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Mazda signs deal with Discovery Velocity to broadcast MX-5 Cup and other races

The Playboy MX-5 Cup is the best racing no one's watching, says Mazda, because it's not on television. The company changed that on Wednesday by inking a deal with the Discovery Velocity channel. Deep cable jokes aside, the MX-5 Cup does present some of the best parity in racing, as well as drivers racing for the love of the sport.

Porsche Panamera diesel owners can boost the fun with TechArt power upgrade

The German Porsche tuning haus TechArt revealed a power-upgrade kit for the Porsche Panamera diesel. While the 30-hp bump from the stock 250 horses to 280 won't light the world on fire, the 37-lb-ft jump in torque, from 405 lb-ft to 442 lb-ft, is sure to be a kick in the pants. The 0-to-60-mph time drops by 0.1 second from stock to 6.6 seconds, but the top end is up 3 mph to 153 mph.

Lorenzo Ramaciotti to head Chrysler and Lancia design

Lorenzo Ramaciotti, current head of design at Fiat Group, has been tasked with leading the design of future Chrysler and Lancia products in a bid to more than double the sales figures of the newly collaborated brands. The 63-year-old former Pininfarina designer – credited to some of the most beautiful Italian machinery of the modern era – has been asked by Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler Group LLC, to create a common styling language for the two brands that wouldn't look out of place in Detroit or Milan. Ramaciotti has made it clear that badge-engineering isn't going to be the future for the two brands and is hoping to inject a unique, but global flavor, into the two brands.