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yet I won't hold my breath. In the mean time, I will continue to burn B20 and SVO in my old diesel.

In addition to brewing diesel from cellulose, I would also like to see biofuels manufacturers brew butanol (with Clostridium acetobutylicum, or better) from cellulose. Seriously, it is a much better gasoline replacement than E85. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butanol

In any case, foodstock based ethanol is the WORST FUEL SUBSTITUTE EVAR. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0512/p08s01-comv.html

If the chevy volt doesn't turn out to be a piece of shit, (yeah, good luck with that. Can GM manage NOT to make a piece of shit?) I would totally buy that for my daily commute and keep the diesel for my occasional interstate forays. Or maybe the Th!nk OX http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2008/03/think-ox-concep.html will be available in the US by then. Or maybe Toyota will get its head out of its ass and realize that not everyone thinks a hybrid is the future, and they will out-chevy-volt the chevy volt.

While I am enumerating my wish list, a 10 minute recharge battery, and start the infrastructure build-out by creating charging stations at toll-way rest areas, then add them to interstate rest areas (which tend to be 50 miles apart on most of the interstates I've traveled.) http://www.onelectriccars.com/lightning-gt-promises-10-minute-recharge/74/
That will "untether" electric cars, and is feasible with current battery technology. Then fueling stations can invest in charging devices if enough people have EVs in their area
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/electricity_locations.html

heh. I'm just rambling now...

You should know that the NHTSA and other organizations do a bare minimum collision safety test, because anything more would fail too many manufacturers. The speeds are low, and the impacts are not (as someone says below) designed for SUVs, because SUV's do not follow the regulated requirements for bumpers. If they were, they would fail. This has been tested previously. Also, there is a large difference between a 2000lb car (focus/compact) going 35 mph and a 4000lb car.

Almost all cars typically make the 4 or 5 star rating because it's ridiculously easy to do at 30 mph collisions assuming the other car is not even moving , simply because of the framing of most vehicles (a column/b column/etc). However, real world examples would lead people to understand that is not true. All cars have serious material failures of all forms continually, it just doesn't get reported as a recall until it reaches critical mass (I believe its still 500 failures on a specific make/model for that in the US).

Crumple zones are a feature up to a point. After that, the engine is in your lap and you die. Engines are designed to slide downward and then back, so that they don't immediately go back towards you (which killed people in accidents prior to the 80s I believe), but enough forward impact will do exactly that.

Sorry, I don't buy it. The Acura TL has a 0.29 drag coefficent. From what I've found, Hummer's have a .5, so I'd say that the TL is pretty close.

You seem to like the shape, but it seems the majority doesn't. I'm not the first person to say some of these cars are ugly as sin.

There are many energy-saving questions I'd like to see investigated. For example, I have an old Subaru, and I'm not sure if I should buy a new fuel-efficient car. Mine isn't a guzzler, and I can afford a newer one. But that new car, even if it gets twice the MPG, costs energy to make--would an extra 20mpg offset the energy cost of making the car, and if so, how long would it take?

There is more to the question than just gas savings. Repairs and routine maintenance are another part as well as resale value. My wife and I both bought used cars in 2003. We both bought 2002 vehicles for $18,000. Hers has 80,000 miles and mine has 101,000 miles.

Let's check current bluebook...

2002 Dodge Caravan Roughly $6-8,000

http://www.cars.com/go/crp/research.jsp;jsessionid=JOG2KH0OBPGX1LAYIESU2UY?makeid=12&modelid=127&year=2002&section=summary&mode=&aff=national

2002 Toyota Prius Roughly $16-17,000

http://www.cars.com/go/crp/research.jsp?makeid=47&modelid=2916&year=2002&section=summary&mode=&aff=national

The Dodge has already needed a brake pad replacement, power steering service and other items. The Prius has no engine belts except for the AC. The power steering is electric, not hydraulic. I had the brakes checked at 80,000 miles when I changed tires. There was 80% remaining due to the use of regenerative braking.

Just from the above, it is easy to see which is the winner on value.. and we haven't touched gas cost yet.. OK what about the gas?

I bought the Prius used with 8,000 miles, so I have put on 101,000 - 8,000 or 93,000 miles since I bought it. Gas went from about 1.50 a gal to over $3.00 a gal. For sake of argument, lets use the average of about $2.25/gallon. I have averaged 46 MPG. I bought approximately 2,022 gallons for a cost of approximately $4,550. On the other hand the gas for the Caravan is over $10,000 spent. At over $3.00/gallon, the savings are more dramatic. For the same distance driven it is either a $30 fill-up or $70.

People often argued that the cost savings in gas will not pay for the premium for buying a hybrid. If you drive a car that gets less than 1/2 that of the Prius and you drive it more than 100,000 miles, and you can still get gas for $2.25/gallon, then the argument is almost valid as this is the break even point on the additional price premium.

I bought the car when the price of gas wasn't over $2.00/gallon. I studied them and found they are not new tech. They were on the road for 5 years in Japan before they hit the US market in 2001. I was impressed with the reliability and the elimination of most of the expensive over 100,000 mile failure items. Items like alternators, power steering pumps, hoses, starters and the like are eliminated. I also knew gas prices were going up and were never returning to under $1.00/gallon. Future gas prices meant future savings. A surprise was just how high the resale value is. That is an added bonus.

One of the big scares of buying a hybrid was that big expensive battery. It is common knowledge batteries are useless after about 3 years in your cell phone, laptop, etc. I'm going to have to buy a $5,000 battery in 3 years... there is no savings as gas savings will need to be spent on a battery every 3 years. Part of my studies was to deal with just this fact. In digging I found the truth, and it's very nice and was the final item that got me to buy one.

Here is the deal on the batteries... Cell phones, laptops and such deep cycle batteries.. BAD. You run them down past 50% and charge them up to the top.. Bad and bad.

The hybrid keeps the battery under 80% and over 50% with almost no exc

There are many energy-saving questions I'd like to see investigated. For example, I have an old Subaru, and I'm not sure if I should buy a new fuel-efficient car. Mine isn't a guzzler, and I can afford a newer one. But that new car, even if it gets twice the MPG, costs energy to make--would an extra 20mpg offset the energy cost of making the car, and if so, how long would it take?

There is more to the question than just gas savings. Repairs and routine maintenance are another part as well as resale value. My wife and I both bought used cars in 2003. We both bought 2002 vehicles for $18,000. Hers has 80,000 miles and mine has 101,000 miles.

Let's check current bluebook...

2002 Dodge Caravan Roughly $6-8,000

http://www.cars.com/go/crp/research.jsp;jsessionid=JOG2KH0OBPGX1LAYIESU2UY?makeid=12&modelid=127&year=2002&section=summary&mode=&aff=national

2002 Toyota Prius Roughly $16-17,000

http://www.cars.com/go/crp/research.jsp?makeid=47&modelid=2916&year=2002&section=summary&mode=&aff=national

The Dodge has already needed a brake pad replacement, power steering service and other items. The Prius has no engine belts except for the AC. The power steering is electric, not hydraulic. I had the brakes checked at 80,000 miles when I changed tires. There was 80% remaining due to the use of regenerative braking.

Just from the above, it is easy to see which is the winner on value.. and we haven't touched gas cost yet.. OK what about the gas?

I bought the Prius used with 8,000 miles, so I have put on 101,000 - 8,000 or 93,000 miles since I bought it. Gas went from about 1.50 a gal to over $3.00 a gal. For sake of argument, lets use the average of about $2.25/gallon. I have averaged 46 MPG. I bought approximately 2,022 gallons for a cost of approximately $4,550. On the other hand the gas for the Caravan is over $10,000 spent. At over $3.00/gallon, the savings are more dramatic. For the same distance driven it is either a $30 fill-up or $70.

People often argued that the cost savings in gas will not pay for the premium for buying a hybrid. If you drive a car that gets less than 1/2 that of the Prius and you drive it more than 100,000 miles, and you can still get gas for $2.25/gallon, then the argument is almost valid as this is the break even point on the additional price premium.

I bought the car when the price of gas wasn't over $2.00/gallon. I studied them and found they are not new tech. They were on the road for 5 years in Japan before they hit the US market in 2001. I was impressed with the reliability and the elimination of most of the expensive over 100,000 mile failure items. Items like alternators, power steering pumps, hoses, starters and the like are eliminated. I also knew gas prices were going up and were never returning to under $1.00/gallon. Future gas prices meant future savings. A surprise was just how high the resale value is. That is an added bonus.

One of the big scares of buying a hybrid was that big expensive battery. It is common knowledge batteries are useless after about 3 years in your cell phone, laptop, etc. I'm going to have to buy a $5,000 battery in 3 years... there is no savings as gas savings will need to be spent on a battery every 3 years. Part of my studies was to deal with just this fact. In digging I found the truth, and it's very nice and was the final item that got me to buy one.

Here is the deal on the batteries... Cell phones, laptops and such deep cycle batteries.. BAD. You run them down past 50% and charge them up to the top.. Bad and bad.

The hybrid keeps the battery under 80% and over 50% with almost no exc

I agree with your sentiment in regards to hand-held communicators - but I believe that a headset is less distracting and in fact might slow drivers down.

Hands free or hand held makes little difference.

This has happened for me, I am in a good conversation and I find that my speed has decreased and that I am a more stable element in the system as a result.

When most traffic is going 65, and you're tooling along at 50 because you're too engrossed in your phone call, you're more unpredictable.

Hands free cell phones aren't any less distracting than regular cell phones.

The solution I prefer is education, coupled with merciless mockery of anyone who uses a cell phone (or puts on make-up, or, as I saw once, reads the newspaper.)

'There are going to be those who have it and those who don't. And even those who get it later are going to be a generation behind,' Ford said.

This is such a stupid comment. Just like any system this is going to have tons of bugs for the first few months, if not years (then again, it's windows, it'd be surprising if it even comes out on the said date). Those who get it later wont be behind, they just wont have to put up with the obligatory crap that comes along with brand new technology. Besides, I seriously doubt that most of the people who will be using these cars regularly will even take advantage of half the functions available.

Um, could you?...I don't know where I'd get my hands on any explosives... And I have no idea how I'd scrounge up three limos in an untraceable fashion.

All these ad-supported services are chasing the same pool of advertising spending. In that sense, they're competitors of Google. Now AOL has gone advertising-supported, so they're going after the same revenue.

The result is probably going to be that online advertising rates go through the floor, like banner ads did. We'll also see some sites get desperate and try annoying ads, popups, popunders, interstitials, and adware. Total spending on advertising is not going to increase; it has to stay a fraction of total retail sales. Somebody has to lose.

Print newspapers are already getting killed by this. Craigslist is draining off their classified ad revenue, and now Google has a deal witih the Associated Press. As a result, most newspapers really have very little content today. Take a typical newspaper today and mark all the articles that were generated by the newspaper's own reporters, and did not start as a press release. You might find ten per day. Only a few papers still have big reporting staffs.

There are two things that need to move to the web to finally kill off newspapers - real estate ads and car ads. So far, that hasn't happened. People have tried; Cars.com was supposed to replace auto dealerships, but today it's just a lead generation service. Realtor.com tried to take over real estate, but hasn't made a big dent. Now that's where to work on "Web 2.0" ideas - those are huge markets with real money being done badly.

Full size sedans and Full size vans are among the safest vehicle's one can travel in.

I thought full size vans had *higher* roll-over rates. I've seen this a number of places including http://www.cars.com/go/crp/buyingGuides/Story.jsp? section=Van&story=fullvanSafe2006&subject=stories& referer=&year=New

Not really....

http://research.cars.com/go/crp/research.jsp;jsess ionid=0OYEJTGGSP5DTLAZGJKJXKY;jsessionid=0OYEJTGGS P5DTLAZGJKJXKY?trf=suv&makeid=21&bg=t&year=2004&mo delid=5607&section=summary&mode=&aff=national

If that (power output is lower) is the case, it's only because of improper engine design.

To prove your point: the Saab Aero 9-5 BioPower engine (designed for Sweden where E85 is common) is 310hp on ethanol and 260hp on petrol. Torque is also 25% higher on ethanol.

I find the opposite is true. Whenever I see an SUV I'm reminded of http://cartalk.cars.com/Click and Clack calling an SUV a "Chevy Compensator".

SUVs are wicked stupid. This is one case where I'm glad to see the price of gas going up. How long do you think the soccer moms will keep them once it costs $100 twice a week to fill the thing with gas?

Newspapers and other traditional media have worked on moving into the internet advertising space. One example is Classified Ventures, a joint venture of a half dozen media companies is an example. You might know them for their cars.com or Apartments.com products.

You seem to imply that New York Times is doing poorly. That is far from the case. Consider this. You might be far too astute to want to give away all of the information they ask for in their registration form. You are probably also too astute to be their primary market for their advertisers.

Here you go.

Funny, I just searched for Honda Civic, used in the New York city area.

One search with MANUAL turned up 46 cars, One search for AUTOMATIC turned up 36 cars.

I did not go through each and every result though to verify.

Funny, I just searched for Honda Civic, used in the New York city area.

One search with MANUAL turned up 46 cars, One search for AUTOMATIC turned up 36 cars.

I did not go through each and every result though to verify.

I am an avid NPR listener, and whenever Klick and Klack, the Tapper brothers are on when I get home, I invariably end up sitting in the driveway. I would love to be able to automagically tape these shows and play them back in my car (while driving to/from work) at the push of a button.

Are there Windows Media Player choices for Linux? You can use MPlayer, which is free, or The CrossOver Plugin from CodeWeavers for $25.

Actually, they're both pretty smart.

Tom Bio
Ray's Bio

Tom had scholarships to both MIT and Harvard, worked as an engineer, got an MBA, earned a PhD, taught for several years as a professor, taught international business abroad, started his own do-it-yourself auto repair shop (very hacker like), and has a successful auto repair show. Oh, and Ray, the "stupid" one, went to MIT too.

Also, if you listen to their show, every week they have a math problem for their listeners to solve. The show is great. They're both pretty funny and the show is surprisingly entertaining. Who said gearheads are stupid?

Actually, they're both pretty smart.

Tom Bio
Ray's Bio

Tom had scholarships to both MIT and Harvard, worked as an engineer, got an MBA, earned a PhD, taught for several years as a professor, taught international business abroad, started his own do-it-yourself auto repair shop (very hacker like), and has a successful auto repair show. Oh, and Ray, the "stupid" one, went to MIT too.

Also, if you listen to their show, every week they have a math problem for their listeners to solve. The show is great. They're both pretty funny and the show is surprisingly entertaining. Who said gearheads are stupid?

Actually, they're both pretty smart.

Tom Bio
Ray's Bio

Tom had scholarships to both MIT and Harvard, worked as an engineer, got an MBA, earned a PhD, taught for several years as a professor, taught international business abroad, started his own do-it-yourself auto repair shop (very hacker like), and has a successful auto repair show. Oh, and Ray, the "stupid" one, went to MIT too.

Also, if you listen to their show, every week they have a math problem for their listeners to solve. The show is great. They're both pretty funny and the show is surprisingly entertaining. Who said gearheads are stupid?

Tom: And why is it more distracting than having a conversation with a passenger? Well, for one thing, a passenger can see when you're trying to merge into traffic, or back out of a driveway, and will usually understand if you stop speaking and concentrate on the task at hand. The person on the other end of the cell phone has no idea what's going on with you. Not to mention that you never have to take your eyes off the road and "dial" the person in the passenger seat.

Think about it - when was the last time you actually *looked forward* to something on the radio?

Every. Damn. Week. So many of This American Life's shows have just been completely superb, it's by far my favorite running show of any genre or any medium. Funny. Sad. Uplifting. Depressing. Unforgettable.

Car Talk is great too, but the main emotional appeal there is "side-splittingly funny". Not that there's anything wrong with that, but TAL can do that when they feel like it, and they branch off in lots of other directions too. (They do get points for the very useful website though -- need to find a reputable mechanic in your area?). (Wait Wait Don't Tell Me is also very funny, but smug -- sometimes charmingly, sometimes smarmily -- and with humor that will mostly go stale in well under a week. Still worth listening to though.)

So there's good stuff on the radio -- just not on the commercial stations. And I don't know of any show anywhere that's even half as impressive as TAL has more or less consistently been for the past seven years or so.

And when was the lst time on TV?

...okay, you've got me there. Is anything on PBS as good as the stuff NPR/PRI has been doing? There's NOVA, and "Masterpiece Theatre", and lots of kids shows, but beyond that I'm not aware of what they're offering, and none of it wins me over the way TAL has.

Think about it - when was the last time you actually *looked forward* to something on the radio?

Every. Damn. Week. So many of This American Life's shows have just been completely superb, it's by far my favorite running show of any genre or any medium. Funny. Sad. Uplifting. Depressing. Unforgettable.

Car Talk is great too, but the main emotional appeal there is "side-splittingly funny". Not that there's anything wrong with that, but TAL can do that when they feel like it, and they branch off in lots of other directions too. (They do get points for the very useful website though -- need to find a reputable mechanic in your area?). (Wait Wait Don't Tell Me is also very funny, but smug -- sometimes charmingly, sometimes smarmily -- and with humor that will mostly go stale in well under a week. Still worth listening to though.)

So there's good stuff on the radio -- just not on the commercial stations. And I don't know of any show anywhere that's even half as impressive as TAL has more or less consistently been for the past seven years or so.

And when was the lst time on TV?

...okay, you've got me there. Is anything on PBS as good as the stuff NPR/PRI has been doing? There's NOVA, and "Masterpiece Theatre", and lots of kids shows, but beyond that I'm not aware of what they're offering, and none of it wins me over the way TAL has.

Sorry, Car Talk has already named the VW Jetta as the number one gay mens' car.

I passed on the Jetta and got a Honda Civic Hybrid instead.

time to go back to analog i guess...

cartalk.cars.com is a pretty funny site, as is the radio show. Check out "Car Talk Haiku".
My favorite is:

Forty in fast lane
Cellular conversation
Entropy awaits

Bill Gates gets half , and SCO wants the other half.

Alex.

--petard

Most girls are not impressed, true. However, girls that want to have casual sex know that a guy in a Mustang or Porche is driving it because he's horny, lonely, and wants lots of sex, and acting as if they are impressed is an easy way to open conversation.

Girls who don't want to have casual sex do not interest guys who drive Mustangs. They will drive Astro vans or Volkswagons if and when they are ready to settle down and get married.

By the way, according to Car Talk, the Beetle is the second-gayest car in America.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

And what's wrong with the audio files on their website?
http://cartalk.cars.com/Radio/Show/online
Sure, they're RealAudio, but that's not a problem *cough*mencoder*cough*Audio Hijack*cough*.

Click and Clack demonstrate the proper technique. Arms at the ready!

Pinning the problems on the user is really wrong in this case. This system was destined to fail. The only one that i've tried that was worse was in the Buick Reatta. (Anyone remember that?)

Take it from the experts -- iDrive blows.

Probably the same reason Tom Magliozzi hates the BMW M Roadster and loves the Mazda Miata In other words, some sensible people would rather have a silent, featureful, attractive, small footprint machine for $1200-2000 than the world's fastest diesel for $900. Speed is not the only component of "the steak." BTW, the iLamp doesn't come in a 1Ghz model, only 700-800Mhz.

Funny you should mention that.

I'm currently on vacation here in Brazil (the country, not the movie ;), and I'm pleasantly surprised to see the cars most people are driving. In the US, my Honda Civic was one of the smallest cars on the road, while down here, my dad's Civic is quite a lot larger than the local average. Sure, there are a few large cars around, including the occasional SUV. But the little ones, including the 1000 cc VWs and FIATs outnumber the larger vehicles by quite a wide margin.

Ps: Good info on SUVs is available at the website of the NPR radio show cartalk.

Dewey, Cheatham & Howe produce the radio show Car Talk on National Public Radio here in the US.

That's the name that the very funny guys on Car Talk gave to their production company.

A rather verbose memo about not putting the seat up before you take a leak. :-D

I always thought Slashdot should have a boss button.

[ Boss Button]

I always thought Slashdot should have a boss button.

[ Boss Button]

I use Total Recorder to capture the audio, which is the only method I've found. Unfortunately, quality is lost in the conversion, and its one of the few programs that keeps me booting windows. Here's hoping someone uses the recently release realaudio source to come up with a better Linux solution.

All these shows take up a lot of space though. The Bantam BA350 holds 128mb + a 128mb flash card. Recharges from the USB port and works well. My favorite MP3 player to date, though it has a windows only interface.

and it doesn't mean that GM or Ford are suddenly making better cars

Well...here are the longer term figures from the 1998 model year. It's a pretty mixed bag, but it looks like half of GM's brands did pretty well. Cadillac took second place, even beating Mercedes Benz. I am still sticking to my guns on the domestics...they really don't hold up half bad comparatively. I am still driving my car from college at 127k miles right now, and I've got no complaints...I have a friend who has almost the same car at 145k-ish now...same story...and neither of those are from a make that even made the most reliable lists. Sure...those aren't rediculously high milages...but not too shabby and still going strong. I think vehicle longevity (assuming the original vehicle is at least half decent) is really affected by maintenance and storage and the such.

Well...you've got some inches on me in height, and actually I just rode in a Mazda Protegé earlier this week for the first time...they are reasonbly roomy on the inside. Never looked at an Echo in person....but for each small car with a decent interior size you list, I can probably list one that doesn't fair as well at all. That being said, I can make due with most cars for short drives...but it's the long trips that usually kill me. I sat in a Miata once and knew from that point on I wouldn't want one...ever. The insides sucked.

It's true about the SUV's though...for alot of them at least. Alot of them aren't too big on the inside (aside from the open space behind you, but some are much better than others) and to make matters worse, they pack them with every stupid thing they can find to clutter it up even more. I really wish people would outgrow those things...it's a trend that has gotten out of hand.

I hear Jon Katz is working on it. He has a line on a guy in Tibet who buried his C64 when the communists invaded and just dug it out to download Car Talk.

Live Larger Drive Smaller

Nuf said

• Cars.com is temporarily unavailable. Please check back in a few minutes.

  While you're waiting, you can kill some time and still find useful car information at our partner site, CarTalk.

  Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.

This is voicemail hell for web sites.

Another reason this is good is that we (here in the US) have all been paying for the development of these machines through our tax dollars. There is an interesting rant about this on CarTalk's website.

In addition, the batteries are insanely expensive. Each car produced is subsidized by the taxpayers to offset the costs of the batteries. From About.com: "Depending on the size of battery bank in the vehicle, it may cost between $20,000 and $60,000 for the batteries."

Well I guess sugar in the gas tank is kind of bad for the car, but not for the reason you think. Read this link.

Anyway, I still think it makes more sense to say billion = 10^12 = (10^6)^2 = million^2, trillion = million^3, and so on.