Saj 8000 Vr75m1 0.75kw 220v Frequency Inverter on 2040-parts.com

Me and My Car: Eric Bauer and his Nissan Skyline

Here at Car Design News we're big fans of Depth of Speed: the combination of great cinematography, beautiful cars and interesting people makes for compelling viewing. Its latest video, ‘Taking the Plunge', features Eric Bauer, a digital modeler, Art Center instructor and CDN contributor and his glorious 1970 Nissan Skyline. Eric has been a professional digital modeler for over 10 years, having worked for BMW DesignWorks USA, GM (CA & MI), KIA, Porsche AG, Volvo Concept & Monitoring Center, and VW/Audi Design Center California.

Mercedes launch new 9G-Tronic gearbox on E350 BlueTec

New Mercedes E350 BlueTec (pictured) gets 9-speed 9G-TRONIC auto It’s not exactly a million years ago that automatic gearboxes offered poorer performance and economy than manual gearboxes, and came as standard with just three gears. But now, automatic gearboxes are so good they can  change quicker than any driver and, with the proliferation of eight-speed auto ‘boxes, offer improved economy and performance too. The next logical step is even more ratios in an auto ‘box, and Land Rover has already revealed they’ll be fitting the Evoque with a 9-speed ZF ‘box from 2014, and the new Jeep Grand Cherokee gets a nine-speed auto ‘box too.

2012 Mazda3 Facelift arrives in the UK. Price from £13,495

The 2012 Mazda3 arrives in the UK The 2012 Mazda3 Facelift arrives in the UK this month with minor tweaks and a starting price of £13,495. The Mazda3 is a car you can easily overlook when scouring the market for a compact family car, which is a shame. It’s a good car and, with the facelift for 2012 chucking in a few tweaks, is more appealing than before.