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His son Ferry is the Porsche car maker we all know... and did the 356.

His grandson Ferdinand Piech is the Porsche car maker we all should know... and did the 240mph 917/30, the Quattro (amen) and the Bugatti Veyron. Hell, he even designed the most reliable and indestructible engine ever put in a passenger car (the Mercedes turbo-charged five-cylinder). These may be among the reasons that it was he (and not his father or grandfather) who won Car Executive of the Century.

You want the torque and power curve of an electric motor but the convenience of tanking up with kerosene?

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com...

> Ford stayed strong throughout the economic recession, did not require any
> bailout, posted record profits, and produces the best selling car in the world.

Correction. Ford was going down to the same hot place in the same handbasket as GM. Bonds of both companies were downgraded to junk-bond status in early May of 2005 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41573-2005May6.html Ford had fewer assets than GM, and suffered a near-death experience with a loss of $12.7 billion in 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6298463.stm They caught a lucky break, in that they ran into their problems before the credit markets froze up in 2008. So they were able to mortgage themselves to the gills and obtain $18 billion in financing http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29921 to execute a turnaround.

> Two specific automakers were poorly managed and operated,
> *AND WHEN THE ECONOMY TANKED*, they couldn't survive.

Correction. when the economy tanked, they couldn't get financing to execute a turnaround, and had to get financing from US and Canadian governments, on those governments' terms. I will grant that Ford did their restructuring right, but they did get lucky in that they were forced to do so before the economy tanked, and it was still possible to borrow $18 billion.

Credit where credit is due; Wkipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Motor_Company with lots of citations.

I heard a newscaster on the radio describing the Audi entry into Le Mans as quite enough that no-one would call the police if it drove through a sub-urban neighborhood.

Considering that is pretty much the peak inperformance I would say diesel can be quiet.

At the buttom of this page is some more anecdotal evidence.

Diesel does not need to be loud.

You mean something like this V.W. that uses .89 liters to go a hundred kilometers. For U.S.ians that's 235 miles per gallon for a non hybrid diesel that is legally drivable, not too bad.

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame.php?file=car. php&carnum=1316

Have you heard of Mazda's Hydrogen powered RX8 concept car?

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame.php?file=car. php&carnum=1792

FWIW, my 2005 Solara was built in Kentucky as well.
My first "foreign" car, I love it!

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame.php?file=pic. php&imagenum=1&carnum=1659

Incorrect. 'Spoilers' do generate downforce, which is why theri shape and size are tightly restricted in NASCAR. If you look at the GoodWrench C5 Corvette road car, it does need a big ass wing! Big ass wings generate more force at lower speeds than spoilers, but also more drag. The higher speeds that NASCAR runs in (as opposed to GT cars) don't require the surface area of a wing, therefore a spoiler is sufficient. But the GT cars, which run at lower speeds, need the added surface area. The angle of attack can also be adjusted, for less drag at higher speeds.

You are correct (below) about F1 cars needing wings on both ends, as well as aerodynamic undercarriges. A 1/2 pound of pressure difference in the tires is what killed Arie Liendyke, when his undercarrige scrapped on the road, and he lost all adhesion in a high speed corner. (I'm a big racing fan too) ;-)

But we can both agree that ricers need help. But at least they hack their cars! Gotta give 'em some props for picking up a wrench!

IF he had used his hydraulic brakes as hard as he could, and the engine was still being told to go WOT (wide open throttle), there is some chance the car could still keep going forward, but not before the calipers and rotors would be pushed beyond brake fluid boiling point, and lose his brakes entirely. Even so, it certainly would have slowed him down considerably.

From pictures I found on the web, this thing has an automatic transmission, and a lever to control it (like most cars). Neutral could probably have been used. The engine might have blown, but he would have stopped.

From reading, this car does have a motorized throttle valve, which could be a culprit. It would still require dodgy panic thinking on the part of the driver not to realize his options and/or he is full it.

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame.php?file=car. php&carnum=626

Apparently, the diesels are around 20% better - note that the figures quoted on that page are for rally driving, not a quiet cruise in the country. Certainly, some people are pleased by their mileage.

The obvious solution is to make and use "Freedom Peugeots" which are US-based clones of the French cars. (-:

Yes, many Frenchmen are stuck-up prigs, yes the Italians can make fancier cars, but between Citroen, Peugeot and Renault the Frogs are a hard act to follow in the quotidian automotive game.

I think the make-or-break on this is going to be the standard apps:

Web Browser (hopefully Moz/FF)

Mail client (hopefully Moz/TB)

Office Suite (OO or similar)

The first two MS gives away free, but the open-source free versions are vastly superior.

The second one is better (o blasphemy!) in the MS version, but expensive; whereas the free versions are probably good enough for most people and, well, free.

If I were Ballmer* I would put serious pressure on the Office group to come up with a "good-enough" version that could be bundled with (but not, for anti-trust reasons, overly integrated with) the OS.

Seriously, if you consider the cost of a low- to mid-range PC with fully-legal software then you are looking at serious savings on the office suite alone, at least for small and medium-sized businesses.

* If I were Gates, I'd be reading my DaVincis on the beach and having fun. Why can't that dude chill out and just enjoy life??

> Simple rule: If your car is built anywhere between 13 (the Skoda factory) and 144 (Japan) degrees of longitude, don't buy it.

Cool! More Nissan Skyline GTRs for me then!

If organized racing of electric, or even hybrid, cars were to take place...Education of the public

Unfortunately, it is already happening, and the public has not noticed. Nik Berg's Prius Rally Car finished 14th in the 5000 mile Midnight Sun to Red Sea Rally. The Panoz Q9 hybrid finished 12th at LemManns. Jerry Unser beat several normal cars when she did the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with an electric. NEDRA has been drag racing electrics since 1998, and the NHRA now has rules for electric drag racing. Guess what? The public doesn't know and/or doesn't care. Until EVs and HEVs are consistantly *WINNING*, the public won't notice. I wish it were not that way, but it is.

I wish GM would just go ahead and realize that if they designed cars that didn't look like ass, I might buy one.

I agree. Most GM product does look like ass. :-) Except, I do kinda disagree here:

That thing looks like a warmed-over Grand Prix.

As a proud original owner of a 1997 Grand Prix (with 184,000 miles!), you're failing to evoke any sympathy from me on that remark. The 9th generation (2004 onward) GPs aren't that great looking, but I think the 8th generation GPs (1997-2003) are good looking cars.

As for your sports car feature list, lessee...

• Sports car. Check.
• Two doors. Check.
• Manual transmission. Check. Six speed close ratio manual. Also has a limited-slip differential.
• Rear wheel drive. Check.
• Weighs less than 3000lbs. Nope. Though I couldn't find Pontiac's weight, the Holden Monaro CV8 upon which it's based looks like it's about 3600 pounds.
• Looks cool. Check. At least I think it does.

And lets not forget a few items I would like to see:

• Decent horsepower/torque. Check. Approx 340HP, 360 ft/lb of torque. Makes up for the weight.
• Decent exhaust note. Check. Listen to the sound clips online. No 4-banger butt trumpet here.
• Decent specs while still naturally asperated. Check. This was always one of my main complaints w/ the Grand Prix and with a lot of the 4-bangers out there. Nothing wrong with forcing air with aftermarket parts, but to make compelling on the show room floor?

You went on to say:

I am really disappointed that the Aussies didn't come up with a better design. They know their cars down there...just wish they could beat some sense into GM's "design" centres.

Blame Detroit for the fascia. The GTO is based on the Holden Monaro CV8, which is a kick-ass car in its own right. Maybe if the chipmunk grille turns you off, you can look into the Monaro instead. ;-)

Hey, whaddaya know... that site has a page on the GTO also. Looks like the GTO is 3614 lbs.

I wish GM would just go ahead and realize that if they designed cars that didn't look like ass, I might buy one.

I agree. Most GM product does look like ass. :-) Except, I do kinda disagree here:

That thing looks like a warmed-over Grand Prix.

As a proud original owner of a 1997 Grand Prix (with 184,000 miles!), you're failing to evoke any sympathy from me on that remark. The 9th generation (2004 onward) GPs aren't that great looking, but I think the 8th generation GPs (1997-2003) are good looking cars.

As for your sports car feature list, lessee...

• Sports car. Check.
• Two doors. Check.
• Manual transmission. Check. Six speed close ratio manual. Also has a limited-slip differential.
• Rear wheel drive. Check.
• Weighs less than 3000lbs. Nope. Though I couldn't find Pontiac's weight, the Holden Monaro CV8 upon which it's based looks like it's about 3600 pounds.
• Looks cool. Check. At least I think it does.

And lets not forget a few items I would like to see:

• Decent horsepower/torque. Check. Approx 340HP, 360 ft/lb of torque. Makes up for the weight.
• Decent exhaust note. Check. Listen to the sound clips online. No 4-banger butt trumpet here.
• Decent specs while still naturally asperated. Check. This was always one of my main complaints w/ the Grand Prix and with a lot of the 4-bangers out there. Nothing wrong with forcing air with aftermarket parts, but to make compelling on the show room floor?

You went on to say:

I am really disappointed that the Aussies didn't come up with a better design. They know their cars down there...just wish they could beat some sense into GM's "design" centres.

Blame Detroit for the fascia. The GTO is based on the Holden Monaro CV8, which is a kick-ass car in its own right. Maybe if the chipmunk grille turns you off, you can look into the Monaro instead. ;-)

Hey, whaddaya know... that site has a page on the GTO also. Looks like the GTO is 3614 lbs.

not true.

I sure as hell wouldn't call this a car, and yet it has 4 wheels.

While I was going to make some insightful comments about continual growth of electric cars lately, this 'product' is just plain laughable.

In my opinion, something that is more important to the future of electric cars (and a testament to their potential) is the Toyota Prius Rally Car. It recently just finished a 5,000 mile 3 week rally. Didn't finish first, but finished (which, as any rally fan will tell you is a challenge in-and-of itself). At least Toyota's accomplishments are tangible.

And seriously, whats with the 8 wheel design?