Earnings reports from car makers seemed to suggest SUV sales were down last spring, and with gas prices near $3 per gallon in some parts of the country still, nobody should be surprised that Yahoo! is saying interest in SUVs is down — way down — now:

If the Buzz is any indication, then yes. Searches on “hybrids” outrank “SUVs” by a tremendous margin, and it’s the same story with individual models. By far the most popular hybrid is the Prius (not to be confused with “pious,” which is how many owners feel, and can lead to blathering about saving the planet). Interest in Toyota’s gas-miser is more than double that of Search’s most popular SUV, the Hummer H3. Also, the Prius garners nearly 10 times the searches as Toyota’s SUV, the 4Runner. Indeed, it appears the bell is tolling for the 15 mpg club.

Options: SMART and Japanoid K-Cars.

tags: 4runner, buzz, car makers, declining suv sales, earnings reports, gas prices, hummer, hummer h3, hybrid, hybrid car, hybrid cars, hybrids, japanoid k-car, japanoid k-cars, prius, SMART, smart car, suv sales, suv sales decline, suvs, toyota, yahoo buzz, yahoo buzz index

Yup, it’s up on eBay now (closing in a day or so) with the following description:

Everybody needs one of these, cleaning out the garage, this little car is so much fun, it is thrust powered by 2 GE t-58 turbines, has 4 fuel tanks, power steering, power brakes, fire detection, fire suppression, roll over protection, self starting and quick. I have taken this car to the salt flats twice, the first time it wanted to fly @ 140 mph, but after adding the spoilers and air dam it stayed solid thru 187 mph with a lot more room to go.

The seller added the following details separately:

[...]the car runs on Jet A fuel, probably will run on diesel fuel but have not tried it, I think its street legal except for this little excessive noise issue, the car is thrust only, it has no reverse, tires are rated @ prox 170 mph, heavy duty brakes and slotted discs includes an intercom and mike and ear peice for your helmet, includes a drag chute but have never needed it air intakes are on the sides and top of the engine cover, no compressor stall thru 145 mph, for fast and salt flats running a modified engine cover is put on it to take the air off the top of the roof to supply more air and keep salt out of turbines, engines are GE T58-3s with logs, a short video is available[...] based upon some of the questions I have had asked, be prepared to sign a long liability waiver.

Thanks to Engadget for the link.

tags: 187 mph, ebay, ebay motors, ge t-58, jet a, jet fuel, jet turbine, liability waiver, mph, t58-3, thrust, toyota, toyota mr2, turbine, twin turbine

Engadget echoed a story from AutoBlog (duh, I just noticed that they’re both from Weblogs Inc.) about an iPod integration kit that works with most all 1998-or-newer cars: iPod2car.

First, it gives a clean line-in to the stero from the iPod, then it gives next and previous track as well as rewind and fastforward control on the stereo. Sure, you can buy a 2005 BMW and get the same deal as an option, but this is cheaper.

Most importantly, it’s compatible with both my Scion xB and Sandee’s Honda Civic. The FAQ answers some questions, and links to the installation manual.

The manual also helps answer some basic questions about the xB stereo. For instance, all Toyota (1998 – 2005), Scion (2003-2005), and Isuzu (1998 – 2003) factory stereos apparently have the same connections. But, Toyotas require a cable adapter that’s only available from the dealer (part #08695-00370). With this in mind, I can probably get a cheaper audio-only input adapter. I went looking for such a solution before, but details about the Scion radio are scarce.

Also in iPod2car FAQs is a link to carstereohelp.com’s stereo removal guides. And, back at Autoblog, they’ve got an entire section devoted to the xB.

Then, for home-use, I can’t help but like the Bose SoundDock.

Related iPod stories at MaisonBisson:
Integration: In Car iPod, In Car iPod Take 2, iPod Integration Kits Proliferate For Home And Car, Saab, and PIE iPod Input Adapter.
Hacks, laughs, and background: iPod Hacks, iPod Giggles, What Does Proprietary Mean Anyway?

Technorati Tags: adapter, bose, civic, engadget, honda, honda civic, icruze, integration, ipod, ipod2car, scion, scion xb, toyota