Kimpex 08-120-02 Front Suspension A-arms on 2040-parts.com

Gronholm makes explosive debut at Pikes Peak

By Alex Michaelides Motor Shows 24 July 2009 11:55 Finnish rally ace Marcus Gronholm averted disaster to make a promising debut at the 2009 Pikes Peak international hillclimb. The world rally champion’s attempt was severely hampered when the rear tyre of his Ford Fiesta exploded, forcing him to limp home to a still-respectable fifth position in a time of 11min 28.963sec. Japanese rally star Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima claimed first prize in his Suzuki SX4 with a time of 10min 15.368sec.

BMW to push build-to-order for X3

BMW wants you to buy a car the European way: The German automaker, which wants to pass Lexus as the leading luxury brand in the U.S. by 2012, is trying to convince its U.S. customers that they should order their BMWs with exactly the stuff they want on it, not settling for whatever is on the lot.

Mitsubishi Concept PX-MiEV (w/ Gallery)

Mitsubishi Motors has revealed that it will be showing a total of 16 cars at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, one of which being this PX-MiEV plug-in crossover concept. According to the Japanese automaker, solid, safety and simple were the keywords which drove the development of its exterior design, and Mitsubishi is keen to imbue this next-generation crossover with a simple appearance. All extraneous elements have been pared, so the design is free of 'rugged' elements typical in conventional SUVs.