10 Techno-Cool Cars

mrv writes "The IEEE Spectrum picks their '10 Techno-Cool Cars'. The article picks vehicles from the 2003 or upcoming model years, that feature significant jumps in performance, convenience, or comfort, are technologically bold, and otherwise cool (for engineers, not just the 'motorhead' type)."

Comments

Chevrolet Trailblazer: Four or eight cylinders

[Doobian Coedifier]

Ummm.....GM has done this before... in 1981 Cadillacs. The system got mixed reviews. Some people said it worked great, some said it was nothing but trouble (getting stuck in V8 mode was one problem, IIRC). They scrapped it after MY 1984, presumably in favor of 4 cylinders.

Re:Brake by wire? Sounds horrid.

[Mr. X]

Did you read the entire article? There is a manual backup braking system on this car.

Re:Where is the Honda S2000

[Neon Spiral Injector]

The RX-8's Renesis engine was revving to 10,000 and making 270 HP out of a 1.3 L engine. But the production version was scaled back to 8,000 RPM and 250 HP. But still 1.3 L. That beats the 2000's engine.

Of course four strokes only use half of their displacement per revolution where the rotary uses it's entire displacement every time around. So to be fair you either multiply the displacement of the rotary by 2 or divide the boinger (piston engine) by 2.