Ford 292 Y Block Starter on 2040-parts.com

Fiat launches new MultiAir engines

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 09 March 2009 14:02 Fiat showed off the detail of its new MultiAir engines at the 2009 Geneva motor show – and we’ll finally be able to buy the tech on the new Alfa Romeo Mito supermini later in 2009. The brains behind the common-rail injection system that shook up diesel technology have now produced a new technology designed to make petrol engines more efficient and cleaner. Engineers claim the MultiAir engines – which use electrohydraulic actuation, rather than the more widely available electromechanical systems – boost power and torque, while cutting CO2 by between 10% and 25% and other pollutants by up to 60%.

Three-cylinder Ford Focus is pushed to show off performance potential

Ford has plans to bring a three-cylinder EcoBoost engine to its U.S. lineup in a bit more than a year from now, likely in the Fiesta. But for a car-buying population that thrives on horsepower and 0-to-60-mph times, it might be hard to get excited by a 1.0-liter three-banger.

Bob Bondurant at 80

Last fall, as we waited for our turn to partake in a braking drill at Bob Bondurant's driving school in Arizona, a black Cadillac CTS-V coupe came screaming out of the facility's parking area and onto the tarmac where we sat. The driver hustled the big two-door around a tight autocross course at a startling pace, though he likely would have been faster had he avoided some of the smoky, sideways stuff. Our instructor, Johnny O'Connell, grinned, “I guess it's good to be the boss.” Bondurant -- who turns 80 on Saturday -- started racing an Indian motorcycle as a teenager.