Crane 111451 on 2040-parts.com

CAR journalist wins top award

By Ben Pulman Motor Industry 21 December 2007 08:42 CAR's associate editor Tim Pollard has won the industry's Journalist of the Year award 2007. He scooped the prestigious gong at the annual Guild of Motoring Writers awards ceremony at the RAC Club in London for his magazine scoop on the McLaren P11 (the cover story of CAR October 2007). The judges praised Pollard's investigative journalism, which uncovered a dossier of facts, sketches and details of the new junior supercar from the Woking road car and racing specialist.

Dual-clutch transmission put on hold at Chrysler

Chrysler Group has delayed introduction of a fuel-saving automatic transmission so it can make the shift patterns more palatable to U.S. drivers--the latest sign that a key tool in automakers' plans to meet tougher fuel-economy rules needs some fine-tuning. Two weeks ago, Ford Motor Co., which uses a similar dual-clutch transmission in its Fiesta and Focus, took a hit in Consumer Reports' annual reliability survey because many drivers complained about balky shifting.

Mazda 2 Sedan

Like the Americans, the Chinese aren't big fans of hatchback models. That's why Mazda revealed the Mazda 2 sedan at the 2007 Guangzhou Motor Show. This version of the 2 is has a more elegant form than the five-door hatch, and its stretched aesthetic aims to capture new customers in the rapidly growing Chinese B-car segment.