The bundle will set you back $200, which is a saving of $50 over buying them separately. Although the idea of adding yet another plastic gaming controller to your home may not interest you, knowing that Forza 3 includes V8 Supercars for the first time may persuade some of you to rearrange your peripheral closet to make that extra space. Also, it may not. You can preorder now from selected retailers, if you’re interested.

[Xbox]

As a child, learning to ride a bike vexed me to no end. While my friends zipped around the neighbourhood on two wheels, I plodded along on four, thanks to an embarrassing set of “training wheels”. Good news: They’re doomed.

And it’s all thanks to this ingenious gyro-equipped bike wheel. Like the Seqway before it, the Gyrowheel uses, well, a gyro, to maintain balance long enough so that a child can comfortably get the feel for bike riding — without those tiny little wheels messing with their self-esteem.

As you can see in the video, even with a few slaps on the side the wheel remains upright. I too was skeptical at first, but when the video depicted a bike “ghost riding” across the exhibit floor, I was sold and my childhood was immediately envious.

The 12-inch Gyrowheel will drop on December 1, while a 16-inch version should arrive by mid 2010. [Gyrowheel via OhGizmo]

Tonka got in a tussle with a local dog, who bit off one of her legs. Unable to walk around properly, rescuers had the idea to strap the wheels from a Tonka truck to her underside, turning her into the fastest tortoise around.

Local resident John O’Dea, 35, has now adopted Tonka and said she loved nothing better than roaming in the vegetable patch and going for ‘walks’.

Surfer John said: ‘She is doing really well and loves roaming around the vegetable garden on her shiny new wheels.

‘She has a particular fondness for tomatoes.

‘I take her for ‘walks’ regularly around my neighbourhood, I think she likes the speed but I do get a few funny looks.

Man, that hare doesn’t stand a chance now. [Daily Mail via Neatorama]

Yanko says the Dynamic Augmented Wheel System are guided by a magnetic guide rail on the inside that hold’s the wheel in place while driving straight, and moves to let it shift with the car’s centre of gravity while turning. The current design is inspired by motorcycle wheels and the human foot, making uses of servos, a drive gear and embedded magnets in each segment to pull this feat off.

Currently, the prototype wheel works on a 1:2 scale, but no word on actual implementation plans. [DAWs via Yanko]

Isn’t that what the first cave man envisioned when he “invented” the wheel? Yes, I believe it is.

Hit stores in March ‘09. [Menu.as via Trendsnow via Dvice]

Just as vague questions of cosmology and consciousness make up just about every other cover of New Scientist today, fantastical futurist gadgets were at one point the safe default for the covers of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics. Like lots of the other cover staples, the monowheel has to some degree come to pass, but hardly to the extent that you might have been led to believe it might in 1917. Or 1923. Or 1938. You get the idea. [RoadsideResort]

On display at various stages of prototype since 2004, the C6W is just now going into official production. More than a mere novelty or an expensive automobile recouping from a horrible toxic waste accident, the C6W’s 6-wheel design promises a number of benefits, including all around better traction and improved absorption of frontal impacts.

The 433bhp C6W will be racing around at 185 MPH when the first models roll off the line in late 2009. [Jalopnik]

The wheels, while still in development over at Michelin, already have a vehicle ready to receive them. Called the Heuliez Will, this tiny tot from Opel doesn’t look like much, but it has it where it counts, and might produce an offspring that, in in a galaxy far, far away, makes the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. Or requires no gasoline to run. Probably the latter.

Even more impressive is the notion that in-wheel motors would free up space in the front or rear of the vehicle. This model also eliminates the need for other notorious space hogs like transmissions and exhaust systems. More room means more freedom for tomorrow’s automobile designers, and cooler cars for we consumers. (*fingers crossed* anyway).

The target price for the Opel right now is about $US24,000-37,000, which puts it in line with the upcoming so-called savior of Detroit, the Chevy Volt. Testing on the Opel has already begun, with an official consumer roll out expected by 2011. Active Wheels are also expected to come standard on the Venturi Volage sometime in 2012. [Michelin via Treehugger]