#aftermarket-components

#aftermarket-components

One of the weird quirks of working from home and owning a lot of cars is that I might go a month or a few between driving a specific vehicle. This is especially true in the winter, when I just won't drive my favorite cars at all to keep them out of the road salt. Many of my vehicles don't have the privilege of sipping from a battery tender. Yet, when I'm ready, the cars fire up when it's time to drive.

Plug-in hybrids can offer 20-60 miles of electric-only driving for daily use, plus a gas engine for longer trips or when they can't recharge. And as EV growth slows down, many automakers clearly see hybrids - and more specifically, plug-in hybrids (PHEV) - as a better fit for America's fluctuating tastes.

Vintage cars, especially pickups and SUVs, are usually made from two parts: a standalone chassis and a body that bolts on top of the chassis. So why not swap the original underpinnings with something more modern, while retaining the classic look of the original bodywork? That's exactly what the United Kingdom's Electric Classic Cars thought of doing, and it might just supercharge the EV conversion world.

Google seems to be testing showing call assets on Vehicle Ads within Google Search. So on the Vehicle Ads there is a way to call the dealer or seller, like you see on some other ads. I scoured the web looking to see if this is new and I couldn't find any mention of this before, nor any screenshots of this.

Cascade Components has delivered what could be the best upgrade for the Amflow PL. For $257 USD, Amflow owners can now increase rear travel to 160mm and improve suspension performance, all without tweaking the geometry. With 10mm more rear wheel travel and a more supple rear end, the Amflow PL Link from Cascade Components could make one of the best e-mountain bikes on the market even better.

Rimpact's Chain Damper was launched in 2024, and since then, interest in drivetrain feedback mitigation seems to be gaining momentum. The fact that current World Cup DH ruler Jackson Goldstone uses a similar device on his bike has likely caused quite a spike in interest. On their part, Rimpact supported 15 World Cup DH Teams through last season, and they're expecting that number to grow this year.

Try as we might, it's not always easy to keep up with it all, and sometimes, it can be a challenge to give everything the attention it deserves. In our new Shifting Gear series (see what we did there?), we'll be highlighting products that have just arrived, we're excited to try out, or that we're particularly stoked to tell you about but haven't had a chance to review yet.

For years, car dealerships had a terrible reputation. Pushy sales tactics, confusing pricing, and long hours spent negotiating made the entire experience feel more like a battle than a purchase. Like many buyers, I assumed that avoiding dealerships altogether was the smartest way to buy a car, especially as online platforms and direct-to-consumer models gained popularity. Over time, however, my perspective began to shift.

The best custom builds do not just remix old ideas. They ask what those ideas would look like if they were born today, with access to current tools, materials, and manufacturing processes. The SP40 Restomod Speedster is that question answered in carbon and billet. It takes the stance and spirit of a 1930s streamliner, that long, low, purposeful shape built for speed rather than comfort, and reimagines it through the lens of modern coachbuilding.

The American automotive landscape is changing after a period that saw tighter emissions rules push automakers toward more efficient, quieter powertrains and prompted shifts away from big V8 engines. But many of those regulations, including the federal EV incentives, have fallen away, leading automakers that once promised to discontinue the gas-hungry engines to reinvest in V8 offerings - especially in full-size trucks and performance cars.

It's helpful to know that the lack of physical buttons isn't just a trend pushed by designers-the bean counters like it, too. It's quicker-and therefore cheaper-during assembly to just fit a capacitive touch module that controls multiple settings or switches than it is to have individual buttons, each connected to a wiring loom. Which is why we're seeing the controls for heating and cooling the interior, the headlights, seat heaters, and more move from knobs and dials and sliders and buttons to touch panels.