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In 2007, more than 200 teams set out on an ambitious automotive undertaking. The X Prize Foundation announced it would create a $10-million competition open to anyone who could build a safe, mass-producible car that achieved 100 miles per gallon equivalent. AutoblogGreen followed the competition in real time, but the grueling three-year adventure has now been recounted in fascinating detail by author Jason Fagone in Ingenious, an ambitious new book on sale this month.

Fagone follows four of the teams in the competition, chronicling the adventures of these innovators, inventors and tinkerers who rose above their relatively limited automotive experience to achieve incredible results. He recently chatted with us about the book, about the legacy of the X Prize and the state of American innovation itself. Check out our review of Ingenious and our fascinating conversation with Fagone below.

Have you got access to a 3D printer? Well lucky you, because as we're rapidly learning, the possibilities are virtually endless. And if your tastes lean towards the automotive (as we'd assume they do if you're reading this page), we've got good news.

Porsche has just released 3D printing data for the Cayman S so you can three-dimensionally print out your own and customize to your heart's content. Now Porsche hasn't specified just to what scale the data will allow you to print your Cayman, but we have a feeling that'd mostly be limited by the size of the printer at your disposal. Check it out in the video below and follow the link to the Porsche site to download the file.

Despite an aging design and low sales, Honda has remained committed to its Ridgeline pickup truck. Now, in its first official confirmation of a next-gen Ridgeline, Honda has released a teaser sketch (click to enlarge) of the new truck and promised a debut within two years, as previously reported.

The sketch shows the direction that Honda is planning for its new truck, which appears to ditch the single-piece body in favor of a more conventional pickup truck design. Even with the new design, it's not clear if Honda will move away from the Ridgeline's car-based platform shared with the Odyssey, Pilot and Accord. Sales of the Ridgeline dipped to below 10,000 units in 2011 but have increased steadily over the last two years (including 29 percent so far in 2013) with slightly more than 16,000 units on the year.

As for the current Ridgeline, Honda will wind down production at the Lincoln, AL assembly plant sometime during the middle of next year. The press release for the announcement is posted below.

The 2014 North American International Auto Show is right around the corner, which means it's high time we find out which cars and trucks have become finalists for the prestigious North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year awards.

The finalists – three in cars and three in three trucks/utilities – are dominated by American brands, with two-thirds of the finalists hailing from either General Motors or Chrysler (don't worry Ford, there's always next year), while models from Mazda and Acura can also be found in each contest. Here now is the list of finalists for the big prizes:

2014 North American Car of the Year:

• Cadillac CTS
• Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
• Mazda3

2014 North American Truck/Utility of the Year:

• Acura MDX
• Chevrolet Silverado
• Jeep Cherokee

Interestingly, the North American Car of the Year grouping is identical to the three finalists chosen by Motor Trend for its Car of the Year – a contest won by the Cadillac CTS. The Corvette Stingray, meanwhile, is the most performance-minded entry we've seen on the list for some time, and the diminutive Mazda3 is there as the affordable, stylish and economical entry.

For the truck/utility award, we're somewhat surprised to see the Acura MDX make the list, while the Chevrolet Silverado is the sole 'traditional' truck to make it to the finals. Despite its controversial looks, Jeep's Cherokee is more than a dark horse in our eyes, and advanced features like a nine-speed auto and a range of four-wheel drive systems could make it a compelling choice.

There are some enthusiast-leaning omissions in each category (you can view the entire list of finalists in the press release), including the Mercedes-Benz CLA and Jaguar F-Type on the Car of the Year side. In the trucks/utility category, both the new Land Rover Range Rover Sport and the BMW X5 are great steers, too. All of the aforementioned were voted onto the NACTOY short list for the awards, but failed to make it into the final three slots.

As always, we want to know which of these vehicles will win their respective competitions. Put yourself in the shoes of the 48 journalists that are able to cast a vote, and have your say in the polls below. Once your vote has been cast, dive into Comments and let us know which models you'd pick if you were on the jury.

She's known as the person who restored order at GM.

As General Motors fought to find its footing following bankruptcy, Mary Barra was tasked with managing the guts of its revival. Now she's known as the person who restored order at GM. In less than three years in her role as global product development chief, Barra moved at a dizzying pace and helped to return both confidence and profit to the once-beleaguered automaker. On Tuesday, she was rewarded for her efforts. Barra, 51, was named CEO of General Motors. She is the first woman to lead a US car company.

"Mary went into an organization that, frankly, four years ago was in chaos," said outgoing CEO Dan Akerson, who announced his retirement at the same time. "She was central to the whole evolution." Against the improbable backdrop of GM's federal bailout, Barra spearheaded the revitalization of the company's lineup of cars, implemented widespread supply-chain changes and oversaw the creation of engine and vehicle strategies that, by decade's end, will result in 90 percent of the company's cars being produced on five or fewer platforms.

Akerson called the global product development role, "the most complicated," in the company. If there was anyone suited for such a role, it was Barra. For more than three decades, she has been a jack-of-all-trades at GM, rising through a series of manufacturing, engineering and human resource positions. She started her career at GM as an intern in 1980, and has worked on factory floors, once as manager at the company's Hamtramck Assembly Plant in Detroit, and she also served as executive director of the company's engineering operations.

I don't remember the exact phrasing, but my first encounter with the loading screen of Ghost Games' Need For Speed Rivals told me all I really needed to know about the latest title in the venerable series. The gist of that loading screen tip? "Drifting refills nitrous." A thinking man's racing game this would not be.

And frankly, that's okay. In a world where the video game racing genre is dominated by Forza Motorsports and Gran Turismo, Rivals is a breath of fresh air. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and while this is both to its gain and detriment, it's this characteristic that I was reminded of each time I began to get angry over a gameplay fault. It was also this frustration that ended up ruining what, at first, looked like a solid title.

As the Need For Speed series seems to be constantly evolving with new set pieces and perspectives in each title, it's important to point out what Rivals is - namely, it feels like a spiritual successor to Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit, allowing gamers to take on the role of either a police officer or a street racer. That's really all you need to know, as the few, limited elements of Rivals' story have all the depth and gravitas of Steven Seagal doing Hamlet.

If you're a racer, you just want your freedom, which consists of driving a supercar like a clown. If you're a cop, you want to make the average citizen feel safe, which is done by attempting to wreck other drivers. There's no real extrapolation of these two ideas throughout the title, so it's best just to forget about them completely and focus on the game itself.

Porsche hasn't offered a four-cylinder engine since the 968 went out of production in 1995 – the better part of two decades ago. There'd been talk of a four-pot Boxster or an even smaller model to slot in below it, but while the latest intel indicates that Porsche is moving ahead with its four-cylinder plans, it's a different kind of vehicle that will get it first.

That, of course, would be the new Macan. Just revealed a few weeks ago at the LA Auto Show, the Macan crossover is being launched with a pair of twin-turbocharged V6 engines (a 3.0 with 340 horsepower and a 3.6 with 400 hp) and a six-cylinder turbodiesel with 258 hp. But smaller engines, according to emerging reports from Autocar and Auto Express, are on their way.

Word has it that Porsche is preparing a 2.0-liter turbo four with 280 horsepower and a diesel with the same displacement and cylinder count, engines that will power new entry-level Macan models that will slot in beneath the existing Macan S, Macan S Diesel and Macan Turbo. While the diesel is tipped to be ported over from the Volkswagen parts bin, the four-cylinder gasoline engine is said to be under development by Porsche itself, which could mean it will have a boxer layout.

Whether either of these four-cylinder engines will make the transatlantic voyage Stateside remains to be seen, but we'd be a bit surprised if the gas four doesn't appear. However, given that the Macan S Diesel doesn't appear to be heading our way with any great speed, we wouldn't count on the base Macan Diesel arriving any time soon.

Whether it's lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring or automatic emergency braking, most of the electronic systems we see emerging on new vehicles focus on safety. But there are some there just for enthusiasts. We're talking about systems like automatic throttle blipping for perfect downshifts, or launch control to get that textbook acceleration from a standstill. But the latest system could prove just the opposite of the latter.

Although it has given us most of the details, Ford is still keeping certain elements of its new Mustang secret. But emerging reports may have the skinny on one system which Ford is trying is darnedest to keep under its hat for the time being. That, according to unnamed sources cited by Motor Authority, is burnout control.

The system is reportedly designed to help novices execute the perfect smokey burnout – sort of like launch control, but specifically the opposite. The system could, according to elaborative speculation, lock the front brakes while spooling up the engine to optimal revolutions before dumping (or indicating the driver to do dump) the clutch. A cloud of tire smoke and a long pair of skid marks would then ensue.

Like the aforementioned rev-matching and launch-control systems, you'd probably have to specifically enable it, thereby leaving pros with the ability to execute their own burnouts. Of course this could all prove to be nothing and go up in a cloud of smoke, but one way or another we should find out soon enough.

There probably aren't many things that can ruin the experience of driving a McLaren MP4-12C, but as it turns out, the humid air of America's Southeastern states is one of those things. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a recall for 374 examples of the 2012-2014 model year MP4-12C due to a faulty wiper that could fail in muggy climates.

Moisture in the Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas air can cause the brushes in the windshield wiper motor to lock up, which would prevent the wiper from working. Needless to say, driving any car without windshield wipers – especially such a fast one during the rainy season of Florida – isn't an ideal situation. McLaren is inspecting the cars and replacing affected motors, and it is extending a lifetime warranty on the wiper motors of all MP4-12Cs not immediately affected. Scroll down for the official NHTSA recall notice.

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) has been studying the effects of the General Motors and Chrysler bailouts in 2009. Now that the US Treasury has officially sold off the rest of its stake in GM (and Chrysler has already paid back its loan), CAR has released its study on the effects of the bailout with this concluding note: "CAR is confident that in the years ahead, this peacetime intervention in the private sector by the US government will be seen as one of the most successful in US economic history."

Big words, for sure, but there's plenty of evidence to back up the claim. Bailing out GM alone saved 1.2-million jobs. If both GM and Chrysler hadn't been bailed out, US employment would have been reduced by 2.631-million jobs in 2009 and another 1.519-million jobs in 2010, according to the study. If both automakers were allowed to fail, personal income in the US would have decreased by $173.5 billion in 2009 and $110.9 billion in 2010. Instead, the study found that $284.4 billion of personal income was saved by the bailouts.

The Federal government's budget would have been affected due to higher transfer payments, lower social security receipts and lower personal income taxes paid, according to the study, which would have cost the Fed $64.7 billion in 2009 and $40.6 billion in 2010. That's much more money than what the government spent on GM's bailout ($49.5 billion) and Chrysler's bailout ($12.5 billion). It's also much less than the the US Treasury's loss of about $10 billion on GM's bailout. The US Treasury lost $1.9 billion on Chrysler's bailout.

If the numbers seem high, it's because the auto industry is linked at many levels, and the survival of parts suppliers (and their employees' jobs) largely is dependent on the survival of US automakers. For example, the study found that 51 percent of GM's parts suppliers also sell parts to Ford, 56 percent to Chrysler, 58 percent to Asian automakers and 37 percent to European automakers. A failure of virtually any major US automaker would have severe consequences in the global automotive industry.

Friday was the night of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series annual Champion's Awards banquet, and the host, comedian Jay Mohr, cracked off some jokes about Danica Patrick that visibly rubbed her (and her fellow NASCAR-driver boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.) the wrong way.

We're not going to judge Mohr's jokes, but we will say that most of them referenced her disappointing past Sprint Cup season, though a couple of them arguably toed the line between gender-based and gender-neutral. Watch the compendium video below, then tell us what you think: did Mohr cross the line?

"Do not pass the factory driver in the 911 Turbo S."

Fifteen minutes later, I'm skeptically pondering that admonishment as I strap into the carbon-fiber tub of the Porsche 918 Spyder, the German automaker's latest supercar. With even a cursory glance, the two-seat, gasoline-electric hybrid, with a total output of nearly 900 horsepower, looks to be a masterpiece of engineering that qualifies it as not only the most sophisticated machine Porsche has ever built, but also its quickest and fastest road car of all time.

But that doesn't change the fact that I'm an amateur driving an all-new car on an unfamiliar European racing circuit. I silently chuckle at the request to avoid passing accomplished racer Timo Kluck in the company's flagship 911 sports car – all things considered, the warning seems a bit absurd.

Yet after just four laps, as I shatter 156 miles per hour down the front straight, I find myself running up his Turbo's tailpipes.

It's been well over a year since Hyundai revealed its initial prototype for the i20 WRC at the 2012 Paris Auto Show. Now it's revealed the final version (pictured above, complete with Shell Helix livery) and it's also announced the full team that will field it next year in the World Rally Championship, including Thierry Neuville and additional drivers Juho Hänninen, Dani Sordo and Chris Atkinson. That's plenty exciting for rally fans, but the news that caught our attention was buried deeper in the press release.

That is the announcement of Hyundai's new N performance sub-brand. Named after the company's R&D facility in Namyang, South Korean, the N brand "will be used to symbolize Hyundai's high performance technology," not just on the rally car but also "future mass-produced high performance cars" for the road. The WRC car wears the logo that we'd expect to represent that new cadre of performance Hyundais.

Having hinted at the emergence of a European performance sub-brand a couple of months ago, the Korean automaker hasn't revealed any further details on which those road cars might be, but promises to transfer lessons it learns from the rally stage to the marketplace. We're looking forward to finding out more, but a roadgoing i20 hot hatch would be a good first bet. Here's hoping the North American product lineup won't be left out.

Many Toyota vehicles haven't been performing well in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) small overlap frontal crash test, and the Camry is one of them. The 2012 and 2013 Camry both received "Poor" ratings, IIHS' lowest rating, in the test, which spurred Consumer Reports to take the car off its "Recommended" list. In response to the low ratings in the small overlap frontal test, and in a bid to maintain its best-seller status, Toyota will make changes to the Camry to improve its IIHS safety rating and to enhance its design, The Detroit News reports.

The Camry performed well in the moderate overlap frontal, side, roof strength and head restraints and seats crash tests, receiving "Good" ratings, IIHS' highest rating, in all four tests. That was enough for IIHS to award it a Top Safety Pick rating, just not TSP+.

Bill Fay, head of Toyota's US division, reportedly says, "It's still a five-star car. It still does very well in all the IIHS tests. It did not in [the small overlap frontal crash test], and we're busy making the necessary adjustments so that we can address that."

Most Toyota models haven't been put through the small overlap frontal test, but those that have haven't received better than a "Marginal" rating, IIHS' third-best rating. The Corolla received a "Marginal" rating, while the midsize Prius V, along with the Camry, earned "Poor" ratings. The RAV4 compact crossover also earned a "Poor" rating in the test.