Continental Io470 Middle Groove Engine Piston Ring on 2040-parts.com

Mini Cooper Countryman gets New York freshening

The Mini Countryman has undergone a subtle midlife facelift for the New York auto show, four years after it was launched in North America. The lightly reworked range-topping Mini Countryman model is expected to go on sale in July at prices company officials suggest will remain largely unchanged here in the U.S. As this first batch of official photographs reveals, there is very little to distinguish the refreshed Countryman from the existing model.

Chevy Volt to get 230-mpg rating for city fuel economy, General Motors says

General Motors expects that the Chevy Volt will get an EPA city fuel-economy rating of 230 mpg, and a combined fuel economy rating of triple digits, CEO Fritz Henderson said Tuesday. The ratings will be based on a new test that the EPA is developing for plug-in electric hybrids. The highway and combined figures were not announced.

Chris Economaki was one of the good guys

I'm really going to miss Chris Economaki, who died this morning around midnight, 91 years young. Elsewhere on this site, you'll find writer Leo Levine's excellent tribute to Chris. In it, he pays compliments to Chris such as “he left a hole in the motorsports firmament that can never be filled.