Raybestos Frc11048 Rear Brake Caliper on 2040-parts.com

Pace cadets: At AMG academy, students take their finals with their right feet

Mercedes-Benz USA launched the AMG Challenge in 2002, a program touted as "a chance to experience the thrill of driving the newest Mercedes AMGs on some of America's best racetracks." This year, MBUSA abandoned the Challenge in favor of the AMG Driving Academy, a multistage driver-development program pioneered by AMG in Europe. The difference? According to Greg Clark, AMG manager, "the Challenge was more about the cars, while the Academy is more about the driver." Having participated in both the Challenge and now the Academy, we'd say that difference is subtle, at least as it applies to the one-day program.

Vauxhall Cascada: Official

The new 2013 Vauxhall Cascada – a full size convertible and the modern version of the Astra Twin Top – has been revealed. For some reason best known to Vauxhall, they chose not to debut the Cascada at the Paris Motor Show – perhaps to give the new Adam its moment in the sun – but now we get Vauxhall’s latest model in its revised line-up. The Cascada is a proper full size, four seat convertible – it’s only a couple of inches shorter than a Mercedes E Class Cabriolet – and has its underpinnings based on elements from both the Insignia and Astra and comes with a folding fabric roof instead of the tin-top folding roof in the Twin Top which can be raised and lowered in 17 seconds at speeds of up to 30mph.

New products to drive Porsche's sales goals

Porsche may add an entry-level sports car as part of a plan to double global sales to 200,000 units by 2018. The new four-cylinder sports car would be in addition to a small SUV and a plug-in hybrid supercar recently approved for production. Matthias Mueller, the former Volkswagen executive who took over as Porsche CEO in October, says a new product strategy will be completed by the end of March.