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Clunkers records $2.88 billion in rebates

Dealers submitted a total of 690,114 cash-for-clunkers deals for $2.88 billion in rebates by last night's 8 p.m. deadline, coming in under the $3 billion budget for the popular program, the U.S. Transportation Department said today.

Subaru Rally Team driver David Higgins crushes Mt. Washington Hill Climb record

It's the season of the hill climb, those few months of the year when even the tallest mountains shed their snowcaps and open up for all manner of driver and race car. There's the Spectre 341 Challenge in Nevada, Pikes Peak in Colorado and the Mt. Washington Hill Climb in New Hampshire, which just had its 13-year-old record smashed by Subaru Rally Team driver David Higgins.

Old is new again: Will a floor-hinged throttle pedal be in your future?

If you think that every little nut, bolt, switch, gear or widget in your new car wasn't scrutinized by a team of highly educated, overworked car geeks (read: engineers), think again. A couple of recent conversations with automotive engineers confirmed that virtually nothing that goes into a car today is taken for granted. During the recent Pebble Beach weekend, I had the pleasure of spending time with an engineer for Jaguar, and the subject turned to materials used for various switches in the cabin.