Luk Lmc428 Clutch Master Cylinder on 2040-parts.com

Insurance group lists its Top Safety Picks

After increasing its standards for 2011 models, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that 66 vehicles--more than double the 2010 total--rate as best in the industry at protecting passengers from front, side, rollover and rear crashes. Only 27 vehicles qualified last year after the group, funded by the insurance industry, required that vehicles pass a roof-strength test to earn a good rating, claiming that stronger roofs would reduce the risk of serious or fatal injury by 50 percent in a rollover accident. The most mentioned carmakers on the 2011 list are Hyundai/Kia and Volkswagen/Audi, both with nine vehicles to get the Top Safety Pick designation.

Top Gear: Just like Milli Vanilli, says Elon Musk

The Top Gear boys do their best Milli Vanilli impression The ongoing spat between Top Gear and Tesla – mainly in the form of CEO Elon Musk – is still rumbling on. In fact, it’s starting to get a bit silly. You know the background; Top Gear did a review of the Tesla Roadster and implied it had a range of just 55 miles (although they did say that was on the Top Gear track), said that the motor overheated and reduced power (which they ‘illustrated’ with the Tesla slowing on a darkened track) and said the brakes broke (when a fuse had gone).

Autumn issue of Interior Motives magazine out now

The autumn edition of Car Design News' quarterly interior design publication, Interior Motives magazine, is out now. As ever, it features in-depth design development articles on the most interesting and important concept and production vehicles launched in recent months. This issue's cover star is the Buick Riviera concept, first seen at the Shanghai show in April.