Since people seemed to like the Akira motorcycle, NW thought he'd mention the Mach 5 on display at the New York Auto Show.
Also appearing on the show floor are some unique vehicles that first came to life on-screen, including the Mach 5, a prop car from the upcoming "Speed Racer" film.
Startup Says It Can Make Ethanol for $1 a Gallon, and Without Corn
Topic: Cars and Trucks
12:01 am EST, Jan 30, 2008
A biofuel startup in Illinois can make ethanol from just about anything organic for less than $1 per gallon, and it wouldn't interfere with food supplies, company officials said.
CrashBonsai is the creation of John Rooney, an artist who is torn between the desire to create and destroy. Recently, he has been making bonsai plants, and combining them with model cars and trucks which he has creatively smashed and melted, to create "CrashBonsai," little living car crash sculptures.
Pinch Us: Autoblog drives the 2008 Porsche GT2 - Autoblog
Topic: Cars and Trucks
11:45 am EST, Nov 7, 2007
It's just before noon on a Thursday morning as I saunter down pit row at Daytona International Speedway and slide into the supportive sport bucket seat of a 2008 Porsche 911 GT2. I fiddle a bit with the seat and steering column adjustments until I'm comfortable, then double-check that my seatbelt is secured. It's hot and humid, but that's not why I'm perspiring - this cold sweat is a sign that my body's survival instincts are on edge, and for good reason. Fortunately, I've received personalized instruction from a quartet of legendary drivers and a complete technical briefing courtesy of Porsche Motorsports engineers, and there's little left to be learned without actually driving the car. I depress the heavily-weighted clutch pedal, muscle the short-throw shifter into 1st gear, bring the revs up, and...
Go to this website and click on Rendezvous. I dunno if its worth 15 Euros because its only 9 minutes long, but its fucking awesome.
This guy mounts a camera to the hood of his ferrari and then drives full on through the streets of Paris in the early morning. Bloody lucky he didn't kill someone. If the intense driving doesn't amaze you the sites of the city will. Check it out. There are some previews on the website.
New cars are getting too expensive to fix | csmonitor.com
Topic: Cars and Trucks
1:03 pm EDT, Apr 19, 2004
] "There's no shortage of general technicians, but there is ] a big shortage of qualified people to work on drivability ] and emissions issues," says Robert Rodriguez of ] Automotive Service Excellence. The Leesburg, Va., ] organization certifies repair shops and technicians. ] ] These specialist technicians need advanced reading, ] problem-solving, and basic electronics skills, he says. ] "The best people to find are those who have worked in the ] IT [information technology] industry," he says.
This is a very interesting article about the technologies in new cars and their associated repair expenses. A combination of government regulation, oligopoly pricing ($3000 headlights?!), and technological change (the author mis-explains the advantages of LEDS) has created a situation were damaged cars are more frequently totalled. Its also created a job market which is egar to hire IT people misplaced by outsourcing.
] There's a cheat code in the software running the BMW M3's ] sequential manual gearbox (SMG): Press the right buttons ] in the right order and the car will launch you from a ] stop after revving the engine to 5,000 rpm. But don't ] look for a how-to in the owners' manual this feature ] is undocumented, an inside joke of sorts.
