Exhaust Muffler-quiet-flow Ss Muffler Walker 21576 on 2040-parts.com

Fitness-focused autonomous vehicle pedals to victory in Interior Motives Design Awards

Earlier tonight, on the eve of the first Paris Motor Show press day, the world's top designers and automotive journalists assembled at L'Espace Clacquesin in Paris to witness sponsors Ford and Volkswagen announce the 2014 Interior Motives Student Design of the Year: ‘Life Cycle' by Jason Chen and Dirk Wan of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, USA. Launched in January of this year and themed ‘Beyond Styling: a Design for Life', the competition asked students to create projects around three diverse but specific briefs: ‘Beyond Autonomous', which posed the question of what would happen if we were to combine the latest developments in computing and robotics with automobile design; ‘An Interior for Life', in which students were asked to focus on one feature or element of a car's interior and adapt it for dual use in a user's ordinary life; and ‘Pickup Truck of 2030', which challenged the young designers to extrapolate what the future might hold for this popular and versatile mode of transport. This year's contest attracted more than 200 entries from students based at 57 schools in 24 different countries.

BMW Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo (2013) at Frankfurt motor show

If a collection of numbers dictated how we ranked and rated a car, the new BMW Alpina D3 might just be the best all-rounder in the world. You’re looking at a discreet and comfortable 3-series that’ll return a claimed 53.2mpg, and scorch to 62mph in just 4.6 seconds, quicker than the outgoing BMW M3. Read on to find out how.

Spyker attempting to sell Saab real estate in money-raising move

The next chapter in the Saab cash crunch appears to involve Spyker selling Saab real estate to an unnamed financial institution, with the automaker leasing the property back for its operations. Saab has been forced to shut down production twice in the past few weeks in the wake of unpaid supplier bills, raising concerns that Dutch owner Spyker may be facing a liquidity crunch. The latest move is likely aimed at freeing capital for the automotive operations while the company negotiates for a loan with the help of the Swedish government.