Volkswagen Passat Engine Brain Box Electronic Control Module; 6 Cyl 96 on 2040-parts.com

Readers chat it up live with AW associate editor Jon Wong

For those who have ever stared longingly at a Mazda RX-8, or who love the symphony of a Honda four-cylinder engine turning at 200 rpm short of the redline and the tactile joy of the shifter sliding flawlessly from gear to gear, you have a friend in AutoWeek associate editor Jon Wong. On Friday, readers took the opportunity for a virtual mind meld, as Jon fielded questions in an online chat at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

Nissan-designed Santa’s sleigh

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 17 December 2008 14:30 Canadian designer Martin Uhlarik penned Nissan’s sleigh, which dispenses with reindeer altogether and can be used instead in conjunction with a rather faster steed, a Nissan GT-R. It’s quickly apparent that Nissan’s SC01 sledge will have a much greater load capacity than rival designs – and we’d certainly pull over fast if we saw this in our rear-view mirrors. Uhlarik is project design leader at Nissan’s Paddington design centre in London and was senior exterior designer on the Qashqai+2 and NV200 concept.

Jaguar's stunning E-type defined 'car' for an American generation

You could start with the stunning good looks that make the Jaguar E-Type a permanent fixture at New York's Museum of Modern Art or with the style and character that defined an era. You could start with the technological innovation, the impressive performance or the value that the E-type's contemporaries simply could not match. In cold retrospect, there isn't much in the E-type--or the XKE, as it was widely known on this side of the Atlantic--to tarnish its image.