Wix 58949 Auto Trans Filter on 2040-parts.com

Nissan-designed Santa’s sleigh

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 17 December 2008 14:30 Canadian designer Martin Uhlarik penned Nissan’s sleigh, which dispenses with reindeer altogether and can be used instead in conjunction with a rather faster steed, a Nissan GT-R. It’s quickly apparent that Nissan’s SC01 sledge will have a much greater load capacity than rival designs – and we’d certainly pull over fast if we saw this in our rear-view mirrors. Uhlarik is project design leader at Nissan’s Paddington design centre in London and was senior exterior designer on the Qashqai+2 and NV200 concept.

One Lap of the Web: A wiseguy in a Cadillac

-- Not many car reviews feature a shot-for-shot remake of "Goodfellas." (We're still banking on Ford's re-introduction of the Crown Victoria for a shot-for-shot remake of Beastie Boys' "Sabotage.") Matt Farah of the Smoking Tire did for its review of the Cadillac CTS V-Sport, which took four days to shoot and six to edit, and probably three more to steal the dolly cam from Scorsese's basement. -- You might not remember the Saturn Pioneer, but back in 1979, "the new marque Saturn was developed to play on the increased attention to astronomy NASA's deep space probes were generating," writes automotive historian/inveterate liar Jason Torchinsky. One of GM's many H-Body cars, the Pioneer -- named after the probe, not the Probe -- carried an innovative version of GM's venerable "Iron Duke": it had both a carburetor and throttle-body fuel injection, which undoubtedly added needless complexity that could have better served the real Rocket Division, Oldsmobile.

AMG Performance Media mines data from Mercedes-Benz rides

AMG, creator of all of the best Mercedes-Benzes, posted a video of a new option for the high-performance models called AMG Performance Media. Performance Media is a $2,500 option on AMG-badged Benzes that turns the COMAND display into race control. Using the system, drivers can switch among gauges showing speed or acceleration, lateral and longitudinal g-forces, lap times and oil and trans temperatures.