Autoblog

Volkswagen has been down this road before with the Jetta Trek back in the late '90s. This time, though, they're putting a green spin on it. Lime, to be exact. Chi-town Volkswagen dealers are giving buyers a bicycle and roof rack for the next month. The premise is that the dealer will encourage you to take your bike on quick, short-distance jaunts. Not driving a car at all by riding a bike is super effective at reducing fuel consumption, gridlock, and CO2 emissions. Biking is also way cheaper than exotic technological solutions; plus, you'll get some exercise, which is hard to come by in stop and go traffic. The cycle is still a Trek, dubbed the Lime, which is one of their newest models and has a three speed automatic transmission that automatically changes gears for you, in the hopes that you'll find it a more enjoyable way to ride. We'd probably hate it. It really is a great, simple solution that could work for a lot of folks. We know this is Autoblog, and this has turned into a bicycular love-fest, but we have to applaud the marketing stunt as an elegant (if gimmicky) way of focusing on our vast appetite for fuel.

[Source: VW via AutoblogGreen]

Click on the image above to see our 24-image high-resolution gallery

The Quebec-built T-Rex has been on the market since 1996, and at the recent Montreal auto show the wraps were taken off the newly-revised model. For 2007, the T-Rex ditches the old carbureted 1200cc, 152-hp engine for a bigger, more powerful fuel-injected Kawasaki unit displacing 1400cc and pumping out 200 horsepower. On a motorbike, two hundred horses go a long way – now imagine saddling that with more traction and better stability than any motorbike could and you begin to fathom the kind of performance the T-Rex serves up: 0-60 in 3.6 seconds (in first gear) and 1.3 g's of lateral acceleration. Intriguingly, to get the engines and other components from Kawasaki, the makers of the T-Rex buy the full bikes from the factory, take the parts they need and sell the rest to shops in the US.

For 2007 the T-Rex also gets new lights, new instrument gauges and a covered engine. They also offer carbon-fiber body-kits, a wind deflector, larger outboard storage bins capable of holding a full-face helmet in each and special-order paints.

We got a chance to check out the T-Rex at the Montreal show, and have the pictures to prove it. The blue model pictured is the updated 2007 version, while the white and green ones are first-gen models, both featuring special-order Lamborghini colors for a customer in Dubai.

Check out go-t-rex.com for more details.

So very pointless, but so much fun!

If you thought the race between the Porsche, the Champ Car and the Mini was a strange match, you've got to check out this video showing a race between a Porsche, a motorbike and a jet fighter. The race takes place on a runway in Serbia, of all places.

The bike starts quickest off the line, but the jet quickly passes it once the turbines spool up, before drag gets the better of the two-wheeler with the Porsche passing as well. Now that's some good racin'!

[Source: transportTrends]

UPDATE: Chrysler denies that the Tomahawk's going to be produced. The source blog, however, is sticking to its story.

click on image to enlarge

Who could forget the Tomahawk concept bike that debuted at the 2003 North American International Auto Show? I was present at the show and standing right next to monstrous motorcycle as then DaimlerChrysler COO Wolfgang Bernhard swung his leg over the 8.0-liter V10 engine and turned it on. The aural assault from a completely exposed Viper engine is something you don't easily forget. Word is coming out of Edmunds' Straightline blog now that the Tomahawk, which is essentialy the Viper V10 with four skinny wheels and a handlebar, is going into limited production as a Chrysler model. The 500-horsepower Chrysler Tomahawk will likely cost at least $250,000, though that number's not official and we don't know how many will be built.

Large high resolution gallery and video of the Tomahawk being ridden can be found after the jump.

[Source: Straightline Blog]

BMW launched another new model this week, a freshened version of its Kids' Bike. Targeted at the 2 1/2 to 6 year-old BMW demographic, the bike has easily removable pedals so that kids learning to ride can keep their feet on the ground and use it as a push-bike. Once the child is comfortable with balancing and stopping the baby beemer, mom or dad can add the pedals.

The blue and grey two-wheeler is certainly priced like a BMW - at $300. Available at bmw-online.com.

[Source: BMW]

You know, not everyone can afford to waste tires by doing donuts in the parking lot using their own car. For that matter, not everyone can afford a car. Those lacking the funds to drift and do donuts all day long in their daily driver may want to check out this video. It's cheaper, safer and a much better workout than inducing your car to oversteer from the comfort of your Recaro.

[Source: YouTube via Faze]

It should come as little surprise that several of us here at Autoblog are motorcycle fans, and one can also find broad support for the axiom "there's no replacement for displacement" among staffers. We typically don't combine both of those into one project, though (the turbocharged Vmax project languishing in the polebarn for the last five years notwithstanding). Those wacky Germans over at HMS don't share our inhibitions, though, and managed to drop a 5.5L V12 from a BMW 750i into a custom drag bike. If that's not enough, plans are in the works to throw on a couple of turbos and a bit of laughing gas. We're damn near speechless, but we'd love to hear that V12 cut loose on a quarter-mile pass.

Related: 502 big block.... on a motorcycle

[Source: The Kneeslider; a hat tip to Eliot from Hackaday]

We stumbled across Suzuki's two-wheeled Stratosphere concept while rooting around in the automaker's floor display at the NYIAS, and immediately the streetfighter fans among the Autoblog staff were amused (and perhaps a bit aroused). The bike is built around an 1100cc six-cylinder with a "space-saving design" said to be as compact as a typical I4 of the same displacement. Certainly, it's a far cry from the Kawasaki KZ1300 and Honda CBX1100 straight-sixes, which both gave the impression that owners were riding behind a barn door. Suzuki says the Strat's engine offers "a truly unique experience [that's] only discovered by actually riding it," so we await our chance to take it for a spin.

While the powerplant is certainly sweet, there are also some nice bits in the riding compartment. The centerpiece is a trick-looking multi-function display tucked behind an electrically-adjustable windscreen. We're all about being able to direct the airflow, but we also feel that the display might have been a bit closer to perfect if paired with a standard "mechanical" tach. The electronic wheel-lock and keyless engine start seem like good ideas, but we're not sure that the in-helmet speakers with "hi-fi sound" have any place on a proper sporting machine.

Four LED headlamps are parked up front, with hammered-look aluminum forming the fender, fairing, and fuel tank. If you're interested in a closer look, check out our other shots of the Stratosphere after the jump (click on any of them to bring up a larger high-res shot).