Cardone 72-1006 Engine Computer/ecu/pcm-reman Engine Control Computer on 2040-parts.com

The 500-hp club: The room is getting crowded

At a time when fuel economy counts for just about everything, there's still a horsepower war raging in the United States. The number of fire-breathing wedge-shaped supercars and hot sedans and coupes that can pump out 500 hp or better has nearly doubled in the past five years to more than 70. A decade ago there were just two members of the 500 hp club in the United States: the Ferrari 575M and Lamborghini Murcielago.

Audi plays paintball with RS4 Avants

The latest generation of cars from Ingolstadt has finally mitigated the nose-heavy feeling we didn't enjoy in previous automobiles from the company. Now they've mitigated the lack of paintball guns, adding them to a pair of RS4 Avants -- done up in Spy-vs.-Spy black and white, natch -- and setting them loose in a hangar, framing the whole shebang with a smidge of Super Nintendo-vintage video-gaminess. Still no dice on getting one in the states, though.

The case of the disappearing Lambos

Now this should have rung an alarm bell or two at the time, but it seems it didn’t. Back in November the world’s largest Lamborghini dealership – Lamborghini Orange County – turned up its toes and closed the doors, apparently a victim of the downturn in car sales. Not the oddest story in these times admittedly, but a bit odd when you consider that Lamborghini OC was reckoned to be responsible for 10% of Lamborghini’s sales worldwide, shifting around 240 cars a year.