New posts from Gas 2.0! |
| Video: the Scooter Commuter … from 1962 to 2011 Posted: 14 May 2011 02:00 PM PDT
Gas prices across America have been climbing steadily upwards in recent months, forcing many Americans to re-evaluate the kind of car they drive and even the kind of driving they do – with many coming to the following conclusion: they don’t need a car at all. As such, there have been renewed interests in bus lanes, bike lanes, and high speed rail projects … but for those who still want to keep their transportation options “private” instead of “public”, the answer is, increasingly, a shiny new scooter. I have owned a lot of scooters in my day (and I’ll be test-driving a shiny new Buddy 170i, myself, next week!), so believe me when I tell you this: nothing carves up big-city traffic like a quick-revving engine mated to a pair of tiny tires. That scooters are the very embodied of “personal rapid transit” is, apparently, something that was also true 40 years ago – if this 1962 video (below) from the “Look at Life” series is to be believed. The short film showcases the daily life UK commuters who have chosen to get around on a scooter, and cites the bikes’ 100+ mpg fuel efficiency, small footprint, ease of maintenance, and even the scooters’ status as a fashion-object as it makes the case for scooter commuting in the way only a light-hearted 1960′s “infomercial” can. Enjoy! Sources: YouTube, FirstKick.com
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| Recycled Hawtness: 1972 Mini + Saturn Adds up to Awesome Posted: 14 May 2011 09:00 AM PDT
As we’ve said before (again and again), the greenest car is the one that’s already been built. Still, this build is something special: the heavily re-vamped car here took 2 existing cars (which were reasonably green already) and fused the best elements of both to create an attention-getting fun car that delivers plenty of miles (and smiles!) per gallon. What you see here is a fully restored original Mini, from the days when Mini Coopers were – you know, actually mini cars (we’ve touched on this idea before). This is, however, not a simple restoration. This 1972 Mini has been re-built around a modern, more efficient, emissions-compliant 2.0L General Motors 4 cyl. engine and transmission, resulting in a unique, one-off car that is both meaner and greener than either of the cars it was based on. Greener? You bet. Where the original Minis got terrific gas mileage out of their featherweight chassis and tiny engines, they were pre-emissions cars, and belched out carbon emissions at a rate that would make modern full-size pickups blush (assuming trucks could blush). The Vauxhall/Saturn that gave up its 2.0L heart for this car had cleaner emissions than the tiny, early 70′s Mini, but couldn’t approach that car’s level of mpg efficiency. The end result is a heavily reworked small car that gets great mileage from its Mini size, yet delivers Maxi-levels of performance courtesy of its outstanding lb:hp ratio. There is more to this Mini build, however, than just a power-to-weight ratio – the car features unique carbon-fiber roof and fender structures, a tig-welded safety cell, digital instruments, a custom-fabricated radiator, custom headers, unique suspension and braking components, ultralight carbon seats, and so much more it hurts my head just thinking about it. You could write a book about a build like this, so there’s no way a blog post could do it justice … but if you want to learn more, don’t worry. “More” is out there! This incredible build is fully chronicled in the Stance Works forum, with dozens of pictures illustrating every step in the car’s construction. You can get a taste of the before-and-after, and a hint of the incredible scope of a build that re-used, re-built, and re-cycled virtually every component of the ’72 Mini in the gallery below – but definitely CLICK HERE to check out the full build. The thread is absolutely, definitely, positively worth the read for any gear-head.         Source: Stance Works‘ forum.
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