Sno Stuff 331-203 Sno-stuff Rumble Pack on 2040-parts.com

Mazda MX-5 Superlight at Frankfurt

Mazda has created a stripped-down MX-5 for the Frankfurt Motor Show - The Mazda MX-5 Superlight And it’s achieved its success by being faithful to its origins. It has stayed a small, light, nimble and fun little car. It hasn’t got big and bloated and been boosted by endless power upgrades or sullied by the latest high-tech.

Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid (2011) first official pictures

Porsche has released details of its updated 911 GT3 R Hybrid – the 2010 original nearly won last year's Nurburgring 24hr race before (ironically) it retired with petrol engine failure.  The 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid – the lowdown Before this report disappears in a chorus of ‘it looks the same as last year’s one’, let's outline where Porsche’s engineers have been busy. At the unfashionable end of the car remains a 4.0-litre flat-six engine producing approximately 470bhp. Up front are twin electric motors, now producing 75kW of power each (up from 60kW) and combined these give the GT3 R Hybrid a 197bhp electric boost, which can be programmed to activate automatically via the throttle pedal, or manually selected during overtaking. F1-derived hybrid tech for the 911 GT3 R Hybrid Power for the two electric motors doesn't come from batteries, but flywheel accumulator technology from Williams Hybrid Power, an offshoot of the Williams Formula 1 team. The flywheel, encased in a carbonfibre safety cell in the space where the passenger seat would be, spins at up to 40,000rpm and acts as a mechanical energy store for the electric motors. Regenerative braking feeds energy back into the flywheel system – no surprises there, as the technology is derived from Williams' exeprience with Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) in F1.

'80s dream-car bargains: The AutoWeek list

'84-'89 C4 Corvette High: $44,000 Low: $2,500 Average: $10,018 Our take: Arguably the best buy on this list '85-'89 Volkswagen GTI High: $5,995 Low: $4,100 Average: $4,865 Our take: The iconic pocket rocket '85-'89 Ford Mustang 5.0 High: $48,995 Low: $1,900 Average: $7,924 Our take: Pony car + V8 = tons of fun '87-'89 Pontiac Firebird Formula High: $22,900 Low: $4,000 Average: $10,293 Our take: One day, you might be able to show it at an Orphan Car Show '84-'87 Buick Grand National High: $31,700 Low: $9,000 Average: $17,442 Our take: If you can find a clean one for less than $20,000, buy it '81-'82 DeLorean DMC-12 High: $26,900 Low: $15,998 Average: $22,572 Our take: Only on the market for a couple years; might always be a collectible '81-'89 Lotus Esprit High: $41,998 Low: $16,495 Average: $23,535 Our take: One of the fastest cars in its day '88-'89 BMW M3 High: $65,000 Low: $14,500 Average: $24,417 Our take: A lot of thrills for the money '83-'85 Ferrari 308 GTS High: $44,950 Low: $32,900 Average: $37,878 Our take: A Ferrari for less than 40 grand? Believe it '81-'89 Porsche 911 Turbo High: $78,500 Low: $24,900 Average: $40,669 Our take: Be careful, these monsters are a handful!