2010 Arctic Cat F5 Lxr Handlebars Steering Assy 1705-092 on 2040-parts.com

Hot seats: from design to delivery [sponsored]

As the user demands on car interiors are increasingly influenced by their growing design consciousness, so suppliers like Lear strive to bring better-engineered seating to satisfy. 2013 was another big year for Lear, as Jeanette Puig-Pey, its global fabric & leather design manager, enthuses: "At our ‘Design2Perform' event we celebrated the unveiling of our brand new collection, with special emphasis on color and texture and our TeXstyle Enhance product, perfect for customization. Laser etching is part of this offering, it is exclusive to Lear Corporation and can be used to add refined design elements to cloth and leather." A mix of fabric and leather in seating is not new but is often seen by the consumer as a cheaper alternative to full leather.

July 7: A couple of suggestions

Since I got home with more than half a charge last night I didn't plug it in. I ran a couple errands, 10 miles, then drove 22 miles to work. So that's 22 plus 22 plus 10 and I drained the battery.

Report: Gasoline engine has big bang for the fuel-economy buck

A government report says improving the gasoline engine will yield huge gains for the consumer and the environment as automakers consider ways to improve fuel economy over the next 14 years. The Obama administration's technical assessment looked at four technology scenarios by which automakers might attain suggested CAFE goals of 47 to 62 mpg for cars and light trucks by 2025. The scenarios differed by the portion of an automaker's fleet that was accounted for by electrics, hybrid electrics and plug-in hybrid electrics.