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Alton Brown and Mythbusters Cook With a Car Engine

Life can be a busy rush sometimes. Wouldn't it be nice to combine two activities, like cooking a meal while you drive?

According to the Mythbusters, it's possible.

In this episode, Jamie and Adam enlist the help of geek-chef Alton Brown to supplement their engineering know-how with a culinary flair.

First, the team finds an older used car with extra room under the hood. Alton creates a meal that fits inside special containers Adam and Jamie design. They test out heat output in various parts of the engine, and Alton carefully places his creations for the correct temperature…

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Winterize Your Car With Eric the Car Guy

Nobody knows winter like us Vermonters. Yet sometimes before the season starts, we may be at a loss for how to adequately prepare our cars.

Eric the Car Guy runs a YouTube channel filled with helpful repair videos from a professional mechanic. Here are some tips he has for winterizing your car that we found useful.

First, inspect your tires. You've likely already put on your snows or all seasons. If not-- hurry up! The snow has been holding off so far, but this lull won't last long.

Check your tread depth and make sure it is at…

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4 Ways to Save Gas Money This Holiday Season

There's a good chance you're heading home for the holidays, or have family coming to visit you in Burlington. No matter which of the plethora of festivities you'll be celebrating, a lot of traveling is in your future.

Give yourself the gift of gas money in your pocket by making your drive as efficient as possible.

  1. Reduce wind resistance. By reducing your drag coefficient by 0.01, you'll make a 0.2mpg gain in fuel economy, so take off those antenna toppers, and any unused roof-racks. Truck drivers, keep your tailgates up or beds covered.
  2. Reduce…
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Tailgate Up, or Tailgate Down?

Vermonters are an interesting bunch. We love trucks, because many of us are farmers. We have wood to haul for our stoves, kids to move to college, and muddy class 4 roads to traverse.

We need trucks.

But we also care about the environment, and not wasting fuel. So how do we maximize fuel economy on the highway in a pre-owned pickup?

Some have suggested putting the tailgate down makes a truck more streamlined at highway speeds, but it turns out this is simply not the case.

To maximize fuel economy in your truck, be sure to always keep the…

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Are You Addicted to Driving Fast?

Do you get a thrill from speeding down 89? Do you love passing people, and hearing your engine hum, and feeling the wind in your hair as you push the limits in your car?

There's a scientific reason for that.

Just like riding roller coasters is fun, many people get an adrenaline rush from driving fast cars. This spike in blood pressure, and activation of your fight-or-flight response can be a natural high, which some people can actually become addicted to.

How likely you are to become addicted to the thrill of speedy driving has to do with genetics…

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Why Do You Want Front-Wheel Drive?

In Vermont, most of our vehicles are front-wheel drive (FWD). Our Toyota models are almost exclusively FWD or all-wheel drive (AWD), for instance.

AWD provides its own set of benefits, by powering all four wheels for enhanced traction. However, when it comes to just those two wheels, what goes in to choosing which two?

Rear-wheel drive vehicles are sportier. They have a better front-to-rear weight balance, which makes them better at cornering. When you corner too hard, the rear end tends to slide in "oversteer." While oversteer is terrifying if you're a novice, to the true driving

 

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Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye Discuss Flying Cars

It's the future, 2015-- we should have flying cars by now. Well, we do. They're called "helicopters."

Some companies have created small vehicles that can drive on a road like a car, and can extend wings or helicopter blades to fly, but that's still not exactly what you had in mind. You're thinking of The Fifth Element style cars that hover weightlessly in the air in lanes of skyward traffic.

Engineer Bill Nye the Science Guy and Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explain why that might be a pipe dream.

To get something as heavy as a…

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Fuel Efficiency Quiz: Windows Down, or AC On?

Don't turn on the AC if you can help it-- it's like losing an entire cylinder from your engine! That's what many people claim, anyway. And so, for years, the eco-conscious driver have rolled down their windows on hot days, forsaking the air conditioner.

But is that really better? What about the effects of wind drag? If you're driving at any speed, having your windows open makes your car an open parachute, ruining your aerodynamics.

Which is really better?

The Mythbusters conducted a test comparing vehicles at 45mph, each with precisely 5 gallons in the tank…

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