Porsche 356/912 Pulley on 2040-parts.com

Formula E Electric Racers Move Closer To The Starting Grid

WITH the FIA Formula E Championship building up to the new competition’s first race in Beijing, China, on 13 September 2014, the first batch of electric Spark-Renault racing cars have now been delivered to the competing teams. The handover took place at the series’ new premises at the well-known Donington race track. Alain Prost, co-director of the French team E-Dams, and also an ambassador for Renault, was at the circuit for this landmark delivery.

CES: Cranking up Harman's QuantumLogic 3D surround-sound system

Yesterday we reported how Audi was readying a lavish 3D sound experience with 23 speakers and 1,400 watts of goosebump-inducing audio power. Not to be outdone, Harman had been quietly developing a system of its own: Quantum Logic 3D brings together 25 speakers and more than 2,000 watts of Tubthumping power to a new car near you, like driving inside Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. Sitting inside the demonstration BMW 7-Series that Harman painstakingly lifted into the Studio at the Palms, Global Audio Engineering vice president Phil Muzio explained, "great music is delivered in stereo, yet our consumer research indicates that people enjoy surround sound." QuantumLogic 3D's surround sound expands beyond the boundaries of the vehicle's cabin, providing "a sense of detail and spatial placement that you don't get in stereo." Five height component speakers mounted in the corners of the headliner, and above the rearview mirror, elevates audio beyond the confines of the roof, "almost like you're in a convertible," said Muzio.

Dealer unleashes limited-edition Viper roadster

Before production of the Viper ended earlier this month, Dodge made sure to send out the current generation of the V10 supercar with numerous limited-editions. Versions such as the 1:33, the Voodoo Viper, the ACR-X and dealer-exclusive models all trickled out of Chrysler's Conner Avenue assembly plant in Detroit. Arguably, the track-only ACR-X is the most extreme iteration, but hidden within the group of dealer-exclusive models is another noteworthy special model: the SRT10 Convertible ACR built specifically for Woodhouse Dodge in Blair, Neb.