Toyota Alphard 2005 A/c Compressor [7160700] on 2040-parts.com

IDSA's 3D-printed car design contest gets underway

Aspiring designers have the chance to see their 3D-printed car designs launched down a miniature model of a ski jump and crash in the Launch Day 2013 competition due to take place at the 2013 IDSA conference, which runs from 21-24 August. Up to five designs can be entered for free until 12 August in the competition, organized by The Industrial Designers Society of America. All submissions will then be judged for both aesthetics and for "using unique attributes of 3D printing" which will whittle them down to just 10 designs that will be printed before the launch.

Cash for clunkers: Is it ready for prime time in America?

One proposed solution to prop up new-car sales in the United States involves paying bonuses to owners of older vehicles who send their cars to the scrapyard and buy new ones. Proponents say that not only does the auto industry benefit, but so does the environment, as emissions decrease and fuel economy typically improves in newer models. Critics, however, say that scrapping older vehicles hurts collectors by reducing the number of older models available and also hurts those least able to afford to buy newer vehicles by driving up the price of used cars.

Infiniti Q & QX: The new Infiniti names

Infiniti has announced it’s changing its car nomenclature with all saloons and Coupes changing to Infiniti Q and all SUVs and Crossovers to Infiniti QX. What’s in a name? That which we call M, G, FX and EX by any other name would smell as sweet.