Pre Unit Triumph 6t,t110 Brake Backing Plate on 2040-parts.com

Michelin Challenge Design 2009 preview

Michelin has released details of three more contenders which will be displayed at the Michelin Challenge Design exhibit at the 2009 NAIAS next week. The stand will feature 11 scale models and 24 two-dimensional drawings that were selected by a jury of top automotive designers. Among these are Raquel Aparicio’s Soft Vehicle, Fernando Gomez’s Packard concept and Niels Grubak Iversen and David Goncalves’ Phoenix concept.

July 11: Visiting a rival

I will take it to work all week, including Wednesday when I go to Santa Monica to drive a Nissan Leaf electric car. I wonder how they'll take to seeing a competitor in the parking lot. Not far enough to worry about range, though I will look for a charging spot in Santa Monica.

New Skoda Octavia vRS hatch & estate revealed

The 2013 Skoda Octavia vRS has been revealed (vRS hatch pictured) The Skoda Octavia vRS – the latest version of Skoda’s quick and appealing take on the VW Golf GTI – has been unveiled ahead of its debut at the Goodwood FoS in July, and it looks a cracker. Available as either a hatchback or estate – and as a diesel or a petrol – the Octavia vRS manages to repackage the Golf GTI and Golf GTD in to one Skoda, offering good performance (the vRS is a bit slower than the GTI to 62mph at 6.8 seconds but has a 2mph higher top speed), good looks and the promise of prices starting not much above £20k. The petrol vRS gets the Golf GTI’s 217bhp 2.0 litre TSI and the diesel vRS the 181bhp 2.0 litre TFI from the Golf GTD, both with a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard and a six-speed DSG as option, sports suspension, XDS differential, quicker steering and multi-link rear suspension.