Four Seasons 39075 Expansion Valve on 2040-parts.com

AutoWeek office swag: Mazda rotary-engine keychain with realistic motion

When I got the keys to our long-term 2011 Mazda 5 last week, they came with a surprise--this aluminum-and-brass keychain in the shape of a rotary-engine housing, complete with moving rotor. The rotor doesn't just rattle around or spin in a circle. Thanks to a thumbwheel on the back of the housing, coupled with a timing gear and offset crank journal, the thing actually moves in an approximation of epitrochoidal motion just like a real Wankel.

New Honda NSX WILL debut at Detroit 2012

New Honda NSX will debut at Detroit Acura in the US has revealed it will debut the new Honda NSX Concept at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2012. We reported just over a week ago that it was starting to look very likely that the new Honda NSX would bow in as a concept at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2012. And now Acura US – Honda’s posh brand in the States – has confirmed the NSX will arrive as expected.

Fewer people being killed in car-truck collisions, study finds

Death rates in crashes between big trucks and cars dropped 64 percent in 2008-09 compared with 2000-01, according to an insurance-industry study of government data. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety cited changes in vehicle design, particularly for SUVs and pickups, as a key factor in the decline. The number of deaths for car and minivan passengers involved in crashes with larger vehicles fell from 44 per million in 2000-01 to 16 deaths per million in 2008-09, the study found.