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news
Michigan Governor Proposes Lower Speed Limits, Removing Last Reason To Stay In Michigan
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm today suggesting the state should consider lowering its 70 MPH (which, in practice, means 80 MPH) interstate speed limit in an effort to save energy. Wrapping her statement in the "families are hurting" argument, the governor made the politically delicate suggestion minus any actual proposals to lower the limit to a specific amount. Hey, here's an idea: If you don't want to use more fuel driving 70 MPH, then just slow down. And stay the hell out of the left lane. Welcome to 1974 all over again. [Detroit News]
9ff gt9
9ff GT9 Hits 254mph, Still Not World's Fastest Car
While 9ff have successfully topped the Bugatti Veyron's top speed of 252mph, they're still 1mph shy of the SSC Ultimate Aero TT's record. That must really sting. The 9ff GT9 will now go on sale, available for the bargain basement price of $854,000.More »
novelties
200 MPH Nitro Powered Radio Controlled Car
We really studied this video with a close eye, because it does not make any sense in a space v. time kind of way. Here's the set up, a sleek, long bullet of a radio controlled car powered by nitromethane, attached at the hip by a cable to a central spike and running around a circular track. Odd certainly, but you can't argue with the results. You can watch the effect of centripetal force elongate the wire as the speed increases. We're totally on board till about till about the 55 second mark — that's when things just get ridiculous. And yet the flag waves normally, the bugs fly around at the same speed and there is no evidence of accelerated video shenanigans. Wow, that's fast. [Youtube]
news
Octogenarian Drivers Rejoice: 15 MPH Limit In British "Eco Towns"
From the Ministry of Brilliant Ideas comes this doozy of a whopper of a notion: build ten new English "Eco Towns" to combat climate change. These town would provide 20,000 homes and—here's the rub—be largely devoid of automobiles. Let's set aside for a moment some of the obvious political footballs: building additional developments creates urban sprawl, which loads up strain on the underlying infrastructure which leads to higher taxes and so on. What we're really interested in is how this is going to affect cars. More »
top gear
Top Gear LIVE: World Tour
Yes, not only will the US be getting our own version of the BBC's hit motoring television program, but the BBC is now saying there will be 'Top Gear Live' world tour stopping at 15 countries. No word on which countries those will be, but its possible that the US will actually be a stop; a managing director of Top Gear, BBC Worldwide, saying: "Taking Top Gear Live on tour is tremendously exciting and ties in perfectly with our plans to reach out to audiences around the globe." BBC Worldwide says the live shows will "incorporate the drama of film and theatre with the thrills and spills of stunts and special effects" whatever that means. Let's just hope they keep The Stig's identity a secret.[via BBC]
novelties
Hot Rodder to Build 500 MPH Motorcycle
Because there's no such thing as too fast or too dangerous, Mike Charlton of Eastlake, Ohio is intending to break 500 mph in a hand-built, jet-powered motorcycle. Already known for his 200 mph bike QuasiMoto and his 180 mph truck (pictured), this will be a 26-foot beast using a revamped U.S. navy fighter jet engine. More »
oh, what a feeling of going 104 mph!
Steve Wozniak Busted For Driving His Prius 104 MPH
Who knew the little hybrid could even go that fast? Oh wait, Al Gore III knows it does. Now you can add "The Woz" to the list of folks who've taken the Prius to the limit and beyond. Steve Wozniak, the man known as the "Father of the Apple II" was caught taking his Prius on the PCH a wee bit beyond the speed limit. And by wee bit, we mean like 104 mph. We wonder what his miles-per-gallon were at that speed anyway? [via San Jose Mercury News]
remote controlled race car
RC Car Aims for 200-mph Record
Most full sized vehicles can't hit 200 mph, let alone radio controlled cars (in actual miles per hour, not scale). But Nic Case hopes his X2, currently in development, will do just that. Current holder of RC car speed record of 134.4 mph, Nic's goal is nevertheless an optimistic one. Powered by a 29.6 Volt direct drive motor, the X2's theoretical top speed is 274 mph, but that's without any drag generated by friction with the road or air. Special foam tires capable of withstanding the incredibly high RPMs keep the diminutive car in contact with the track, while a gyroscope manipulates rudders to automatically keep it in a straight line. A video of the X2 running shakedown tests follows the jump. More »
0 to 241 mph in two months
At 71% Throttle, SSC Ultimate Aero TT Hits 241 MPH
So many questions. OK, as you probably know, SSC and their Ultimate Aero TT are on a hero's quest to break and thereby set the production car top speed record currently in the hands of the hated Swedes. On March 22 of this year they gave it a go, but because of
news
Mike Austin Is Fast, Inc.
What do you get when you put a monkey, an old Mustang, our very own Mike Austin (of I Am Indy and Jalopnik Reviews fame), and Dan Pund, editor of the magazine-formerly-known-as-MPH on MTV's "Fast, Inc?" Simply put — destruction on a relatively epic level. We're actually not quite sure why a monkey is involved [dude, it's a chimp — ed.] — but by all means if you know, let us know, cause Mike won't (can't?) explain it. And for the curious — Mike's the one in sunglasses wearing his signature Reagan-as-Che t-shirt, who's hoping "the hillclimb will break some s**t." Sorry for the length of the clip — it's just how Mike rolls. More »
brock yates
Brock Yates' Full mph Column
There is one Jalopnik staffer that admits to having never seen the movie The Cannonball Run. We all look at him in shame and wonder "How could this happen?" But maybe, just maybe, he can enjoy the first, and unfortunately the last, column Cannonball legend Brock Yates penned for the now deceased mph. To be generous, we're pasting Brock's entire column below for all to enjoy. More »
announcements
Jalopnik Goes mph: Mike Austin, Guest Associate Editor For Jalopnik
Don't adjust your dials folks, we haven't warped into another universe or back to late 2005 and another website. My name is Mike Austin and l'll be filling in for Davey G. this week. He has already transferred his love of Caminos to me telepathically, so coverage of all things both car and truck will continue uninterrupted. In case folks are worried about my Jalopnik street-cred, here's a few things you should know: More »
news
DRIVE! Magazine Gets Sold
Busy week in the auto enthusiast publishing community. First, Pecker and posse at AMI pulled the plug on our friends at mph (although rumor has it that the crew will be allowed to shop the title, listening, Felix Dennis?) and now it comes down that Bay Area-based DRIVE! Magazine has been sold to Apprise Media, where it'll be slotted in with the company's Orange County-based Action Pursuit Group. Note that we cut our autojourno teeth at that magazine and left on bad terms with the owner/publisher (as did many of our co-workers). More »
news
Black Tuesday: AMI Shutters MPH
Crap. Crap and fucking crap. David Pecker, we're so never talking to you again it's not even funny. According to our media-gossipy brother and sister over at Gawker, reported by AdAge and confirmed by sources within the mag itself, American Media has given mph the axe. Alterman, Thomas, Austin, and Wendler were to varying degrees pals and/or great sources, and there was definitely a lot of mutual admiration between our site and their mag. All of us over here at Jalopnik are deeply saddened by the news. No shit, we're like emo about it. More »
commentary
MPH Goes Metal
The mph kids have some interesting musical tastes. Obviously, Wendler, having been in the Necros, has unimpeachable cred. Austin, who graciously put us in his myspace top eight even though he's not in ours (we're so not down with the top eight; we keep ours bone-stock, except that when our pal Wendy committed myspace suicide and then pulled a Lazarus, we put her back in her rightful place), is down with odd mechanical-sounding things. And Merline, well, duh. There's a reason they put him in charge of the rock. More »
commentary
Mike Austin Fears Traffic, Not Zombies
Mike Austin once told us that he envies us because we can work pantsless if we want. (Note, we are currently wearing pants. Y'all can stop salivating. Or cowering. Whichever.) We envy Austin's access to junkets, expense accounts and the freshest iron. But the boy's got something cooking besides conning Alterman to letting him work sans trou — he's decided that it would be in his own best interests if GM would just kick the bucket already. Benefits? Shorter lunch lines, less traffic, less pollution, less speedtraps. The one downside? Zombies. Possibly lots of zombies. More »
novelties
