• Cars

    Triple Your Fun

    By Posted on 1.22.2008 4 Comments

    MotoMatt tears it up outside the PopSci headquarters Good things really do come in threes. Three wheels, that is. Piaggios newest scooter, the MP3, is the coolest machine this motorcycle enthusiast has ever ridden. The scooters three-wheeled design—with one 12-inch wheel in the back and two up front—provides exceptional agility in traffic and maintains comforting stability at high speeds. The two independent, tilting front wheels, which enable up to a 40-degree lean, allow for precision cornering with no fear of spilling. And they handled New Yorks infamous pot hole-laden streets with ease—something most scooters struggle with because a single front wheel is more likely to slip. Piaggio has produced a machine so fluid and user friendly that even a novice motorbiker can hop right on and fly like a bat out of hell. However, the smallish 244cc engine may limit the whole out of hell part. Overall, the MP3 is an engineering marvel and a riding experience like no other. Id buy three if I could.—MotoMatt Cokeley

    5.30.2008 at 09:52pm - Comment by heinlein

    Much better idea than the Can-Am Spyder. I've ridden both and didn't like the Spyder .

  • Cars

    The Race to 100 MPG

    By Posted on 2.11.2008 12 Comments

    Over the past several decades, the promise of the "car of tomorrow" has remained unfulfilled, while the problems it was supposed to solve have only intensified. The average price of a gallon of gas is higher than at any time since the early 1980s. The Middle East seems more volatile than ever. And even climate skeptics are starting to admit that the carbon we´re pumping into the atmosphere might have disastrous consequences. To these circumstances, automakers have responded with a fleet of cars that averages 21 miles per gallon, about four miles per gallon worse than the Model T.

    5.23.2008 at 01:51pm - Comment by heinlein

    The hydraulic hybrid is interesting. If the StarRotor idea works out is there any reason it wouldn't work StarRotor/Hydraulic hybrid?



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December 2009: Best of What's New

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