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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)."
Glad to see that the BMW-Windows hybrid is NOT on the list....showing these guys are impressed by well thought out, practical solutions, not gimmicks and gadgets
I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
Man that just ticks me off that they are not putting the RX8 in there. I mean the Rotary engine is coming back and it is suppose to be pretty nice with the RX8. These engines are amazing....why not point that car out?
Well as cool as the S2000 and Enzo are, they either are just very refined (S2000) or are priced in such a way that most people will never benefit from their hi tech (Enzo).
There really isn't anything all that groundbreaking tech wise with the S2000. Honda just paid a lot of attention to detail and applied what their extensive engine know-how to create a very highly tuned motor mated to a firm and responsive chassis. Hardly hitech, but definitely way cool from a gear head point of view.
1.) Smokey Diesels.
Diesels do not have a history of being smokey. 1 diesel engine, the 70s GM diesel V-8. It was an America only engine. EU doesn't have a problem with diesels.
2.) 8/4 Cylinders.
Lets hope it fares better than GMs infamaous 8-6-4 of the 80s.
The masses are the crack whores of religion.
Volvo Safety Concept Car - Volvo is owned by Ford
Saab 9-3 - Saab is owned by General Motors
Honda Civic GX - I'm pretty sure that Honda has a design studio in California
Honda FCX - See above
Cadillac XLR - Owned by General Motors
Audi A8
Mercedes-Benz SL500
Fiat Stilo
Chevrolet Trailblazer - Owned by General Motors
Toyota Prius
So, in review four of the 10 cars are American, and two of them were probably designed in America. That's not bad considering that most of the "high end" cars that you would expect to see on a list like this such as Mercedes, Audi, Lexus etc... aren't American.
It just makes me laugh when people talk about 'penis envy' or 'penis replacement' when someone has a sports car/high horsepower car. Get over yourselves and your own shortcomings.
Building or owning a high-performance/high-horsepower car is for most people, a fun and rewarding hobby. You own something a small percentage of the population 'gets' or understands. Dropping the hammer on a 500hp Camaro or Mustang is an adrenaline-pumping experience. So is being the passenger, for that matter!
Let me put in geek speak: Do you really need a GeForce4 4600Ti for your video games? Really? And an overclocked Pentium 4 2.4 GHz? 1GB of RAM? No, you really don't. You may step in here and tell me about 'frame rate' and 'playability', etc., etc., but I'll put it this way. If you want more and more framerates, that's your power/speed addiction. Yeah, a freakin' VW Bug will get you there, but a Corvette will get you there in style and with some fun along the way.
Most of us don't drive our high-performance/high-horsepower cars daily - they're too expensive, and we don't want the speeding tickets and wear & tear.
Talking about a car as a penile replacement is stupid. Yeah, I've seen the Corvette/BMW/Mercedes owners that think they're God's gift, but most people just like a cool car that they find fun/sexy/exciting/good looking.
"If there's hope, it lies in the proles..."