Precision Engineering Carb Jet Size 90 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.

Geneva auto show: Mazdaspeed 3 set for debut

Hot on the heels of the recently introduced 2010 Mazda 3, the guys from Hiroshima are planning to show the performance-focused Mazdaspeed 2 version at the Geneva motor show in March. Details remain scarce, but the company has announced that the 2.3-liter direct-injection turbocharged four-cylinder will continue to power the range-topping model. No performance numbers were released.

Weird Chevrolet pickup roadster hot rod probably inspired the SSR

Here's a thought: If you've ever wanted to be buried in what you're driving, it's a boon if your car is already shaped like a coffin. Behold this "cute little roadster," which resembles the unholy union of a Ford T-Bucket and a mechanical pencil lead dispenser and probably will make its way into a Jimmy Buffet video. (Click here if the ad goes down or if one of the Autoweek editors snaps it up first.) A 1972 Chevrolet pickup truck is scattered in there, somewhere after the bowtie-shaped everything.