Flowmaster Catalytic Converter - Direct Fit - 3.00 In. Inlet/outlet - 49 State on 2040-parts.com

Alfa faces product freeze under a review of the struggling brand

Fiat S.p.A. could freeze new investment in Alfa Romeo under a strategic review of the money-losing brand ordered by CEO Sergio Marchionne. A product freeze is one of two alternatives that Fiat is considering to end years of losses and declining sales at its sporty premium brand.

Electric cars must get noisier, ICE cars must get quieter

Electric cars will have to make a noise to protect pedestrians It’s four years since the Lotus solution for making electric cars noisy raised its head, since when the US has had a go at the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act in 2010 to do the same thing, the Japanese are playing too, and Toyota revealed the Prius Vehicle Notification System, and now the EU has decided its time to act to make EVs emit ‘noise’. Despite the most appealing part of an EV being that it makes our cities quieter, legislators worry about the blind, partially sighted and distracted pedestrian (think earphones and a Smartphone) being mowed down by a stalking electric car and feel the need to act. So the European Parliament has decided that by 2019 new models of electric vehicle will have to make a noise in cities, and that by 2021 all new hybrids and electrics must be noisy too.

L'argus European Design Competition 2004 winners announced

With its 3rd design competition, French automotive magazine L'argus de l'automobile challenged design students in the European Union to express their creativity on the theme 'Imagine the convertible commercial vehicle'. With a total of 350 designs submitted, the competition was a resounding success, confirming the interest design schools and their students are taking in this forward-looking competition. Starting out from a light commercial vehicle, the candidates had to propose changes adapted to the specific needs of their user: their basic vehicle could for example be transformed into a helicopter for delivery services, into a work platform for engineers, into a workshop for joiners.