Better known for their two-for-one sales and mechanical issues, I was surprised to hear about the crash safety rating awarded to the Kia Optima in the most recent round of tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Optima scored better than its competitors, namely, the Chevrolet Malibu, Dodge Avenger, Infiniti G35, Mitsubishi Galant, Nissan Altima, and Saturn Aura in all but the side impact evaluation. Here, the Optima's score was greatly improved from previous iterations. In the most-frequent-to-occur accident, the rear crash, the Kia was the only one the achieve the highest rating of "good". These results aren't spread out evenly amongst the entire Kia line-up, however, as the Sedona minivan seems far superior to the Sportage not-so-cute "mini-ute".

Now, I know what you're thinking, "But what about the H3 Hummer? That thing's built like an Kia-crushing tank." It turns out the H3 makes a lousy Kia crusher. It received a poor rating for rear crashes and only acceptable for front and side impacts. If a crushed tibia is acceptable. Talk about adding injury to 13 miles per gallon of insult.

I would suggest spending some quality time at the Institute's website before making a decision on any vehicular purchase. Hit the jump if you are interested in seeing the mid-sized sedans meeting their demise and you can check out all the details from the press release.

Three months and $3,000 is what it took Instructable's poster Stryker (aka Ben) to build this great electric motorcycle. Unhappy with rising gas prices and ready to learn, Ben took a 1984 Honda Interceptor 700, gutted the gasoline components and added a 72V Advanced DC motor and 6 Yellow Top Optima batteries. He's explained the process here and here.

If a company offered this bike for sale, it wouldn't sell in great numbers. The 70 mph top speed is fine but it can only go 10-15 miles on a charge. Considering that Stryker lives just three miles from work, though, that "limit" is nonexistent for what he wants the bike to do. Of course, three miles is well within bicycle distance for some people, but the fun of creating a zero-emission motorcycle should not be dismissed. Don't believe me? Stryker is selling this bike so that he can build another.

[Source: Instructables via The Kneeslider]