Beck Arnley 180-0546 Camshaft Position Sensor-engine Camshaft Position Sensor on 2040-parts.com

Next Dodge Viper will shed some rough edges

Little by little we're getting a clearer picture of the next-generation Dodge Viper SRT10. During a conversation with Dodge boss Reid Bigland at the Los Angeles auto show, Bigland told me the redesigned Viper "will appeal to a broader segment of the market." The car is expected to debut in 2012 but is not likely to appear at the Detroit auto show, he says. Today's Viper is essentially a street-legal race car.

Driven: Land Rover DC100 concept

Nothing compares to natural daylight for assessing a car's design. Under motor show lighting the subtleties of the surface sculpting, detailing and even proportion can be lost and misconstrued. Hence our first view of the Land Rover DC100 concept out in the open is, quite literally, illuminating.

The Future Role of the Vehicle Designer

The vehicle design department at the Royal College of Art hosted the second in a series of five lectures looking at the future of the profession last week. Moving on from the previous week's topic of sustainability, this debate explored the future roles and responsibilities of the vehicle designer. Head of department Dale Harrow began by posing the question "Is it time to rethink – do we still need the car?" Although still relevant, Harrow's ultimate answer to this was that the profession was about to see marked change, with the end to an era where "designers are locked behind closed doors in studios".