Winds of Change

When the words "free energy" come up in automotive circles, there are two general responses.  They are either "turbos" or "hybrids."  Each of these fits the bill as a turbo uses exhaust gases to "create" more power from a motor that is smaller than its naturally aspirated counterpart and most hybrid systems capture heat from brakes which would otherwise be wasted.  The problem occurs when these circles of thought collide.  Turbos are generally regarded as go-fast hardware while hybrids are used by tree huggers and green peace activists.  However, I think I've found a solution!

What Can Brown Do For You

The United Parcel Service, or UPS, recently released video of a new big brown truck in its prototype testing phase.  At first glance, the truck in the video looks like any other UPS delivery truck.  However, the defining characteristic isn't in the aesthetics but in the material makeup.  The new truck is about 1,000 lbs lighter than the aluminum bodied truck due to its extensive use of ABS plastic.  By shedding that weight, The Big Brown Machine can use a smaller motor and be a whopping 40% more efficient.  This got us thinking about past environmental initiatives enacted by UPS.

Porsche.

It seems as though Porsche has become this week's agenda here at Flappy Paddle Heads. And while Danny Chin was busy with the air cooled era 911s, he kindly left a bit of room for me to talk about this.

Opposite Lock - Rants & Raves

Toyota has been trying to repair their public image ever since that whole driving into a wall accidentally scandal.  Lately, these kinds of commercials have been popping up to bolster that goody-goody joy joy feeling inside us all.  I'll let you know what I think about it after the jump and you can voice your opinion in the comments below.

2010 "Can't Think of a More Witty Phrase than 'Car of the Year" Award

Back in October, I posted my thoughts about Hyundai becoming the next Honda, or more importantly the Honda of the 90s.  Back then, Honda had several exciting cars in their lineup that showcased cutting edge technologies like four-wheel steering, VTEC, and aluminum unibody.  Today, the excitement can be felt in Hyundai's entire range of cars.  There's the sporty rear-wheel drive Genesis coupe, the mega-mile consuming Genesis luxury sedan, and the jack-of-all trades Sonata.  While the two Genesis cars cater to a very distinctive audience, the Sonata is the car that everyone can enjoy for its good looks, perfect size, adrenaline pumping turbo power, and frugality at the pump.

courtesy autoblog.com

Porsche. It’s not a sellout.

You prefer feeling secure? Go buy a wittle puppy. Porsche understands this.