Tx463 Shaft - Front Axle (ford) on 2040-parts.com

New Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive goes in to production

The first Mercedes B-Class ED (pictured) rolls off the production line in Rastatt With the BMW i3 grabbing headlines – and flying out of showrooms – as BMW’s first electric car, Mercedes need to play catch-up with a convincing EV of their own, and that’s the new B-Class Electric Drive – an EV version of the regular B-Class – which has now gone in to production in Germany. Built alongside regular ICE versions of the B-Class at Mercedes’ Rastatt Plant, the B-Class ED (Electric Drive) looks practically the same as its more conventionally powered siblings – although the front bumper does look a bit different – and has an electric motor good for 177 bhp and 250 lb/ft of torque, can manage a scoot to 62 mph in 7.9 seconds and has a range of up to 124 miles. The range – at least the quoted range – is a chunk better than the BMW i3′s and on a par with the latest Nissan LEAF, thanks to EV technology provided by Tesla, and the wrapping of an EV drivetrain in a conventional series production car could appeal to more buyers than the ‘statement’ design of the BMW i3.

Watch Bucky Lasek steal a sheriff's daughter with a Subaru Impreza WRX

Someone at Subaru probably canceled their plans, found enough Mountain Dew to keep them awake, plunked down in a comfy chair and watched the entirety of Grindhouse -- including the fake trailers -- to come up with the above fake trailer. Skateboarding hero Bucky Lasek, who races for Subaru's GRC team, does his best stoner-hippie Johnny Depp impression as he picks up the sheriff's daughter (Instagram "sensation" Kayslee Collins) and proceeds to do donuts around typical Midwestern fare -- and a peeing scarecrow -- in a 2015 Subaru Impreza WRX, made for jumping on dirt, storming through fireballs, being menaced by a shotgun and feeding Lasek donuts while he does donuts himself. You've been warned.

'Speed a factor' in deadly crash

INVESTIGATORS trying to find the cause of the crash that killed Fast And The Furious star Paul Walker say speed was a factor. Meanwhile the actor's fans erected a makeshift memorial yesterday near where the Porsche he was riding in smashed into a street light and tree. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said speed was a factor in Saturday's one-car crash, though it will take time to discover how fast the vehicle was going.