Somewhere in Texas, a tuning company is specialized in turning the output knob all the way to eleven. Other than that, Hennessey Performance Engineering also knows how to make the Lotus Elise go fast.

Hether Fedullo is a Ford noise, vibration and harshness engineer, a shifter-kart driver and a beer snob. "I do appreciate a good beer,” she says, “like people appreciate wine.” She loves a good wheat ...