Evergreen
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A nice tight steering circle is a major plus when it comes to stretching your off-road ability. Something like a Jeep Wrangler is a great tool because it's short wheelbase allows it to amble down a tree-lined trail with minimal worries. A team of engineers from Poland have decided to take things a bit further with a vehicle they're calling the FUNTER. They've found that the best way to tighten up a steering circle is by allowing all four wheels to do the steering. Each axle of the FUNTER can turn independently of the other. This means all four wheels can point in the same direction, which...
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Angry Grandpa turns soft when he's surprised with his dream carThere's a popular YouTube Channel called The Angry Grandpa Show and it typically shows lots of prank videos. In the typical video, the titular Grandpa becomes quite angry. The popularity of the channel has helped the family that runs it earn a nice following and a healthy flow of cash. The son on...
Jeff Glucker -
What an oil filter looks like after 50,000 milesChange your oil. Let me repeat that. Change your oil! Tell your friends and family to get their oil changed, too, because neglecting that precious fluid will turn your car into an expensive lawn ornament. Amazingly, not everybody fully understands this concept. Some just forget to get this done...
Jeff Glucker -
How winter tires differ from summer tiresWinter has begun to embrace the country in its icy grasp, and that means it's past time you started thinking about winter tires. But are they really worth it and what do they actually do? Our friend Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained is here to help us understand the massive difference winter...
Jeff Glucker -
Jay Leno shares the story of a very special Plymouth Business CoupeBob Sales has been a fixture in Jay Leno's life for many years now. Sadly, the longtime Big Dog Garage mechanic has lost a battle with cancer and passed on. One of the last cars he built is this 1950 Plymouth Business Coupe, and Jay wants to send it off to a good home. The plan is to use the money...
Jeff Glucker -
Volvo Trucks pits 2,400-hp race truck against WTCC race carVolvo Trucks pulls off some pretty cool stunts in the name of showing off the engineering behind its trucks. We've seen Jean-Claude Van Damme do the splits between two Volvos, a Volvo truck driver tow a paraglider, a 4-year old girl operate a Volvo truck remotely, and a valet figure out how he's...
Kirk Bell -
Remember the Jeep Trailcat concept from the 2016 Easter Jeep Safari? The hulking green Wrangler powered by the supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 Hellcat engine? Sadly, Jeep has no plans to put such a vehicle in production. However, thanks to Dakota Customs based in Rapid City, South Dakota, you can buy your own Hellcat-powered Wrangler. You can even get it with a tray at the back to match the Trailcat concept. Dakota Customs didn’t need to detune the engine for its transplant into the Wrangler. It still packs 707 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque, and as you’ll see in the video it...
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You're saying it wrong: How to pronounce PorscheChances are that you pronounce Porsche wrong. It's not your fault really. Here in the States we've grown up hearing many a friend and family member say "Porsch." We see the e at the end of the word, but we either don't know how to pronounce it or don't know that we should. Heck, we've even heard a...
Jeff Glucker -
It's this easy to change your own oilOur friend Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained has been teaching us a lot about our favorite subject: cars. Today, he's here to talk about something that just might inspire you to get your hands dirty under the hood of your own car. It's basic, but every car guy should know it. The topic of the...
Jeff Glucker -
After defeating an Aventador, Acura NSX faces off against the GT-RThe current Acura NSX is an interesting vehicle. It's a sort of budget hypercar in that its not wearing an ungodly price tag (relatively speaking) yet it packs the combination of electric motors, batteries, and a gasoline engine that you'll find in some of the world's highest performing vehicles...
Jeff Glucker -
What engine blow-by looks likeEarlier in the year, our friend Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained taught us all about engine blow-by. Today we're getting to see what it looks like with a real world example. A 2016 Chevrolet Malibu with the turbocharged 1.5-liter 4-cylinder and just under 20,000 miles on its odometer is...
Jeff Glucker -
Porsche-powered Volkswagen Bus 'Race Taxi' hits the trackThe Volkswagen Microbus is a beloved motoring icon that has fans all over the globe. It's a classic machine with a dash of perennial cool attached. It's also incredibly slow. You're never in a rush when you're driving a VW Bus. Unless, of course you're talking about the T1 Race Taxi created by a...
Jeff Glucker -
The Polaris Slingshot is a fun idea in a mediocre package. Styling is certainly subjective but the Slingshot brings the ugly. And in terms of performance the standard four-cylinder makes do with 173 horsepower, and that's a decent amount since the whole thing weighs just 1,750 pounds, but more power could make the Slingshot a whole lot more fun. The folks at a company called Alpha Powersport understand this, because they've just shoved a 6.2-liter LS3 V-8 into the nose of one. Yes, we're talking about the engine from the C6 Chevrolet Corvette. Now you have a Slingshot making 405 horsepower at...
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How engine oil systems workBesides fuel, oil is the lifeblood of your vehicle. It keeps your engine rotating smoothly. This is accomplished by the properties of oil that allow it to lubricate moving parts and reduce heat generated by friction. If the moving parts in your engine weren't lubricated, you'd hear a lot of...
Jeff Glucker -
Why the Lightning became the RaptorSome of us may fondly remember the Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] F-150 SVT Lightning. Introduced in 1993, it was a performance pickup with a more powerful V-8 under the hood and some brake and suspension upgrades to help it stop and handle better. The Lightning lasted through two generations of the...
Kirk Bell -
Feel the rawness of the Ferrari FXX K as it takes on DaytonaWe all know Ferrari’s [NYSE:RACE] LaFerrari-based FXX K is fast but nothing can prepare you for the rawness and sheer exhilaration of the car as it races around a track. The video from Speedracer38 gives us a tantalizing taste of what the experience is like. It was filmed during the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Jay Leno takes control of 20,000 horsepowerJay Leno has driven more combined horsepower than most people on this planet. Heck, his own Blastolene Special is a hand-built "thing of awesome" powered by a tank engine that produces 810 horsepower. That's nothing anymore for Leno. He recently had the opportunity to jump into the driver's seat of...
Jeff Glucker -
How to safely lift your car off the ground with jack standsIf you're going to do work on your own vehicle, you'll most likely need to get underneath it at some point. Unless you own a monster truck, this means that you're going to have to lift your car in the air. This is intimidating for many, but there's a way to make it less so and Engineering Explained...
Jeff Glucker -
Didn’t think the turbocharged and supercharged Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat X was real? Well, here it is barreling down the highway, with its pair of turbochargers whooshing away while its supercharger whines. In case you’ve forgotten, the Challenger SRT Hellcat X is a one-off project car from Dodge, built for the folks at Dream Giveaway. They give away two cars at a time (one old, one new) via a raffle draw, with proceeds from the ticket sales donated to charity. ALSO SEE: Upgrade your Camaro ZL1 to 740-hp Callaway-spec for $17,995 The winner of the crazy Challenger was...
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The science behind the record-breaking Dodge Viper ACRWhen Dodge brought its Viper ACR to the production car party back in 2015, the automaker also brought a long a sheet filled with brand new track records. The ACR broke production-car lap records at 13 different tracks. These weren't rinky-dink little local circuits that you've never heard of...
Jeff Glucker -
Subaru-powered Porsche 356 visits Jay Leno’s GarageBefore you pull your hair out over the thought of someone ruining a Porsche 356 by swapping in a Subaru engine, note that this is a replica we’re talking about. The car belongs to Tom Murtaugh, and it’s a replica of a 1957 356 Speedster. He’s an enthusiast who’s always...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Divergent Dagger is your 3D-printed superbikeDivergent is a company that has big plans for the world of 3D printing. This is a company that has already created a number of parts for what it's calling the first 3D-printed supercar; the DM Blade. Divergent also creates 3D-printed metal parts that could find use in a number of automobiles; names...
Jeff Glucker -
Watch the Rezvani Beast Alpha’s 'sidewinder' doors in actionCalifornian sports car startup Rezvani in November unveiled a new model called the Beast Alpha whose hallmark feature is a new type of door design called “sidewinder” doors. The name is derived from the fact the doors remain parallel to the body as they are moved outwards. Each of the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
How the elusive 4-rotor rotary engine worksAs the old saying goes, there is no replacement for displacement. That's not the case when it comes to rotary engines, which typically have very small displacement. Instead of cubes, if you want a rotary to make more power you do two things: add more rotors and/or slap on a turbocharger or two...
Kirk Bell