Yamaha Waverunner 500 Ride Plate on 2040-parts.com

Meet the Autoweek Best of the Best winners

Another year and another few hundred new cars and trucks have driven through the Autoweek garage for editorial evaluation. To what end? Well, other than giving you our unvarnished opinions, it really comes down to this—when we present the annual Autoweek Best of the Best/Car and Best of the Best/Truck awards.

Mustang's 5.0-liter V8 now ready for your car

The new, all-aluminum 5.0-liter V8 that is the heart of the 2011 Ford Mustang GT--and is destined for future duty in Ford's F-Series pickups--has popped up as a new entry in the Ford Racing Performance Parts catalog. With a suggested retail price of just a buck less than $7,000, you can get the same 412 hp and 390 lb-ft of torque sits under the hood of new Mustangs. And since the engine mount bosses and bellhousing mount pattern are common with Ford's 4.6-liter V8, the 5.0-liter is an easy swap for older Mustangs.

ECC pulls out of ‘Spy-in-the-sky’ road charging trials

Essex County Council, in a show of uncommon common sense, has pulled out of trials for the new ‘Spy in the Sky’ road charging tax. Road pricing trials halted in Essex Secret trials of a new system to charge motorists by the mile were due to roll out in Essex, Leeds, North Yorkshire, Buckinghamshire, London, and Suffolk, trialing the technology that would enable the government to charge motorists based on where they drive and when they drive. But the whole trial has been put in doubt after ECC announced they were no longer prepared to take part.