28 Ce) ENERGY SOLUTIONS nar & oe 7 @ x a po) = LanmuCcs RRM CE = AUTOMOTIVE HOME OUTDOORS S 4 N G = p Your Privacy How to ON YOURg Fight \ FLAT-PANEL TVs We Rate the Best Sets TOOLS va ‘ Rois THE CRA si Oe a m NEW FUEL CELL ATVFEATURES 56 Who's Spying On You? PM investigates the lackof privacy in Americana ells how to fight back, PM January 2005 Volume 182 No.1 62 Tools WeLove down ted caren nae therfore ol The anos How They Raised ‘The‘Phoenix’ nthe set of the pooming movie “igh OF The Phceni” billing a plane from raps was the eas par Wild In The Streets Inside hat ordinary compet cat Isa high perortnance machine Alvekattheinerearre Flat-Screen Faceoff Lb? Plasma? Ina PMexclsie, ne Jrbestexht Me panelsin ding formats justin ime forthe holidays Home Energy Checklist ‘Want sash soaring iy bills this winter? Heres homewide eneray sui with 44 manyssang pst help you eaenergy oss a THINK THIN: The MitsubishiLT-3050 is .230-n. LCD flat-panel just $n. thick (Please rarato page 6) 2 1RALARy 2008 | waMVPCPLUARMECHANES ComUPGRADE 35 The Videophone Y 7 (Or: Can you see me now? Spied: Toyota Supra, 36 Laser Shootout = / the next generation. We rate all-purpose laser lev 42 Security Breach PAshrcker tes the tion of fingerprine Dp hardware 44 Resolutions SS Nore to clectonics indus (seine rmerend Take our advice pleas! aa eee Gre eer Prom erent PEN ay nee et arr eer. ay Per erate ree Bese Need AUTOMOTIVE 46 NewCars tues and Satu’ new “mi-van crossovers" aka minivans, 48 SpyReports Ourglobaln agents reveals automakers secrets, 52 JayLeno’sGarage The rethinkersacPorsche to worry: than the Eiffel Tower) and spans a length of 1.5 miles. PM's Paris bureau esti- leason to worry: mates that it would take 7.4 seconds for a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild | None, Relax. tohit the ground if dropped from the bridge's deck. Sacré Blew! Smallest Big Family Fit Lifestyle Month ... International ‘Announcement e Creativity Month ... International Life Balance At The Detroit Month ... Jump Out of Bed Month ... National Auto Show : Be On Purpose Month ... National Clean Up Mercedes-Benz has been selh E Your Computer Month ... Get Organized plasticpaneledSmart Month ... National High-Tech Month .. carsinguopetor National Hot Tea Month ... National wordietnattheNerth § Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month .... ‘AutoShow'inDetowt National Reaching Your Potential Month Gaiumcnnctedter Oatmeal Month ... National Walk Your Pet ‘the U.S. model, a totally newmini SUV 5 > illedthepormore itshouldgoon FY sonth ... You have precisely 31 days—go. Slein’06 for around S20. q ‘Deas turn to page 24) 22 1anuaty 208 | wcelTECHWATCH SCOUTING REPORT: The Future Bowls fa ‘SPORT:Football ‘While the high-profile competition (really i's soccer) con the gridiron is heating up with the start of the NFL playoffs, another con- petcncee testis going on behind the scenes: the MiaM battle to build the world’s best stad SPORT: Baseball uum, The budgets for these proposed ee arenas—which are usually subsidized ren by taxpayers—have gone through the Cost: $425M retractable roof. All that money buys EXTRA POINT: a lot of cutting-edge engineering. The prea newest U.S, venue (below), scheduled Ee oeeeinee to open in August 2006 in Glendale, recycles water. Aia., will host the Arizona Cardinals ‘and up t 73,000 spectators. The sun NEWYORK CITY roof will stretch the length of the field occa r ‘with two 180-ft.-long x 270-ft.-wide eee retractable panels that can open in 12 minutes. Most remarkable is the field of natural grass, planted on 2 108,000-sq.ft, 3-ft-deep tray that CARDINAL RULES:Seat 73,000 and make ‘the roof will yield all can travel in and out of the stadium on the roof retractable, (Coated with Teflon, ‘the energy needed rails in 45 minutes. —Stuart Luman__i’salsononstick!) Budget: $370 milion, for football games. meant osugest Sharrel actos& PtickerTech J TECHWaTCH [PD | MEOW REMIX Los Angeles-based company >> Allerea has announced isi tion to sell genetically mod ats by 2007.Th will sel for $3500, ‘onwwwallerca.com and will come ‘spayed or neutered to prevent them from mating with ordinary cats GLASS HALF-FULL? ‘Theresuitsofa Dutch study on D> the health effects of ootimism and pessimismon the elderiy were recently published indvchives OF J Ifyou see clouds om the horizon in northwestern Africa these days, there's a good Genel Pycnit that cliance that the forecast calls for locusts. It's the worst outbreak of Schistocerca ists had‘a BS percent ‘gregaria in nearly two decades and, according to the UN, Food and Agriculture cee eee cease] Organization, itcould develop into ategional plague—orworse—by spring. single these ndings butterangst nay | swarmcan cover 460 square miles and eat 423 million poundsina da. leslie ry- vweibesssvagedoy thenewound | ingro tum back a hurricane,” says Jeffrey A, Lockwood, author of the book Lett. evidence that they were.infact.rght. | Below, a look at some exceptional struggles between man and insect. —Jill Davis RUNNING ON EMPTY ‘While campaigning last spring, Amold Schwarzenegger promised he'd convert his gas-guzzling Hum mer to hydrogen power. Turns out ‘that the Gow fermator was ‘ pretty busy, so PE Generat Motors oa Ere 2 Perini pone eT ie een nearer eto zenegger drove the prototype SUV a foaphoto op at LAX-—but, according ieee stistanetear topresereportsheloftina gas" a OTT owered mpg SUV. resent Columbia Beetles eee carers powereeiempesy eae TECH WATCH CONTRIBUTORS: CI os Benjamin Cherto® James Ros, ran perenne “aby Saeinge EaiaibamersneiedEjcineenWATEHT (CERACEATECNS Kennedy, our American tines (airbus A300-605R} Bell Harbor (erasnste) pees ee Flight 587 fter a Three- er On the morning of November 12, 2001, an American Airlines Airbus carrying earner) 587 251 passengers and nine crew members from New York's Kennedy International Airportto the Dominican Republic broke up just after takeoff and plunged fromthe sky, killing all aboard and five people on the ground. It was the second deadliest accident in American aviation. Since it occurred in New York not long after 9/11, ‘many suspected terrorism. But experts soon focused ona more prosaic culprit: The ‘turbulent wake left behind by a preceding aircraft lying along the same route. twas thought thar the Airbus pilot, hitting rough air, overcorrected with the rudder, creating stresses that ultimate- Iyripped the vertical stabilizer from the plane, To most nonpilots, that scenario seemed dubious: Could a patch of tur bulence, combined with a pilots heavy foot on the rudder pedal, really ip the tail froma plane? According to the final report of the National ‘Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), this improbable seenario was 28 indeed what brought down Flight 587, But contributing factors made the trag. cedy more complex—and controversial, When a plane flies, each wingtip trails a swirling vortex that is like a horizontal tornado. If another plane enters this invisible turbulence it can suddenly rise, sink or roll violently. Such turbulence is rarely fatal, howev et, because airtrafic controllers main- tain adequate separation between jes. ‘The plane preceding Flight $87, Japan Huu ONES TriTuoe ws0 PEW {6058 hits the wake turbulence creat- ed by a Japan Avlines Boeing 747-400, For experienced piots lke Fst Officer Sten Moin and Captain Ea States, the bumps reiativaly minor Airlines Plight 47, a Boeing 747, was S miles downrange by the time the Airbus took off, normally sufficient for the tur. Dulence to dissipate. When Flight 587 hit the 747's vortex 96 seconds later, the bump was mild (ease turn to page 10) USTRATIONS BY VELOCITYSTUDIOenough that First Officer Sten Molin, ‘who was at the controls, corrected only with the ailerons, The second bump 15 seconds later was a little worse. If Molin hiad done nothing, the plane ‘would have flown through it without incident, “His actions were unneces- sary and excessive, because the effect of the wake turbulence on the aircraft was minor,” John O'Callaghan, an DISASTER DEBRIS: The vertical stabl- lize, recovered from Jamaica Bay. NTSB investigator, announced at the October NTSB board meeting to review the final report. Why, then, was Molin’s response so aggressive? Part of the problem lay in Molin's flying syle, During the NTSB investiga- tion, two fellow pilots said that Molin tended to overcorrect for wake turbu- lence. Making matters worse, Ameri can Airlines’ flight training encour aged plots to use the rudder to recover from upsets in flight (incorrectly, Ait TECHWATCH bus maintains). Even worse, the NTSB found that the training program used a flight simulator that was unrealistic in portraying how an Airbus A300 would respond during wake turbulence. After the accident American changed its ‘raining program. Some critics contended that che advanced composite materials used to reduce the Airbus's weight have not stood the test of time. But the NTSB found that as Flight 587 fishtailed thorough the sky, its vertical stabilizer withstood the fast-building stresses as it had been designed to. The rud der was certified to handle only a full deflection—that i, to travel from neu- tral all the way right or lef, but not to swing alternately from far right to far left rwasn’t until the rudder had done this three times, with load forces almost twice the fin’s design capacity, that the vertical stabilizer finally gave way. Not to say that Airbus was faultless. Compared to other commercial jets, the NTSB found thatthe A300 had “the lightest pedal forces ofall the transport: category aircraft evaluated.” In other ‘words, it had a air trigger, a tendency of which the pilot was fatally unaware. ‘That a fully laden commercial jet could meet such a catastrophic fate merely as a result of pressing the rud der pedals was one that, tragically, probably surprised the two pilots as uch as it did horrified observers on the ground, Pm NEON eer Final sates ‘ON OCTOBER 24, while Hendrick Motorsports star Jimmie Johason was winniaghis sixth race ofthe 2004 season, [NASCAR officials shielded him from tragic news: Earlier that day one ofthe team's planes had crashed in heavy fog 10 miles from the track in Martinsvil, Va, kling bath pilots and eight relatives and associates of team owner Rick Hendrick ‘According to the preliminary NTSB report, the Beechcraft, King Air 200 turboprop overshot the Martinsvle airport and flew for 3 miles, descending to 1800 ft.Ithad started toclimb when it crashed into 2211-t. Bull Mountain, The INTSB's intial findings suggest plot error. It noted, however, that the plane's GPS device was not certified forinstrument- only flight, and the aircraft wasnt equioped witha graund- proximity warning system, which the FAA plans to require (on planes this size starting in March Tracy Saeiinger bAN/NesSPORT CHENOA Alrous hits the wake again. This ‘ume Molin responds agaresswvely. nthe next 7 seconds his vigorous use of the rudder pedals causes the pianeto ish tall hvough the alas the rudder swings back and forth. 118 seconds © \With the plane yawing tothe eft ane thevertical stabilizer exposedito the full force of the 300-mph sipstieam, Molin ‘throws tha rudder back othe ight. The stress ps of the fn. The plotslose Control oF the plane, 134seconds © As the olane plunges into asteep alve, tremendous forces rip the engines from thelr mounts. Fight $87 crashes inBelle Harbor, Queens. The engines land several oloeks away’ the tall fin tumbles into Jamaica Bay, DERELLA/AP(ARPLA'}-GRAD reste Berea aoc) Screening Your Calls eo ee surfaces ina different incarnation every 10 years or so, and then, often as not, goes back from whence eet een eens Coe tees no pee enact ea fest product to let you see as well as hear your con- versations is the Motorala Ojo (“oh-joe") Personal Video Phone, marketed as the first consumer- friendly broadband videophone, Addressing its predecessors’ shortcomings—speed, cost and desiga—the Ojo runs in real time at 20 frames perce mesa cai) (though the voice-over IP compatibility eauld save Sone oe eaten eee Coens recent ee es eae ns able LGD screen. Will the Ojo play in Peoria? Welll have to wait and... see. ome Perak cesta ee maces oComaasecn thumbs down for being slow, bulky and invasive, and for precy Caen CowpRES- | videoconferencing system NUAB Rue kes Z Cara hour. Fatal flaw:See cost, rcrr Een ‘ eed IDEOPHONE | second). Cost: $1000 to $1500 Peete tee es eae eta Lao a eeeLaser Shootout ‘We test four high-tech levels against a classic carpenter's tool. BY ROY BERENDSOHN AND GLENN DERENE Stanley IntelliLaser Pro (55) +++ +> Compared some cf tne wacklrlockngcontactonsininis, RESULTS test, nwhich we measured modern laser evels against aclassic One mark aganst the ‘Se bble evel mage by vine mtelicasergaveagood vst Inelzaserigthat sat utoevelng Impression: simple, easy to use. sturdy Ithas an CD screen,four _Theuser has to align t correctly, using three built-in vial levels, electronic buttons and arotatng laser head It attaches to the But that's a qubble We found the device tobe quite accurate ‘wallvia two self-contained mountingpins, and works asbotha and eatvly simple to fgure aut. The stual finder took some laser level and electronic stud finder The inteliLasers ot vactice to get used to, but oF yore experienced witht head locks a¢ 45° nerements tothe too long aus. ‘we could find framing relably behing drywall or plaster. Black & Decker Crossfire ($99) The Crossfire shoots ahorleontal beam, vertical beam or both While thas high tech lasers, it usesa low-tech intemal plumb bob with amagnetic damper tokeep level. Fine-tuning is done with rack-and-pinion contls on amounting rack intially we were concerned by ts. ok and fee, The plactc parts seemes cheap and misaligned while the unusual <+++ Zircon Qube System ($100) Zircon’ LaserVision Qube System ‘was the only professional-calber hard todery t Magnetic brooks Zircen's electronic autolevelng base isone:button aiotproot. Color-coded Qubes stick magnetically to the base and shoot dots lines. Owing toeach | cylindrical shape and si adjustable {Qube's cube shape, ines project oniyina_| knobs and cals seemed confusing, ‘ertical ochorizeneal plane, RESULTS RESULTS Despite our misgivings, the Crossfire The autoleveling feature was dead ‘uickly eamedhigh marks for ease of use accirate, and the Ziconslineswere crsp | and accuracy. Checked against our level, {and sharp. Ont itwas spot on for both axes. tended postion the Qube to shimmy from vibrations transmitted ‘youneed to buy ext through the floor but the magnet Biripod ora pole that spans the floor ard | damper calmed things davin QUekY, Cceling (knawn as ajamb pole). Also, only fone Qube comes inthe basic package, Strait-Line Laser Level 120 (40) ® the appeaingly simple Strain attaches tothe wall ith M Command Strip. This V leveican swivel shoot ine verbal, Roraontaly ora ary ange. RESULTS ‘A firstthe Stat-Line seemed inaccurate oddly inaccurate After several callstolrwin, the ‘maker ofthe device (and che level we were usng asa benchmark) an engine ‘iy When shooting vertical ines youneedto arn fom the bottom ofthe wall upward. bbe guaranteed of good results We clbeen working in reverse (top down).Nothedliections ht make that cleat Thsquikasie, though, the Stalt-Lne s adecert valu, Lasers excel at making dots, lines and crosses over yide-apen spaces, allowing Fig) youto work without a second person. Lasers also oe less obvious benefits Fay, besting od fashioned levels in the folowing smuations, PB CASE: You want to projecta line for floor tile over aed of sticky, wet mastic. FR) CASE 2 You combine laser line with a stud finder to project alin perpen $2) dicular (or at any angle) toa stu, jst o alter fe] CASE 3.You can place a laser level on a level surface and rotate ittomarkaret- PE) rence line or dot around the perimeter of aroom, regardless ofits shape. APH BY LUCAS VISSERLook Ma, No Tape Distal vise carneas at sale anda andthresltn gts ihe ut the tape, ty-bity DVDs and memory cards have nad a tough time keepine up. Why not ust throw a hard rie the camera and oe done wth #2 Thats pretty much wat NC has done with ts iv Evert seres of cameras, Avaiadle in two formats the G2-MCiOOhsea verticalonentationwthasvivlso'een while the GZ MC200 (chown) sports a more horgonta layout and arotatng gp. Both ae suoersmall (about the size of two packs of cigarettes) and they can record an hour of DVD-quality video to a remoable-greree Each asa Magan teuated SD card sotandis areas puclst carers 3 S100: $1300 for GE: MCoOo; ww vecom Time Off Your Hands Guys who work with their hands often disike ‘wristwatches d to get caught in ‘ight spots, The GuareDog, Watch fro:n Duluth ‘radi clips to your belt the way, but fips down so that id at a moment's notice, PL, is rugged stainless steel znd santoprene can- struction helpsit take a beating ina hostile work environment § ‘duluthtrading.com 38 Head-To-Head: ‘Mini Computers ‘Wesent the [2 pound Sony VAIOU. (3985) andthe} ounoe O90 re I ($1899 to Mark Spoonauet. editor of aptop Magazing to get his ick ake 0Q0 model 01 Design(Winner) Slideout thumb keyboard low ‘USB11 port Bottom mounting wheel speeds up seoling while Performance ‘Took Zines to oot up. Battery lasted only 2hours, ‘Bluetooth enabled: hard drive stops automatically when system Setectsa fal. Sony VAIO VGN-U750P Design las higher-yesoution touchscreen isplay, but keyboard isnot but I. ‘Also noticeably heavier and bulldar than the 000, with more confusing contral scheme Performance(Winnor) Sony's14-Gliz Intel Pentium M(blew aay the 000s ply Mansmeta CCrusbe attery lasted an hour longer too [Bells And Whistles (rie) Handwriting recognition ult in programmable buttons, hand remote) hheadshome combo ‘Verdict Sony ts later and more. fun but net easly 3s practical ‘3000 Stil wa for version 20. (Pease turn wo page 40)Swing Blade ‘Sometimes the right tool for the jb is decidedly low-tech, The Pro Tool ‘Woodman’s Pat/ias be2n hacking through the nastiest brush singe 1941 ‘Standard military issue from World War I through Desert Storm, the Pal is equal parts hatchet, sickle and machete. If you're willing to put some muscle intoit,it car chop through ‘a e-in. Sapling na single swipe. $70 for 10¥e-in. blade; www.woodmanspal.com On The Map Very few aftermarket GPS car navigation systems can mea ‘ure up to the accuracy and convenience of the carmak- ers’bult-in units. Bolt-on systems often offer tiny ‘squinty screens and awkward regional map: ping systems that send Sour Apple? S = n Nou raring batkand +— fh forth toyour comput- . erforeverytincthats Yas vivre coined it wth Cob Nav One 3000. Dutt eagemee, thas the ene Gates sess pecadoe ates aa a Inoitsszale pemony ani fers the Eigen po table seen onthe navel ut ost moortantyats single teil 20 telrgyeut way a Thor fst ating tian gen ost St ; Seas impart a Be Soe TTY ‘Algin TFTscreen and ‘a 32megapinal camera ‘onedhira the price ofthe {Pod Photo $103.82 Tweeters To Go PRETATION pda ou oo vinon ou wart to make you portable use puble? There ae a host of caer eee ta ee eG en al on ea aed apc pba tut Tene Seer Saath Boomtube,soeates, ae’ ottonvareagack stele tse id sont natn e's ne a a OX al | G5OOS2 yee eee ae ial o vate of omens mtu $5200 for Boomtube EX; wwwivirginelectronies.com 40 1aNUAny 208Security Biometric fingerprint scanners—built oes em SRN CC EN eae Can our professional hacker infiltrate Tmt Lit uate ‘The T42hasa sensorlocated atthe lower ight corner of the keyboard. A finger scan ‘can be used instead of a password when you power Up,resume working from hibernate and when you login ‘to Wab sites, On-the-fy hard drive eneryptionis supported bya separate application. COULDIHACK IT? The key security features in this laptop are implemented in haraware insteadof sofware, whlch makes Iemuch tougher tohack | discovered that some ofthe biometric authen- tications are integrated rightin the BIOS, and priate encryp- tion keys are stored on an Integrates secur harsrve encryp keys fro leven removing the dive from the chassis would be futile Itseems pretty secure—lo lke to get one fora long: test to see how wellal hardware plays with the Linux operating system. 42 Price: $199 (80GB) ‘The LockBoxisan external hard drive witha fingerprint ‘sensor that allows access to a secute partition on the hard drive. The LockBox carries a disclaimer that explains that ‘the product was designed to provide areasonable amount of security, butisn't meant tobe hackproof. Butit seems silly to keep private data on anexternal hard drive that ‘could easily be swipedif that five weren't truly secure. COULD IHACK IT? ‘The Lock@ox does mate sev eal easonabe attempts at bist bay ect ofessignal wil you fus- Eaton offers no real protec~ tion Iwas abletoarbvarly reget the username andpss- wordneeded to access the ofthe effectively bypassing al secu- y. Sothe Lock@ox s crack able. tlast Mero Solutonsis honest abou thelvel of secu- ftyffeeaby ts device. on Erickson, the autor of faking The AV Of Explain wakes Hihcabkag reenter brace, newer secu fi ‘Microsoft Optical Soc ra Fingerprint Reader Price: $69.99 ‘The TouchGvardhasasiide : Thisdesktop (keyboard and fercorintogratedintoa | mouse) hasanintegated Standard 256MBUS8 fash fingerprint sensor which drive. thebundledsoftware _ Microsoft teauiy semis can encrypt /decrypt files. nota security feature in dis- andstoreusernamesand | claimer warnings Wnthis passwords for easy access to ~ device you can use a finger- Websites llofthisprivate printf usar authentication information, along with your on a Windows machine or to. fingerprint data,is stored: auto-populate stored login encrypted in a “secure” information for various Web Blaceinthedevice.The sites The focus of this device FouchCuare'spressrelease Sts, 7he focus ofthis dev claimstheproductisvan | SeamstBeconvenience, extremely secure device" so didn't Judge Its and"the user's fingerprint, Impllcations tooharshiy. data and password.are safely © COULD IMACK IT? encryntedontheumeDrve The disclaimer does le 8 ‘Security is actually decreased COULD HACK IT? formost users hecauee pass frawod. yee Methe private | Wordand fhgerein nforma- information is stored encrypt-_; tions stored locally, where it ‘ed toa secure portion of mem- : Could be stolen and cracked. Gp, tesecue ony though; [und the borer fe cRiscaton Ate fgungon, | belay anor. tt the propretay protocol othe | ifyouTe not that worried Securememnoyiwasable to” | about secur this avery ferraveanddeciypral ofthe | conenent prodlct. Drhatelnformatn fromthe fe eludinguse: names. passiords and ingerpnt Gata without ary atthe tin inmy view thsi fay Gangenus you wee to [ese the fouchGuard ana flint crminathands al ofyou pe Sonalinfo could ston PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUCAS VISSERTo: Electronics Industry From: Your customers. Remember us—the guys who pay the bills? We've got some New Year's resolutions for you. Now listen Up. BY ALEX PORTER Overseas Cell Out Ina transparent conspiracy to humiliate beefy Americans, you Japanese and European manufacturers of cellphones outfit these products with tiny buttons guaranteed to produce embarrassing misdials. >>Your resolution: Make the buttons bigger. Or else, get your service partners to offer a no-hands service like Sprint’s PCS Voice Command, which lets customers dial a stored number by saying, for instance, “takeout pizza.” Fade To Black ‘This one's for you, digicam pushers. ‘Tuppy negative ahd solriing eects ae ite for shooting Vietnam ash. Back scenes, baits ovellconfus sng oveskl—for the company softball game. >» Your resolution: Stick fetish ove ates 2 optical oom, image sablzation, rate nhttafeea ek Ade ‘witha ens of aienaine, donne ‘ight dangerous for everyone ele Demote Control VCR and TV remotes never cease toamtaze with theirbad design — allot you seem compelled to create your own uniquely confusing f but, (Lets noe even talk about the broken promise of easy-o- program ‘universal remotes.) >> Your reso lution: Commit yourselvesto ce- ating readily decipherable onscreen setts. thats too mich to ask, at Jeast include a buie-in remote finder inevery TV and DVD player. We'd feel aor less ormery ifthe remote weren't always lost under the couch, Turn It Down After spending two weeks’ take-home pay ona home theater syseem with Surround sound, digital cable and ‘widescreen TV, we end up constant Iyriing the volume button—adjuse- ing the sound when commercials cole on, for loud action scenes and ‘during whispered dialogue. >> Your resolution: One of you came up 44 witha solution that works so we know youll endoi ek Tecinologes has anitty device called the TVVol. ‘ume Regulator (One guess aso what Itdoes.} How about integrating it into all TVs old in America? Poor Storage Dighal ameras are great"The xoage devices used with them are not, There's oe every ay oe weak 8D, Gompactlash Memory Stick, MMC, 3D, ek, What does ittake to agree of standard? >» Your resolution: Howabur Usb devices hs could pop inand outof products and plug ino 2 PC? Hovrabouta brain implant con nected tothe opie nerve? How about ‘anything besides the current Chinese Festaurant menu of memory options? Adapt Or Die Each and every manufacturer has a different AC adapt er for each and every cellphone, PDA and camera you make, If we lose one, there's no way to use a charger cable from a different device. The result for us custom- ers isa rat's nest of cables. >>Your resolution: Let's work together, folks. Or, just cede the future to the iGo Juice. This sensible gadget powers most laptops, cell- phones and PDAs using one AC and one DC power cord, and different interchangeable tips. And with the Dual Power accessory, you can charge two things at once. Can You Hear Us Now? Cellphone carriers often seem to care more about Eminem ring tones than about reliable service, Here's the cell world from our humble point of view: dead zones, bills rife with accounting chicanery, and bigroadblocks to switching plans. >>Your resolu et serious about industry reform. It’ time to lock yourselves in a room until you figure this out, And no champagne until you do. mmYA og SO OTE ea evi nce DT Ta ae Buick and Saturn are making their first foray into the minivan market. Oops. The marketing folks at those GM divisions don’t use the “M” word in reference to their new vehicles, the Buick Terraza and Saturn Relay. They'd rather we thought of them as mid-van crossovers or some such. Well, whatever the ads and the hype ‘may call them, they are still minivans. These two are updated versions of the Chevrolet Venture and Pontiac Mon- tana—which used to be minivans— complete with sliding side doors, low step-in height and three-row seating. ‘The most obvious difference between the newcomers and the vehi- cles they share their basic platforms with is their prominent proboscises. Besides giving the vehicles a more crossover look, the extra inch or so of nose should improve crash-test results, While the interiors of the Terraza and Relay are similar in layout, the Terraza offers a more upscale finish Both have a versatile overhead rack thatholds heater and a/c controls, and movable cases or the DvDsystem. Like the minivans from which they sprang 46 the pair ride om a front-drive chassis with all-wheel drive optional. Stabil- ity control is also available on front- drive Terrazas and Relays, Regard less of model, power comes from a 200-hp 3.5-iter V6 driving through a four-speed automatic. The vehicles dif- fer, however, in trim and suspension, “The marketing folks at GM don’t use the ‘M’ word.” ‘While all Terrazas ride om a fully inde- pendent suspension, only those Relays with awd have an independent rear suspension. The front-drive versions havea twist-beam rear axle. The Relay comes in two trim levels, Relay 2and Relay 3. Anewleather:like Poem ee ie eet material, which Saturn's sloganeers have dubbed “protein” vinyl, covers doorsills and seat sides. Light maple- color trim plates are used for the cen- ter console and door switches. Buick’s ‘Terraza isoffered intwoseries, base CX and CXL. But quiet cabins are Buick’s specialty, so Terraza boasts several sound-deadening refinements not found on other GM minivans. The Ter- raza also differs from the Relay in its more extensive use of chrome, wood- ‘stain and leather trim. mou (Please turnto page 48)‘The Dodge Power Wagon tackles extreme four-wheel- drive tails like a Viper does the dragstrip. ‘The Power Wagon name dates back to 1946 when Dodge began building civilian versions of World War I ¥+ton weap. ons-carrier military trucks. ‘Today's Power Wagon is built ‘on Dodge's Hemi V8-powered Ram Heavy Duty 2500 4x4 chassis, Both axles get 4.56: 1 gears—for low-speed pull- ing ability—and an electron- ic locking differential. These ‘gears tur tall 33-in, BFGoodrich tires back is a bit more body roll on pave- (on 17-in, wheels. The truck sits 2.6 in. ‘ment, Dodge engineers even fit the higher on tallerthan-normal springs Power Wagon with a disconnectable and Bilstein shocks. Dodge tuned the front antiroll bar. This improves axle suspension to provide a softer, more _articulationand helps keep those front controlled ride on the trail. The draw+ _tiresdown off-road. A dash witch dis- io Ee eee eit connects the bar when needed. Once disconnected, and with both differ- entials locked, the Power Wagon will humble a Hummer H2. The underbel- ly of the Power Wagon is braced and skidplated. And, just in case, there's the standard 12,000-pound Warn ‘winch hidden behind the front bum per. At first, all Power Wagons will be automatics, but in early 2005 an all- new six-speed manual will be offered. Prices start around $37,000. fen Swart Te BY JIM DUNNE Chunky Chugger No relation to the high-perform- ance Chevrolet SSR, this Chevy HER features a four-cylinder engine and front-wheel drive, Designed to look lke a small, mod em version of the 1949 Suburban, the HER designation eame from the phraze “heritage high roof Ata price level above the Cobalt (with which it shares its Delta chassis), the retro-styled wagon isin aleague with Pontiac's Vibe acar that GM uses as a base line in BHR development. GM is also ‘market testing HAR with the lookalike Chrysler PT Cruiser, GM expects that Chevy will sell about 100.000 HHRs a year, Sako competitor willbe at Chevy dealers The Ultimate Trail Rating ‘The more words Jeep adds after its Wrangler nameplate, the more we like it. Jeep Wrangler Unlimit- ed Rubicon may be a mouthful to say, but it’s one of the most useful and capable Wranglers yet. In sime pplest terms: Jeep took the newly introduced, 15-in.-longer Wrangler Unlimited and gave it the Rubicon off-road package. And that com sists of some seriously hardcore parts. For starters, you get bigger Dana 44 solid axles loaded with air- actuated locking differentials and 4.10:1 gears turning 31-in. Good 48 year MI/R deep-lug tires. To help idle over the biggest rocks, there's an ultralow 4:1 Rock-‘Trac trans- fer case. Most drivers will opt for the four-speed automatic; new this year on Wranglers is a six- speed manual. Fither transmission comes paited to the venerable 190- hp 4.0siter inline Six. The Unlimit- ed Rubicon rides better than most Wranglers thanks to the added wheelbase and a slight softening of the Rubicon’s springs and shocks Expectto pay your local Jeep dealer around $29,000 for one. as. Ercan) Peer ee este econ Hin) |i i Ceres ae eres a eer Suzuki, once a niche marketer of small vehicles, just keeps on growing. [Now with the 2005 Reno and Forenza ‘Wagon, Suzuki offers eight different models. The four-door Reno hatch- back and traditionally shaped Foren- za Wagon both share their platform and essential mechanicals with the existing Forenza sedan. All sit on the same 102.4-in. wheelbase and are powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder that makes 126 hp and 131 Ib-ft. of torque driving the front wheels. And all come standard with a five-speed ‘manual or optional four-speed auto- matic, The cars ride on MacPherson strut front and dual-link rear suspen= sions. While brakes are all discs, ABS is optional. The differences between the ‘models ie in the wrapping and accou- ae BY JIM DUNNE Fastest Of The Fast ‘There will bea number of subtle and significant changes in Corvette's highest performance ear, the Z08 bon 200s | WAUFORLLEOONCSEOM, Formal And Funky Front-Drivers Suzuki turns one into three with some clever designs terments, The Forenza Wagon is about 10 in, longer than the Reno (and 25 in. longerthan the sedan). In addition, the Wagon’s body was designed by the noted auto design firm Pine infarina in Italy. The shore et (bumper to bumper) Reno has the funky looks that are gaining popular complement the Reno's exterior looks and give it a feel that’s more youthful and sporty than the Forenza. Given the sub-$20,000 ballpark that these cars playin, there's an admirable look and feel of quality throughout the cars, And on the road, both feel solid, Corvette. When the 2006 206 arrives, itwill have wider ties—evidenced by the lip over the rear fender and theill-fitting front fender—on new 10- spoke wheels, Those wheels appear tobea two-piece design. A close look at the front fender reveals a slanted slash that appears to be large and fanetional. Finally, this prototype responsive and comfortable. Though the four-cylinder is torquier than you rmightexpectand abit noisier than you ‘mightlike,itcould stand an adrenaline standard equipment are side impact airbags for the front occupants, Renos are priced from $13,449 and Forenza Wagons start at 513,949. don cn might have a removable top, which ‘would be a departure for 206. 49Mercedes-Benz is flexing its mus- cles with two attention-grabbing mod- els, First there's the new CLS 500. This is amost coupelike sedan with no wine dow frames and a high belt line. The CLSis anew model, between the mice size E- and large S-Class in size and price. This sedan seems like a coupe because its roof is 40mm lower than ‘an ES00's and the rear seat holds only two. Yet, compared with an E-Class, overall comfort sea arrests automatic. Soon this model will be Joined by the CLSS5 AMG—AMG is ‘Mercedes’s in-house hot-rod depart- ‘ment designation and convenience “AMG is ‘And these people are barely sa Mercedes’s in- _ “@ll/didajobhere: a 469-hp ficed—there's plen- super= ty of room inside house hot-rod charged 5.Siter v8 the cabin and loads that develops 516 of wunk space, @epartment.” bit. of torque. The For now, the 2005 CLS comes only one way, with 2 306-hp 5.Oulter VB that makes 339 bit. of torque and a seven-speed MI a ae my 50 AMG model gets a quick shifting five-speed transmission and larger wheels, tires and brakes. Also new from AMG is the SLKSS. Once viewed as a cute little hardtop convertible, this SLK becomes some thing entirely different, offering a 5.5- liter V8 engine that cranks out 360 hp and 376 lb.-ft. of torque. That engine ‘mated to a seven-speed automatic scoots the diminutive, 3230-pound car from 0 to60 mph in 4.7 seconds, Com- posite dise brakes, firmed suspension settings and fat, low-profile 18-n, tires keep the power reined in, Priced at a premium over the base SLK, the AMG ‘version starts at about $60,000.12 Tae BY JM DUNNE It's A Family Trait Major styling changes arein store forthe 2007 Cadillac CTS Among themore prominent diferences Se the buiging fender fares that Contrast the slabvsde effec of Caren tng. Alse new is some thing that aut designers calla character line-in the sides thet runs through the door handles and ends upasa wraparound Tine in the trunk This is he same visual cue seen on Callas SH This is clearly a styling badge that Calla wil adopt for allits vehicles At the rea that Characterline marks bend the tallight faces and forms the top of the lowered licens plate recess. Theme effectnere is alower aspect forte deck ae cones eevee nureneicsy ae BY MIKE ALLEN Your Bimmer We've seen this midsize BMW coupe being tested. It's the new 4 Series. If the 6 Series is the coupeand convertible built off the Series, then there's some logic in calling a3 Series offspring the 4. This isa felding-top cabrio- let, ala Mercedes SLK. re Petuner teesa i : ; Ae BY BEN STEWART Testosterone-Filled Toyota Ever since the Supra was shelved in the mid’90s, the rumors have been flying about Toyota's return to the high-performance sports car market. Well the heavily disguised prototype, seen here eireling Germany's famed Nurburgring, is in fact a Toyota Or, depending on the price, possibly a Lexus, The details are sketchy but one of two powertrains could be under the hood. One camp saysi's a S00-hp Vi0 based on Toyota's Formula One engine. The other says it's a VB with Toyota's hybrid drive system eee eetein sr: Bec ‘used to boost low-end torque, We saw a version of that system on, the Toyota Volta concept Powerful Infiniti One look at those wide rear fend- ers, that monstersize rear wing AG3S oer es and mammoth wheels and you Iknow this is not your average G35. It could be a special G35 modified by Nismo, Nissan's high-perform- ance arm. Or it could bean early test mule for Nissan's anticipated Skyline GTR supercar, Pon 2000 | WAUFORLLMEOINCSEOM, Victory adds a cool cruiser. Its hard to believe that Victory ‘Motorcycles is only 7 years old, Being the “other” Americanmotoreyclecom anyisn' easy when your competition has mote than a century head star But Victory has carved itself a cool niiche in the cruiser market with sok i, fully warranted bikes that look like ‘one-off customs. The latest example is the new Vegas &-Ball, ablackedcut version of the Vegas cruiser. The 8 has all the same hard pars as the Vegis burbecause ithes less chrome, it costs less. The bike has a Vicry 92-cur in, air-/oilcooled, fud-injected 50° as BYMIKE ALLEN Monts Bimmer Here's a best guess of the appearance of the BMW multipurpose vehicle, due to hit the showrooms sometime in 2007, Multipurpose? That's BMW- speak for what other makers call a crossover, Officials of the Munich maker say this is not an SUV, asta tion wagon or a minivan Its based on the 5 Series platform, sharing ‘Vawin, fivespeed transmission and belt drive. Up front there's a 43mm telescopic fork with a single disc and ‘ain, wheel. Out backs a gas shock and risingzate linkage along with ‘an aluminum swing arm and a beefy 180mm tire on an 184n, wheel The Ball weighs the same as a regular ‘Vegas so performance remains. On ‘ur testridein the Texas Hill Country, the 8Ball was a willing companion even when we leaned it down to the Footpegs Dialitback toamarerelaxed paceandthe8-Ballhappilyeatsupthe miles. Base price is $12,999. {hose models’ powertrains. We've spotted test mules, with homemade bodywork, lapping Nurburgring for chassis and suspension develop: ‘ment, attempting to mimic 5 Series levels of performance. Os Peart cateetrd SIeramics Class Freethinking at Porsche reinvents the clutch. BY JAY LENO Few limited-production super- cars. represent real-world techno- logical breakthroughs. Think about it, Most have followed the same old formula with tube frames, light Weight construction, sophisticated, hhigh-horsepower engines, and some even have carbon-fiber brakes. The all-wheel-drive Porsche 959 and the MeLaren Fl were arguably the most advanced supercars of the last cen- tury, and nobody has done much that’s really different since. Lamborghini's Countach was outrageous-looking, butitwasntt a highly advanced car—it didn't even have ABS. Of course, one myth about supe cars is those ludicrously low 0-t0-60- ‘mph times. Maybe you can go 0 to 60 in 4 seconds in your Countach if you rev ittosix grand and drop the clutch But fyoutry that three or four timesin a row, your Lamborghin'’s clutch will probably be history. Then your exotic car will be laid up three to five weeks and il cost you more than $5000. So instead, you let the kid in the hopped- ‘up Camarowin the stoplight dragrrace and you drive your supercar as conser vatively as you would a minivan, Lam amazed that there are some people who own supercars and actual ly brag about howfew miles they have on them, The only fun they have with their exotic cars is looking at them in their garages, Maybe it has something to do with how much they think their cars are worth. Or maybe it’s those expensive clutches, Porsches ate different. These cars arebuilttobe driven hard and they can take it when you drive them that way. ‘And they've been like that since the beginning. With a rear-mounted, ait cooled fourcylinder opposed engine, and fully independent suspension, 52 they were advanced from the start The ceramic clutch in the Porsche Carrera GT is a good example of how they think at Porsche. Clutches aren't sexy, but at Porsche they engineer the whole car and they build it to last. 1 had anew Porsche Carrera GT onloan and I absolutely hammered it. Sur- prise: Nothing happened tothe clutch, Not that was trying, but I couldn't fry it. You could put the power down cleanly again and again. The clutch in the new Carrera GT is designed to last some 30,000 to 40,000 miles. Look, I drove it hard—I didn't abuse it—but it’s meant to be really driven. Porsche has made a really worth. while contribution to the supercar genre, The Carrera GT's multiplate clutch is lighter and smaller than any comparable unit, I's patented by Tik ton, so there’s an American connec: tion and that makes me like it even ‘more, Porsche has been using ceramic- composite brakes for a while, soit was a natural to put this supertight, highly (lease tar to pageJAY LENO’S GARAGE resistant material into service to help transfer the V10's 600-plus horsepowe et to the pavement. Porsche's Ceram- ic Composite Clutch is a boon, The lutch-plate diameter is only 6.65 in., ‘which helps the lovrcenter of gravity. ‘The Carrera GT will sprint to 60 ‘mph in just 3.6 seconds, turn 131.6 mph in the quarter and top out at 205 mph, Your results may vary, of course But thanks to the ceramic clutch, you can do those 0-t0-60 runs over and over again. The Carrera GT costs $440,000, but I wouldn't be surprised tosee ceramic clutches on much more affordable production Porsches soon. Early Porsches looked like upside down bathtubs, but they worked right and went like hell. There's a lot of German pride in their engineering. ‘A few years ago, I was traveling on the high-speed ‘German autobahn, Occasionally Td. get off the high- way and drive through a village. It seemed that in each little town there ‘would be two churches, located a few hundred yards apart. And on the hour, the clocks in both their steeples ‘would strike at exactly the same time, Precision is the German way. Back to clutches. The McLaren F1, ‘which has a BMW V12 engine, is argue ably the best sportscar of the ast cen- tury. But the clutch is good for only 4000 to 5000 miles. And, of course, the McLaren clutch is very expensive By developing a superior clutch, using ceramic materials, Porsche showed they could think outside the bax. ‘can hear you now, “Performance car clutches that only last a. few liked “decoking” their cylinder heads cccasionally—you know, taking them off, scraping away the built-up carbon deposits and grinding the valves, May be people got used to doing that dirty, time-consuming maintenance, but that didn'tmean they likedit. remem- ber when my Triumph Bonneville got to the 8000-mile mark. A friend said, “Now that's gonna need a rebuild.’ “Clutches aren’t sexy, but Porsche Imows how to engineer them.” thousand miles?” Yep, performance car clutches that last only a few thou sand miles, People who own them say, “You have a supercar, you live with it” To me that’s the same flawed log- ic that killed the British motoreycle industry. The people who built BSAs, Triumphs, Nortons and Velocettes actually thought that their customers 54 When the new Honda 165s and 3058 came out, they didn't need that sort of forced-march attention. So bike enthu- siasts began buying them in droves. ‘And one by one, all those great British brands—the ones that didn’tbelieve in progress—went out of business. In the 1950s, people pointed to Ferraris as being highly advanced cars, but they really weren't. People fell in love with Ferraris—the image, the styling, the powerful engines, the sounds. But Enzo Ferrari, the compa ny founder, clung to solid rear axles on his road cars fora long time. He didn't converthis cars to dise brakes untilone of his race drivers, Peter Collins, had Dunlop disc brakes installed on his ‘own road-going Ferrari and shamed the old man into making the change. Ferrari always said he remembered the sound of a V12 engine in a Pack ard, sohis cars had V12s, Signor Ferra- rialsoliked tosay, “The horse pulls the cart.” So when the radical, midengine Lamborghini Miura came out, Ferrari’ top of the line 365 GTB/4 Daytona was stilla front-engine car. But the people at Porsche go their ‘own way. Their prevailing logic i, “It doesn't have to be that way.” And the ceramic clutch is a good example of how they constantly stretch. Now, if the British motorcycle industry had taken thatattitude, maybewewouldn't be riding Honda Gold Wings today— ‘weldall be on Velocette Thruxtons. PtTechnology makes our lives safer, simpler, faster. But each new advance comes with a price: In your car, on your computer, in the supermarket, even on the street, you leave behind a trail of information that others can follow. PM investigates the troubling state of privacy in America—and tells how to fight back. Who'sJames Turner had more than 400 miles and 8 hours on the road ahead of him as he set out from his home in New Haven, Conn., on a chilly October morning in 2000. Turner, a ‘theater manager, was going to Portsmouth, Va.,to check out a play he want- ed to ring to his hometown stage. Half ‘an hour into the trip, as Turner passed through the town of Westport, Conn., he pushed down on the accelerator. The needle on his rented Chrysler minivan nudged up to 70 miles per hour as he continued south on -95, Eleven thousand miles above Turner, four NAVSTAR Global Positioning Sys tem (GPS) satellites were transmitting signals being picked up—and record ed—by a tiny receiver inside his vehi cle, Later, ashe traveled along the New Jersey Turnpike, the receiver clocked him at 83 mph. ‘Why were Turner and the minivan under such close serutiny? Tuer rented the minivan from [ACME Car Rentals, a New Haven firm that had installed GPS receivers in its fleet and contracted a Canadian com- any, AitlQ, to monitor them, ACME didn't want its cars exceeding 70 mph, fone did, the processor inside the car ‘woke up and wirelessly connected toa remote computer, which sent ACME a report of each incident By the time Turner reached Virginia, his bank account had been debited an extra $450 by ACME—$150 for three speeding infractions—and his original $196 rental fee had ballooned to $646, “Lwas completely blown away,” says ‘Turner. “Not only by the fines, but also by the invasion of my privacy. It's a scary situation, how they can watch you like that.” Turner sued ACME and over the past fouryears the case has rumbled through the courts. ‘Along the way, it has helped spot lighta growing trend that many observ ers believe is permanently reshaping society. ‘There's a tradeoff to be made for enjoying the high-tech benefits of the n You: S7WELCOME TO THE 2st century. The latest tech- nologies make life safer, more convenient, more fun, The price? Your anonymity. Every day, each of us eaves behind an indelible tral of electronic crumbsthat other entities can typical pikupand ll day in In the aig age ioe America. vations cut both ways. Ca jime finest —_BUCdid you aywhere, but some new @VET get the notes cn ow tear or feeling that locations to within a few feet. DSL and cable modems see re Jecus roam the universe fast- being er than ever, but leave us more vulnerable to hackers, watched? hijackers and malicious spy ‘ware. Digital video recorders Mlystration let us record and pause pro- FLYING-CHILLI-CO} grams at will, but they also track what we watch and when ‘we watch it. Even the automobile—the universal symbol of freedom—has become a surveillance center on wheels, with black box data recorders and on-board navigation systems tracking our every mile ‘And in the most Orwellian tech development of all, a ‘mierochip that can be implanted in the human body-—reveak ing anything about its host from medical history to security clearances—was approved for medical use inthe States Bottom line: “It is impossible to exist in today's society ‘without surrendering to almost constant monitoring of one kind or another,” says Jay Stanley, a technology expert with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Isthis necessarily a bad thing? Proponents say data gathe ering enhances lives, enabling better services, less waste, cheaper prices and, perhaps most important, greater safety {in a post-9/11 world. But opponents fear a loss of personal privacy and a creeping progression toward a kind of infor imation eugenies—a bleak future where huge databases seg- regate America, determining who gets the best jobs, the best ‘opportunities and even the best prices while shopping, Both sides agree on one thing: The digital information stream generated by the average American is getting bigger every day. But wis collecting allthis data? And what are they doing with it? THE GPS INVASION Most of the technologies creating what some call the Fishbowl Society aren't cutting-edge. As Richard Hunter, author of World Without Secrets, notes, the technology “isn't necessarily new, but is newlyubiquitou ‘Take the GPS that nailed Turner. Conceived by the US. military in the 1960s, the Global Positioning System network took more than 20 years to come online. Yet, GPS tracking 58 s T A R T Fishbow!| Itsjusta © aREME John gets ready fornis dayinthebgely:he turns on hie deskton PC logeontothe Internet and sends afewe-mals He connects trough ahigh- Speedcable modem, Afterward, heleaves his computer on anghis Internet connection remains act ve WHERE THE DATA {GozStinternet Sec Providers (IPs) store e-mat in thelr main serves Depending onthe ata retention pai theinfo might be keot fora few hous or for several {ears REASONS TO WORRY: John's SP can be forced fo tun overtolaw enforcement agencies detals on Web ste he vists and e-mal he receives. e ERD Enroute totown, john stopsat the local chain drugstore forhis month- Iysuonly of ite blue pills and a copy of Peruse MecoaNes He useshis store loyalty card atthe checkout, and gets 220 percent discount on his pur- ‘chases, Score! WHERE THE DATAGOES:Byanch stores record every purchase made by loylty-card customers atthe checkout and then transmit the information tothe Store's maindata processing center, where it's recorded ina computer file ined tothe customer'sname, adress and phone number. These files can be accessed atthe Checkout or by anyone the store choosesto show them to, from marketers tothe police REASONS TO WORT Doyou really want someone keeping tabson every thing you buy? Think about it ED John ves tothe city and Uses hs electronic tll collection (ETC) transponder to pass through tolbooths; attached tothe windshield, the ETC contains aRadlo Frequency Identification (RFID) tag encoded with John's account information, which s read by an overhead antennain the booth WHERE THE DATA GOES: The exact lime and date the car passes through the boothis recorded on the customer's account. This data is stored inthe comouters ‘ofthe local government agency responsible for manag- ing the tollbooth system. REASONS TOWORRY:ETC Ieardshavebeenusedasaidenceinbothciiral and cil court cases, including divorces,10:15PM Ei Be Johnsitsdawntowatchthe After nner.John John's car's involvedin a 20- programs his diitalvideo sitsback down iio front-end colision and the fecorder (DVR) has recorded at his deskton, aag inflates. inthe microseo- since lastnight. Later an inter which has been fonds afterimosct. the event, nalrecorder uploads the details connected to the data recorder (EDR) in John's of hisvewing habits to the Internet all day. carstores data about the crash DVR provider REASONSTO ——_logsontonis bark ona microchip WHERE THE WORRY: Thereare vituallyno account and paysa few DATAGOES: The Onstarcom- restrictions on what informa bills He doesnt realize that du putersends a wireless inal to tion DVR makerscan harewith Ing the time ne has been away, hackers ‘monitoring center. then gives thi parties, ke programmers have planted three spyware programs onto his emergency serves hisloca- andmarteters ‘system WHERE THE DATA GOES: Spyviare ton, EDR data has been used to ©] 212 224roasesoftnetntrnet forte so Prosecute driversin some END! virtually anyone can deploy It can capture criminal cases, passwords and credit card detals or allow out- ‘iders to commander your computer for use as aslave system sending spam or disseminating potn, REASONS TO WORRY: There arean est ‘mated 25,000 spyware programs roaming the ‘Web. A recent study concluded that nearly 80 ‘percent of all home broadeand-equipped Computers are infected ee eects © aoa ues Sree inet ment meow ES eerste orc aie aes REASONED WORRY: If the idea of high-powered public cameras a eee ‘TOWORRY: One day, IDS. ray be able tokeep trackre, yououtsidethe store, John fies uo his laptop. He's John pays for is lunch ‘Unaware that is company ‘witha creit card. But the computernas been equioped waitersecretly swipes with emote monitoring Johns Visa througha Software that records every ‘skimmer aportable keystro‘e,everye-mai, every EERIE reader that copies the infor Websitevsited WHERETHE Outside.neseesapursesnatching, © mationonthe magnetle stripe. The DATAGOESiIt'savtomaticaly and ials M1. Special OM sensors cardi later be cloned and used to buy copious e-mailed to anyone froma placedoncellonone towersmeasute _amountsof pom and high-value electronic goods that paranoidemployertoajealous _howilongittakes the signal toarrive; canbe easly fenced for cash WHERE THE DATA SpouseREASONSTOWOR- the ooidinatesaretrangviated ‘GOES: Almost anywhere on arth. Creditcarddata RY:key-logsing software's andthelocationgventothepalice. canbe sold euicly and easiy online, andiD theft rings cheap and widely avalable:tne REASONS TOWORRY:Thetect- __using such data nave been found everywhere from stealth technology runsirvis- __nologyhasledto services that let Russa toIndones'a REASONS TO WORRY::entty IByinte background, users tack great accuracy thefts one of the nation's fastest-growingcrimes, virtually undetectable, ‘any phone they can access, affectingonein 20 Americans in 2002is on its way to becoming a $28 billion-a-year indus try by 2008. GMs OnStar system, for example, places GPS in millions ofcars. Those cars can be tracked at the behest of the police and gow ernment agencies Lately, GPS technology has expanded into a contro- versial new area: cellphones. Federal regulations require all cellphone networks to be enabled with an E911 system; thisallows. cellphone’sloca tion to be isolated to within 100 meters using triang lation between three cell phone towers or as close as a few feet using a GPS chip. While E911 ostensibly sends location information only ‘when someone dials 911, newer phones incorporate location-based services, and can constantly send precise location information back to the cellular provider “In essence, every cell phone in America is now a pocket tracking device,” says Beth Givens ofthe Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a consumer advocacy group in San Diego. Watchdogs like Givens say E911 technology, though intended as a public service, i ripe for abuse, Some cases are already working their way through the courts. In August 2004 Ara Gabrielyan was arrested in Glendale, Calif after allegedly duct taping a GPS-enabled phone under his ex-git- friend's car to track her movements. “This is what I would call stalking ofthe 21st century,” Lt. John Perkins of the Glen- dale Police Department told reporters. Gabrielyan, 32, plead- ed innocent to stalking and making terrorist threats, and is awaiting trial on $500,000 bail ‘According to police, Gabrielyan subscribed to one of the handful of new services that allow a cellphone’s owner to track its movements over the Internet. Sites like ULocate and FollowUls show a phone's location and the speed at which it’s ‘moving, all superimposed on digital maps detailed to street level. Not surprisingly, these do-it-yourself tracking services have attracted plenty of critics, Follows, for example, was recently labeled one of the “most invasive companies” by the advocacy group Privacy International. Still, there is no shortage of entrepreneurs trying to turn GPS tracking into a profitable business. AirfQ, the company uused by ACME to monitor renters like James Turner, inte- grates five technologies—wireless communication, GPS tracking, digital mapping, computing intelligence and the ane 60 Internet—to create “telematcs,"a high-tech, low-cost service used by some car rental firms, large distribution companies and commercial boat owners. AirIQCEO Don Simmonds even uses his system to enforce rno-speeding rules on his three teenagers. “If one of my kids exceeds 80 mph for more thana minute, | geta message on my BlackBerry.” Hiskids get a$25 fine and Simmonds gets peace ‘of mind—and the ability to locate his kids in an instant. While it’s not known what Simmonds’ children think of this system, it’s quickly becoming apparent that rental car customers hate it. Currently, the industry's top guns, Hertz and Avis, say they use GPS solely for fleet monitoring. But some ofthe smaller players re using the technology for con- tract enforcement, with decidedly mixed results. In 2004, dozens of complaints were filed against San Francisco rent al firm Payless when it used GPS tracking to prove drivers ‘crossed state lines, something the rental contract's small print forbade. In November 2003, Canadian tourist Byungsoo Son ‘was charged $1 for every mile he traveled outside California ina Payless car. His rental ee catapulted from $260 toaneye- ‘opening $3400. The dispute was settled out of court. ‘As for Turner, in May 2004 a court ruled he'd been unfair ly penalized, but rejected his claim for damages. Turner appealed. “Thiskind of tracking can't be ignored,” he says, State legislators agree. New “anti-GPS tracking” laws have been enacted in California and New York, banning PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL LEWISrental firms from deploying what outgoing California Assembly member Ellen Corbett called the “Big Brother tac- tics” of using GPS technology to impose penalties for speed- ing or crossing state lines ALIE DETECTOR IN YOUR CAR You don't need torent a car to be monitored. In 2004, black box data recorders were a standard feature in nearly 70 per cent of cars manufactured; they're now installed in about 40 million cars in the United States. Tiny event data record es (EDRs) live under the dash or seats and silently record ‘what happens to the vehicle in the seconds surrounding a Digital Lock-Down ' Don't buy a cabin in the woods just yet. Here are some tips on keeping your privacy secure. | AT THE STORE Beware of loyalty cards. ey reduce bil, but allow buying habits to be record ed. Buyingextra-small com domswith that fith of Wid “Turkey? Use cash, @ Shoo mom and pop. Locally owned stores are not ikaly to be exer ‘menting with RFID and dataccolection, accord ing to privacy advocate Katherine Albrecht. Check ‘tose fyour supermarket iskeeoing tabs on you at ‘wwwznocards.com, @ Use yourATMcardfor Purchases. According to Robert Elis Smith, oub= Usher of Privacy Journal ATM, @ Remove spyware witha program lke Wiebroat's Sey | Sweeper ($30, wwe transactions record the total | root.com).Updateoften, | at the egister,out not an itemized ist of purchases. | ‘The Paranoid Extreme: Line your pockets with synolds Wrap. According, toAlorecht, aluminum fol | blacks RFID signals. Andit © Useverycomstestes PaesnordsTevestpsss- | Words complicated you | havetowtertdounesays | Schnee BiockyourlPaderess. | Rrtware suchas malesagreat hat! | Anonymizer2004 ($30, | wewanonymizercom) uses ‘ON Your PC | aprony seve: preventing | Installafrewalsuch Web sites from obtaining Sethe Linksys BEFSRs! | your identity. ! ($60. wowinisyscom). | TheParanold Extreme: “Evenonthe defauttset- | @ The typewnterhasyet Angyov'egetingmary | Tobehacked | times more security than wthnothing’saysBruce— | IN YOUR CAR \ Scheer chief techno Block your electron cayoficerofCounterpane tolcolectiontag from | Internet Seeunty, transmitting by coveringit | most toll passes. Use the crash—speed, wien the brakes are applied and so on. Like the black boxes in airliners, they become critical after seri- cous accidents Ina numberof recent casesEDR data hasbeen instrumental in prosecuting serious crimes. Walter Rhoads pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in Pennsylvania in May 2002 after he was confronted with black box data from his Corvetteshowing he'd been traveling at 106 mph, and braked only 2 seconds before crashing into another ca, Killing its driver, William Stor. “The black box doesn’ lie,” said Stott’ som after the case. In 2003 the National Transportation Safety Board announced it wanted EDRs installed in all new vehicles. Only California currently requites owners to be noti- fied if an EDR is on board. Despite their obvious bene- fits, the boxes have privacy advocates worried. Can lave yyers demand access for use in civil lawswits? And can info on your driving habits cause insurance premitims torise—or be canceled? Progressive, the country’s third-largest auto insurer, recently started a pilot pro ‘gram that is being watched eenly by other insurers. Five thousand Minnesota drivers signed up to allow Ohio- based Progressive to install a tiny TripSense monitor in their cats to record their driving habits. Drivers the devices reveal as “low-risk” will be rewarded with poli Ina"ead prevention bag” included when you buy ‘cash ine: The wait may be longer, tut your boss will ‘never know Uncle Miltie's “funeral"was held at the $10 minimum table at the Bellago, @ Fisdout ifyour CarhasanEOR at ‘wmnevetronixcom, @ Feadthe fine print. Car rental agencies wil tellyou if they've installed GPS ‘racking, andf they impose fines for speeding or cross= Ing state lines. ‘The Paranoid Extreme: Please have our exact fare ready when boarding the bus, ‘ON Your CELL Sacesbusnsyour * oflicomts of wp t025 pee phone's menu function. cent, These kinds of volun- “That way your phone will only transmit your loca tion when you dial 17 says David H. Wiliams, author of, The Definitive Wireless E9T? Reference Guide, @ Use a prepaid cellar plan. Some prepaid phones require only a name to acti- vate service (whether its youtsis up toyou). while ‘thers let you buy a phone Intotal anonymity. @ Tuma your phone ‘when you're not using it tary discount incentives are seen by privacy advocates as Trojan horses, designed to lure consumers into gi ing up personal data and to punish those who don't by imposing higher prices. ‘THE SPY IN AISLE3 Mexico's attorney general, Rafael Macedo dela Concha, has seemingly lite in com- ‘mon with a handful of night TheParanoidExtreme: | crawling regulars ata tren ‘Never make calls out Hg regan arene Dee bar in Barcelona, Spain. But ftovblegettiiga rdoors | Under the skin, Mexico's top says Willams, lawyer and some 50 VIPs at “Benjamin Chertoff | the Baja Beach Club share a (Please turnto page 131)ska mesh ;an- ted len to name their favorite tools, and the answers may surprise you. No one mentions an expensive table saw or a compres- sor-driven nail gun. A few toss out power tools, but most respond with something humbler—a steel ruler, a pair of pli- ers, a block plane that fits in a nail apron. Each is a familiar ally in the battle of man against mechan- ical chaos. The insights shared by these can-do guys (who appear with their equipment on the following pages) add up toa profile of man the tool user. What sets the breed apart? A love of precision, finesse | precision Cali and—hey, why i theres one thing Heeler Brian Smilies more thana kid ourselves?— welk-props frame it's the thought of precision, A ruler the occasional gh for him, so Sreith always carries a much roar of an 18-volt circular saw. ;RAPH BY CHAD HUNT; STILL LIFES BY ALISON ROSA 63other tool. 99 boatinultlerRich Hilsinger ‘The director of the ‘WoodenBoat School in Brooklin, Maine, uses a classic Stanley low-angle block plane ‘to smooth the surfaces of the ‘many kayaks, skiffs dories, MythBuster MythBuster canoes and day sailers that he Jamie Hyneman ‘works on each year (And, yes, ee i" hhedoes find time to sail) How hard isitto find a needle in a haystack—lterally? How many balloons doesit take to lift child off the ground? Can youreallydie from dropping a hair dryer in the bathtub? Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, he cohosts of the Discovery Channel's “MythBusters,” have devoted their entire lives—well, atleast their recent TV careers—to finding the answers. In the process, they've leftbehind the scattered he remains of a long line of broken tools that just couldn't hack 2 lif on the setin San Francisco, not to mention the cranes, A PHOTERP COLETESY CFCC CHINE. (HELENS) sinking ships and assorted disaster areas where the show ‘goes on location. What is tough enough to survive? “An indis \ Pensable tool,” says Hyneman, “is a pair of diagonal cutting vi ff nipex pliers, There isnt any other hand tool of any other | brand that stands up to it.” Specs include chrome vanadium steel, a forged-in-place axle and an induction heat-treated cutting edge. Savage's pick: the Leatherman Wave. He likes the classic multitool so much he made a fasttelease holster Leatherman _ Knioex for it—because you have to be quick on the draw to shoot Wave” Cultngéers down a stubborn urban legend. 64 PHOTOGRAPH BY ALYSON ALIANO18-Volt Toolkit NASCAR crew chief Ryan Pemberton spends his working days keeping the ears running for MB2 Motorsports and driver Joe Nemechek in. Concord, NC On weekends he opens his kit of I@-volt Bosch power tools. Tm remodeling a house” Pemberton says. Thuy tools that save time, that : a are interchangeable, have quickzelease and are battery pow- ered" Spoken like a guy whocan change [ ativein 12 seconde. “Its the best woodworking purchase l ever made,” says author Sandor Nagyszalanczyol the big D-handle Rockwell router he bought almost 30 years ago and sil uses in his shop in Bonny Doon, Cali. The rigger is mounted in the handle, ‘making the tool easy o control (forhim, at least). The Rockwell sno longer made and ‘Nagyszalanczy isn’t parting with his, but other D-handle routers ae sil sold ‘A.small cordless serew- driver is usually doomed toanearly gravein con struction work. Not so ‘the workhorse owned by Master Electrician ROX Cauldwell, made by ‘Malwaukee. "Tse so much ‘ve worn the printed ietters off the side” says Cauldwell Tis geared s0 low you can shootin drywall screws with it” Big drills may sneer atthe litle 24-volt fella, but while they swagger the Milwaukee is helping Caulewel! instal electrical switches and boxes all over Rocky Mount. Va Prorecaia | ayci.sToO ROTO Re OSCAR) PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG SEGAL3 ! | whaled fist of overwhelming force is whe who res att Atypical ay may Pe gotten ene led But, he says, “Tstill maintain that my favorite tool .isa sewing machine” PHO BY DENNIS KLEINMAN.—_— Crescent Wrench Ins 88 years, craft manCurtis Bowden has logged redwoods, pushed a pikepole on'a riverboat, operated Cat cerpillar bulldozers and served as California Highway Patrol oficer. ‘These days, he'sa master- ful engraver, woodworker and gunsmith who works daily at his shop in Aptos, Calif His go-to tool? The humble wrench intro- duced in 1907 by the Cres cent Tool Co. "The wrench isthe answer toa maid- en's prayer, says Bowden. “Iedarn near always works.” And, ofcourse, it has stood the test of time. 4Glusea putty knife to scrape my grill and for nothing else. It’s my favorite tool because I like to eat. I've gota real old one witha wooden han- dle. I keep it sRoeACTEELS) GETTY HES OSA \h Case modder Paul Capello's Web site has car toon ofa construction worker swinging a pickax ata . computer monitor and case. The new school craft of cease modding, which is somewhat akin to hot redding = minus the smell of burned rubber, involves transform {ng computer cases and hardware Itcan turn aPC into fanciful creation such as Capello's recent Doom-3- themed machine, which features stone walls, warning lights and airlock doors. Much of Capello's work this poe Monhapsacanionace! | ®.clampenmncen head spells disaster. ‘I still have the same set of General chief for NASCAR driver screwdrivers from 20 years ago, says Capello Backin | RUSty Wallace and the Penske that predigital age, he built models for films and TV. He Racing South team, based in \, had an early start, having spent his childhood reading ‘Mooresville, NC. \ the monthly magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. Cordless Drill a General contractorMichael Manlick cherishes his dad's old Vin. corded drill, but hhe doesn't use it much as he pumps out new houses in Folsom, Calif, east of Sacrament ‘The modern age, he says, belongs to the cord- less 18-vole drill/driver.“Ithas become routine for a carpenter to not only fire up his compres sor when he rolls out at a job ste,” says Manlic, butalso to immediately find an outlet 0 charge fone or two spare batteries.” PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG SEGAL 67BEHIND ‘Phoenix’ the SCENES On the set of the upcoming movie “Flight Of The Phoenix,” building a plane from scraps was the easy part. by Anne Thompson ‘TAXWAfterrebulaing their ~ Gash area Demis ‘eel uci to pate asst (eeenlenienntone AFTER FILMING F/A-18 fighter jets in 2001's “Behind Enemy Lines,” 35-year-old director and fying nut John Moore eagerly signed on to remake the 1965 classic “The Flight Of The Phoenix.” He cast real-life pilot Dennis Quaid in the James Stewart role as a gruff airman whose plane, loaded with ol wildeatters and gear, crashes in ade ert sandstorm. Giovanni Ribisiplaysan engineer who figures 68 ‘out how to construct a single-engine craft out of a wrecked twin-engine plane. “Everything you see is very doable,” “Moore says ofbuildingthe plane, dubbed“Phoeni’ afterthe mythical bird that rises from ashes. To enhance that realism, ‘Moore tried to minimize the use of computer-generated (CG) ‘imagery. Instead, he relied on an array of fullsize and scale models, vintage aircraft anda junkyard fll of parts,CHANGING Crash Course quaid's character, Captain Frank Towns, flies a Fairchild C-119,a sturdy cargo plane from the mid-20th century. For the crash effects technicians bounced a radio-controlled one-fifth scale model off a series of 100-t. sand dunes at the film's Namibia location. The crash leaves the plane half-buried and the crew stranded with no hope of rescue. Rbiss character devises the plan to remove one of the plane's two booms, and use it as the fuselage of anew, smaller craft. 2 s Desert Storm To depict the post-crash C-N9, the film Crew transported several junked fuselages to the site."We made our own giant scrap yard Moore says. Local work crews, uobed’ dune groomers" used heavy equioment to simulate theeffects ofsandstorms."It was incredibly hat’ Rbisi says of the Namib desert location.*We dranka lot of Gatorade Model Mal ima full-size fiying version ofthe Phoenix’ but delays and safety issues doomed that plan (No one had forgotten that a stunt pilot crashed and dled during filming of the orignal movie.) The production relied instead on radio-controlled scale modeis and CG effects for the fying scenes. “There were two crashes" says special effects director Stan Pars, *[frtunately] both inthe model world’ A miniature Quaid“plts"the plane from cockait cut into the boom, while"passengers" hang onto the wings. Drag Race*or the climactic take- off run the flmmakersbult a full-size “Phoenix witha 90-fe wingspananda vintage acl engine."Weused actual parts cannibalized rom original C-19 wrecks’ Moore says To propel the ca, Parks maunteda T0s-era dragster underneath the fuselage. It could go over 50"he says. (During postprodue- tion the dragster was hidden behind clouds of digital dust.) Though definitely notboult forartoorne travel, the og crat “did like to get light at the speed we were going” Parks notes. It was scary.” £52YS RIS who was strapped to the ‘wings along withthe other actors, “Hitone duneandyourescrewed? Pm 69celta ore i is vad peewee Spee [Ol Mili mertcsinlocaaelyre tra leemae-rZ oe cpelecalnere (es PaPeri MICHAEL On t's nearly midnight, and the Los Angeles Convention Center is still packed. As the bass ine from a Daft Punk song pounds out of the exhibition hall's speakers, dazed teens in low-slung pants ignore the lime-green neon light show and shuffle entranced through the eee eee ee RR econ their Calvin boxers joins line that snakes across the hall for 200 ft. and ends at the Ph ee ae Re Poet a eo eae ‘The Furious.” But these guys don't want to meet Vin, They want to have their poste ene ger tne sca eee ees Peo aeac) ‘Welcome to Hot Import Nights (HIN): one part car show, one part nightclub and Renee Cee ers ekg ay ka way into the mainstream.auto enthusiast: the young, urban fan of small import cars that have been lovingly overhauled—or “tuned”—to stag- geting levels of performance. As the tuner car movement has spread, so have Hot Import Nights, which are now reg- ular events in cities across the country Scattered around the convention floor here in Los Ange- les are video gamers locked in solo combat, professional DJs spinning and remixing hip-hop and rap, and lots of under ‘employed actresses in bikinis rubbing up against sleek fend- cers, Most of the floor space, though, is devoted to litle cars with big attitudes. Cars with names that end in“a—Honda, Mazda, Acura—just itching to take on big American iron, But beneath the flashy paint and decals, under the skyscrap- ing rear wings and behind those 19-in. wheels, isn’t that the humble littie hatchback you drove in high school? Sure, but with a difference: That reworked econobox now pushes ‘more horsepower than anew Corvette If the burgeoning tuner-car subculture has an ambas- sador to the mainstream, i's RJ DeVera, who appeared in “TRATF? and served asa consultant for the film, “These car shows rea huge draw,” DeVera says. “HIN can attract over 20,000 people. I's become more like a festival to celebrate not only car culture, but youth culture.” Tuner veteran James Chen is leaning on the open door of a metallic gold 1994 Toyota Supra Twin-Turbo ringed by trophies from other shows. “With nitrous it’s making about $50 hp at the wheels,” he says. And power isn't Chen's only obsession. “Ive got close to 20 grand in the paint alone,” he adds. Like many here tonight, he’s looking for the latest trends and he's looking atthe gitls—standard ‘moves in the tuner world. From Los Angeles to Long Island, tuner cars— aka imports and sport compacts—are flying down dragstrips and tracks and styling down boulevards. More than a dozen specialty magazines report on a tuner-car culture that spends billions every year on parts. The buzz hhas gotten so loud that car manufacturers have brought the tuner trend into dealership showrooms with cars like the Dodge Neon SRT-4. ‘The tuner boom is especially impressive considering the hobby’s humble and fairly recent beginnings on the streets of Los Angeles. About 25 years ago a small group of Japanese-Americans in and around Los Angeles began dropping Mazda rotary engines into their Datsun 510s. These “true pioneers,” as DeVera calls them, went on to become underground legends. When they eventually landed jobs as engineers designing turbos for Garrett and heading up R & D for major automotive companies, they brought their street smart sensibility into the mainstream of the American auto industry By the late '80s the word had spread. SoCal kids began hopping up their hand-me-down wheels, especially cheap and plentiful Honda Civies, much the way an earlier < rVINE DONZETT ae Oey In just one month the PM auto experts (witha little help from our friends) trans- formed a Civic into a tuner car that's as quick as it is beautiful. civic WORKS POWER, PLEASE Everthinka Honda vie | Weknew we wantedto could tunedto deliver | make seroushorsepower, 400hp? Nettherdid we. | Onasmall four-cylinder But that was ourgoal.Our | engine that means vehicle:the lamedi999 | forced nduction—forus, GivicSiwe customized for | turbocharging. The more the Honda-sponsoredCivie | boost you un. however, the Challenge ("00 Deuce” | tougherthe intemalshave to ‘Aug 2000, page 88). Since | be. We opted to start fresh then ourproject carhad | andtumedto Mc Gaskets been vandalized soitwas | GSport import performance ready for amajor makeover. | ine, wich offers nearly Like the hot rodders ofthe | turkey heavy-duty ensine— "50s and'60s,tuner-car | fully assembled tested ana aficionados ike to squeeze | shpoedtoyour doo Apty ‘maximum performance out | named The Beast. the 20- cof commonplace vehicles. | iter270-hp Gx20 engine is Only these days the focus | fased ona Dart BI8C Honda isoncompact imports. | 18-Iter VIEC powerplant. We The 1989 and 2000 Givies | needed lower-compression are especially popular. version fr turbocharging so Relatively light and easy | our Beast has 9.51 pistons. toworkon, theywere the | Edelbrocksent anew Victor lastinthe line tohavean | intake manifold and throttle easly tunable double- body fue-inection system; ‘wishbone front suspension. | Holley supplied the fuel Nearly every aftermarket | pumpand fuel injectors Import company makes | AEM cam gears and pulleys something forour1999__| were boltedto the block Civic Faced with exhausting | anda gant Fludyme radiator choices, we enlisted the | keeps things cool. We helpoffriendsatSport | installed aWikoollfter and Compact Carmagazine. | ‘Bosch sparkpiugs “They suggested we tum XS Engineering built ‘over the mechanical work | a turbo systemusing a to XS Engineering in custom-designed Garrett Huntington Beach,one | ball-bearing turbo, TAL of California's premier wastegate andblowoff valve, Import-tuning shops. and amassive 24 x11x34in XS Power /C intercooler ‘mounted deep in the front alrdam XS fabricated custom MagnaFlow exhaust system to expel spent fumes, stand-alone computer Ismeeded on these tuner cars to adjust the fuel and alrmaxtute so we chose the Power FC from APEX, And asifall this weren't enough, Holley sent anitrous oxide system (NOS) that ne lock ‘STARTING POINT:Our Vandalized Civic project car.and oad if we need exta pen. \When we plant our foot on the 25, thenttrous oxde I in into the fuel system—px fo our surprise, XS Engineering toldus the stock flve-speed ‘manwal transmission could handle our massive power potential. To hamess the power we used an Exedy pincstiepes, | ‘win-plate clutch, a Quaife limited-sipciferential and abc ‘Sports shifter. To get powerto the ground we chose sticky BF Goodrich 205/402RI7 g-Force TAD tres wrapped around 1x7 Moteg_ Racing Tac Lite \whee's. To stop tal, we bolted ‘on Bremo's Gran Turismo brake et wth a Fotors and matching beefy four-pston calipers Elbact's new Pro-kit coll ‘ove suspension lowered our car for abetter stance and Center of gravity, providing tight handling A Progress Grou sway bar was chosen to cal (ur the understeer and make the Civic more neutral, Conservative with a Versus body kt, a Carbon Creations ccarbon-fiber hood and a subtle APR rear wing. To improve our night vsion \we slipped some Sylvania SilverStar High Performance bulls into our stock headlights To keep our glutes glued tothe Cvi, Sparco sentits popular Monza front seats. An array of Auto Meter Pro- Comp and Ulta-Lite gauges Keeps us in touch with our new powerplant:a Super Quacko steering wheel from OMP keeps Us in canto Project Honda does not run on gas alone hence a Pioneer sound system, “The Ploneer AVIC-NI head Unit has a memory navigation system, DVO/CD/MP3 player, and can even tellus about ‘our vehicle's dynamics by measuring g-force BS.generation of hot rodders reworked affordable family cars from the 50s, Oscar Jackson, a Honda tuning pioneer, has likened the Civic to the’57 Chevy of the hot-rod era Parts were rare, so tuners began importing Japanese domestic market wheels, turbochargers, suspension sys tems and even complete engines that were never offered in stateside models, These early cars were surprisingly quick. Since then, tuner cars have only gotten faster. Stephan Papadakis's Honda Civic drag car can cover a quarter-mile {ness than 7 seconds at over 200 mph. Incredible. ‘The transformation of tuner cars from SoCal subculture tomass-market phenomenon can be traced directly to“The Fast And The Furious.” “When the movie came out,” DeVer rasays, “itbrought a subculture into the mainstream.” SHOWING OFF: The tuner-car scene celebrates the new sport of drifting and flashy ear shows. Illegal street racing was central to the plot of the movie, and since those early days, racing has been all too prevalent in the real-world tuner-car scene as well. Some critics contend that the film added a tankerload of fuel to an already ferocious fire. Last year, traffic-related deaths were up 17 percent in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, a tuner-car hotbed. According to local officials, some of those fatalities were the result of street racing. “Bight people to date this year have lost their lives to drag-racing related accidents,” Los Angeles police chief William Bratton noted in a press conference in October. “Bight people who should be alive today, except {or the mindless foolishness ofthis type of activity.” In response to the problem, Los Angeles mayor Jim Hahn signed @ tough ordinance in 2003 that permits the city to seize and sell vehicles used in street racing “This law makes it clear that the city has no tolerance for illegal street racing and the often tragic results,” Hahn said in a press release. 1% Some tuners have found that, even if you never street race, i's best to fly under the radar. Surrounded by all the bright paint and big wings at Hot Import Nights, Shaun Jacobs's plain white Acura Integra Type-R doesn’t look that fast. The deception is deliberate. “I keep a low profile,” says Jacobs. “That way, the cops don't has- sle me as much. If you drive fast and you've got all that ‘ricer stuff” on your car, you'll get pulled over, even if you're not racing.” Fortunately, these days the most exciting displays of import driving don't take place on crowded streets. Timed road-course track events and import-car drag racing allow participants to go fast and crowds to have fun—legally. ‘The biggest tuner-racing phenomenon is the new ‘motorsport of drifting, a series of long, controlled powerslides through a closed course. The usual setup fea tures a pair of drivers going head-to- head in heats, pitching theircarsside. ways and holding the “drift” as long as they can around turns by braking, shifting and feeding in throttle—all at the same time. When the next cor ner comes they snap the car the othe er way, and a pendulum effect sends them drifting with the tail hanging out. Judges rate drivers on precision, consistency, and style, which includes’ how much the engines howl and the tires smoke. Crash- ing into walls does not earn bonus points, The spectacle holds tens of thousands of fans spellbound. Like import tuning, drift ing traces its origins to Japan, where in the early 90s racers on mountain roads began showing off their skill at skidding through turns. The sport migrated to Hawaii and the West Coast, where it attracted a small ‘group of hardcore enthusiasts. ‘In 2000 Keiichi Tsuchiya, affectionately known as the Drift king, organized Japan’s professional D1 Grand Pri. ‘Three years later, American drifters were able to showease their skills atthe D1 Grand Prix USA held atthe Irwindale Speedway near Los Angeles. The response was so huge thatit led to the creation of last year's four-event Formula Drift circuit, the sport's first stateside pro tour. Drifting has created tremendous excitement, both inside and outside the sport-compact scene. The Wall Street Journal ran a story on the pro circuit; Pontiac entered a new GTO in the tour. Former world GT racing champ Bob Bondurant now offers drifting instruction (ase turn poge 13) BN 2005 | MAU POPULARMEEHANES COM