Also, that’s why no clutch is needed even though there is direct drive without a “slush box”. IMHO, direct drive is the ultimate manual transmission, that is no transmission at all. And, electrons, being essentially weightless, respond a lot faster than gases do.

We have reached the point where internal combustion is toast. For example, Jaguar retrofitted a 1968 E Type with a 40 kWh lithium battery pack in place of the XK engine (sitting on the same engine mounts), and a 220 kW motor in place of the XK transmission (driving the same shaft and differential). The retrofitted car…

Baloney. You know you’ve always wanted an engine that exerts maximum power instantly, anytime you hit the pedal, no matter the current speed, and without first selecting the right gear. Well, it’s actually a motor.

It could mean none are allowed to be driven in densely populated areas, like Paris and Beijing are now doing.

By analogy with smoking bans, it might make sense as a first step to ban outright in densely populated areas (public spaces), that is cities, and to levy a carbon tax (tobacco tax) that would incentivize quitting ICE (smoking) in other less populated areas.

So Ken Block is the new Evil Knieval? Let’s see some jumps!

Related question: why is engine braking so ineffective in my 2008 BMW 328i compare with other cars I’ve owned? Is it because of VANOS, which I think uses the variable valving as a throttle?

Have you seen their Tofino drawings?

Just NO!

Right on! Though, what I want in my retro-nostalgia-mobile is a straight six with the turbine-like, ultra-smooth sound of equally spaced small explosions, taking me back to the Jags, Healys, and yes, Triumphs of my youth. To me a V shaped engine with less than 12 cylinders sounds like a Harley Davidson: a thrashing…

Umm, “taking off” requires lift, and that requires air to move past the wing at a velocity exceeding the stall speed of the wing. Pretty tough to see how that would happen here, folks...

My wife made me get one of those, a ‘99, instead of a Z3, so I could squire my kids around in the back seat. It was a bundle of parts flying in the loosest formation ever; never seen so much cowl and mirror shake. And one time when I parked it among Jaguar, Mercedes, and Porsche convertibles at the airport, some jerk…

Suggest a look at the Motor Trend exclusive test drive...

One might even say this is EXTREME dishonest journalism.

I thought it had to do with whether the windows have frames or are free-standing?

What you really want is a Tesla Model S, a fastback sports wagon if there ever was one.

You did a nice job of listening to and appreciating the noises that were coming from the cars. I personally find squealing tires much more impressive than a howling exhaust note. Or maybe its the ratio of squealing and other stress and strain noises to the exhaust sound, which ordinarily dominates or conceals all…

Of course! The seating should also be considered, since human beings have non-negligible weight in all cases of interest...

The question becomes:

Best collaboration evah!