Engineering

Hybrids definitely do work -- we're not refuting that -- how well they work is open to debate, however, especially in light of the revisions to EPA mileage numbers. So, let's examine the Prius. Amazingly engineered vehicle, that's for sure. The way they got all those different systems to work as a team and perform smooth handoffs between functions is pretty incredible. We're not going to bother with the electric powertrain portion of it for now. Have you ever poked around the gasoline e

Mechanically actuated valves may soon be a thing of the past. We've made over a century's worth of improvement on the same basic combination of a camshaft, followers (or lifters), a poppet valve and a spring. We've gone from using pushrods and rocker arms to actuate the valvetrain to direct-acting buckets motivated by an overhead camshaft with variable phasing and lift. While engineering ingenuity has managed to wring incredible performance and flexibility out of these setups, there's only so fa

Here's something we wish every highway planner was required to use any time they had a bright idea (like those darned roundabouts they're so fond of calling "rotarys" here in Massachusetts!). This neat little Java-powered (much like us AutoBloggers!) website allows you to adjust and model traffic flows on a variety of road conditions. The Dresden University Institute for Economics and Traffic has made quite a study of traffic dynamics, and this website is just part of a larger study of where tho