Motorcycle Passenger Rear Seat Arm Rest/ W Studs on 2040-parts.com

Center stack is new high-stakes battleground; showdown with safety regulators looms

For auto suppliers and gadget companies eager to get a piece of the auto industry, the hottest chunk of vehicle real estate now is the center stack. That corridor of interior space, running from the driver's right hip up through the center of the cockpit to the bottom of the windshield, has become a California gold rush of opportunity. But it is less so for traditional suppliers of molded plastics, cables, levers, buttons and radios.

Porsche Panamera designer focused on rear-seat passengers

There's no mistaking it for anything but a Porsche, but with four doors and four full seats, the Panamera is like no previous Porsche. Styled by a team of in-house designers under the direction of Michael Mauer, the Panamera is 195.7 inches long, 76.0 inches wide and 55.8 inches tall--making it slightly shorter but wider and lower than the Maserati Quattroporte, with which it shares a coupelike profile. As with all such silhouettes, "the real challenge is giving the rear-seat passengers enough headroom," says Mauer.

Audi RS5 spotted at the Nurburgring

The Audi RS5 caught testing at the Nurburgring this week. The Audi S5 is a cracking looking car. Stylish and understated, it carries a big enough stick to provide oodles of fun for most, but a real barn-stormer of car, with plenty of power would, even in these constrained times, be a winner.