National 222240 Oil Seal on 2040-parts.com

NHTSA unveils new safety ratings; BMW and Hyundai first to get five stars

The 2011 BMW 5-series and the Hyundai Sonata were the first two cars to achieve five-star ratings under NHTSA's revised safety ratings announced on Tuesday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will rate a total of 24 cars, 20 SUVs, nine pickups and two vans for the 2011 model year. The federal agency has significantly modified its rating process and will now grade side-pole testing and crash-prevention technologies such as lane-departure warning and electronic stability control.

One Lap of the Web: No limits Down Under, a busted F50 and cheap speed

-- Autobahn enthusiasts can add a new no-limits destination to their drive routes: Australia's Northern Territory, where a stretch of the Stuart Highway will eliminate speed limits during a one-year trial. Just watch out for Wallabies. -- Who's afraid of a little ol' salvage title, especially when it comes to an ultrarare Ferrari F50 supercar?

Monaco Grand Prix: It’s a Mercedes front row

Nico Rosberg & Lewis Hamilton pictured after making it a Mercedes front row in Monaco Two weeks ago in Spain, Nico Rosberg pipped team mate Lewis Hamilton to pole position, and he’s pulled the same trick on the streets of Monaco today to ensure the second Mercedes front row in succession and his own third pole position in a row. Behind the Mercedes it’s a Red Bull second row, with Sebastian Vettel taking third place and Mark Webber fourth, with the third row made up of the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen and the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. McLaren managed to take seventh (Perez) and ninth (Button) with Sutil’s Force India in eighth and Vergne’s Torro Rosso in tenth.