Cars

When auto wizard Preston Tucker presented his legendary Car of Tomorrow in 1948, one of its most eye-catching features was a third headlight. This extra light turned with the car's front wheels, allowing the driver to see ahead when the vehicle went into a curve. The Tucker, of course, was never mass-produced, and a combination of factors, including expense and safety concerns, led automakers to largely abandon the idea. Until now.

Almost everyone likes to crank up music while driving, but Warren Brodsky of Israel's Ben-Gurion University wants you to crank with care. In a recent study, Brodsky used Midtown Madness, a driving simulation program from Microsoft, to place 28 drivers with an average of 10 years' driving experience behind the wheel of a virtual Volkswagen New Beetle. Each subject completed eight laps on a simulated Illinois interstate. Throughout each lap, drivers were exposed to one of three music types of varying tempos, or no music, in a random order.

Today's racing motorcycle expresses a purity of form and purpose closer to that of a jet fighter than almost any other example of civilian engineering: aluminum, titanium, magnesium, and carbon fiber made to go around in tight circles at higher speeds than seem possible, or sane.

Next stop: Generation Y. Carmakers know that the 70 million Americans born between 1977 and 1994 are opinionated, shrewd, and fickle. A tricky group to market to, but one approach is to engineer a vehicle around what the next wave of car buyers actually do in their spare time. Which, in the case of an SUV, may be something other than driving to Home Depot and the mall. The Honda Element, based on the company's Model X concept vehicle, is about the fashion of high functionality. Its cartoonish, boxy design is made for road trips and other adventures.

If you haven't noticed, station wagons are back. Actually, they're more than back-they're hot. It's a no-brainer: You're sick of low-mileage SUVs but used to all the square footage. You want something in between. You want a station wagon.

Floodlights stretch my shadow across the dirt track as I approach the starting line. Six racers are already there, each one facing his machine, poised for a Le Mans-like start. We exchange anxious looks behind full-face helmets. Then the call to race: "Ready, set . . . mow!" We run 15 feet to our mowers, throw them into gear, and take off.

As I dart around the twisty Hutchinson Island racetrack in Savannah, Georgia, one thing becomes clear: Hot-rod street cars are nice, but there's nothing like a purebred racecar.


Then, this revelation: I could own this open-wheel racer, similar to the one Hello Castroneves will use to defend his Indianapolis 500 title on May 26, for just $25,000. It could be yours too, provided Suzuki goes ahead with plans to offer the car in the U.S. The company is now gauging interest.

Who invented automotive windshield wipers?
Andre Charbonneau
Ottawa, Canada

Steam locomotives, aircraft carriers, and weed whackers have one thing in common: They are powered by engines that convert heat into motion.
Unfortunately, such engines are not terribly efficient. But physicist Marlan Scully of Texas A&M University in College Station has a radical idea that could substantially improve them. By adding a laser and a maser (a microwave laser) to an engine, he hopes to squeeze extra energy out of the hot engine exhaust-a "quantum afterburner," as he calls it.

Erik Lindbergh, the 36-year-old grandson of the legendary "Lone Eagle," took
off at about 12:16 p.m. Eastern time from Farmingdale, Long Island, on
Wednesday May 1, slightly east of the Roosevelt Field shopping mall that now
stands where his 25-year-old grandfather departed on May 20, 1927. Erik
Lindbergh arrived at the same Le Bourget airfield near Paris where a
throng of 100,000 people greeted his grandfather. While Charles´ flight took
about 33 hours, Erik´s took about 17 hours. He touched down at 11:30 local time on Thursday, May 2.

Bob Lutz never minces dreams. The 70-year-old ex-BMW, ex-Chrysler, ex-Ford executive and ex-U.S. Marine Corps aviator joined General Motors last September with a no-nonsense, ambitious agenda. His immediate task as the automaker's vice chairman and product czar: to snap the world's largest vehicle manufacturer out of its longstanding, self-inflicted catatonia.

You don't have to have a navel ring to be an automotive designer these days, but it helps. Take the three cars you see here-Ford Focus ZX5, Mazda Proteg5, and Toyota Matrix XRS. They're the first entries in what automakers are calling the Next Big Thing, a segment aimed directly at 22-year-olds with ankle tattoos.

1. KEYLESS ENTRY
Current Wisdom: Who doesn't love keyfob door openers? But magnetic entry cards-such as those from Mercedes, BMW, and Cadillac-that open and start the car require getting used to
Outlook: Keys will be obsolete someday-it's a given
Price: $250 (keyfob)
Should You Buy It? Yes. Keyless entry will be a big plus when you sell
2. INTEGRATED HANDS-FREE PHONE
Current Wisdom: Perfect for the traveling salesman and no one else

Steam locomotives, aircraft carriers, and weed whackers have one thing in common: They are powered by engines that convert heat into motion.
Unfortunately, such engines are not terribly efficient. But physicist Marlan Scully of Texas A&M University in College Station has a radical idea that could substantially improve them. By adding a laser and a maser (a microwave laser) to an engine, he hopes to squeeze extra energy out of the hot engine exhaust-a "quantum afterburner," as he calls it.

Anyone with leather seats knows to approach the car with care after a day at the beach. No need with 3M's Solar Reflective Film, a thin multilayer clear film that reflects infrared light and thus reduces your car's interior temperature by 15 degrees. 3M is working with manufacturers to integrate the film into new cars beginning late next year.