Google's new robot car: Crazy good or crazy crazy?

Google's new robot car: Crazy good or crazy crazy?

There is something charming about engineers who decide they will alter the world. Just because they can.

So Google's announcement that it has already been testing cars that drive themselves should be met by warm feelings in many of one's more imaginative nerve-endings.

As I grasp this vastly ambitious project, Google is intending that these cars, manned as they are by vast arrays of excellent soft- and hardware, will avoid crashes and allow for fuel savings and more cars on the road (as, deductive reasoning goes, there will be no crashes). They will also allow drivers to get drunk to skunk levels, given that no self-respecting Google car would actually let the drivers take the wheel, even when they're sober.

While several parts of me want to emit songs from the works of the finest gospel authors, there are other parts that yield a B-flat of discomfort.

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Honda shows new minivan concept in Chicago

The Odyssey concept presages the 2011 production version coming out in the fall. (Credit: Honda)

Not prone to building outlandish or highly speculative concepts, Honda showed off a very mundane concept version of its upcoming new Odyssey minivan at the Chicago Auto Show. The real thing is coming out this fall, so the concept is fairly close to production trim.

Honda notes that the new Odyssey will be lower and wider than the current version, improving aerodynamics and fuel economy. Some versions of the car will get 19 mpg city and 28 mpg highway, according to Honda. But it sounds like the powerplant options will remain unchanged, as Honda says the current i-VTEC V-6, with cylinder deactivation technology, will still be available.

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