Crown Automotive Rt26005 Hood Catch Kit on 2040-parts.com

Mazda 3 saloon (2009): first photos

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 09 October 2008 12:20 Mazda is replacing its 3 family of hatchbacks and saloons and we'll see this US-market sedan at next month's Los Angeles motor show. It's a four-door for the notchback-obsessed Americans, but we'll see the five-door Euro-style Mazda 3 hatch a few weeks later at the 2008 Bologna motor show. The new Mazda 3 is believed to be based on the engineering skeleton of a Ford Focus, so expect a front-wheel drive layout and a wide spread of diesel and petrol engines.

Ready-to-race Ford Focus ST-R walk-around: Video

The folks at Ford released a video Christmas present this week featuring Ford Racing's Andy Vrenko hosting a complete walk-around of the company's latest turn-key race car, the Ford Focus ST-R. The latest spec racer is approved for competition in the Grand-Am ST, World Challenge TC and the Canadian Touring Car series (pending homologation approvals). The engine and transmission are production-based components from the street-legal Focus ST.

Consumer Reports' Luddites strike again

I am a technological wizard. At least that's the conclusion to which I've come after reading the January issue of Consumer Reports, which calls Cadillac CUE, the automaker's new infotainment system, “maddening.” After all, I had figured out CUE in a matter of minutes while acclimating myself to our Best of the Best ATS sedan last month. CUE, short for Cadillac User Experience, uses a touch-sensitive screen, capacitive switches and tactile, vibrating feedback to help drivers perform various functions.