Wiseco Piston Kit Yamaha 1mm K131 on 2040-parts.com

Brabus unveils 850-hp grocery getter

It wouldn't be the Essen Motor Show without German tuning house Brabus introducing its own versions of one or two of Mercedes-Benz cars, with borderline-unbelievable power figures. And this year the Bottrop-based outfit didn't disappoint, rolling out the Brabus 850 6.0 Biturbo based on the 2014 E63 AMG station wagon. For starters, Brabus has increased the V8 engine's displacement from 5,461cc to 5,912cc, installing custom-made forged pistons and a precision balanced billet crankshaft, and replacing the stock turbos with ones of their own design featuring larger compressor units.

Fiat 500 Electric 2012 launch

The Fiat 500 Electric Concept was at the Detroit Motor Show this year At the 2010 Detroit Motor Show Fiat brought along an electric concept version of the Fiat 500, together with a Chrysler-badged Lancia as a clear indication that times are changing at Chrysler. And it would appear they’re changing even more quickly than we expected with the announcement that the Fiat 500 EV is going in to production, and will go on sale in the US in 2012. Obviously spurred on by the unexpected success in recent years of that other motoring retro icon the MINI, Fiat are pushing ahead with plans to introduce the regular Fiat 500 in to North America in 2010, although that will be preceded by the 500 Abarth and 500C Abarth, which will be the first versions of the 500 to reach American shores.

One Lap of the Web: French car weirdness and Sebring domination

-- In this episode of "How to Perform Simple Tasks to and Around Your French City Car," we learn to refill the windshield washer fluid in the Renault Twingo. First, you pull a cover hidden in the thin front grille against one of the headlights. It dangles downward like a weak loogie.