Cardone 16-4840 Front Brake Caliper-reman Bolt-on Ready Caliper W/pads on 2040-parts.com

New Skoda Octavia vRS hatch & estate revealed

The 2013 Skoda Octavia vRS has been revealed (vRS hatch pictured) The Skoda Octavia vRS – the latest version of Skoda’s quick and appealing take on the VW Golf GTI – has been unveiled ahead of its debut at the Goodwood FoS in July, and it looks a cracker. Available as either a hatchback or estate – and as a diesel or a petrol – the Octavia vRS manages to repackage the Golf GTI and Golf GTD in to one Skoda, offering good performance (the vRS is a bit slower than the GTI to 62mph at 6.8 seconds but has a 2mph higher top speed), good looks and the promise of prices starting not much above £20k. The petrol vRS gets the Golf GTI’s 217bhp 2.0 litre TSI and the diesel vRS the 181bhp 2.0 litre TFI from the Golf GTD, both with a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard and a six-speed DSG as option, sports suspension, XDS differential, quicker steering and multi-link rear suspension.

Fritz Henderson removed as GM CEO

General Motors' board of directors ousted CEO Fritz Henderson after eight months, saying it wanted to chart a new course as the biggest U.S. automaker pushes ahead with its restructuring. Chairman Ed Whitacre, 68, will succeed Henderson on an interim basis while a search for a new president and CEO starts immediately, Whitacre said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Rhys Millen loses brakes, takes second place at Pikes Peak

Rhys Millen, nephew of parts guru Steve Millen, didn't break Nobuhiro Tajima's world record at the 89th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb--Tajima did that himself. But Rhys Millen did clock a fast second-place run up the 12.42-mile course with a time of 10 minutes, 9.242 seconds in a prepped Hyundai Genesis PM580. That time was made even more impressive by the fact that Millen lost brake power in the last few miles before reaching the peak.