapid fuel-economy advancements rivals have made in the humble gasoline engine. Meanwhile, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Hyundai, Volkswagen and others have turned to gasoline direct fuel injection and turbochargers.

2012 European Car of the Year shortlist announced

The shortlist for the 2012 European Car of the Year award has been announced today. There were 35 cars on the original list, but the first round of voting from the 59 jury members (including CAR Magazine’s editor Phil McNamara, and our European correspondent Georg Kacher) has whittled the list down to just seven. They are… • Citroen DS5• Fiat Panda• Focus Focus• Opel (Vauxhall) Ampera/Chevrolet Volt• Range Rover Evoque• Toyota Yaris• Volkswagen Up There will now be a second round of test drives, before the European Car of the Year jurors submit their scores and a winner is announced live at the Geneva motor show on 5 March 2012.

Into the Breach: The future of in-car infotainment

In-car infotainment is broken. The best that can be said of the finest systems on the market is that they generally do what one asks of them and don't induce fits of rage. At their worst, they're actively dangerous, spiking the driver's blood pressure, forcing tentative or aggressive behavior at intersections and interchanges—and generally taking the driver outside the flow of traffic.