The SAE World Congress is a huge conference of very serious businessmen and engineers gathering to exchange ideas and opine on the industry. It's also a place where you can geek-out on hardcore engine pr0n.

Our favorite engine at the 2009 SAE World Congress was this awesome piece of engineering from Vengeance Power. It borrows concepts from several different kinds of engines and improves on them in certain aspects. Think of it like a sliding vane superchager improved in every possible way and made to burn fuel. The…

It might be a tiny little thing, but the 2010 Honda Insight's 1.3 liter four cylinder with an integrated 10 kW motor/generator is a big part of why the Insight is both efficient and relatively cheap. It does have some fancy tech though, with i-DSI or intelligent Dual & Sequential Ignition, as evidenced by each…

You didn't think we'd leave the Mopar-maniacs out of the fun did you? Say what you will about the Dodge Ram or other Chrysler products the HEMI V8 goes into, but the 5.7 liter unit in the Ram is quite a nice piece. It's got a 10:1 compression ratio, variable valve timing, coil-on-plug ignition, aluminum cylinder…

The Lexus IS350 2GR-FSE V6 is an update to the previous 3.0 V6 found in the previous IS and with 306hp at 6400 rpm and 277 ft-lbs of torque at 4800 rpm, it's no slouch in the power production realm. This particular cutaway is rather nice for checking out those mile-long long intake runners.

The pressure's on for engineers at the 2009 SAE World Congress to come up with novel ways to help automakers meet and exceed future 35 MPG CAFE targets, but a balloon car? Ridiculous!

The General Dynamics Reconnaissance Surveillance and Targeting Vehicle is one cool piece of kit. It's powered by four electric in-wheel motors and can export thirty kilowatts directly to the grid. It's also got neat-o gauges.

We've heard of the Scuderi Split-Cycle engine before, and we even spotted a plastic mock-up at SAE World Congress last year. This year the design is complete, and they project 140 HP per liter!

We're here at the 2009 SAE World Congress in Detroit, where California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up for the "100 MPG" Raser Electric Hummer H3 unveiling. Which, incidentally, does not actually get 100 MPG.