Well... My mom filled out a raffle ticket on my name when i was two, we won a SAAB 96 and traded it for this model, 99. Almost the same color (metallic paint was for US export model...). My family kept it for 25 years, it served us really well. I learned to drive with it and that thing handles like a dream (it has heavy steering but is is so stable and responsive, just wonderful, plus ours had aftermarket short gearbox from police unit and bored cylinders, small tweaks to oomph the torque for caravan use. Finnish police used SAAB for a loong time, it accelerated like a rocket..).

Seeing the inside of that just brings me memories. Mom, Dad, my big brother and me and a full sized double bass, all inside (you can't transport it outside when it's freezing, the thing can explode..). It meant that i had to ride shotgun, seat fully front and back against the front door, head on dashboard. Backseat folded and mom and bro at the back, equally cramped. We used to say that first comes the bass, then the family if they fit in and there is always room in the boot (joke.. ). The day he started to play cello was a blessing and a curse. Have you ever had to live with a person that learns to play cello? It's horrible but i paid him back when i got full blown PA in my room, cabinets from floor to ceiling.. Musicians family is always a bit eccentric and weird..

My dad still has SAAB (fourth one) as they are just amazing to drive, handles winter conditions like nothing and are great for long roadtrips. I just hope i can get him the Citroen CX he has wanted from his teens...

Howdy... the rear triple axel unit is often referred to as a "jeep". It is steerable (have a look at the two opposed hydraulic cylinders above the jeep frame and below the load... you can see the sun glint off the left cylinder at 0:07). The control lines for the jeep are running forward to the cab through the lines which are bundled just ahead of the 3 boomers that are holding down the load, and riding up on top of the beam. In the final 3 or 4 seconds of the video, you can see the black sheathed control lines bouncing up and down, still attached back to the jeep which is out of frame on the RHS. The mistake here is that the jeep wasn't controlled properly during the turn (it's one or sometimes two buttons in the cab, often attached to or near the gear shift for single finger operation); during the turn the jeep is turned to make a wide turn and stay in lane, and once the turn is made, the jeep should be brought back to a 0° (straight running) position, but it looks like it was left a few degrees right and thus hit the concrete guardrail. 10-4.

A rotary (Wankel) engine has a triangular device that acts as the piston, which rotates in a chamber close to a figure 8 shape. Each side of the triangle acts as it's own piston as it rotates, first intake through a port (no valve) then compression, detonation, expansion, and finally exhaust through another port (still no valve).
Radial engines (what I think you meant) are relatively normal piston driven engines where the pistons are arranged in a circle around the crank at a 90 deg angle from the cranks rotation. These are usually used in prop driven airplanes.
This motor arranges the pistons in the same orientation as the cranks rotation...a 90 deg difference from radial engines. This makes it far more compact, but also puts the pistons in a single, rotating, revolver like arrangement of cylinders. It's a bit of a combination of rotary and radial engine features.

If a large percentage, or at least a majority of cars were now electric, I would agree. But they are not. Because internal combustion engines are still the norm, even in hybrids, making one that's more efficient and lighter with fewer parts is a great idea.
Don't let the great be the enemy of the good.
I wonder how they deal with centrifugal force when it runs at high speeds, it seems like the piston would ride the cylinder wall, creating major friction and heat. Maybe I missed something.

So that's what a naturally aspirated Polish 4 cylinder sounds like.

Hi Ho and a very Merry Birthday to YOU cyberwire. May your circuits click on all cylinders today of all days

Actually, this is true, but it's also only one of the recall items that GM has issued Recalls for this year.

"It recalled 8,208 of its 2014 cars on May 7, for example, because they might have rear brakes on the front wheels."

"GM says it has informed regulators about two more recalls imminent but not yet announced. The latest batch includes safety belt, air bag, transmission and electrical issues in a range of midsize sedans, full-size crossovers and SUVs, and pickups."


GM's U.S. recalls this year

Below are General Motors' recall of vehicles in the U.S. since Jan. 1

Date, no. of U.S. vehicles, models affected, recall defect

- Jan. 13: 324,970 of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and 2014 GMC Sierra for overheated exhaust parts

- Feb. 7 and 25: 1,367,146 of the 2005-07 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2006-07 Chevrolet HHR, 2005-07 Pontiac G5, 2006-07 Pontiac Solstice, 2003-07 Saturn ION, 2007 Saturn Sky, 2007 Opel GT, 2007 Daewoo G2X for ignition switch

- Feb 20: 355 of the 2014 Buick Enclave, LaCrosse, Regal and Verano; 2014 Chevrolet Cruze, Impala, Malibu and Travers; 2014 GMC Acadia for transmission shift cable adjuster

- March 17: 63,903 of the 2013-14 Cadillac XTS for brake vacuum booster

- March 17: 303,013 of the 2009 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana for airbag

- March 17: 1,178,407 of the 2008-13 Buick Enclave, 2008-13 Chevrolet Traverse, 2008-13 GMC Acadia, 2008-10 Saturn Outlook for airbag

- March 17: 656 of the Cadillac ELR for electronic brake control

- March 28: 823,788 of the 2008-11 Chevrolet HHR, 2008-10 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2008-10 Pontiac G5, 2008-10 Pontiac Solstice, 2008-10 Saturn Sky, 2008-10 Opel GT, 2008-09 Daewoo G2X for ignition switch

- March 28: 174,046 of the 2013-14 Chevrolet Cruze for front axle shaft

- March 28: 489, 936 of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado, 2014 GMC Sierra, 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, 2014 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL for oil cooler fitting.

- March 31: 1,340,447 of the 2004-06 Chevrolet Malibu and Malibu Maxx, 2004-06 Pontiac G6, 2004-07 Saturn Ion, 2008-09 Chevrolet Malibu, 2008-09 Pontiac G6, 2008-09 Saturn Aura, 2010 Cobalt, 2009-10 Chevrolet HHR for electric power steering

- April 9: 2,191,014 of the 2005-10 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2006-11 Chevrolet HHR, 2007-10 Pontiac G5, 2006-10 Pontiac Solstice, 2003-07 Saturn ION, 2007-10 Saturn Sky for ignition key cylinder

- April 24: 50,571 of the 2013 Cadillac SRX for acceleration lag

- April 19: 23,249 of the 2009-10 Pontiac Vibe (built by Toyota) for air bags

- April 24: 51 of the 2015 Chevrolet Silverado HD and 2014 GMC Sierra HD for diesel transfer pump

- April 29: 51,640 of the 2014 Chevrolet Traverse, 2014 GMC Acadia and 2014 Buick Enclave for inaccurate fuel gauge

- April 29: 56,214 of the 2007-08 Saturn Aura for shift cable

- May 7: 8,208 of the 2014 Chevrolet Malibu and 2104 Buick Lacrosse for brake rotors

- May 14: 111,889 of the 2005-07 Corvette for headlight low beams

- May 14: 19,225 of the 2014 Cadillac CTS for windshield wipers

- May 14: 140,067 of the 2014 Malibu for brake boost

- May 14: 2,440,524 of the 2004-12 Chevrolet Malibu, 2004-07 Malibu Maxx, 2005-10 Pontiac G6 and 2007-10 Saturn Aura for brake lamps

- May 14: 477 of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe for steering tie-rod

- May 16: 1,402 of the 2015 Cadillac Escalade for passenger air bag

- May 19: 1,339,355 of the 2009-10 Saturn Outlook, 2009-14 Chevrolet Traverse, 2009-14 GMC Acadia and 2009-14 Buick Enclave for front seat belts

- May 19: 58 of the 2015 Chevrolet Silverado HD and 2015 GMC Sierra HD for loose fuse block

- May 19: 1,075,102 of the 2004-08 Chevrolet Malibu and 2005-08 Pontiac G6 for shift cable (expands April 29 Saturn Aura recall)

Total 18,666,842
( http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/05/20/gm-recalls-fine-goverment/9329481/ )

> Cutting with an angle grinder and overhang (breaking
> with a hammer, and this lock has huge overhang) are
> the greater threats.

Simple. The manufacturer could detect when the electrical continuity through the lock shackle (the hoop) and back to the body is broken, _without_ the key in the proper place. Then, detonate the bottom cylinder.

Hmmmmm....my aunt recently offered me her 4 cylinder version, maybe I should put more thought into it.

Whats cool is that a glass (filled) cylinder flips the image perpendicular to it's length, but a glass (filled) ball flips it left to right, and up to down.

Am I right to assume that the smoke is the result of oil in the lower cylinders of those radial engines?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydride_compressor

Looks like this particular setup holds the hydrogen chemically, and only releases it when heated. You're thinking it's just a pressurized cylinder, when it's actually a chemical compound inside.

Like he said in the video, (1:00) you can cut the cylinder in half, light it, and the hydrogen leaking out would make a birthday candle look like a flame thrower. "Smoulder like a cigarette."

It's severely awesome, the hydride "sucks" in hydrogen at low pressures, stores it safely, then pushes the gas out at high pressure if heated. Certainly no MORE dangerous than the petroleum based fuel that our cars run on now. Gasoline certainly vapourizes and explodes when heated.

Sure. There are some in here:
http://www.unusuallocomotion.com/pages/more-documentation/20-one-2-or-3-tracked-rigid-vehicles-light.html

... and about 7/8's of the way down this page:
http://snegohod-tuning.ru/istoriya-snegoxoda.html

We had similar units in Canada in the 60's (with , not quite as speedy as the electric jobby shown here) with I believe (not 100%) some of the early Kohler or perhaps OMC single cylinder gas engines. One could stand on a small foot board that was skidded along behind, steering with two large handles (like a roto tiller), and then behind that there was a sled with high enough walls that you could haul firewood, straw bales, sacks of whatever without them spilling out. They were geared rather high, so not a lot of speed but that's what was required to keep the torque up on these 2 strokes.

Hope this helps a bit.

770 HP, 5 Cylinders, 4WD, Licence to Kill -- 1985 Audi S1 has been added as a related post - related requested by radx.

5 cylinders, bitches!