Transfer Case Motor Dorman 600-803 on 2040-parts.com

GM preps for new engines, 8-speed transmission

General Motors is spending $332 million to upgrade powertrain plants in three states to build a new eight-speed automatic transmission, a new V6 and a new family of small-displacement gasoline engines. The plants are in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. GM is also adding $46 million to an earlier $600 million program to upgrade powertrain plants in Saginaw and Romulus, Mich.

Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta (2009) first pictures

A bespoke Ferrari built by the Italian supercar manufacturer's secretive Special Projects department has undergone its first shakedown test at the Fiorano test track. The Pininfarina-designed P540 Superfast Aperta was comissioned in 2008 by the necessarily wealthy Edward Walson, son of John Walson, the inventor of cable television. Based on the 599 GTB Fiorano, the one-off machine was inspired by a Carrozzeria Fantuzzi-designed model featured in the 1968 Fellini film Toby Dammit. 'I had always dreamed of designing sports cars,' said Watson. 'When I saw this film the decision came of its own accord: one day I would have 'my' Ferrari.

Battery breakthrough set to accelerate electric-car development

A team of scientists working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are claiming a significant breakthrough in recharging times for lithium-ion batteries. According to findings published in the scientific journal Nature, MIT researchers Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder have unlocked the potential of lithium-ion batteries by patenting a unique process which is claimed to allow a typical laptop power pack to be fully recharged in less than a minute--an improvement in recharging performance of roughly 90 percent over existing lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries generate electric current via the flow of lithium ions across an electrolyte, from an electrode to a cathode.