I disagree. Messi has let down his team as much as they’ve let him down. I think he’s one of the best ever, but needs a team built specifically around him and that’s a problem. When things get tough he’s not a motivating presence. If anything, I’d even argue he’s a detriment to team morale.

Regarding Portugal, that doesn’t seem to be the consensus from what I’ve read. People are always negative about Portugal’s quality and, to be honest, while they’ve managed okay so far they haven’t looked terribly convincing.

Yeah, I agree. Do it for a special goal because this is just obnoxious. I’d rather listen to bad American commentary than have to suffer that guy put his mark on every single damn goal.

Whenever this topic comes up I’m reminded that American companies have a penchant for using annoying sounds for alerts. The commuter rail in my area uses hyperactive chirps for closing doors. Crosswalks equipped for the vision-impaired use the most obnoxious buzzers in the world. This is in stark contrast to Asia…

This seems like a never-ending problem for GM and American automakers in general. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing because it’s lost in corporate bureaucracy.

Square headlights triggers so much nostalgia for me and I think it suits the design better than the round ones. I look forward to the day when 90 degree angles come back into style.

I figured it was part of the exhaust, but it’s good to finally know for sure.

I feel like Europeans almost always do a better job of liveries than Americans. Here it’s either racing stripes or overly literal recreations of the source material. The shapes and contours of the car are rarely taken into account. It’s not that the US doesn’t have great designers and illustrators, but for whatever…

It must be a regional thing, because sometimes it feels like Nissans outnumber every other automaker by a good margin. And they’re relatively new models too, although I am seeing significantly more new Rogues than almost anything else from Nissan’s lineup.

Lego is always the answer.

That’s true, if you live in big cities, but then you could argue the same about large American cities.

That’s because construction in the United States is far more expensive than anywhere else in the world. Then you’ve got communities that fear any potential impact on quality of life and property values. Adding to the pile are inept state governments that are incapable of taking decisive action and instead waste money…

Incredible video, but ignoring the fantastic soundtrack, the pace at which those cars get around the track reminds me of Formula E.

I can’t help but think this is just some wealthy guys trying to find justification for their toys. Maybe they’ll get a nice tax deduction out of it. Which is fine I guess.

I’ve always been ambivalent to the Jeep. It’s a cool, honest vehicle that offers the kind of accessibility and serviceability most cars should have. At the same time, aspects of Jeep culture remind me of Harley Davidson. Too many owners come off like they’re over-compensating. They’re either going for tacticool or…

That one time you actually used all the space your SUV offered is not a particularly good justification for owning one. You could always rent a van if you really needed the cargo capacity.

It depends on the day of the week:

It’s a labor intensive process that requires precisely machining steel molds. There are a bunch of factors that go into injection molding that make it complicated. Also, while molds do wear out they generally can be used for quite a long time so that probably factors into the cost as well.

No one is complaining because even if some aesthetic decisions are questionable, the quality of the work is undeniable. This isn’t like the half-assed tuner garbage we’re much more likely to see here in the states.

The problem is that none of that has been solved. Or, more accurately, the Germans keep finding new ways of creating problems for themselves. It isn’t just the complexity but the incessant and frequent redesigns of every major component. Buy a new generation early in it’s life cycle, and it’s a near certainty you’ll …