Honda Stepwgn 2006 Speedometer [8861400] on 2040-parts.com

Mazda's rotary engine stalled, not forgotten

Development of the next-generation rotary engine from Mazda Motor Corp., first unveiled three years ago, is making slow progress despite missing emissions targets. A top Mazda powertrain executive said today that the 1.6-liter rotary engine, called the 16X, is about 30 percent more fuel-efficient than the current rotary engine used in the RX-8 sporty car. In fact, the 16X so far performs slightly better than Mazda's standard two-liter gasoline engine, said Mitsuo Hitomi, general manager of the Japanese carmaker's powertrain division.

Fiat 500 gets 3-star safety rating from NHTSA

The slow-selling 2012 Fiat 500 now has another obstacle in its sales path: It has been tagged by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with a three-star safety rating, the lowest of any new model tested so far. The two-door subcompact received four stars from NHTSA for frontal crash and rollover accidents but received just two stars for side-impact crash safety, the agency announced on its Web site, safercar.gov. The tests gave the car a combined overall safety rating of three stars, NHTSA reported.

Fancy taking a Volvo up the Goodwood hillclimb?

Volvo V60 at Goodwood - with you driving? Last year saw the Goodwood Festival of Speed open a day early for a car manufacturers preview day, a day which quickly became dubbed the ‘Moving Motor Show‘. For probably the first time – and certainly in such a glorious settings – car lovers got the chance to browse and be hands on with a huge range of cars.