Mass-produced vehicles, like most airplanes and cars, are engineered as a compromise between strength, weight, and ease of manufacturing. If strength were the only concern, airplanes would barely fly ...

The first Iron Age flickered out a millennium or two ago, but its automotive equivalent is still going strong. Well, if not strong, it's at least still going. Dodge, Ram, and other automakers still ...

During an era when a cast iron block was the main ingredient for building mass-produced internal combustion engines, General Motors' Buick division unleased an all-aluminum V8 that revolutionized the ...

Auto engine designers are turning to a long neglected version of iron that can handle the much higher internal pressures of modern diesel engines. Compacted graphite iron has a molecular structure ...

At the dawn of the musclecar era, Chrysler engineers were pulling their hair out, replacing hefty iron parts with the svelte aluminum alternatives we've all come to know and love. From alternator ...

Hot rodders played with blocks as kids, and still play with them as adults. This vast level of experience notwithstanding, enthusiasts often insist on monkeying around with production blocks. They ...

The Ford Mustang's 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 is a fantastic engine, but being made of aluminum, it has its limitations. Though lighter than iron, aluminum is also more malleable, which is why an alloy ...