Apdty 153972 Crankshaft Sensor on 2040-parts.com

MINI Paceman Coooper S hits the Nurburgring (video)

The next MINI to hit showrooms – the MINI Paceman – has been caught testing at the Nurburgring ahead of a Paris Motor Show. We did think that the MINI Paceman – which arrived at the Detroit Auto Show last year as a concept – would make it to market as a Countryman Coupe. But just last month MINI let it be known that they’re actually going with the funkier Paceman rather than the descriptive, though predictable, MINI Countryman Coupe for the production version of the Paceman which will debut in production guise at the Paris Motor Show in September.

Video: Fiat creates café racer 500 for SEMA

Fiat is preparing a café racer-style 500 for this week's SEMA show by stripping down an Abarth version to take it "down to the essence of what you need to drive a car." The café racer philosophy of ‘more speed, less comfort' was born around the 1960s British 'biker scene and while initially focussed on increasing performance, quickly developed into a culture as concered with 'the show' as 'the go'. "It takes something like this to really get noticed at SEMA," says Craig Buoncompago, Project Manager at Fiat Product Design. "The Café Racer is really going to be one special car that you guys should really come and see." The 500's roof has been chopped, while also shorn of its door handles and being fitted with hot rod billet rims.

SEMA 2008 show report: Pontiac G8 and Solstice

By Ben Whitworth Motor Shows 07 November 2008 10:01 According to Pontiac, its G8 GXP Street, G8 ST and Solstice GXP concepts at the SEMA show ‘raise the performance bar even higher, taking style and sportiness to the highest levels’. Time to don your oxygen masks as we scale the dizzy heights of Pontiac’s performance peaks. While the standard GXP isn’t short of grunt with a 6.2-litre 415bhp V8 under the bonnet, the Street swings with a hefty 7.4-litre punch that’s good for 638bhp and 600lb ft of torque.