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 Yes, that's a real landspeeder, just like Luke Skywalker's X-34 in Star Wars. No computer-generated Hollywood movie magic here. Well, except that it doesn't exactly hover. The fiberglass body is mounted on a custom aluminum electric car chassis. With a top speed of only about 25 MPH, it's going to take awhile to get across the Tatooine desert, seeing as the three thrusters are non-functional. But it sure does make the neighbor kid's Power Wheels truck look lame.
galleryPost('reallandspeeder ', 6, 'The Force Is Strong With This One');
 Builder Daniel Deutsch, a Lucasfilm employee, has also made a custom R2-D2 complete with a built-in video projector. Fans of his work apparently include Joey Fatone (if you don't know who that is, consider yourself lucky). We're fans too, but Daniel says he doesn't have any interest in selling off his creations. Too bad, because this would be the perfect way to out-pose the DeLoreans at the Woodward Dream Cruise. [Daniel Deutsch via Gizmodo]
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 If you ponied up for the heated washer fluid on your late-model GM vehicle, you likely own one of more than 950,000 cars, trucks and SUVs worldwide that the company is recalling. The Detroit News reports a short-circuit in the heated windshield washer fluid circuit could cause smoke, an odor or potentially a fire. But has it? Apparently yes: In at least three of nine suspicious fires involving the recalled vehicles, the windshield washer system was found at fault. No accidents or injuries have been reported due to the defect, but a new circuit with an inline fuse will be installed by your local dealer to ensure that remains the case. Full recall model listing and manufacturer contact information below the jump.
Recalled vehicles:
2008 Buick Enclave, 2006-2008 Buick Lucerne, 2006-2008 Cadillac DTS, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade ESV, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade EXT, 2007-2008 Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Tahoe and Suburban, 2007-2008 GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL, 2006-2008 Hummer H2 and 2007-2008 Saturn Outlook. For more information, call:
Buick: (866) 608-8080
Cadillac: (800) 982-2339
Chevrolet: (800) 630-2438
Saturn: (800) 972-8876
GMC: (866) 996-9436
Hummer: (800) 732-5493 [Detroit News]
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 Only a couple of minutes into the briefing and already things are going bad. “The supercharged engine doesn’t trail off up to the 6,200 RPM redline, so on the track, you may find yourself hitting the rev limiter once or twice,” says a Cadillac spokesperson, preparing us for our first foray onto the track at Monticello. I’m sheepishly trying to sink further into the leather couch, hoping none of the elderly car journalists sitting around me brings up the fact that, half an hour ago, I was bouncing off the rev-limiter at full throttle in third and fourth gear, passing all of them on the wrong side of a two-lane mountain road. I guess that Cadillac considers the 556 HP, 191 MPH 2009 Cadillac CTS-V so fast that drivers — even professional car reviewers — won’t be able to fully exploit its engine on the road. The thing is, they’re wrong.
galleryPost('2009cadillacctsvreview', 6, '2009 Cadillac CTS-V');
galleryPost('2009ctsvburnout', 6, '2009 Cadillac CTS-V Burnout'); Climbing into the CTS-V in New York’s northern suburbs, I was on a high. Just one week previously, I’d spent the day lapping GM’s Milford Proving Grounds in the best car ever made, the 2009 Corvette ZR1. The CTS-V promised to be more of the same; it uses a similar 6.2-liter supercharged engine, but here making a not-quite-as-ridiculous 551 lb-ft and 556 HP (to the ZR1’s 604 LB-FT and 638 HP). Also present are similar electromagnetically controlled shocks, promising both a smooth ride and, more importantly, mind-bending handling. Those numbers lead to a 0-60 time of just 3.9 seconds, that 191 MPH top speed for the manual transmission version (the only model I drove) and combine with that suspension to deliver a ‘Ring time of 7:59.32, making it the fastest production sedan in the world. My ability to restrain my inner demons lasted all the way from White Plains across the Verrazano Bridge, a notoriously poorly assembled pile of broken concrete and steel plates that masquerades as the main route over the Hudson north of the city. Cruising down the right lane of the congested highway during rush hour, trying hard to preserve both my license and my life while dicing with trucks and crazy bitches from New Jersey, there’s little to indicate the CTS-V’s potential. The engine is quiet, the Tremec six-speed is smooth and the dual-plate clutch (similar to the ZR1’s) is light. The ride’s also seriously impressive; I prefer the controlled-but-firm nature of European performance car suspensions over the soft and squishy nature of most American cars. And the CTS-V satisfies my Euro snobbery not just with its suspension, but in the interior too. In V trim it gains glossy piano-black highlights, supportive and comfy suede Recaros, a suede steering wheel and a suede gear lever. Know how awkward most current BMW interiors are and how cheap most current Mercedes feel? The CTS-V is better. Seriously. I never thought I’d say that about a Cadillac. Of course, all this only remains a factor if you’re driving slowly. Shift down a gear, switch the suspension into Sport mode, turn off the traction control and switch Stability to “Competitive mode” and you’re ready to drive fast. There aren't many passing opportunities along Route 9 West, but with ridiculous amounts of power and torque everywhere, that rapidly ceases to be a problem. Views of the Hudson over my right shoulder disappear as speed focuses my vision into a tunnel. Driving the CTS-V fast, on the road, you rapidly forget that you’re driving a big luxury car. Its movements are precise, yet untroubled by cracked pavement or pot holes. Hit one at speed while cornering and it scarcely upsets the car, never once punting it sideways. That I can say this about a car that will light the rear tires up merely by flooring the throttle in fourth gear is kind of mind-boggling. Later in the day, out on the track, and the rev limiter ceases to be an issue. Here, free to concentrate on your own driving instead of others’, it’s easier to keep the big engine in the middle of its torque curve, which peaks at just 3,800 RPM. The power becomes almost secondary to the cornering, which at high speed is controlled and grippy, while slower corners move the balance over to sideways. Compared to the ZR1, The CTS-V has to carry 836 LB more through the corners on narrower versions of the Michelin PS2s. Prone to initial understeer, it only takes some right foot to step the tail out into a controllable slide, so the experience is somewhat less controlled than driving a ZR1, and a fair bit slower, but equally fun in its own unique way. Cadillac had to order me out of the CTS-V at the end of the day, after four hours of continuous lapping. By now, you’ve probably guessed that I really, really enjoyed driving the Cadillac CTS-V. It offers a new level of capability for performance sedans on the track, but especially on the road. In both environments it’s amazing fast, but also exploitable. Think of it as a ZR1 that you can drive people around in, that looks way classier and that you’ll actually be able to push to its limits, and you won’t be far off. Cadillac inevitably compares it to cars like the BMW M5 and Mercedes E63 AMG, but starting at “around $60,000” it’s considerably cheaper; with a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds it’s considerably faster and it’s also considerably more involving. I’d compare it to the more closely priced BMW M3 Sedan, which may have a slight edge on precision, but is also shy 142 HP and 256 lb-ft, while the CTS-V only weighs 474 pounds more. With this car and the ZR1, General Motors now makes two of the fastest, most exciting and just plain best performance cars. Ever. And yes, the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V does epic burnouts, too.
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 Ever been curious what takes place under the Tesla Roadster’s hood in the absence of internal combustion? Well, here’s an explanation of what the parts are and and what they do, conveniently numbered so you can follow along at home. Make the jump to see why "Tesla mechanic" would be a totally cush job.
galleryPost('teslaroadsterinsides', 2, 'Inside the Tesla Roadster');
Number 1: This is the electric motor. Running on AC power, it can rev up to 13,000 RPM while producing 248 HP and 200 lb-ft. Maximum torque is available all the way from 0-6,000 RPM Number 2: The one-speed transmission. After reliability problems with a two-speed design, Tesla settled for this stronger, simpler one-speed. The 8.27:1 drive ratio allows for a 0-60 time of around 4 seconds and a top speed of 125 MPH. Number 3: The Power Electronics Module. In addition to capturing the power from regenerative braking and using it to recharge the batteries, it also smooths out power delivery under hard acceleration. Number 4: The battery pack. 6,831 Lithium-Ion cells are arranged in 11 series-connected modules and surrounded by sensors and cooling systems designed to prevent catastrophic cell failure. A full 53 kW-h charge takes about 3 1/2 hours, while all the batteries together weigh somewhere between 900 and 1,000 LB. Life expectancy is in excess of 100,000 miles. Number 5: The body and frame. The Tesla roadster shares its extruded and bonded aluminum frame with the Lotus Elise while wearing its own, superlight carbon fiber bodywork. [via Treehugger]
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 If you've been having trouble with your small gasoline power equipment lately, MSNBC reports that you're not alone: Small-engine mechanics nationwide are seeing a spike in engine damage they claim is attributable to the increasing use of ethanol in gasoline. We're not talking about E85 here either; apparently, it's the much more common (and in some places ubiquitous) E10 blend, which is 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline, that technicians are blaming for gummed-up carburetors, internal rust and lubrication issues.
Of course, ethanol trade groups are claiming their extensive testing showed no adverse effects from running E10 in small gas engines. But the mechanics' descriptions of what they're seeing, coupled with the known properties of ethanol, make for a compelling argument. Since ethanol combines readily with water, gasoline containing ethanol easily transports that suspended water into the engine. Once inside, the water can gum up carburetors and cause rust on key components, leading to rapid wear and eventual breakdown. On two-stroke engines, the potential for damage is even more acute. Small two-strokes carry their lubricating oil suspended in the air/fuel mixture. Mechanics are reporting that the presence of water in that mixture, carried by ethanol, is causing the lubricating oil to disperse before it reaches critical engine components. Since an oil-starved engine doesn't last long, customers are reporting mechanical failure after only a season or two of use. And heads up to you maintenance junkies: draining the tank every season won't prevent problems. The deposits and damage apparently occur independently of the "gum and varnish" issues previously associated with old, stale gasoline. So what can you do? Read pump labels carefully, and if you can find ethanol-free gasoline in your area, buy it. If not, there isn't much you can do except hire a lawn service and let their equipment take the abuse. [MSNBC via Kicking Tires; Photo Credit: aapower.net]
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 The 2010 Chevy Volt has been a landmark project not only for its daring powertrain and breakneck development cycle, but also for GMs general openness with the media during the process. Along the way we've been invited in to see the development first hand, even spending a whole day with the Chevy Volt. But despite the buddy-buddy, easy-publicity PR maneuvering, up until the wee hours of this morning, we still didn't know what it looked like. Now that we've seen it in all but minute detail, it's time to compare the concept against the reality.
Front End  Given that the original concept body had terrible aerodynamics, a radical change to the front end was not unexpected. In truth, the front corner of the Volt has been getting the Lutz-style sneak preview for months now; so too the smooth, swept-back corners and flush-mounted headlights. It appears the intake detail at the base of the windshield is retained and the lower grille grows to the main intake, with the side intakes flanking.
Rear View  It's hard to tell from the grainy video footage, but it appears the tail end of the Volt gets a lot of the same look as the original. The thin, horizontal tail lights remain, and the glass may remain or it might be a black insert, but the rear styling elements of the concept are retained. The gray plastic lower bumper seems to have been removed (darn) in favor of body-colored style, and more than likely the exhaust tips are more traditional that the big center exit on the concept.
Top Three Quarter High View  The dominating, all-glass roof of the concept is at least carried over in color, but we cannot yet speak to function. It's possible the new car gets a glass roof to match the original, which would be pretty amazing, but it would also mean a serious thermal load on the electric-drive AC system during summer months. We can also see that the roof goes all black, abandoning the body color stripe running from the C-pillar up the hood line and across the windshield.
Front Three Quarter View  This might be the view with the most significant changes. Gone are the dramatic fender flares and almost inconceivable side glass, replaced with far more tasteful and production-friendly shapes. Despite the changes there, the car maintains what we assume to be a plug-in port just ahead of the base of the A-pillar (on the drivers side — we're betting there's a "Volt" logo on the passenger side). This view also more effectively illustrates the removal of the wraparound band of color we talked about earlier.
Side View  To be perfectly honest here, we can only talk about half of the side view since the angle on the video helps us zero. As we mentioned in the earlier post from the first leaked images, the side glass gets a fairly nice, if not conservative, treatment, abandoning the ridiculous, un-roll-downable side glass. The plug-in port and rear view mirror are visually joined and will probably act as a signature design element, pointing out the car's plug-in-ability.
Center Stack  Well, so far the interior looks nothing like the concept version, and we're not sure how we feel about that. Thought the vast majority of Jalops bow to the alter of Mac, I'm torn over this obviously Apple-inspired center stack. If it's got haptic feedback hiding beneath those touch sensitive buttons, we'll herald it as the greatest ergonomic design in decades, if not, we expect it to be slick, but ultimately confusing on a daily use level.
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 Autocar spied this 2010 Rolls-Royce RR4 undergoing final testing in Europe. Immediately apparent are its Phantom-style door handles and rear suicide doors. Also visible is the surprisingly Phantom-like side profile. In fact, the whole thing looks like smaller Phantom, which is precisely what it is, just based on the 2009 BMW 7-Series platform. Unlike the 7-Series though, the RR4 will cost at least $170,000 when it goes on sale next year.
To justify that price, it will use an engine, likely a V8, which will be unique to Rolls-Royce. Also expect Phantom-like interior accoutrements such as thick wool carpet and barbwire-pockmark-free leather. The company estimates that, while there are only about 100,000 people worldwide that can afford a Phantom, the market for the RR4 is one million strong, so expect to see plenty of these idling outside Harrods. [via Autocar]
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 Autocar spied this 2010 Rolls-Royce RR4 undergoing final testing in Europe. Immediately apparent are its Phantom-style door handles and rear suicide doors. Also visible is the surprisingly Phantom-like side profile. In fact, the whole thing looks like smaller Phantom, which is precisely what it is, just based on the 2009 BMW 7-Series platform. Unlike the 7-Series though, the RR4 will cost at least $170,000 when it goes on sale next year.
To justify that price, it will use an engine, likely a V8, which will be unique to Rolls-Royce. Also expect Phantom-like interior accoutrements such as thick wool carpet and barbwire-pockmark-free leather. The company estimates that, while there are only about 100,000 people worldwide that can afford a Phantom, the market for the RR4 is one million strong, so expect to see plenty of these idling outside Harrods. [via Autocar]
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 The new TomTom Go x40 LIVE series of GPS navigation units allows users to update maps on the fly with the positions of police speed traps and traffic cameras, thus alerting other TomTom users in the area of their presence. Also stored within the system is historical travel time data for every road by day of the week, in five-minute intervals. To calculate a traffic-free route, the TomTom compares these figures to real-time anonymous cell phone movements.
How does it work? If the Go x40 LIVE sees a large number of cell phones stationary along a major highway, it’ll determine that traffic is not moving and plan a route around the hold up. Such a system should work better than current systems, which rely on a limited number of stationary traffic sensors along heavily traveled roads only. The LIVE also allows drivers to add fuel prices to maps, letting other users find the cheapest prices, and it's still capable of connecting to TomTom’s existing High Definition Traffic Service. The GO x40 LIVE will be initially available in the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, France and Switzerland, but the company does plan to expand its service to other countries in the near future. Let’s hope it comes here. [via MotorAuthority]
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Click On The Image For A Larger Map  This week we asked you what d-bags in your area drove and, lo and behold, we're nearing 300 responses. Using your comments we've attempted to divide the map into these main categories:
Euro Luxury Cars: The Euro luxury typically represents the upwardly mobile yuppie hoping to make it into an S-Class, but pushes a C-Class or 3-Series instead. Popular in the Northeast. Slammed Domestics: Popular in areas where people are unable to commit to the foreign car scene, a lowered and slammed 300C with chrome rims and tinted windows is a sign that a d-bag is riding inside. Jacked-Up Trucks: A catchall for most of rural America, the jacked-up and chrome-grilled full-sized pickup is the d-bag ride of choice for those out of the reach of cities or suburbs. Green Freaks: Though they live a life of consumption, these environmentally-minded dbags buy a hybrid Lexus instead of changing their behavior. Luxury Sport Utes: Whether for the nouveau riche, OC mom or a dentist on a ski vacation, nothing says d-bag like a Land Rover driver trying to order from the Starbucks drive-thru attendant while yapping on a Bluetooth headset. Fast And Furious Wannabes: Think a Neon with neons. Think Civics so low to the ground they spark. Think d-bags who spend all their money on paint and speakers and still run a completely stock B-series engine. Domestic Utes: For much of the country, the domestic ute represents a shift up from the soccer mom van or the lower-middle-management Mercury. For other areas, the Domestic Ute with big rims is the replacement for the slammed Caprice. Either way, be on the lookout. (Special note, this map represents the main vehicle choices for Douchebags in a general area. Be aware that d-bags in your region may also drive other vehicles. Always check with local authorities before travel.)
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