1966 Cadillac 429 Engine Harmonic Balancer on 2040-parts.com

Audi R8 e-tron: Killed off before it launches?

It’s being reported that the electric Audi R8 e-tron is close to being killed off before production starts, as Audi question its viability. But it now looks like Audi has finally woken up and seen the light and they have put the R8 e-tron plans on hold indefinitely as they realise there is just no market for an electric car, never mind an electric supercar. Car and Driver are reporting that Audi’s new head of R&D - Wolfgang Dürheime – has halted all work on the R8 e-tron and it seems highly likely the project will be scrapped altogether.

General Motors adds center-mounted airbag to its large crossovers

General Motors will equip the 2013 models of its large crossovers--the Chevrolet Traverse, the Buick Enclave and the GMC Acadia--with a center-mounted airbag that protects front-seat passengers in side impacts. The airbag, developed by GM and safety-system supplier Takata, is mounted on the inboard side of the driver's-seat backrest. GM says the airbag helps restrain and protect the driver in the event of a crash on the passenger side of the vehicle when the front passenger seat is empty.

Project Car Hell, Rock-and-Stick-Simple Off-Road Trucks Edition: Land Rover or Scout?

Last week, the Hell Garage Demons went back 100 years for a couple of challenging centenarian projects, and the temperature of the Automotive Lake of Fire—conveniently located between the junkyard that always closes five minutes before you show up and the parts store whose counter guys have never heard of your make of car—accordingly rose another few hundred degrees. This week, we've decided to go with the kind of vehicles you'll want when society collapses and "rugged individualists" will need to drive many miles down a road of skulls and broken whiskey bottles to barter rat pelts for handy Clovis points. That's right, simple off-road trucks with few moving parts and a heritage of simplicity—none of this complicated computerized crap, modern alloys and independent suspension (at either end) here, just a steel box with enough running gear to make it move.