Unfortunately, it was the Christmas holiday, so I couldn’t find a single truckish thing to do with the all-new 2009 Suzuki Equator. I always try to, when testing pickup trucks.
Even though many trucks spend their lives roaming the suburbs with nary a load of dirt to haul in sight, the true measure of a pickup’s “truckness” is to let it do some work. That’s definitely the case with the new Equator.
Designed and marketed toward Suzuki’s adventuresome motorcycle and personal watercraft-riding customers as a perfect gear-hauler and all-around tough truck…Â More info
Members of the motorsports industry are wondering why the government has adopted a rule virtually eliminating a key constituency – and possibly thousands of jobs – while at the same time developing a nearly trillion-dollar stimulus that supporters say is intended to create and protect employment.
At issue is a new federal regulation of lead that took effect just this month. The policy has virtually shut down the part of the motorsports industry that serves children under 12 who want to ride all-terrain vehicles and motorbikes, because some components of the machines – such as tire valve stems – contain lead.
“You’ve got a lot of kids involved in this,” Don Amador, western representative for the the Blue Ribbon Commission, told WND today. “But ATVs, dirt bikes have batteries  in them, components that use lead inside the valve stems on tires, lead in the electronic wiring, lead on battery terminals.” … More info
[ad#cor1]
Last summer’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb weather was hot, dry, and windy and it caused headaches for a chunk of the competitors who battled the 14,115-foot Peak’s challenges.
Not so for David Kern and co-driver Allison Kern of Centennial, Colorado, who rocketed their way to the finish line in a record 11:48.434 to run away with the Time Attack 4WD crown in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. That broke the old mark (12:49.064 by Nathan Conley, 2007) by more than one minute and beat their closest competitor by nearly 40 seconds.
Their record setting run was also fif5th fastest over all making their Mitsubishi EVO IX the fastest full-framed car to make it to the top…. More info
[ad#cor1]
The 2009 Zero X is so green that you can eat its battery. Luckily its performance is more appetizing; it’s the fastest electric dirt bike ever.
We teamed up with Fast Company, where you can read about the business and technology behind the bike, and Hell For Leather, for this review.Like the Quantya Strada Wes and I rode around his loft, the Zero X is powered by a Lithium Ion Battery. While they share a few common specs, the X is actually a very different bike. For starters, at 151 lb., the X is 44 lb. lighter, makes 23 HP with 50 lb-ft of torque (twice that of the Quantya) and does 0-to-30 in less than 2 seconds. That’s performance more akin to a 250cc two-stroke, but without the clouds of burnt Castrol R.Â
It’s pure power to weight. The 18 lb chassis uses thin-walled aluminum construction standard in auto-manufacturing, making it so light I can pick it up with my fingertips…Â More info
[ad#cor1]