Mariner 855944t01 Coil, Alternator on 2040-parts.com

One Lap of the Web: DeLorean engine swaps, 2013 Women's World Car of the Year and the best French cars

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- We've driven the new BMW 4-series and found it worthy of being the 3-series coupe's successor.

Chevrolet Volt uses parts made from oil-collecting booms

General Motors is transforming about 100 miles of boom material used to soak up oil in the Gulf of Mexico into auto parts for the Chevrolet Volt. The oil-soaked plastic material collected off the Alabama and Louisiana coasts will keep more than 100,000 pounds of waste from the nation's landfills. The project is expected to make enough plastic to supply the first-year production of Volts with plastic parts for under the hood.

Alpina B6 xDrive boosts Gran Coupe to 540 hp

The 2015 BMW Alpina B6 xDrive Gran Coupe was revealed on Wednesday. The new super-coupe will make its North American debut next month at the New York auto show and go on sale immediately after. The Alpina B6 is based on the 6-series Gran Coupe (and thus features four doors, despite the name).