Honda Trx300 Trx 300 Exhaust Heat Shield (w3) on 2040-parts.com

Hyundai WRC 2014: how do you build a fresh rally team?

By Ben Barry 07 February 2014 09:00 These are trying times for the new Hyundai WRC team. Both of its brand-new i20 WRC contenders were eliminated in the first stage of the 2014 season opener, the Monte Carlo rally. More teething troubles have followed in the second round of the World Rally Championship: Rally Sweden, which is taking place over the next three days.

Making famous friends at the Petersen museum

Celebrities, they're just like us! And aside from the public adulation and fame, plus our sneaking suspicion that the 12 or so really well-known car guys can actually afford their lavish hand-picked choices without so much as entering a PIN or presenting a letter of credit, celebrities bicker and fret over the cars with which they'd fill their dream garages. Difference is, when they fill their dream garages, people pay attention.

BMW: Carbon fiber goes high volume in 2013

BMW AG plans to begin high-volume production of carbon fiber parts in two years, making it a strong contender to be the first automaker to move beyond limited-edition use of the exotic material. But Daimler AG, which has taken steps aimed at making carbon fiber parts in 2012, is among the automakers racing toward the same goal. In 2013, BMW will start building the i3 electric car, a vehicle that features a passenger cell--the protective shell around the passenger compartment that ensures the integrity of the vehicle in a crash--made of plastic reinforced with carbon fiber.