The engines, built primarily by Aioi Works of Japan's Diesel United, Ltd, are available in 6 through 14 cylinder versions, all inline engines.

The cylinder bore is just under 38" and the stroke is just over 98". Each cylinder displaces 111,143 cubic inches (1820 liters) and produces 7780 horsepower. Total displacement comes out to 1,556,002 cubic inches (25,480 liters) for the fourteen cylinder version.

That means the 89 foot long 14 cylinder version produces 108,920 HP and 5,608,312 lb/ft of torque at 102 rpm. Not bad. It also weight 2300 tons with the crankshaft alone weighing 300 tons. Our only question — does it fit in a Fiero?

[bath.co.uk via TTAC]

The fact is, even at last year's LA Auto Show, SUVs, large cars and crossovers were still the money-honeys of the car marketplace — and anything green was for mass marketing not the mass market. This year, however, automakers are thinking big by thinking small. The big reveals were two door or compact four-doors. Maybe the Carpocalypse wasn't about the death of the auto industry or the internal combustion engine, but rather about living within one's means. That said, here's the whole show in one shot.

Cadillac CTS Coupe Very Very Point In Person
Yep, the Cadillac CTS Coupe is real, and it's also really pointy. We can't wait for a version ending in V.

2011 Infiniti M: Where To Put A 5.6-liter V8
The new 2011 Infiniti M is the best of a long, lean luxury car with a big'ol truck V8. Also, it comes along with "forest air" to duplicate how air moves in the woods.

2010 Infiniti G37 Goes Beverly Hills, Gets Nose Job
The 2010 Infiniti G37 has received a nose to match the rest of the Infiniti lineup and a few upgraded interior bits. Otherwise it's the same G37 we love and forget about it occasionally.

Chevrolet Cruze: Live And In The Metallic Flesh
The 2011 Chevy Cruze is an exciting new small car for the American market designed overseas. Sort of like the Fiesta but without all the tweeps.

2011 Toyota Sienna: Like A Venza But With Interior Space
The new Toyota Sienna looks much better, comes with AWD and has a drop-down extrawide DVD screen. It's ready to tackle the toughest church trips.

2011 Mazda2 Gets Happy US Face, Summer 2010 Launch Date
The 2011 Mazda2 is a bit tiny, but it's also more aggressively cute than the other small cars in this segment. We'll take the Mazdaspeed2 version please.

Honda P-NUT Concept: Oh Good Grief
The Honda P-NUT Concept (Personal Neo Urban Transport) is a lot like other microcar concepts from other manufacturers — but with the stupidest name yet. Victory!

2011 Hyundai Sonata: 'Bama-Bound And Down
The 2011 Hyundai Sonata not only gets an attractive new look, they've ditched the V6 in favor of a trio of four-cylinder engines including a hybrid and a direct-injection turbo fourbanger.

Audi e-tron: Sexiest Electric Car Concept Ever
The Audi-etron Concept is sexy despite its uncapitalized name. With electric motors front and back it's the electric quattro Audi R8 we'd never realized we wanted.

Porsche Boxster Spyder Glides Almost Weightlessly Into LA
The Porsche Boxster Spyder is actually less gimmicky and more attractive than in person. Plus, the door handle loops are fairly entertaining to use — at least judging by the reaction of Brazilian car journalists.

2011 Kia Sorento: Signed, Sealed, Delivered
All the people involved in building the first Kia Sorento tiny SUV, which does look fairly decent, signed the outside of it. Unlike some past Kia products, we're guessing no one refused to take credit for it.

2010 Hyundai Tucson: Swoopy Comes To Compact SUVs
Korean carmakers have so much money to spend, so they've skipped a generation of design with their recent vehicles. The 2010 Hyundai Tucson isn't our thing, but it's clearly a player.

Scion Kogi sD Mobile Kitchen: Insert Iron (And Steel) Chef Joke Here
The only thing the Scion xD needed, most people will tell you, is a reverse-osmosis sink. People who own xDs are always on the go and don't have time for "drive thrus" or "restaurants."

BMW 5-Series GT Has Some Positive Elements
It visually mimics a fish, has a lot of space, and has frameless windows. Otherwise, we're having a bit of a tough time appreciate the weirdo CUV.

Chevy Caprice Police Car
The Chevy Caprice Police Cruiser is good news for enthusiasts who want to own used Caprice police cars and, of course, obese criminals cramped in Dodge Chargers.

Dodge Bids Adieu To Viper With Two Limited-Edition models, More On Way
We're going to miss the Dodge Viper, but at least it's going away with more special edition Mustangs than a Wal-Mart parking lot. A revised fifth gear shaves 14 seconds off the 0-to-200 MPH time.

2011 Ford Fiesta: The Party Finally Comes Stateside
The 2011 Ford Fiesta is actually a huge deal for Ford even if it's just a little thing. It looked awesome next to a fleet of SuperDuty trucks.

The main screen for the iPhone version of the app (the Blackberry version is boring) looks just like a Mercedes key fob and, essentially, works the same way. Unlock/lock the car or even locate it.

The locate feature use's the car's GPS and the phone's GPS to provide instructions for how to get back to your car. And in case you're worried the wife is going to find you riding dirty, the system overrides if you're more than a mile away from the car. Philander in peace, Tiger.

Don't want the kids getting their grubby hands on your M-Class? Lock the ungrateful rats out.

The "mbrace" system isn't OnStar, Mercedes will tell you, but it's OnStar. Access all those features without having to crash your car from your phone.

Screw up your CLK because you were too busy playing on your iPhone and left the parking brake on? The system will locate the nearest dealer to help fix your car and take a million dollars off your hands.

Forget the Mercedes dealership with a staff you actually like? You can find your selling, local or preferred dealer.

You must be moderately wealthy to live by all these Mercedes dealerships.

Developed by Hughes Telematics, this is rolling out on all new models and requires a monthly subscription.

Although we brought you live shots of the new A8 last night, here's a slew of press photos and some more detail on some of the tech goodies this uber-sedan's got inside.Woven into the fabric of the new A8 is a ostensibly ridiculous array of technology. Things the average driver might use a dozen times over the ownership, but nonetheless are included just for the sake of Germanic-one-upsmanship. Take, for instance, the navigation system:

Through the fast connection the navigation system downloads three-dimensional satellite images from Google Earth and displays them in a bird's eye view on the monitor; the computer fills in the streets. Another expansion level provides full connection to the internet via UMTS, making the sedan a WLAN hotspot on wheels for a laptop in the vehicle. Furthermore, the WLAN can be used to transfer music from a mobile player to the vehicle's audio system. The customer can utilize all services with a cell phone; no separate contracts or fees are necessary

Although we're left asking whether this is even necessary, we know full well it is if you're a toupee-wearing luxo-barge buyer.
The steering wheel is equipped with a vibration-canceling motor. The seats heat, cool, massage, and probably offer a happy ending. There are 19 speakers scattered around the Bang & Olufson sound system for a grand total of 1400 Watts of power. Considering the system will be perennially tuned to the "Nightly Business Report" and the oldies station, it seems a bit excessive. The interior is awash in customizable accent lighting, not only in the dash and doors, but also the headliner at the upper controls. The multimedia interface now features handwriting recognition, or more appropriately finger-writing recognition:

The industry-first MMI Touch recognizes handwriting for entering Navigation destinations, and is backlit to allow it to change to a pointer for map functions, a number pad for radio functions and can be used to scroll lists in the MMI. This system recognizes Cyrillic (Russia), Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean characters

We'll be surprised if this feature is used more than a hundred times in the life of the car, people just don't go that many unknown places on a daily basis. Not only that, but we look forward to the first handwriting related accident (we know, it's probably disabled when the car's in motion, but it's still easy to poke fun).
Then there's of course the night vision system that's augmented with thermal vision systems, because, you know, headlights are for peons.

Shown in the driver information display, the pedestrian detection software highlights people and animals and determines if a critical situation is imminent. While Audi was not the first to market with this feature, the A8 brings the optimal solution with intelligent pedestrian detection and dynamic range adjustment based on vehicle speed.

This is just a scratch on the surface of the A8's long list of gee-whiz gadgetry but such crazy additions to the car's capabilities will certainly draw buyers attentions. Well, the powertrains will turn some heads too, we'll have more on those shortly.

Quality Planning — a company that validates policyholder info for auto insurers put together this list based on data gathered between August 2007 and September 2008, using a sample size of 1.7 million vehicles.

Click "next" or select any car to learn how it made the list.

[via AOL Autos]

Photo credit: Kipp Baker

Vehicle: 2009 GMC Sierra 1500
Place: #10 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 60% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: It's a big pickup truck. Unless you're outfitted with the entire JC Whitney off-road catalog, pickups are as good as invisible on the streets. Well, not invisible, more like moving blind spots blocking your view of traffic. Still, given the utility and apparently lower ticketing rate, the higher fuel consumption and parking woes might be offset.

Vehicle: 2009 Buick Lucerne
Place: #10 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 60% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: It's a Buick. More accurately, it's a part of the "Old Buick." Recently we've seen signs of life in GM's tri-shield brand with the Buick LaCrosse and Buick Regal, but the Lucerne is positioned staunchly in the "old-man driving 10 MPH under the speed limit in the fast lane" stereotype of Buick. This car isn't ticketed because its drivers don't break the law, well, they don't break speeding laws. Tickets for no turn signals and late turns across three lanes of traffic into Old Country Buffet are rare.

Vehicle: 2004 Oldsmobile Silhouette
Place: #8 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 63% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Nothing says "I'm not worth your time officer" better than a minivan, especially a GM minivan sadly badged as an Oldsmobile. The Silhouette was GM's pity offering to Olds dealers with nothing interesting in the showroom and acted as a footnote in the last days of the brand. It's nothing if not completely invisible in the real world and the drivers are too busy trying not to be seen to go around breaking traffic laws.

Vehicle: 2007 Buick Rainier
Place: #8 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 63% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Platform prostitution at its finest, the Buick Rainier started life as the Chevy Trailblazer, which begat the Oldsmobile Bravada, which died with the brand, so it was rebadged as both the Saab 9-7x and Buick Rainier. A lesson in how not to manage a platform for success. The Rainier has not one but two invisibility shields: 1) it's an unremarkable looking SUV, and 2) it's a Buick. Might as well have that fancy cloaking technology the Predator used.

Vehicle: Mazda6
Place: #6
Percentage lower than average: 66% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Despite the Mazda 6's more sporting character compared to other mid-size family sedans, it's still a mid-size family sedan. There are more than enough hot-heads in pony cars and German prickmobiles to collect revenue from.

Vehicle: 2005 Buick Park Avenue
Place: #5
Percentage lower than average: 68% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Quite a preponderance of Buicks on this list isn't there? Of the cars on here, we've always felt the Buick Park Avenue got the short end of the stick. The final generation actually wore some pretty crisp styling but was always burdened by terrible old-fogey wheels and later boasted tacked-on ventiports. The supercharged 3800 V6 would scoot off the line but the floaty suspension and drowsy interior made the idea of breaking the law a non-issue. Plus, what cop wants to ticket the nice little grandma behind the wheel.

Vehicle: Chevrolet C1500, K1500, 2500HD, 3500HD
Place: #4
Percentage lower than average: 72% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Same reason as its GMC Sierra twin, it's a truck and thus nothing more than an large lump taking up space on the road. With the 6.0-liter V8 they can be pretty fast and they're surprisingly agile around a corner, but nobody buys a truck for the go. As to why the Chevy has such a remarkable difference in ticketing rate we haven't a clue, perhaps since GMC buyer paid more for theirs, they feel like they should drive it faster and park in goofy places.

Vehicle: Chevrolet Tahoe
Place: #3
Percentage lower than average: 79% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: If there was a way to make the Silverado more invisible to law enforcement, it's to close up the bed, add a pair of doors and call it the Tahoe. Even the name says law-abiding-white-bread-citizen. There's an interesting paradox here in that based on anecdotal evidence a great many Tahoes are driven with reckless abandon, weaving in and out of traffic as if they own the road. And yet, with their inevitably beige, black, or maroon paint jobs, Tahoes blend into the background like a chameleon.

Vehicle: Chevrolet Suburban
Place: #2
Percentage lower than average: 84% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Take everything about the Tahoe and add more girth. The big, bad, 'Burb has been sailing American roadways so long it's practically an institution. A last bastion for the family of eight which isn't interested in a full-size van, the Suburban is so big as to be imperceptible on a normal human scale, making it perfect for eluding the radar guns gaze. Their relative rarity these days helps out a lot too.

Vehicle: Jaguar XJ
Place: #1
Percentage lower than average: 89% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: The Jaguar XJ has a shape almost as old as the idea of the car. Until Ian Callum came along and boogered-up the design with the 2010 Jaguar XJ, the car was so ubiquitous, and favored by such old buyers, it's practically never ticketed. The colors are generally sedate and unassuming, British Racing Green is as crazy as it gets, none of those obscene reds and yellows that draw radar guns. The trick is beneath the 40 year old skin is the possibility of an all-aluminum automobile sporting a 400 HP supercharged V8. It's a perfect sleeper and the car least likely to get you ticketed.

This chirp, which is gentler than a blaring car horn, is engaged by pulling on the turn signal. Sort of like how you'd pull up to flash your high beams. It also only annoys the crap out of you after 32 pulls of the chirp-lever. That's a much higher threshold than their first pre-production choice — an audio file of Bob Lutz screaming "pedestrians are a crock of shit!"

Here's video of CNBC's Phil LeBeau* annoying the crap out of us by happily chirping away below:

*Note the "passing on gas" was a Today Show producer's choice as a chyron, not ours.

The Rally Fighter is the first-ever crowd-sourced "creative commons"-like car, is the culmination of 35,000 designs by 2,900 community members from over 100 countries. Local Motors, the company behind it, plans to change forever the way cars are designed.

For starters, Local Motors doesn't even have a designer for their cars on staff. Each major system of the vehicle — whether it's the exterior design, interior design or doors — heck, even the name — are developed in an open source development process. Once there's enough support for any single design, Local Motors will develop it openly. That means members of the Local Motors community not only choose which designs are developed, but also, they get to help develop them. Contests are held for the development and the winner receives a monetary prize based on the importance of the system to developing the overall vehicle. Thus, door design might receive less money than say, exterior design.

That includes the "where" as well as the what. Local Motors cars are built in regional micro-factories. The first vehicle the community chose to build — the Rally Fighter — will be built at both Local Motors' headquarters in Massachusetts, but also in Arizona, where the car — built for off-road and desert races of the American Southwest — will be primarily used. Each car the Local Motors community designs will be based on regional desires, tastes and preferences.

Better yet is the manufacturing — it's done by the soon-to-be-owner. That's right, once design and engineering is fully developed the buyer goes to the local Local Motors Micro-Factory and builds it — with a little bit of their help.

Brilliant idea? Yes. Even better is that they're looking to work with the major automakers and not against them. The best analogy we've yet heard for the available market for Local Motors is to imagine a glass mason jar filled with marbles. The mason jar represents the total potential U.S. automotive marketplace and the marbles represent cars built by major automakers. You'd notice that there's a lot of nooks, crannies and openings in between those marbles. That represents unfulfilled niche markets that, frankly, just aren't covered by current vehicles available from major automakers because they're too costly for them to build in small runs. Rogers wants Local Motors to be the sand that can fill the crevices of that marble-filled mason jar.

That's what separates Local Motors from a company on the brink of failure like Tesla. Tesla, with its designs on the mid-size sedan segment, looks to replace major automakers. Local Motors wants to work with them. Each Local Motors system competition is looking for the best ideas, not new ideas. So, for instance, why design an engine from scratch, when, like the Rally Fighter, it can use BMW's perfectly good M57 3.0-liter turbo-diesel? Why build a tail light from scratch when you can just use a set from a Honda Civic? Need a Transmission? Use the 6-speed ZF auto tranny. Need a door handle? The Miata's works just fine thank you very much. Go through the car's galleries in this post and try and spot what's being used where. I think you'll be shocked at how much parts-sharing is going on here.

But that's just the start. Imagine a company able to help automakers build the niche products they want to make but just can't because the volume isn't there to make it profitable? Are you an automaker with an E85-burning engine? Contract with Local Motors to make a small volume car in the Midwest with its large ethanol production. Have a compressed natural gas engine? Let Local Motors build a car with it in areas with great CNG infrastructure. There's a lot of space in between marbles they're able to fill.

So let's talk about their first product — the Rally Fighter. Thanks to the very concept caresque styling, when you walk up to it, you're immediately struck with how attractive the Rally Fighter looks. It's got a look inspired by the historic P-51 Mustang fighter plane, right down to the pregnant belly bulge in the fuselage. The lines are swoopy in the right places and it's high up off the ground thanks to 18" of suspension travel necessary for clearing the big rocks n' boulders you'll find in Baja and other rally races.

Although the car's built for both off-road and on, because it's lacking so many weighty creature comforts, and thanks to the big BMW diesel engine, it's capable of 36 MPG on the highway or 30 MPG in an off-road setting. All while pumping out 265 HP and 425 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels.

It's 189 inches long, 69.25 inches high in "high ride height mode" and 61.25 inches high in "low ride height mode." The wheelbase is 115 inches, track width is 69.5 inches and it has a curb weight estimated between 3,000 and 3,200 lbs. It seats four and it's awesome.

We can't wait to drive it. Do you want one? Head over to Local Motors and drop a deposit down now. The full price will be approximately $50,000 and looks to be well worth it.

Photo + Mechanic's credit: Kerry Pierno and Darren Barrone
Video credit: Al Navarro

It all started about two years ago, when I caught the 24 Hours Of LeMons jones, bad. How bad? Bad enough to put a team together, drop a Ford 302 in a Volvo 244, and enter the notorious Altamont "Demolition Derby" LeMons race back in early '08. With a Scandinavian Black Metal theme, the car needed to look evil! And thus began the saga of the Screaming Skulls...

Nowadays, my beater '92 Civic sports a pair of clattery, chattery "talking" skulls that use up pretty much all of the hatch area's storage capacity. When I hit the brakes, the jaws open and close (with enough force to bite through a celery stalk; yes, I've tested the bite power) and the eyes gleam a menacing- yet safe- red.

They're loud and annoying, but totally worth it. All it took was a few bucks in parts and hundreds of hours of time.

First, I needed a couple of plastic skulls. It turns out that "factory fourth" med-student skulls are dirt cheap on eBay. They're cheap because they tend to have different colors for the cap and face, or maybe some missing teeth, or just ill-fitting parts. None of that mattered for this project, so I ordered two right away.

My initial plan was to use vacuum motors, or "suck power," to actuate the jaws. I grabbed a couple of heater-vent vacuum actuators from a Chevy Astro Van and started cutting holes in the skulls. They're made of very dense, heavy plastic that's quite easy to drill, cut, and grind. I started the project by drilling out the eye sockets and cutting another hole at the base of the skull for the steel pipe that will form the "neck."

The illuminated red "eyeballs" were made from a pair of steel-and-glass Alfa Romeo warning lights, pulled from junked Alfa Spiders. Junkyard tip: always grab these lights when you see them; the quality is excellent and they're easy to mount on your homemade instrument panel projects.

The jaws on the cheapo plastic skulls don't include a reliable hinge mechanism for the jaw, so I went with a homemade rod-and-tube arrangement. Drill some holes, push the pipe through the jaw holes and a piece of tubing, then JB weld the ends in place.

Here you can see the pipe T fitting epoxied into place at the base of the skull, as well as the installation and wiring for the eyeball lights.

The Astro Van vacuum actuator goes into an aluminum spacer plate that mounts between the skull and its lid. There's a rod going down to the jaw. During high vacuum (engine deceleration), the actuator will suck the jaw closed; mash the gas pedal and the resulting low vacuum will let the springs pull the jaw open. Now repeat these steps with a second skull!

We mounted the skulls on the car's roof, hooked them up to a vacuum port on the intake manifold, and went racing. The skulls worked, but the jaws only opened at WFO throttle and it was a chore to get the springs adjusted for the correct tension. Clearly, I'd need to go to electrically-operated skulls next time!

I didn't have to look far to find electric actuators for the upgrade; most Volvo 240s came standard with power door locks. I sold the actuators that came with our car to meet LeMons budgetary requirements, so I had to hit the junkyard to get some more for the skulls. Here's a promising candidate!

Here's a mugshot of a typical Volvo 240, to make your junkyard shopping trip go faster.

First step is to remove the window crank, armrest, and door panel.

There's the actuator! A few turns of the wrench and a snip of the cutters and it shall be mine.

Voila! One more and I'm done.

My junkyard shopping isn't through yet, though; I'll need some relays and a turn signal flasher to create the "brain" that will control the skulls. Next stop is a 1980s BMW for some Bosch relays. This E30 looks promising.

There we go! This project requires three SPDT relays per skull, for a total of six. No problem finding Bosch SPDTs on an E30- just look for the ones with five terminals, including two labeled "87a" and "87b." As for the turn signal flasher, I like the old-fashioned cylindrical ones from pre-1990s Detroit cars; these skulls will use Chrysler K-car flashers.

The control circuitry is pretty simple: the power to the eyes and the coil of Relay #1 goes through the turn signal flasher (I added a taillight bulb, labeled "Load Bulb" in the diagram, inside the skull to provide enough current draw to make the flash rate a bit faster). When the coil on Relay #1 activates, it causes the coils of Relay #2 and Relay #2 to activate, which reverses the polarity of the power leads going to the lock actuators in the skulls. This causes the actuators to deploy down ("lock") as well as up ("unlock"), which means springs won't be necessary to close the jaws.

Speaking of jaws, I decided to improve the linkage with a double-jointed arrangement.

Some modification to the lock actuators was necessary to attach the jaws.

Now it's time to start playing with wires.

Here's a quick bench test of the circuitry. Hey, it works!

And it works when installed in the skull, too!

There's just enough room in the skull for the relays, flasher, lock actuator, wiring, and load bulb.

It's going to be a tight fit to get the lid installed, but it should work.

And remember, everything has to be done twice!

For Black Metal V8olvo Mark II, I decided to get some anatomically correct plastic skeletal arms (also cheap on eBay) and rig up the skulls so they appear to be backseat passengers. Add a T-shirt and it looks pretty good.

I hooked up the wiring to what became known as "The Metal Switch" on the race car's instrument panel. Pulling the Metal Switch activated the skulls and caused Opeth to crank from the in-car PA system. Oh, they'll love this at the track!

Some cheap blond costume wigs gave our skulls more of a "dead Swede" look. Add some evil black robes and spiked Hammer Of Thor V8olvo medallions and we were in business!

It looked great on the race track!

I'd be going on to a new theme for the race car, so the skulls were retired. What to do with them? I know- brake lights for my Civic! First step was to find an unused circuit in the fusebox to get some power. There's no sunroof on my car, so the sunroof fuse it shall be!

It would probably be more sanitary to tap into the brake light switch at the pedal, but that would mean running more wires to the back of the car. Instead, I'll just splice into the taillight wiring harness.

Since I've got junkyard relays all over the place, it's no problem to find one to actuate with the signal from the taillights. This will go in the spare tire well in the hatch.

A little carpentry work will be needed to mount the neck-pipes in a way that will be visible in the car's back window.

Because safety is so important, I'll use these long bolts through the spare tire (which is clamped to the floor) to hold the Skull Shelf in place.

A couple of wingnuts and it's fixed pretty firmly. As long as I don't wreck at a speed above, say, 15 MPH I shouldn't get bashed in the back of the head by 30 pounds of plastic skulls. Don't try this at home unless you find some way to mount the skulls more solidly.

I don't want the wigs coming off the skulls when I open the hatch, so a few hairstylist-approved sheet-metal screws will ensure that they stay in place.

Because following drivers at night won't be able to see anything of the skulls but four glowing eyes when I hit the brakes, I'll need to illuminate their faces. The rear side marker lights from a mid-80s BMW 7 series are just the right size, so it's off to the junkyard for some more shopping.

Some coat-hanger wire and an easy wiring job and the face lights are in place. I'll bend the wires so that the lights will be hidden below the edge of the window, out of view of drivers behind the Civic.

Here's the shelf installed in the car. I've cut holes in the hatch floor and carpeting for the mounting screws, and the wiring harness connects to the skulls via a 2-pin connector, making it easy to remove the whole unit when I get tired of the lack of cargo space.

The skulls look good installed, although the noise they make when I hit the brakes is a bit maddening. Sort of a "Ka-CLACK! Ka-CLACK! Ka-CLACK!" racket, which irritates nearby drivers nearly as much as it irritates me. The slightly different cycle rate for each skull's turn signal flasher means that they rarely sync up.

The whole rig looks quite snazzy. Amazingly, I rarely get pulled over by Johnny Law while driving this fine automobile.

My long-suffering neighbors have given up any hope of me ever driving a nice car. I like to get their hopes up by bringing home the occasional brand-new press car... which then leaves a few days later.

One skull has a ponytail, so you can tell them apart.

Here's what it looks like at night. Success! The puzzled looks I get from tailgaters are worth the effort... maybe.

We're not just talking about touch-screen NAV systems. The latest generation of vehicles feature everything from night vision systems, 12-inch high-res LCD screens, inverted track-ball controls, 3D fuel consumption graphs, full iPod head integration and more. Click "next" to see what automakers have to offer.

10.) 2010 Acura ZDX

Features

• Three-level infodeck
• Sirius Real-Time TravelLink w/ Weather Alerts
• Surround-Sound ELS System
• Voice/Knob-based MMI

• 

  9.) 2010 Audi R8

  Features

  • Sports car design with integrated tech
  • Next generation Audi MMI
  • Topographical Nav
  • Voice/Knob MMI
  • Phone mics integrated into the seatbelts

  • 

    8.) 2009 BMW 7-Series

    Features

    • 10.2-inch Black Panel LCD Screen
    • Night Vision with HUD
    • iDrive Knob-based Control
    • World's First Side-View Camera

    • 

      7.) 2010 Mercedes S-Class

      Features

      • Drowsiness detection
      • Next Generation COMAND interface
      • Capability for split-view screen displaying different images to driver and passengers
      • Oversized display integrated into cluster
      • Linguatronic voice control

      • 

        6.) 2010 Nissan GT-R

        Features

        • Uniform Multi-Function Display
        • Vehicle Performance Display Center designed by Polyphony Digital/li>
        • Full vehicle data integrated into the gauge cluster

        • 

          5.) 2010 Honda Insight

          Features

          • Two-tier instrument panel
          • Large 3D Meters
          • Environmental IMA display shows lifetime and current fuel consumption
          • Battery-charging display
          • XM/Sat/Nav

          • 

            4.) 2010 Lexus HS

            Features

            • World's first Inverted-track ball mouse control
            • High-angle info screen
            • XM Weather/Travel Control

            • 

              3.) 2010 Range Rover

              Features

              • 12-inch high-def LCD screen, biggest in a car ever
              • GPS/Nav Infotainment system in center console with surround-cameras
              • No Moving Parts
              • Surround Sound System

              • 

                2.) 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

                Features

                • Full LCD Panel with customizable readout
                • SmartGauge eco meter grows leaves as driving becomes greener
                • Real-time traffic with Sirius TravelLink
                • Ford's SYNC system with voice-controlled Infotainment

                • 

                  1.) 2011 Chevy Volt

                  Features

                  • iPod Style Design
                  • Dual LCD Control Screens
                  • Charging Menu Controls

From what we can see and what we're told in the press release, the folks at Australia's National Safety Agency (NSA) are collaborating with the LAPD, Holden and Chevy to show off an advanced integrated technology system with the new Chevy Caprice. The system will include:

*Large, purpose designed, multi-function, touch screen integrated into dashboard
*Intelligent power management system
*Consolidated user interface
*Automatic Licence Plate Recognition
*In-car video with live broadcast capability
*Advanced wireless connectivity
*Automatic and seamless CAD and computer system updates performed ‘on the fly' minimising down time and costly service calls
*Wireless vehicle telemetry fleet management system
*Forward looking infrared/night vision (FLIR) camera
*Fingerprint and facial recognition capability
*Virtual prisoner cell
*Latest high output low power LED lighting technology

While yes, the proposed Carbon Motors E7 would probably beat out the tech package from Chevy, the new Caprice is, you know, real. So take a look through the photos below of what appear to be two different packages and tell us what you see.

Click through the photos to get a tour of technology in various stages of development aimed at improving the lives of people with disabilities. You'll notice most of the technology comes from Japan, which is becoming one of the oldest countries in the world yet has a shortage of care workers.

Product: Toyota Mind Control Wheelchair Prototype
How It Improves Mobility: Developed by researchers at Riken and Toyota, the machine uses a Brain Machine Interface (BMI) system to read brain waves in order to control smooth left and right turns, as well as forward and reverse turning. A mind control wheelchair makes a lot of sense.
Stage of Development Prototype.

Photo Credit: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

Product: Panasonic Home Bed/Wheelchair Combo
How It Improves Mobility: This improves mobility and independence by offering a bed that transforms into a wheelchair, removing the need to have assistance going from chair-to-bed and risking an injury.
Stage of Development Close to production.

Photo Credit: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

Product: Echicgo Wasuke
How It Improves Mobility: By allowing up to one-third of the wheel to detach this chair provides better ingress and egress. This is made possible by stronger and lighter weight plastics and metals.
Stage of Development On sale this year.

Photo Credit: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

Product: Honda Freed Van
How It Improves Mobility: Typically, wheelchair-accessible vans are conversions of larger truck-based vehicles. The conversions increase the size, weight and cost of the base vehicle and are not a great choice for urban areas. The Freed is a smaller vehicle with a lower floor that incorporates the wheelchair mode into its design up-front. This reduces the complexity, price and size of a wheelchair van.
Stage of Development A version is already on sale, the new version on sale soon in Japan.

Product: Quickie Match Point Wheelchair
How It Improves Mobility: Athletic wheelchairs have continued to advance beyond the lighter-weight racing chairs developed years ago. This tennis version is designed to allow the user to switch directions by switching weight without risking a tip-over and was used in the U.S. Open this year. Using materials and technology developed for automobiles and other consumer products Quickie has dramatically improved the maneuverability of players.
Stage of Development On sale now.

Product: Honda Walking Assist Devices
How It Improves Mobility: Not everyone needs a wheelchair, but walkers are not a great solution as they limit how fast and how easily someone can travel. We tested the Honda Walking Assist device and found, though a bit awkward, adds significantly to the ease of getting around.
Stage of Development Advanced prototype.

Product: Nissan Elderly Simulation Suit
How It Improves Mobility: There are still many senior citizens who have the mental facilities to operate a motor vehicle but find some of the controls hard to operate. Nissan engineers have been using a suit designed to mimic the limitations of age so younger designers can create controls more usable for an elderly population.
Stage of Development In use, undergoing further development.

Product: Porsche Design Pegasus
How It Improves Mobility: Most wheelchair users don't consider themselves any less able than anyone else, but the world was not designed with their needs in mind. The Pegasus helps bring users up to the level of their surroundings with a Segway-style motivation if necessary.
Stage of Development Early prototype.

Product: Robot for Interactive Body Assistance (RIBA)
How It Improves Mobility: The giant scary bear makes up for the lack of care workers by lifting patients from their chairs and into the bed through voice commands. The teddy bear face is to make people feel better about the robot but it freaks us out a little.
Stage of Development Planned for market in the next five years.

Product: Honda FRANZ
How It Improves Mobility: This system allows those with limited capabilities to use their feet or hands to control activities like shifting, steering and acceleration.
Stage of Development In the market, undergoing improved development.

Click next to travel through the world of poor drivers.

Where: Roncq, France
What:A Renault meets a pole.
Why It's So Confusing: This French hatchback meets with what we're assuming is a pole before landing on the median. Why does it take nine policemen to deal with what looks like a one-car accident? Conveniently, this occurred near a car dealership so the driver can easily upgrade.

Where: Provo, Utah
What: A Semi-Truck overturned
Why It's So Confusing: This appears to be right in the middle of nowhere. Was there a windstorm? Did someone run this off the road?

Where: Escondido, California
What: This Volvo V70 runs smack dab into this pole.
Why It's So Confusing: The accident itself is fairly normal, but what makes this accident so interesting is that the police staged a good 40+ cones to direct traffic out of a one-car wreck. Bored, guys?

Where: San Antonio, Texas
What: Toyota Tundra in a garage
Why It's So Confusing Perhaps the worst parking job in recent memory, and after all that work to get the portico setup. This is why we can't have nice things.

Where: Loire, France
What: A couple crazy French cars again.
Why It's So Confusing: This looks like the classic t-bone at first glance, until you realize there's no other intersection. But even more interesting is the way these cars crumble. Russian steel much?

Where: Minneapolis, MN
What: Mercedes E-Class Into A Tree
Why It's So Confusing: What would possibly have motivated this Mercedes driver to run into this tree on a cozy side street? Does it have to do with the fact that the car is full of crap?

Where: Austin, Texas
What: Plymouth, Acclaim
Why It's So Confusing: Who knew any of the AA-bodied Mopar's survived? This one probably crashed into the side of the black F-150 with giant rims. Either way, no one walked away from this one happy.

Where: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
What: A Honda Accord Coupe And A Ford Windstar
Why It's So Confusing: What made Milwaukee famous? Why, Accord coupes crashing dead on into family wagons.

Where: Central Shasta, California
What: Jeep Grand Cherokee
Why It's So Confusing: We've looked at this a few different ways and have no idea what this truck hit or why the Google team blurred out some of the ground next to the driver... unless he tossed up his lunch.

Where: Barbera del Valles, Spain
What: A subcompact and a work truck
Why It's So Confusing: It looks like this woman was so excited by the prospect of seeing a Google Street View van she backed up straight into this work truck. Oops.

For more Street View crashes check out Street View Gallery.

Toyota has long been associated with the green car movement with its fleet of popular hybrids but has been less active than others on the electric car front. This hesitance is apparently based on tests the company undertook before determining the technology was too expensive to replace their brand of hybrids.

"Electric vehicles of today are less costly than in 1990s, but if you compare them with the other vehicles out there they are still too expensive," Toyota Exec VP Takeshi Uchiyamada told a crowd at the Frankfurt Motor Show. "Unless there is a very big breakthrough in battery costs I don't think electric vehicles can take a large market share."

It remains to be seen if this is experience talking or Toyota is just being protective of the technological advantage it currently has, but it's worth noting they brought an electric car to the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year.

[Forbes]

Click next to see in full detail the process of creating your very own NES-worth flames, as demonstrated by Flickr user Saeru.

This was all done with colored strips of magnets cut into approximately one-inch squares using some scissors and a paper cutter.

You have to chose the right car and, in our view, the Toyota Prius isn't a bad choice given its hybrid drivetrain. This could also work wonders on a Tesla.

Attention to detail is important, it's probably best to have a drawing of flames to start with.

It's all in the details, and little bits of blue make the fire pop!

If you have some leftover you can also ornament the rest of the car.

And voila, you're done!

Photo credit: Saeru

With fires blackening more than 105,000 acres around Los Angeles, authorities called in the world's largest fire extinguisher - the Evergreen 747 Supertanker, capable of dropping 20,500 gallons of retardant over a three-mile-long strip of land.

The plane made its first-ever drop in the continental United States when fire officials summoned it to the Oak Glen fire east of Los Angeles on Monday mid day. After the successful first drop, the Supertanker was called back into action Monday evening where it made further drops on the massive Station fire north of the city which grew to more than 164 square miles and threatened some 10,000 homes.

The Supertanker's been modified to dump a wide variety of chemicals to deal with everything from oil spills to radiation. In this case, fire-fightin' was the modification of the day.

The drop pattern is described as 3 miles in length and a football field in width. The massive payload bay means the Supertanker is able to fight multiple fires in a single flight. [via Wired, inews880, Evergreen Supertanker]

George Lucas, Car Guy

We've already shown you George Lucas' USC thesis film A Man And His Car, plus the guy did American Graffiti, for cryin' out loud. His fascination with cars runs deep; that's him riding in the Cobra with Allen Grant at the 1963 Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. Lucas bummed around racetracks a lot in those days, and apparently worked on the cars as well as filming them. He's said to have worked on pit crews at local tracks, and has claimed he wanted to be a race driver until he crashed his own car, an Autobianchi Bianchina (Fiat 500 variant) in a traffic accident, which is as good an indication as any that he wasn't cut out for the racing life. Luckily for us, it didn't dampen his automotive enthusiasm. After making a movie about cruising, which was chock full of hot rods, he turned his attention to long-ago times in faraway galaxies… and put hot rods there. Let's take a look at his creation through fresh eyes.

Photo: Achievement.org

Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder, Hot Rod

Not exactly a stretch. What else could it be? That dented wraparound grille, the faded paint, those jet engines — Luke has himself a lead sled in progress. Or perhaps even a home-built lakester; Lucas was no doubt familiar with the California dry-lake racing scene, and we can't have been the first kids to look at this shot of Luke tear-assing across Tatooine and think "El Mirage" or even "Bonneville." The landspeeder is a brilliant little "used future" hopped-up vehicle design, and for a lot of knee-high car geeks, it made perfect sense for a space farm boy.

Photo: Lucasfilm

Luke Skywalker, Space Gearhead

Anyone who grew up in a small town recognized Luke, which was of course the idea, but kids who grew up around gearheads recognized something others may have missed. It didn't escape our attention that aside from his space bathrobe, a few space wrenches, and eventually, his laser sword, his ride is the only thing he owns. And it's pretty obvious that despite its smooth levitating action and steady high-pitched whine at idle, it's not exactly the newest-latest, either. You just know that Luke's been wrenching on that thing in between bullseyeing womp rats, wondering if he should fix the stereo or the broken seat recliner next, shucking and jiving for hop-up parts with the Jawas (who just happen to share a name with a particular Czech off-road motorcycle which was popular with California desert riders around the time the film was made, a bike that was also prone to making odd noises and scattering strange bits of metal laying around on the sand). Then, when Luke really needs to get out of town, he sells his hot rod in order to get a ticket on the first thing smokin', a painful life choice familiar to any car guy who ever had their priorities suddenly rearranged by events. You have to wonder if he doesn't want his old landspeeder back in quiet moments, but at the time, he's trading up.

Photo: Lucasfilm

The Millennium Falcon, Whiskey Trippin' Bootlegger's Buggy

Yes, it's a space pirate ship, and yes, it looks more like a hubcap or an aircleaner than any car we can name. But it was a smuggler's machine, and Lucas couldn't have been a California car guy without hearing stories about the moonshiners of the South, many of whom eventually wound up in Bakersfield. Han and Chewbacca are always working on the thing, because if it isn't fast, them Imperial Revenooer boys will catch them. It may not look like much, Han tells us, but she's got it where it counts. Of course, while this turns out to be true, Han sure talks a lot.

Photo: Lucasfilm

Han Solo, Racer; Or, What That Stuff About The Kessel Run Really Means

A swaggering self-centered guy whose identity is tied up with his machine? Any car guy will recognize Han's type right away. He's a tremendous badass, he'll tell you, and he never loses-but when he does, it isn't his fault because, hey, even he gets boarded sometimes. Han's impatient whenever anyone doubts him, has one sidekick he treats as more or less an equal but who doesn't really get to speak, and just wants to be in his ride when he isn't in a bar. Obviously, Lucas had been paying close attention when he was hanging out with racing drivers.

Oh, and that bit about making the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs? People fall all over themselves to explain or retcon this. Some say it was simply a mistake and that someone didn't realize or care that a parsec was a measure of distance and not time. Lucas himself has said that because of the unique nature of navigation in Star Wars, making the run in less distance was a measure of spacefaring skill. Well, we think that's crap. When gearheads hear "making the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs," we're hearing a drag racer say their car will "do a quarter-mile run in less than 12 seconds," which would have been a fairly respectable time when Lucas was a kid. The line would've sounded right to him when he wrote it, and hey, admit it-our explanation makes as much sense as any other. Lucas is just covering up what a car geek he is, because these days— largely thanks to Lucas himself —being a geek-type geek is better than being a car geek. To which we say, George, may John Force be with you.

Photo: Lucasfilm

Sebulba, Stock-Car Racer

As much as it pains us to talk about the later prequels, they're chock full of car culture as well, and none much more obvious than the scenes revolving around this weedy-looking alien. The podracer scenes may have been lifted from Ben Hur, but they were meant to reach kids who were enthralled by NASCAR, so of course there has to be a fender-bashin' bad guy who plays by his own rules and will wreck ya to beat ya. Enter Sebulba. This space-mustachioed villian's name simply must have inspired by Sepulveda Boulevard, one of the epicenters of American automotive subculture and the street Time magazine wrote about in one of the very first mainstream magazine articles about hot-rodding. For all that, Sebulba is a stock-car driver through and through. And if you consider his open-faced helmet, his cheap-looking goggles, his aggressive driving, and his ugly space ‘stache, it becomes pretty obvious that he's intended to be Space Dale Earnhardt.

Photo: Lucasfilm

Anakin Skywalker's Princess-Magnet Yellow Landspeeder

We hate to break it to everybody, but that Anakin kid is no damn good. Check out that speeder he's in-not only is it the kind of yellow that always seems like a cry for help, at one point he even describes the color as "gonzo." Who talks like that? Clearly Anakin's headed for a bad end. Otherwise the car, anyway, is not a bad design, reminiscent of the classic T-bucket rods right down to the exposed engine and even the scuttle in front of the driver. Unfortunately, when it's a teen driving it, you know he's had everything come to him too easy and probably has daddy issues on top of it. Plus, some guys you can just tell are going to be no damn good to women.

Photo: Lucasfilm

Everybody In The Universe Knows That Chicks Can't Drive, Har Har

Speaking of no damn good to women… You've got to take the bad with the good, and part of the bad in car culture is the chauvinism. The Star Wars universe isn't particularly kind to women anyway, as they're always being tortured or chained to fat space mobsters or dying in childbirth, but on top of that they screw up every time they try to drive, which is pretty much once. Here we see Leia driving a space-off-roader in one of the best action scenes in the original trilogy, and she does okay right up until she biffs it and has to be rescued by the cute furry comic relief. Seems her twin brother never had that problem. Sadly, this portrayal of half the driving population is pretty consistent with the attitude of most mainstream gearheads, who like to refer to girls as counterweights, cupholders, or passenger seat warmers. Seems like we haven't come that far since long, long ago.

Photo: Lucasfilm

The volt will come standard with a portable 120-volt charger that'll work with standard home outlets. Just plug it into the wall, connect it to the car and come back six to eight hours later for a complete charge.

For impatient owners, GM is also talking about offering an optional 240-volt home charge unit that'll need to be hardwired into your garage, car port or whatever you high falutin suburbanites keep your cars in these days. Expect the price of the unit and the installation to be wrapped into one bundle that'll be appealing priced and available straight from dealers. A coil cord will extend from that wall unit to the car and can complete a full charge in just three to four hours. It's expected that the vast majority of owners will use this setup and carry their 120-volt portable chargers for on-the-go or emergency recharges.

The reason the 240-volt charger isn't portable is due to national electric codes which require the device to be hard wired and the nature of the 240-volt plug (think of the big three pronger that hooks your dryer up to the wall), which isn't designed to withstand repeated plug-ins/unplugs. Speaking as someone who has electrocuted himself with 240-volt electricity several times, hardwiring is probably for the best.

Both types of charger will connect to the car with a universal J1772 plug that's capable of withstanding the full weight of the car should your wife run it over, can shut the car off if she tries to drive away with it plugged in and "talks" to the batteries to regulate the flow of juice should the level of amperage being drawn threaten to trip circuit breakers or similar.

GM hopes to offer hardwired 240-volt quick chargers in the parking garages of major companies and retails outlets and at other popular commuting destinations at some unspecified date in the future.

GM has gone so far as to consider and then rule out the use of automatic plug winders, finding that they're prone to breakage and the tightly wound extension cords can generate dangerous levels of heat. Instead, a variety of cord lengths will likely be offered to suit individual needs.

How safe is all this? According to Volt vehicle line director Tony Posawatz the recharging system is idiot proof. He even went so far as to say, "You could dunk this in a bucket of water and you'd be ok." [via Edmunds]

This story's still developing, but if our sources are correct, it would blow the Toyota Prius out of the water. Heck, it'd blow every other vehicle currently on the market out of the water with the exception of the Tesla roadster — and that's no four-door mid-size sedan. So for GM this represents a huge marketing coup — the ability to claim the most fuel efficient vehicle in the world and a big blow to detractors who claim the big, sweaty 'merican manufacturer can't build quality products.

We'll have more out of GM's Warren Technical Center as the General holds their big product showcase event throughout the day.