This is a tarted-up BMW 7-series, with none of the handling and engine performance offsets to the eye-watering costs of owning an out-of-warranty high-end BMW. This is a container ship on wheels, and I would just feel like a giant douche-bag if I even got within 2 meters of this thing.

The vast majority of vehicle network signals, which are the actual data items that are encoded into messages, are not encrypted. There are several reasons for this, network bandwidth being the largest issue (encryption = network overhead) but also the fact that signal/message mappings are proprietary and it was…

Exactly. That's why I think these are best suited for runways, car shows and quasi-safely horsing around with on the street.

Yeah...nice open road, no traffic - open it up. What else do you do with a 1K HP street car?

This is great for the various standing half-mile and mile events, and on the street...but would be bloody murder on a road course. I think I'm going to pass...

Exactly what I came to say. It's all about the big-ass NA motor, and I like it that way.

I've experienced poor braking, handling and throttle response, but never "too much" power. I love being shoved in the back by raw power. Cars like Hellcats, and bikes such as Hayabusas, aren't the fastest ways around racetracks, but still have a huge "grin factor" on the street.

Why would I, or anyone, want "French cars" back in the US market? Didn't the market already speak to this?

I use both, across multiple platforms, and both have about the same stability issues when used on Windows. They both have memory leaks, they both have Flash-related problems and they both spontaneously halt.

I totally disagree with the "XXX% of the fund for YYY% of the dollars" arguments. I own a '12 Challenger SRT8 and '14 Viper GTS. I was thinking about "rolling my own" Hellcat, until I drove an HC mule, because my idea of fun is feeling like the seat is going to break loose from the floor during acceleration. The SRT8…

Yes, I realize that...and I'm not impressed. I built a dirt bike out of junk (super-long and boring story) when I was 12 and, like I posted earlier, wrenched when I was a kid, so I don't see what the big deal is in something I've been doing since before I had hair on my ass. This isn't open-heart surgery...it's a…

Let's see...

I'm not knocking LS engines here...I watched the video, and its guys stuffing a small-block into a boat. Again...this may seem like a big deal to a "car guy", but this isn't a bid deal in the boating world. Especially if you've had to do driveline work on your own boat, or pay for it.

I know...which is somehow even less interesting. I've been around boats and cars since I was a kid, and I don't see anything particularly difficult about this.

I don't know a lot about this "Roadkill" that you speak of, but "big-blocks" in boats are nothing new. Mercury Marine has blown GM-based BBs up to 700 HP and DOHC engines loosely based on GMs with up to 1650 HP. Even cooler, at least to me, are the Ilmor Viper V10-based engines with up to 725 HP.

If the dog died in a car with an airbag malfunction I sort of understand. It can hurt to lose a beloved animal, though I'm not sure if a functioning airbag would have helped.

I agree over-all with your post, but I know from experience that most "extended test drives" are simply joyrides. I don't know exactly what every OEM's policies are today, but most won't pay for open-ended diagnosis and it doesn't get any more open-ended than driving around in a customer car.

I will typically write "to be driven for diagnostic purposes only" directly on the repair order, and ask the service writer to initial it.

I'm not Steve Lehto, but I put myself through school working at dealers and owned franchise repair shops and I can say with certainty that this is the dealer's responsibility to make right. The actual law, and legal precedents, vary from state-to-state, but the dealer assumes the burden of care for the car the minute…

In addition to the thorough test drive and the mechanical inspection, there's another thing you should consider: how long you plan to own the car. If you're going to keep it for years, a manufacturer buyback is absolutely a brilliant choice for most car shoppers, since you can take advantage of even more depreciation…