Automotive News reports that Th!nk is about to offer their new City car for sale in the USA. The Th!nk City glides from rest to 30mph (ha!) in 6.5 seconds, tops-out at just over 60 mph and sports ABS, dual airbags and air con. Th!nk claims she'll go (slightly) more than 100 miles between charges. Obviously, not a road tripper, but for running down the street to buy orange juice, not a bad option. Especially if your bicycle has a flat. Aside from folks being put off by the City's diminutive size, we only foresee one real hurdle — the damn price. Th!nk wants you (yes you) to cough-up somewhere between $15k and $17k for the City. That's some serious cash– especially when compared to $12k for a Smart ForTwo or $15k for a "real" car like a Suzuki SX4. On top of that, Th!nkers are going to be charged an additional $100 – $200 per month for battery rental. Yeesh. And here's our favorite part — Tesla's making the batteries! That's it — I'm starting an Electric Lawsuit Watch series. 

For those attending the 36th ADAC Zurich 24 Hour Race 2008 in May, Toyota has a treat for you. Motor Authority is reporting that a prototype racing version of the as yet to finalized LF-A uber-Lexus will be running round the 'Ring. This impresses us because any 24 Hour race is murder on a vehicle. But one at the Nurburgring? That borders on suicidal. Which we like. The final production specs haven't been released/announced yet, but just to jog your memory we're talking about a 4.8-liter V10 kicking out more than 500 horsepower that powers the hot Lexus to more than 200 mph. This prototype racer raises the bar with bigger wheels and brakes, a Superbird-inspired rear wing, tenny-tiny racing style side mirrors; and at least a dozen new inlets, scallops and scoops. Plus, the inside is stuffed with carbon fiber and a roll cage. With the soon-to-be on sale Spec-V version of the Nissan GT-R already lapping the Nurburgring in an insane 7:25 and most likely embarrassing the hell out of Chevy ZR-1 Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter's claim that the Blue Devil will, "beat any production car's track record anywhere in the world," what on earth will this Lexus test mule kick up? (Who cares that the video voiceover is Japanese– just listen to that engine!)

If I were Toyota, I'd be shaking in my boots right about now. Sure, Scion seemed like a good idea few years back when ToMoCo realized its buyers' median age was seeping into Buick territory. Being charitable, one could call Toyota's youth brand an interesting experiment. Being honest, Scion is schizophrenic. And the kids ain't buying. And now they have some soon-to-be serious competition. Autoweek is reporting that Honda is launching a new "sub-brand" called Li Nian, which apparently means "subject" in Chinese. You're looking at an unnamed concept built off the global City/Fit platform in conjunction with Honda's Chinese partner Guangzhou Honda. The new brand will launch first in emerging markets (China, India) before eventually showing-up here in the States. Getting back to Toyota being frightened — kids might actually enjoy driving a sporty, inexpensive Fit-derivative– as opposed to a de-contented, lousy to drive Corolla hand-me-down. Li Nians should start rolling into dealerships near the guy that took your job in 2010. [There's that date again…]

Less than three weeks remain before the start of the big race. And if Team Black Metal V8olvo happens to crash during the Altamont leg of the traveling 24 Hours of LeMons circus, at least we won't burn. Plus, since our donor car is at least 79.2% Volvo (what, you missed the Fiero wing?) you know we're totally safe. My Grandma always told me that when a cat poops on your car it's good luck. I'm sure after 700 years of near constant pogroms, a little kitty turd was a pleasant turn of events. I mention this because while I was doing my best Tommie Smith/John Carlos impersonation in the above pic, I stepped in dog shit. Yup, brand new flame-retardant shoes on my feet for less than five-minutes and they're already covered in crap. That's too much Passover wine for you. Still, I'm thinking about not washing the Pyrotech sneaker and changing my racing name from "Necrobutcher" to "Count Stinkfoot." Oh, and for the four of you paying attention, we finally got our team motto figured, "Most Grim and Frostbitten Necrowrenches Bloodlustfully Blaspheming the Forbidden Forsaken Fjord Sacrilegiously Perched Atop the Unholy and Inverted Mountain of Altamont." Mehta, Solowiow, consider your gooses pre-cooked.

In February, Porsche built their 200,000th Cayenne. Come August they'll be building their most bat guano. Meet the new Turbo S. True, the old Cayenne Turbo S had 521 horsepower. But you can barely go across the Gobi desert with that, let alone show your face in the mall parking lot. That's why the new Porker is squeezing 550 horses out of its 4.8-liter twin-turbo mill. Oh, and you want to talk twisting force? The Motor Authority reports that torque's up as well, from 531 lb-ft to 553, allowing you to crush all the other SUVs at the PTA meeting with a flick of your ankle. Actually, forget SUVs– you could totally waste the homecoming queen's 335i to 60 mph (4.7 seconds for the former versus 4.8 seconds for the latter). Sure, her little brother might be driving an equally quick Bimmer 135i, but at least your deformed Touareg is better looking. More good news: the ultimate suburban assault vehicle comes standard with 21 inch donks, way bigger than the 20 inchers found on your neighbors' 'Slades and Benz GL420s. Toss in voice activated Nav, a TV plus a (presumably) killer 14-speaker Bose sound system and there is no question who's the king of the Burger King drive-thru. 'Cause it's you. Most importantly, the new Cayenne Turbo S gives you the option of massive 16 inch carbon-ceramic brakes up front and 14.5 inch gob-stoppers out back. God forbid you should run over little Timmy's Big Wheel. Remember, it's a jungle out there.

When a typical "car guy" pictures an electric car, he thinks of GM's EV1. Odd, impractical, expensive and just plain not right. How do I know this? Cause I'm talking about me. Tesla is (in a sense) working to change all this with their hot, Elise-based Roadster. Still, the Tesla achieves its (claimed) 0-60 time of 4 seconds flat through lightness. And as we all know, nothing is more un-American than lightness. Meet the Tjaarda EVX Mustang and its companion the HST Shelby Cobra EVX, both from HST International. Now, these are electric cars for car guys. While the Tesla roadster provides 211 lb-ft of torque at 0 rpm, these HST International mills provide 1,000 lb-ft of twist at 0 rpm. Can I get a hell yeah? All that stump-humping power makes the Mustang scoot to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. The Cobra? 3.2 seconds. Which is damn fast. Downsides Well, each car takes 8 hours to charge. The Mustang will sticker for $80 and the Shelby will cost you a cool $125,000. Still, can you name another car that can hit 60 mph in 3.2 seconds for so a small (ha) price? Didn't think so. Both cars will be on display this Passover weekend, at the Toyota GP in Long Beach.

Last month we told about Ricardo's 2-Stroke/4-Stroke breakthrough, a very promising technology for sure, but one that is still just a series of gleams in a bunch of engineers' eyes. Much closer to prime time is the Scuderi Group's Split-Cycle engine. How close? Motor Authority is citing Automotive News who's claiming Scuderi's tech will be for sale within 12 months. This is big news, as the Split-Cycle internal combustion engine will be 40% efficient, compared to regular 4-cycle mills which are only 33% efficient. Scuderi is also promising lower emissions of NOx. So, how's it work? Just like it sounds, actually. The four-strokes of the Otto-cycle are split across two cylinders. One cylinder is used to compress the fuel and then "gas passages" move the compressed mixture into the detonation or power cylinder. The fun comes when you start playing with the bore and stroke of the various cylinders. For instance, you can make the power stroke longer than the compression stroke to take advantage of the Miller Effect (less energy is used by the compression cycle than the power cycle). Or you can increase the size of the compression piston to in effect supercharge the fuel mixture. We say not a moment too soon, as clean alternatives continue to (not) sputter along.

This morning, a friend of mine hit me up some car buying advice. He loves his Acura MDX, but gas prices are making him dizzy. So, he wanted to know which Hybrid to get. I sent him over to the Honda Civic site so he could see that while the base Civic sedan stickers for $15,010, the hybrid version lists for $22,600. I then told him to figure out just how much driving it would take to recoup a $7,590 premium, ever with today's shocking prices. My pal was surprised — but thankful — and is now on the lookout for a used Civic, since all he wants to do is save money. Our brief encounter left me thinking: one day I'll need a new car. What on earth am I going to buy? The red blooded 12-year-old in me is seriously considering the Pontiac G8, especially if they stick a manny-tranny inside. More seriously, I have a hankering for the Caminoized version of said G8. But, we're talking 6.0-liter V8s and oil hit $115 a barrel today. I had seriously considered the BMW 135i, but after Justin's review, I've seriously unconsidered it. Another WRX? No, they're pretty spazztastic these days. Oooh, what about the STI? Oh right, that's now a $40K car. And I think the car I want most is a GT-R. So, I really have no idea. You?

Pop quiz, hot shot: What's longer than a Ford Excursion, older than the Beatles' Revolver, blacker than midnight, totally devoid of seatbelts and soon heading to the Czech Republic? The pictures don't lie: a 1965 Buick LeSabre 400. Yes, the lure of a small finder's fee and my irrational obsession for anything with four wheels has once again seen me purchase a hunk of Detroit iron for a mysterious man somewhere north of Prague. Who am I to resist?

I'm sure most of you caught Mr. Niedermeyer's post about the yet to be named 7-seat SUV. Just what we need, right? One line caught me off guard, "Volkswagen has dispatched a crack team of marketers to scour the globe for the weirdest names the planet has to offer." In the words of Homer Simpson, "It's funny because it's true." Accurate, too. For as reader Mirko Reinhardt points out, VW's already got "Tiguan," "Touareg" and "Scirocco." Though I'm kinda fond of the later. Still, they're weird. And that's just in this country. In Britain they sell both the Touran and the Sharan. And how can we forget the "Crafter" or the "Routan?" Sadly, we can't. The cars of the people might drive just fine, but don't ask for them by name. But what I wonder is who's worse? Is there a manufacturer out there more inept at naming names than Volkswagen?

While talking heads like John McCain bob and wobble about the state of our economy, for the RV industry there is no doubt. It's recession time. Forest City, Iowa's famous Winnebego has seen their earnings fall by 67 percent this past quarter, after ten years of straight growth. The obvious reason not to buy a giant motor home: gas prices. As we saw yesterday, prices everywhere are up, up, up. Especially diesel. What kind of mileage does a typical RV get? Gas-powered homes-on-wheels manage about five mpg, whereas the diesel rigs average nine mpg. More troubling though, is the prospect that people aren't buying RVs because they can no longer afford big-ticket items. Especially as the typical RV owner is in the sweet-spot of the disposable income range: empty nest, soon to be retired boomers, aged 55 – 60. I mean, if not them, who? Cutting back on land yacht road trips because of a temporary spike in fuel prices is one thing. Not buying the behemoths in the first place is another. (As is buying your dream RV and then having a bank repossess it.) Bottom line: RVs might just be gigantic dead canaries in a very toxic coal mine.

It finally happened. Over the last few months there have been days (weeks?) where premium fuel here in Los Angeles has cost me $3.99 a gallon. Keeping in mind that gas stations are dirty cheats, I actually paid $3.99 9/10 per gallon. But those days are long gone. This very morning, I filled up my beloved WRX to the frankly shocking tune of $4.06. Or $4.06 9/10 in dirty cheatin' gas station speak. Now, I don't live in what you would call a "nice" part of town, so I'm assuming other parts of LA are getting dinged a bit more (or, much more). There are those who will of course argue that I shouldn't be griping. Our gas is still cheap compared to the rest of the planet, adjusted for real income, today's prices aren't much worse than they were in the 1970s, I'm lucky I can afford to buy gas, etc. But, $48.84 for 12 gallons of fuel, well, that's $400 a month the way I drive. Which is a lot. Other news: oil hit $112 a barrel. Happy days. Anyhow, you?

Sajeev's write up of the Lingenfelter-modded Corvette ZR-1 got my blood pumping. As almost every commenter has pointed out, it opens up TTAC to a whole new level of car-geekdom. After all, the sign doesn't say "The Truth About New Cars," does it? After my great Corvette adventure my heart is all aflutter at the prospect of spilling virtual ink all over vintage metal. But where to even start? Well, if you're me, the 1960s are the decade. Specifically the cars that ran at Le Mans. E-types, Ferrari GTOs, Daytona Coupes, GT40 and of course Bizzarinni and the Breadvan. Even the non racers were seven types of magnificent. Alfa Romeo 2600 anyone? What a magic, special time. You?

I've always greatly admired Hennessey. Any tuner that even thinks about boring-out a 500hp Dodge Viper mill to 9.5-liters gets my respect. And one that straps a brace of  turbos on the result,– boosting horsepower from a "mere" 800 to a Veyron-beating 1200, gets what Sajeev insists on calling mad props. According to Motor Authority, the Texas-based tuner is now turning its tuning talents towards Japanese metal. Specifically, the two hottest cars to come from the Land of the Rising Sun: the Lexus IS-F and Nissan's world-beating GT-R. While I have a slightly different opinion of the IS-F than Mr. McCombs (I friggin' love it), I think we can both agree that the last thing the lunatic Lexus needs is more power. So naturally Hennessey is going to bolt on a supercharger and fit the beast with headers, exhaust and a new intake. No word on the power, but you can bet it will be, "adequate." And by adequate I mean seven kinds of bonkers. Look for it later this year. As for Godzilla, it won't show up until 2009. I'm thinking the sky [line] will be the limit. Either that, or there won't be any limit whatsoever. The No Limits GT-R. Sign me up.

Yesterday, we explored what happens when people ask you for automotive advice. Today, I'm asking you to self-audit. In other words, you can dish it out, but can you take it? I'll start with myself. I drive a 2006 Subaru WRX Wagon. It's electric blue. OK fine. Subaru Rally Blue. But not because I entertain high-flying rally day dreams; the car's so ugly to begin with, what's the difference? I chose the Subie because it gives me fairly serious performance for just $25K. And even though I'm childless and unmarried (as far as I know on both fronts), the WRX five-door has the utility I need. I play bass and have a big amp (or so I've been told). I also brew beer; I often find myself needing to haul gallons and gallons of beer around (externally). The WRX's beer-hauling record: five 15.5 gallon kegs, a two-tap jockey box, a five lbs. CO2 tank and my best friend's wife. Uh, forget that last bit. Anyway, am I thinking about the new 5-door STI? Almost daily. And now, can you justify driving what you drive?