Tci Rattler 870007 Harmonic Balancer Small Block Ford on 2040-parts.com

CAR tech: who's to blame for your car's terrible fuel economy?

In early 2013 Audi lost a case brought by the Advertising Standard Agency (ASA) because of ‘misleading’ fuel economy figures used in an advert, after a customer complained they couldn’t get anywhere near the 68mpg quoted. The court case once more exposes the yawning gap between officially sanctioned mpg figures and those experienced by owners. A recent study by the Independent Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) looked at cars sold in the UK and Europe, and discovered the difference between official mpg figures and real-world driving had grown from 8% in 2001 to a barely believable 21% in 2011.

‘Amis de la 2CV’ gathering later this month

A record-breaking global gathering of Citroën 2CVs is set to take place from July 26-31 at the 19th International 'Amis de la 2CV', so we thought it was a good opportunity to showcase the now legendary model designed by Flaminio Bertoni. The biennial event is expected to attract over 6,000 examples of the iconic model, with participants from all over the world coming together to celebrate one of Citroën's biggest success stories. The 2011 event, involving many of Europe's 2CV owner's clubs, promises to be the biggest yet.

Local Motors XC2V design competition winners announced

The winners of the Local Motors XC2V design competition have been announced. Created in partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the brief called for individuals to co-create a vehicle body design for two different missions – Combat Reconnaissance and Combat Delivery & Evacuation – based on Local Motors' tubular steel chassis. The goal was to create a fast, lightweight, highly capable vehicle that would be suitable for various field missions.