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Intellectual posts his 130 mph freeway race online

I know people will do anything online these days.

But it is hard not to rubber-neck when someone does something so astonishingly witless that even your serially drunken aunt wouldn't do it at Christmas dinner.

Please consider the curious case of Benjamin Ryan.

He gets himself a VW Golf. He has it tweaked for maximum torque. Then he goes a little torque mad. He decides to race a friend of his along a freeway, his friend being the proud owner of an Audi RS4. They travel at speeds that touch 130 mph.

It so happens that another friend rides … Read more

IKEA to launch a car?

So what kind of car are you going to get next? Perhaps, I might tempt your credulity by asking you to consider a new eco-car called the LEKO.

A Toyota? No, an IKEA.

A strange Web site has appeared, roulez-leko.com, on which a very relaxed, modern, eco-friendly chap, allegedly the great car designer Christophe Grozs, stands next to an apparent car draped with the word LEKO and the tagline "la voiture selon IKEA."

Yes, the car according to IKEA.

The LEKO (L'eco, get it?), allegedly has the backing of the World Wildlife Fund in France. Which might mean the fund has put money into the creation or that the car will have plastic panda-skin seats.

It also will save you untold (because unspecified) amounts of money on your expenditure. And it is humongously eco-friendly.

This is an ad, right?

If IKEA made a car, the doors might not fit quite perfectly into the body. Then you'd really have to work hard to use those tiny screwdrivers to make sure the engine didn't wobble. And just imagine the number of screws it would take to put in the cup holder.

There's the name too. Real IKEA product names never make sense. They always seem to resemble a fair to middling Scrabble hand--for example, KLIPPAN or LYCKSELE. LEKO is far too meaningful.… Read more

Gadgettes 128: The Husky Episode

Molly and Kelly bring you "The Husky Episode." WARNING: You will gain 10 pounds by listening to this podcast.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 128

Fat-fighting body mod approved for Europe http://dvice.com/archives/2009/03/fat-fighting_bo.php

Gruve measures movement, vibrates until you get up off your duff http://dvice.com/archives/2009/03/gruve_measures.php

Dance, puppet, dance: Dance for your right to change the channel http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2009/03/dance_puppet_da.html

NitroCream is the $35,000 ice cream maker of your dreams http://dvice.com/archives/2009/03/nitrocream_is_t.php… Read more

101: Is the Tokyo Motor Show kaput?

Is the Tokyo Motor Show kaput? The President's new high tech Cadillac; VW will bring a new mini car to the U.S.; Alpine gets in bed with GM, BMW, and Mercedes.

Listen now: Download today's podcast SHOW NOTES

• Tokyo Motor Show on hiatus in 2009?

• The President's new Cadillac

• Alpine supplies car tech to three biggies

• Blaupunkt about to pull the trigger on in-car streaming

• VW Polo coming to U.S.

Photos: Audi Q5 and VW Touareg TDI

Volkswagen got a lot of mileage out of its 3-liter turbocharged V-6 diesel engine at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. It appeared in the Touareg TDI and the Audi Q5 TDI, signaling Volkswagen's launch of diesel SUVs in the U.S. This engine uses a complex emissions system that lets Volkswagen and Audi sell the vehicles in all 50 states. A particulate filter gets rid of the bigger stuff, while a solution called AdBlue breaks down nitrogen oxide emissions. Also on hand was the much more powerful TDI-powered Volkswagen Baja 1000 competitor.

See photos of the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q5 TDIs. … Read more

'Green Car Journal' announces 2009 Green Car of the Year

LOS ANGELES--The Green Car Journal gave its 2009 Green Car of the Year award to the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. This year's list of nominees included the BMW 335d, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid, and Smart ForTwo. The Jetta TDI uses a 2-liter, turbocharged, diesel, four-cylinder engine to achieve an EPA-rated 41mpg highway fuel economy and 30mpg city. Volkswagen's new clean diesel technology makes the car legal in all 50 states, meeting California's stringent Air Resources Board requirements, under which is qualifies as a SULEV, or Super … Read more

Five finalists for LA Auto Show Green Car of the Year

Five finalists were announced for the 2008 LA Auto Show's Green Car of the Year award. Only one of them can be crowned king, but which will it be?

There are a broad range of green technologies represented in this year's field: clean diesels, gasoline-electric hybrids, and a tiny, thrifty gasoline engine.

Will the winner be the Volkswagen Jetta TDI, which we've heard so much about over the past few months? Perhaps it will be the newly announced BMW 335d, with its 50-state-compliant clean diesel? Representing gas-electric hybrids are the Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid and the … Read more

SEMA 2008: Volkswagen Performance Concepts

Volkswagen rolled out some new high performance concepts with an eco twist at the 2008 SEMA Show. Among the models displayed were a hot-rod version of the Tiguan crossover SUV, the CC Gold Coast Edition, and the Jetta TDI Cup (the race-ready version of VW's clean diesel Jetta).

The main event was the unveiling of the CC Eco Performance Concept, a version of the CC that not only bests the stock model in raw power, but also in fuel economy.

View the full Volkswagen Performance Concepts gallery.