Big Dog quadri-cycle – Click above for high-res image gallery
Friday afternoon, we had the opportunity to walk around the site of the first-ever Maker Faire Detroit while exhibitors were getting set up. Among the wheeled contraptions we encountered…
Latest Blogs
Dan Neil doesn't think the ForTwo is so Smart
Dan Neil of the LA Times recently got a chance to spend some time with the new Smart ForTwo and came away less than impressed. The performance of the little three cylinder works fine in city driving but is barely adequate for getting on the highway.…
Fuelly: a social network for hypermilers
Over the past few years millions of people around the world have joined online social networks such as MySpace, Facebook and, for those of you in Brazil, Orkut. Now a new site designed to bring people together has cropped up and unlike the better…
Honda testing Rankine cycle hybrid to recapture energy
Back in my engine design class in college one of our lab experiments involved determining where the energy in gasoline goes in a running engine. Using an engine running on a dynamometer, we measured the amount of fuel going in, the power at the…
SEMA 2007 Preview: Chrysler Town and Country Black Jack
Click the Black Jack for a high-res gallery
For those who can't get enough of the card tables when they leave Vegas, Chrysler has created the Town and Country Black Jack that will be unveiled at the 2007 SEMA Show in Sin City next week. The…
Pedal powered half-track, snow mobile thing if you actually have any snow
On the off chance that you live anywhere that actually still gets snow (it's looking like the temperature is going to be in the fifties here in Michigan for Christmas) you may want to check this thing out. Our buddies over at Engadget spotted what…
Disappointing results – just 51 mpg – for converted PHEV Priuses in Seattle
Nearly a year ago the city of Seattle started a field test of 14 Toyota Priuses converted to plug-in hybrid capability. At the time, the expectation was that the cars would top 100 mpg overall and 150 mpg in urban driving. The problem is that these…
REPORT: Honda could stretch out product cycles to save costs
In the '80s and '90s, the typical product life-cycle for Japanese vehicles was four years and out. During that time, the bodies typically got a full refresh and most of the underpinnings received evolutionary updates. Automakers based in North…
Volkswagen prices 2009 Jetta TDI, sedan starts at $21,990
Volkswagen has just released the official pricing for the new 2009 Jetta TDI and, as promised, the price will be about $2,000 more than the base gas engine. The Jetta TDI will run $21,990 in four-door sedan form and $23,590 in SportWagen style. The…
Hitachi develops new high power lithium ion battery
Hitachi has just announced a new generation of its lithium ion batteries with significantly more specific power than current cells. The new cells have 70 percent more power than current cells and 50 percent more than the next-generation cells that go…