U.S. auto-safety agency study finds driver error in most Toyota accidents

Brakes weren't applied by drivers of Toyota vehicles in at least 35 of 58 crashes blamed on unintended acceleration, U.S. auto-safety regulators said after studying data recorders. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also saw no evidence of electronics-related causes for the accidents in reviewing the vehicle recorders, known as black boxes, the agency said today in a report to lawmakers.

2012 Porsche Carrera & Carrera S Cabriolet revealed

2012 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet It’s only five minutes since the 2012 Porsche 911 arrived – well, Frankfurt in September – but already we’ve got the reveal of the 2012 Porsche 911 Cabriolet in Carrera and Carrera S guises, ahead of a debut at Detroit in January 2012. The stand-out feature of the 911 Cabrio – over and above the stand out features of the 2012 911 – is its new trick folding soft-top. Porsche has designed a new folding roof for the 2012 Cabriolet, which features a fabric-skinned composite panel for the top and back bits of the roof and magnesium in the frame, giving a much smoother appearance than a traditional folding roof.

Tomorrow’s world: future petrol engine tech news

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 28 September 2009 14:15 Petrol engines are changing dramatically. You’ll have heard of the phrase 'downsizing' and most major manufacturers are shrinking their regular gasoline engines to trim emissions and fuel consumption – while employing new tech to keep up the horsepower and torque outputs. This is the holy grail for engineers: maintain the power and performance of the existing big capacity engines we’ve become wedded to, but in a smaller, more economical package.