Fiat Abarth on 2040-parts.com

Wet T-Shirt Video – but not quite what you’d expect

On the face of it this wet T-Shirt video from a paint sealant company is a blunt way of getting a sales message across. But it has a twist. We get sent lots of videos from companies with car-related products to flog who hope we’ll run their masterpiece and get a bit of a buzz going to boost sales.

Honda Civic Si gets a bigger engine for 2012

Honda is dropping a larger, 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine into the Si versions of the redesigned Civic coupe and sedan, which go on sale this spring. The Civic Si powertrain also gets a new six-speed manual transmission. Honda on Thursday said it anticipates that the 2.4-liter engine will be rated at 200 hp.

Audi shifts to eight-speeds for most models

A formal press conference probably won't happen until this summer, but we hear that Audi dealers have received their 2011 order guides, and it looks as though the company will be going from 0 to about 70 percent of U.S. sales being eight-speed automatic transmissions. Beginning this fall, the eight-speed will replace today's six-speed automatic in the A4 2.0-liter turbo sedan and wagon, the A5 2.0-liter turbo coupe and cabriolet, the Q5 2.0-liter turbo, the Q7 3.0-liter turbo, the Q7 diesel, the Q7 with the 3.0-liter supercharged V6 and the all-new A8 and A8L with the 4.2-liter V8.