This is why Smithology is one of my favorite sections in Road & Track.

It's actually a van down by the river.

Yeah, they're ridiculous. I saw one at a car show once and couldn't believe it but the whole thing is forward of the front axle.

Some great Audi recommendations but the Audi S8 takes the cake for me. 5.2L V10 hung out in front of the front wheels in the same great Audi fashion.

Propellers aren't that noisy;

When they fire the burners, hot air balloons are pretty loud. Granted, that's not all the time.

You are absolutely right that maintenance is lower with electric vehicles. Although I'm not sure about having to replace the batteries. Modern diesels, especially those with a high start/stop cycle are becoming increasingly costly to maintain. You have a complex aftertreatment that now requires regular addition of DEF…

Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, and Upworthy can all die in a canoe fire.

I mean, he's up against the Biebs for the title...

That could certainly be a practical method for a phase out. People would get gradually used to it but you essentially have to phase out entire sections of roadway at the same time otherwise you will have mixed units.

My vote is that you should try this for a month, just like regressing back to the Motorola RAZR, and report back on how it goes.

If you want to get really technical about it, the US has been using the metric system ever since the inch was standardized to the metric system.

Lotus Élan. Which is essentially what the Miata is.

One of the commenters on Jalopnik put it best in regard to the Veyron: the Veyron is not a car for car people, it's a car for people who want the biggest most expensive whatever so they can brag about how it's the biggest most expensive whatever.

Having a bit of experience in the field, I can tell you that electric/hybrid/alternative fuels makes more sense for fleet vehicles than it does consumer vehicles.

You're in luck because there are bus companies that are fully electric and have quick charge capability: http://www.proterra.com

There are not enough stars. This whole conversation should be it's own article. I agree, I absolutely agree. It's just like racing where everyone's invincible until they're not. As much as I hate to admit it, when you make engineering decisions, you're putting people's lives on the line. You do the best you can, you…

This is an excellent thread guys. I too have been closely following private space launch systems and I'm a little disappointed by VG. Personally, I have a ton of faith in Scaled Composites but it's a bummer that Burt Rutan isn't at the helm any more. I get the feeling that there are other factors at work keeping them…

Impossible to drive anything bigger than a class 4 truck down an 8ft street. This includes pretty much every bus, delivery truck, and tractor/trailer. Not so good for commerce.

Most nose gear are already self-centering casters. That's how they land with crosswinds. The plane comes in sideways but the nose isn't pointed perfectly straight so the nose gear has to allow for the misalignment.