I've got to vote for the I5 - I805 merge in San Diego, partly because it's where I learned to drive, before and during the construction of the current version of this monster interchange.

VW actually brought back drums on the low-end Jetta a couple years ago... the one with a solid rear axle. They claimed that they were able to achieve braking performance similar to other cars in the class for less money and cheaper maintenance.

Yup, 3 wheels means no crash testing, significantly reduced emissions requirements, and a motorcycle driver's license is required. Some states require a special license above and beyond a standard motorcycle license for a three-wheeler, which can be tricky to acquire.

These turbos, by the way, were variable geometry, the first use of the technology in a gas-powered road car that I know of. I do not believe that they were what you'd consider to be terribly reliable...

If you look at other tractor pull competitors in this weight class, none have fewer than 4 super charged big blocks. As far as I know, nitromethanol (very, very different from regular methanol) is not a permitted fuel for tractor pulls, so a dragster engine is, by definition, not an option.

Search the youtubes for Dragon Fire, there are a few videos, though I don't have Flash on this computer, so I'm not sure which are worth watching.

Well, you'll never know until you try! It's an aluminum block, too, so it's "light weight" at only 7,100lbs.

It's a bit of a one-off, but my favorite is the Dragon Fire tractor-pull engine. It was originally a Zvezda M503 Soviet Radial Marine Diesel, with 7 banks of 6 cylinders for a total of about 143L displacement, and nearly 4,000HP.

The $1k limit is a bit low - My GF got her A3 rear-ended at about 3 MPH, and it cost $1600 to fix, and that doesn't include the damage done to the other car. There's no way to repair a scratched plastic bumper - they've got to be replaced, and with the way new cars are going, repairing dented sheet metal is getting…

Since it's a kit car, you can put one together for the price of a base Porsche 911 plus all of your free time for a couple years! And they're supposed to be relatively docile on the street, especially given the amount of power and lack of electronic aid.

Well, I'm not exactly sure, but it seems like one of these might be a good fit for one of the various light RWD coupes out there with tiny engine bays, like the pictured Sonett III, or possibly an Opel GT.

I love how commentators (on Sky, at least) like to count the number of first lap incidents he's been involved in, even if he wasn't at fault. His first race this season, if I remember correctly, was ended by Maldonado, which got about zero comment at the time, but after Spa they replayed the incident and explained how…

I think I'll be time-shifting the Sky broadcast via some anonymous and helpful individuals on the Internet, similar to the way I usually watch F1, but this time I'll be on vacation, which means I'll probably convince some relatives to watch too.

Meh, I put in 10k miles on an '09 GTI DSG, and I wont do it again if I can avoid it. Sure it was faster, but it felt slower, and when I wasn't in sport mode, it was total crap to drive. The computer never picked the right shift points, it would ignore my paddle-inputs if it decided that it knew better than me, and the…

1) In terms of CO2 output per kWh, coal, even burned in new, clean power stations, comes out about twice as bad as gasoline or diesel, and that's without taking power transmission or EV charging losses into account.

Really, nothing should be classified as anything, the only reason those classifications exist is to keep the American car makers in business by sneakily creating unfair trade situations.

I like to snack while I drive, with meals at stops if I want a big lump of calories. I need to be able to eat my snacks one-handed, and I don't want to get covered in the grease/dust mixture that covers most chips. That leaves pretzels or nuts at good choices, but decent nuts are hard to come by at truck stops, so I…

Note that minivans are classified as trucks by CAFE, so whether or not a BMW SUV/CUV is a minivan makes no difference as far as emissions are concerned.

Hmm, missed the question yesterday, but I once watched a guy smoke pot (I assume) from a ~18 inch bong while driving, holding it and steering with one hand, lighter somewhere by his crotch. And to add to that, he was doing 20 under the limit, and his car looked like it was one good pothole away from spontaneous…