Gumball cancelled

Is this the end of the gumball?

clipped from www.metro.co.uk Gumball cancelled after death Organisers of the Gumball 3000 Rally closed the race down following a fatal traffic accident involving two British drivers.

VW Iroc on the skid pan...

Odd to see a concept doing such things, but it proves it's close to production.

clipped from www.motorauthority.com Video: VW Iroc concept takes to the skid pan VW gives us a glimpse at the performance potential of its upcoming Scirocco hatch with this video of the Iroc concept car running through its paces out on the skid pan. The Iroc was one of the hottest cars displayed last year so let’s pray developers stick to the concept’s sleek lines. Our American fans will be glad to know that a plan to bring the Scirocco to the U.S. is still under consideration and not cancelled as previously reported.

GM resumes RWD programme

As long as my Camaro is safe...

clipped from www.motorauthority.com GM to resume development of RWD large cars It appears that General Motors may resume development of a range of RWD large cars after plans were put on hold last month following fears that the Bush administration would raise corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards. The original porposal was to raise it by 4% a year, meaning fleets would have to average 34mpg by 2017 – 30% higher than today’s levels. The upcoming Camaro coupe due to hit showrooms in 2009 is safe, as is the recently revealed Pontiac G8 sedan, which will go on sale next year. New models rumoured to be in the pipeline that any changes will effect include the next generation versions of the Chevrolet Impala, Pontiac GTO as well as several new Cadillac models. Thursday 3 May 2007

Challenger being built already....

.... still, it's not a Camaro!

clipped from www.autoblog.com Dodge Challenger preproduction body shells caught on camera Gallery: Dodge Challenger preproduction body shells

Mio.. Mao... Lalalalalalala...

clipped from www.tongs.org.uk This is Mio and Mao:

Cheap and cheeful 'backup' phone!

Can't go wrong at that price...

clipped from www.phones4u.co.uk Motorola F3 - Black £14.95 Virgin Pay As You Like 15p for first 5 minutes each day 5p thereafter Price subject to purchasing £10 Virgin airtime

Why men don't want to get married...

I haven't read it all, but head over to http://www.thesuperjabs.com/why-men-dont-want-to-get-married/ for the full article...

clipped from www.thesuperjabs.com WHY MEN DON’T WANT TO GET MARRIED I see it all around me. Miserable, unhappy people who didn’t fall victim to anything but their own poor stereotypes and unreal expectations in others. The one thing though they all have in common is they took the plunge…. and got married.

Cheap DVD player... and check out the 'clipped'!

clipped from www.play.com

Yukai PL608 Portable DVD Player

our price: £64.99 Delivered availability: In stock. Usually dispatched within 24 hours. RRP: £99.99 You save: £35.00 (35%)

"NOOOO SHESS GOOONE!!!!"

As the new owner so put it... she's gone :(


Luckily she went to a good home. She'll be looked after and finished. One day... I'll buy her back! (well I can hope!).

Aston DBS caught testing...

I want one of these SO much. :(

Is white the new black?

I like black cars. I always have, and I've owned a good few. The Monaro proudly (hiding) outside my house is Phantom black (pretty black if you ask me) and although it's a complete pig to keep clean, I love it. I like other colours too - red (the Citroen is quite fetching and almost wipe-clean) and a nice blue goes a long way.
However, white is not a colour that I'm particularly taken with. It's just so '70s. Beyond that, with the weather we enjoy it's permenatly dirty (in my mind) and the sun doesn't shine enough to get that colour (or lack of) glowing.

But this week I've seen that colour about more than usual. Police cars are going silver now (helps resale) so car manufacturers can try selling the colour as attractive once more. I still remember Porsche (911), Ferrari (Testarossa) and Lamborghini (Countach) all marketing their super cars in white and Porsche are now at it again, as are Lamborhini. Ferrari - not so much.

This very morning I saw a new(ish) BMW M3 in white - and it really suited the car. Odd. The 911 GT3 looks fantastic in white and I'd certainly drive a Murcielago in gleaming white any day of the week. Or an RS4. Or a Monaro. Hmm...

Things it takes most of us 50 years to learn

1. The badness of a movie is directly proportional to the number of helicopters in it.

2. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight-saving time.

3. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

4. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers.

5. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is: age 11.

6. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

7. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

8. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

9. The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them.

10. If there really is a God who created the entire universe with all of its glories, and he decides to deliver a message to humanity, he will NOT use as his messenger a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle or in some cases, really bad make-up too.

11. You should not confuse your career with your life.

12. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter/janitor, is not a nice person.

13. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.

14. When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.

15. Your true friends love you, anyway.

16. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

What's worse for the environment; the Prius or the Hummer?

March 7, 2007

Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage
By Chris Demorro
Staff Writer





The Toyota Prius has become the flagship car for those in our society so environmentally conscious that they are willing to spend a premium to show the world how much they care. Unfortunately for them, their ultimate ‘green car’ is the source of some of the worst pollution in North America; it takes more combined energy per Prius to produce than a Hummer.
Before we delve into the seedy underworld of hybrids, you must first understand how a hybrid works. For this, we will use the most popular hybrid on the market, the Toyota Prius.

The Prius is powered by not one, but two engines: a standard 76 horsepower, 1.5-liter gas engine found in most cars today and a battery- powered engine that deals out 67 horsepower and a whooping 295ft/lbs of torque, below 2000 revolutions per minute. Essentially, the Toyota Synergy Drive system, as it is so called, propels the car from a dead stop to up to 30mph. This is where the largest percent of gas is consumed. As any physics major can tell you, it takes more energy to get an object moving than to keep it moving. The battery is recharged through the braking system, as well as when the gasoline engine takes over anywhere north of 30mph. It seems like a great energy efficient and environmentally sound car, right?

You would be right if you went by the old government EPA estimates, which netted the Prius an incredible 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 miles per gallon on the highway. Unfortunately for Toyota, the government realized how unrealistic their EPA tests were, which consisted of highway speeds limited to 55mph and acceleration of only 3.3 mph per second. The new tests which affect all 2008 models give a much more realistic rating with highway speeds of 80mph and acceleration of 8mph per second. This has dropped the Prius’s EPA down by 25 percent to an average of 45mpg. This now puts the Toyota within spitting distance of cars like the Chevy Aveo, which costs less then half what the Prius costs.

However, if that was the only issue with the Prius, I wouldn’t be writing this article. It gets much worse.

Building a Toyota Prius causes more environmental damage than a Hummer that is on the road for three times longer than a Prius. As already noted, the Prius is partly driven by a battery which contains nickel. The nickel is mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the ‘dead zone’ around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles.

The plant is the source of all the nickel found in a Prius’ battery and Toyota purchases 1,000 tons annually. Dubbed the Superstack, the plague-factory has spread sulfur dioxide across northern Ontario, becoming every environmentalist’s nightmare.

“The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the soil slid down off the hillside,” said Canadian Greenpeace energy-coordinator David Martin during an interview with Mail, a British-based newspaper.

All of this would be bad enough in and of itself; however, the journey to make a hybrid doesn’t end there. The nickel produced by this disastrous plant is shipped via massive container ship to the largest nickel refinery in Europe. From there, the nickel hops over to China to produce ‘nickel foam.’ From there, it goes to Japan. Finally, the completed batteries are shipped to the United States, finalizing the around-the-world trip required to produce a single Prius battery. Are these not sounding less and less like environmentally sound cars and more like a farce?

Wait, I haven’t even got to the best part yet.

When you pool together all the combined energy it takes to drive and build a Toyota Prius, the flagship car of energy fanatics, it takes almost 50 percent more energy than a Hummer - the Prius’s arch nemesis.

Through a study by CNW Marketing called “Dust to Dust,” the total combined energy is taken from all the electrical, fuel, transportation, materials (metal, plastic, etc) and hundreds of other factors over the expected lifetime of a vehicle. The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles - the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.

The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles. That means the Hummer will last three times longer than a Prius and use less combined energy doing it.

So, if you are really an environmentalist - ditch the Prius. Instead, buy one of the most economical cars available - a Toyota Scion xB. The Scion only costs a paltry $0.48 per mile to put on the road. If you are still obsessed over gas mileage - buy a Chevy Aveo and fix that lead foot.

One last fun fact for you: it takes five years to offset the premium price of a Prius. Meaning, you have to wait 60 months to save any money over a non-hybrid car because of lower gas expenses.

Tis a Tuesday

So there is some debate as to whether Top Gear is coming back to our screens. Or, there is debate on whether the current lineup will include Jeremy Clarkson and James May (both are out of contract, I hear).
Actually, JC's comments about them not being back in the summer might just mean that - that they'll be back later on. He's hardly one to be serious in such matters and just loves stirring things up.
Personally I think they'll be back - but I think things may change - not least because the track they use is being redeveloped (so they need a new one). It'll be interesting to see how that moves on (and no, 5th Gear is no replacement).

I'm now nearly six weeks in to the Citroen C1 ownership regime. It's a wonderfully silly little car. Too small for load lugging (thank god) but plenty perky with it's 3-cylinder, 980cc, 69hp Toyota lump. I don't know how fast it'll go (and I ain't trying) but around town it's a hoot and very easy to park (and to clean!). I'd recommend it to anyone that needs cheap and (very) cheerful transport. My only quibble is the fit and finish. But it's cheap.

I've also joined Fitness First (shhh). I'm now training 'of an early morning and I much prefer it to trying to find the energy after teaching in the evening. Sure, I have to pay but now I know for a fact I'll use it!

Gemma and I also redecorated last week. I'll get some pics up at some point - it's rather nice now :)

Silverstone Rally Experience

Today, Simon (and his brother Mike) and I "popped" up to Silverstone for a spot of sideways action. What can I say?
I expected it to be a laugh but I had no idea I'd end up giggling like a school girl! What a brilliant day! Go now - you simply have to. Obviously the real-world use may be minimal but it's the first time I've been handbrake turning and powerslide legally! Hehe..

Interview with the Lambo boss...

A really nice interview with the boss at Lamborhini. I just LOVE those cars and one day, one day I will own one. I tell you now. I really do. :D