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Biggest Aircraft

Michelin Tweel

Michelin has developed an innovative tire design called Tweel. The tire requires no air and cannot burst or flat. Its base is connected to shock shock-absorbing polyurethane spokes which are used to support the outer rim.

Solar Airplane - Sunseeker II

The solar powered aircraft, the Sunseeker II will fly over Europe following its featured presentation at the e-flight expo(April 2-5)). The tour will be the largest journey for the Sunseeker since 1990, when its predecessor, Sunseeker I, crossed the United States in 21 flights, with 121 hours in the air. The new Sunseeker II has improved for better performance, including wing modifications, an increase in surface area for solar cells, more powerful motor and new lithium polymer batteries. The tour will cover 8 countries: Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, France and Spain. Designed by aircraft mastermind Eric Raymond.

Hot or Not? 2010 Chevy Camaro RS with Factory Accessories

Let's pull back the curtain a little bit, shall we? Sometimes, when we're picking up or dropping off a vehicle to review, we see other vehicles that are in the press fleet. This was the case one afternoon when, during the course of a vehicle swap, we noticed something of interest waiting to be driven off by some other keyboard jockey: a 2010 Camaro 2LT RS, only unlike the one we reviewed this spring, this sixxer RS was additionally kitted with the OEM accessory ground effects package and 21-inch two-tone wheels.

Frankly, we were taken aback by the whole thing at first, and thought it looked a little ridiculous. The dubs+1 hoops seem overly big, the body kit isn't painted body color, and the new rear bumper cover with its squared off, integrated exhaust outlets is a little excessive. Naturally, we called General Motors and asked if we could take it home for a bit, if only to see if our initial reaction would soften.

After perusing the high-res image gallery below, you can also vote if the 2010 Chevy Camaro RS with factory accessories is hot or not.As you might expect, people were drawn to the accessorized Camaro like retirees to an early-bird special. A lot of that is due to the fact that Chevy's revived ponycar is still very new and there may not be all that many of them around depending on where you live. Still, during our 50-minute-long photo shoot, we were interrupted three separate times by drivers who detoured through the parking lot to get a closer look. One practically leaped out of a sweet Buick Regal T-Type Limited, which you'll see in the gallery.

While he slowly walked around the Camaro, we asked about the Buick , which he explained was the daily-driver "beater" he bought to keep milles off his Grand National. He was impressed by the Camaro, as were the other two people who stopped to check it out in person. The general consensus was that the Camaro's basic overall style kicked ass, and that the big wheels and body kit only made it better, in their opinion. The gaggle of neighborhood kids that kept us company the whole time was also transfixed by the car, hanging behind us on their bikes and skateboards and excitedly peppering us with questions the whole time.

From there, it was a quick stop at Starbucks, where we can reliably expect an opinionated crowd to weigh in on whatever we park in front. Sure enough, the Camaro drew onlookers immediately. Aside from one guy who said he'd rather get a used M3 for the money it costs, the Camaro was feeling the love. Again, the wheels and kit passed public muster. Frankly, they had grown on us, too. One of the guys there pulled out his mobile phone and showed us photos he'd been collecting of 2010 Camaros he'd seen at local dealers. Our Red Jewel-finished tester was added to the roster taking up space on his phone's memory card. Between sips of coffee, another Starbucks customer chuckled, noting with surprise that ours was the third Camaro he'd seen that day. Another dude suggested that maybe they should make a front-wheel-drive version for people who live in winter climates. He kinda got ranked on by the other fellas.

The last public forum we decided to subject the Camaro to was the Classic Nights car club's weekly cruise. The Chevy clearly didn't meet the 1978 cutoff date, so we quietly drove it in through an alternate entrance, backed it into a spot and popped the hood so people could revel in the glory of the V6's body-colored plastic engine cover. When we got back from checking out the other cars in attendance, the Camaro had a steady stream of people stopping to give it the once-over.

Several people assumed the wheels and ground effects were part of the standard package, and we politely corrected them. One gentleman looking over the car with a particularly keen interest happened to have ordered an SS. He wasn't really into the wheels or the kit, but he did note the car's accessory engine cover. "I ordered my car with the orange interior," he told us. "Now let's see if the dummies (a.k.a. his Chevy dealership) get this part right," he added, pointing to our car's engine cover. "They say optional 'body-color engine cover,' but I didn't want that. I wanted it orange, you see, to match the rest of the interior. They make an orange Camaro, so I know they should be able do this. We'll see if they screw it up." He sounded less than confident a happy initial outcome was in the cards.

And the rest of the folks gathered 'round? They liked what they saw. If they didn't, they weren't letting on. Some people didn't say anything and would just smile and nod. Or make that "Oh!" face when they realized they had the new Camaro in front of them. Not surprising, really – at a cruise night, the Camaro is definitely going to sport a home-field advantage in terms of fans. But even in these friendly surroundings, there was one thing that gave people pause about the ride. Those who were gaga for the wheels and body kit eventually got around to asking what they cost. So we'd tell them. It always made us cringe to do so.

Our Camaro 2LT carried a standard price of $26,580. The RS package added $1,450. The six-speed automatic tacked on another $1,185. Sunroof? $900 bucks. The Red Jewel paint was $295 and the matching engine cover (dealer installed) was another $285 on top of that. The compact spare tire was $150. And then it gets ugly.

The ground effects kit (dealer installed) will set you back $2,265. Finally, the dealer-installed 21x8.5-inch wheels shod with 245/40ZR21 rubber may make the Camaro look like a life-sized Hot Wheels car, but they cost a tear-inducing $4,680. When told of that particular figure, several cruise night attendees immediately concluded that General Motors was insane. Once you add in the $750 destination charge, the ride you see here stickers out to – drumroll please – $38,540. For giggles, we built ourselves a proper Camaro 2SS RS with the same paint color, a sunroof and the accessory engine cover – minus the 21s and the ground effects it. It came out to $36,935. No contest: that's what we'd buy.

Spy Shots: Next-gen Porsche 911 Sporting Double-bubble Roof

With every iteration of the 911, Porsche makes incremental improvements to its iconic sports car and naturally, the next generation will be no exception.

This latest Posche 911 prototype was caught at the Nurburgring sporting 997 sheetmetal, but it's what's on top and out back that deserves note. A double-bubble roof panel has been fitted, while underneath the rear camouflage is a sizeable wing and additional ducting. Look closely and you'll see a small sill at the base of the rear windscreen that's assumed to be feeding the rear-mounted flat-six – likely necessary keep the boxer cool while Porsche engineers figure out how the new contoured roof affects aerodynamics. If previous reports are to be believed, we can expect the next 911 to debut sometime in 2010, but we wouldn't rule out an appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September.

Review: 2009 Smart ForTwo Cabriolet undone by Tricky Transmission

The Smart ForTwo isn't for shy people. Even though Smart USA has sold about 30,000 of these tiny two-seaters in the U.S., the little rollerskate attracts a lot of attention. On the road or in America's parking lots, the ForTwo is a conversation piece, and people don't hesitate to come up and talk to you. Some will tell you about the Smart they saw in Europe. Others will ask if it has the guts to make it onto the highway. Most will assume it gets great gas mileage (it doesn't). But one thing's for certain, during our week with the ForTwo, there was a 100-percent conversation rate wherever we went. Anthropophobes, be warned.

Follow the jump to see what it's like to spend wheel time with a Smart ForTwo Cabriolet.

Among the myriad of questions we received, the most common area of concern centered around how safe it is. That's a fair question, considering the bigger-is-better message we've heard for years. But when you're in the Smart, you don't question its safety, you just drive. Granted, there's a slight feeling of vulnerability on the road – particularly when caught in the wind wake of semi trucks – but thanks to a deep dashboard and a distant leading edge to the windshield, the ForTwo feels bigger than it is, and about as solid as anything else on the road the majority of the time. It's only when you stop and think about the tiny narrow box you're cruising in that things get worrisome.

Still, the ForTwo has a full compliment of airbags and other active and passive safety features, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the ForTwo a four-star crash rating for the driver (three stars for the passenger), so it's hardly a death trap. Instead, it's a fun but flawed little ride, at home neither in the city nor on the highway.It's easy (and maybe justifiable) to criticize the ForTwo. "It's only half a car," one friend joked, and the love-it-or-hate-it styling and size is the most obvious hurdle to ownership. But after driving the Smart ForTwo Passion cabrio in a variety of environments, the fog of novelty wears off and the truth is revealed: there's no ideal environment for this ultracompact runabout.

If you're a commuter in an urban area and only plan to use the ForTwo as a means to get to and from work, you could make a case for the Smart. And yes, the ForTwo could serve as a road trip machine – in a pinch. And yes, its eight cubic feet. of cargo space (12 if you fill it to the roof) is enough for a light grocery run – just don't put your ice cream at the bottom of the bags, because the ForTwo's adequate 70-hp, 1.0-liter three-cylinder sits between the rear wheels and quickly heats up the rear cargo area for insta-milkshakes. But as an everyday vehicle, the Smart ForTwo fails to stack up. And it begins with the transmission.

Although the ForTwo's automated manual gearbox has been "improved" from the 2008 model, it's still an unforgivable mess. There are two shifting options: a full automatic mode and a manual option that allows the driver to use either the steering wheel-mounted paddles or the floor-mounted shifter to change gears sans clutch. In automatic mode, the changes are inexcusably jerky, especially between first and second. Using the paddles allows for a slightly smoother shift when deftly manipulating the throttle, but manual shifting doesn't feel particularly useful, as it only allows you to choose when the hiccups happen and does little to alleviate the (neck) pain.

As you'd expect, this puts a serious chink in the ForTwo's urban armor. While its size is great for parking and the little car zips in and out of traffic with ease, in city driving, where the transmission is most active, the constant shifting makes low- to mid-speed maneuvers a torturous affair. While it might be possible to learn to live with the lurches, our week with the ForTwo wasn't enough – and we doubt any amount of time could dull the discomfort.

After answering the most common queries (What is it? Who makes it? Is it electric?), the next inevitable and justifiable question is about fuel economy. Again, the ForTwo has a surprisingly hard time justifying itself here. We averaged 35.7 mpg during our week with the car, just under the EPA's official 36 mpg combined rating. Initially, we left shifting duties to the ForTwo's computer-controlled tranny, resulting in a 32.7 mpg average. When we decided to stick the Smart Cab into the manual mode and use the paddle shifters, we managed 38.8 mpg. Maybe they're not so useless after all?

From the driver's seat, the ForTwo does its best imitation of a sleek, modern desk in some hipper-than-thou graphic designer's office. The top of the dash is expansive, and the designers completely nailed a chic, Euro-feel with the colors and layout. Virtually unchanged since the 2008 model, the gauges are stylish yet easy to read. The mid-mounted tachometer is a necessity in manual mode, since it's difficult to hear the engine crying for a change if the radio is on. The tachometer works better than the built-in indicator that flashes an "up" or "down" arrow below the speedometer when it's time to shift, as the LCD indicator is the same color and shape as the gear display and blends in. A separate colored icon, similar to what's found in modern VWs, would have been a better choice.

Other usability issues? While the visors provide an acceptable amount of shading through the windshield, they're practically useless when the glare comes in at anything beyond 11 and one o'clock. Rear visibility provided by the inside mirror isn't great, but works – except when the top is down. Two buttons by the shifter allow you to automatically fit or retract the Passion Cabriolet's top at any speed, eliminating any feeling of separation between the occupant and the environment. But when your enjoying the open-air experience, it's best to perform multiple checks when backing up or doing a lane change, as visibility becomes a finite resource. Thankfully, the ForTwo's squat footprint allows you to slide into spaces with a minimum of butt-puckering.

It's also easy to enjoy the Passion's standard audio system, which comes with a six-disc changer and an auxiliary jack in hidden in the glove box. The location of the input jack is great when you're on the road, as the iPod remains safely tucked away, but it's not so hot when stopping and starting. More than once, we left the player running because we forgot it was in the lockable glove box.

The sticker of our tester came in at $16,990, but the line ranges from $11,990 for the Pure Coupe to $20,990 for the BRABUS Cabriolet. Low sales in 2009 have prompted Smart USA to offer its first ever incentive for buyers, but even with a lower sticker, the ForTwo is difficult for us to recommend. Although some of its drawbacks disappear when you're enjoying the "ForTwo Experience", its abysmal transmission, general lack of utility and fuel economy that comes off as unimpressive for its size doesn't make a compelling case for the ForTwo. That is, unless you're a casual city driver who values fashion over function, or someone who really likes to meet new people.