Cars and Motors

The Margaritaville Portable Tailgate Grill mounts directly onto a vehicle hitch providing a portable grilling solution that travels wherever you do.

Most professional truck drivers will tell you that one of the most challenging parts of their job is keeping control of such heavy loads when they need to make a quick stop. Heavy traffic and inconsiderate motorist only compound this frustration. Now, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Institute is planning on making the braking regulations even more strict, which could cause problems for manufacturers in the future.

Even the most well balanced engines in the world will transmit some vibration to the cabin. This is especially true with high horsepower applications, which will shift more under hard acceleration and gear changes. Delphi, drawing from their suspension technology, has developed a new engine mount that could reduce this vibration, even when holding a 435 horsepower Porsche engine.

Last year Ford revealed a custom built one-off Mustang known as the AV8R. It was specially built as part of a fundraising campaign for the Experimental Aircraft Association's Youth Program and was unveiled at the 2008 Gathering of the Eagles. This year Ford has once again brought out a custom designed Mustang and is aiming to beat last year's benchmark of $500,000.

A few months back, Kia unveiled their LPI (Liquid Petroleum Injected) Hybrid Electric Vehicle at the Seoul Motor Show, while others remained occupied with Diesel/Petroleum Electrics. Now, Hyundai has decided to join the LPI race and unleash a new LPI HEV version of the Elantra.

Dual injector systems have been around for quite some time now and in their time have given us some impressive gains as far as power and efficiency are concerned. However, smaller displacement engines make using these systems more difficult due to higher injection pressures and less available space. Nissan has developed a new injector system that they claim will not suffer from these issues and still be able to provide a boost in efficiency.

Ford's EcoBoost engine has gained quite a bit of popularity since first being introduced. Offering performance comparable to that of a V8 while also returning fuel economy more akin to an inline four engine, what's not to love? Now, Ford has decided to expand on the EcoBoost line by including a four cylinder version that will not only provide outstanding fuel economy, but also offer a sport oriented powerplant for many small vehicles.

As more and more companies begin to feel the increasing cost of energy, there has been a steadily increasing number of innovative and "interesting" ideas being brought forward to help drive that cost down. One of the latest being a kinetic energy capturing system being employed by...Burger King?

The Kawasaki 1400-GTR Sportbike has already secured its place as one of the most technologically advanced bikes to ever hit the street. It features a Variable Valve Timing Engine, a keyless ignition system and tire pressure sensors from the factory, which seems like more than enough to keep anyone happy. However, Kawasaki decided the 1400-GTR needed more and are now set to make night-vision and a few other high-tech goodies part of the superbike's package deal.

Ever wonder how much pee power you have? No? Maybe you should. It turns out your pee isn't just waste. It has fueling potential according to scientist from Ohio University. This fueling potential could be put to use in the near future.   

The traditional internal combustion engine is only about 25%-30% efficient at the flywheel.  After going through the rest of the drivetrain and reaching the wheels, you are looking at another 10% loss.  While much of this cannot be helped, one company based in Sweden thinks that removing the camshaft may help free up some of that wasted energy.

Dean Kamen is known widely as the inventor of the Segway personal transporter. However, over the past months he has been working on designing a new kind of Hybrid Scooter: A scooter that will make use of a Stirling Engine and be able to run on pretty much anything that will burn.

Yachts are all about luxury, providing all the creature comforts of home while also offering breathtaking views and unsurpassed freedom. Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that when designing what could be the most impressive Yacht ever built, Palmer Johnson called in Roll-Royce to help bring the final design together.

Driving inside the city can drastically reduce the fuel mileage of even the most efficiently built vehicle. Red lights and traffic congestion mean you're sitting in one place while you engine keeps burning fuel and releasing more pollution into the air. Mazda's new iStop engine system looks to solve this problem by "pausing" your engine when power is no longer needed.

One of the largest complaints of people living close to highways is the over abundance of noise from vehicles. While some of this can be attributed to engines, much of the noise is generated as a result of friction between your tires and the pavement. However, a newly developed rubber compound has been able to drastically reduce the amount of amount of noise generated between tire and tarmac.

If you have ever seen a blimp in the sky the Hindenburg disaster in 1937 may have crossed your mind. It's a terrible and scary story. The kind of story that makes a person never want to ride one of these things, but blimps have come a long way since then. In fact, recently a group of French engineers equipped a helium blimp with solar panels. 

The world of boating is always about the latest and greatest in sea-going technology. This holds true even as many boat builders are beginning to shift to a more environmentally friendly means of hitting the open water. A perfect example of this mindset is the recently introduced Aeroyacht 110.

Back in the mid 1980s, GE and NASA began testing on a new propulsion system that used counter rotating fan assemblies in an attempt to boost efficiency. The testing ultimately led to the design of the GE36 experimental aircraft engine, but was then set aside to explore other options. Now, GE and NASA are planning on revisiting the design and adding some new technology to the mix.

Are cars biomimetic, designed to look like people or animals, or have dominant or sweet personalities? The car in this picture was described as having "male lines" and "one of the sexiest butts around."

As our cities grow larger and more populated, parking will become more of a hassle than it already is. While this is a scary thought for many people, it is one that could be diverted by the Peugeot Metromorph Concept.