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Formula One class of 2014: the official pictures

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 31 January 2014 11:30 The 2014 Formula One season is only weeks away. With 2.4-litre V8 engines in the bin and turbocharged 1.6-litre V6s with twice the electrical boost power powering the racers, a controverdial triple-points rule in Abu Dhabi, and wild-looking new nosecones thanks to the latest FIA crash regulations, the class of 2014’s machines are the most radically different F1 cars in decades. If the old adage of a pretty car being a winning car rings true this season, we suspect Sauber, Red Bull and Marussia will squabble for the title, with Caterham surprised to see themselves battling Lotus and Toro Rosso at the back of the field.

Ram introduces CNG-powered pickup

Aside from the Honda Civic Natural Gas, compressed-natural-gas-powered vehicles have usually been converted after the fact, generally for fleet use. Chrysler is hoping to carve out a niche in the corporate-pickup segment by selling a factory-built CNG Ram 2500 that can seamlessly switch over to gasoline operation when the natural-gas tanks run dry. The twin 4.6-cubic-foot CNG tanks (which store the equivalent of 18.2 gallons of gas) take up a section of the bed, while an eight-gallon gasoline tank provides fuel during start-up and then reserve capacity when the compressed tanks are tapped out, allowing the bruiser a measure of operational flexibility.

LA Auto Show Design Challenge entries unveiled

The 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge entries have been revealed a few days before the show is set to open. As in previous years, several of the major players in the automotive design world are participating and automakers and design studios such as BMW DesignworksUSA, Subaru, Mazda, and China's SAIC and Changfeng will be exhibiting concept art. The theme of this year's design challenge is called "Biomimicry & Mobility 2025: Nature's Answer to Human Challenges.” With nature coming to be seen as one of the best R&D labs for design, and with biological knowledge doubling every five years, design studios were challenged to design vehicles that use biomimicry to increase the efficiency of mobility itself.