The timing of this article is perfect, in that I drove one of these last weekend to answer this very question for myself. I’m a glutton for punishment, but even I don’t want to daily-drive a 4C. I agree with almost of all of your observations, which aren’t as tongue-in-cheek as most people would suspect...

This is precisely why I don’t like hoods/bonnets that open front-up. I think that it’s simple enough to package the hinges forward, instead of at the cowl.

I could tell dozens of stories, but one of my favorites is about a 1998 LH pilot car (specifically a near-saleable Intrepid) that Bramalee/Brampton loaned to a certain individual in Manufacturing that refused to return it to the plant. Originally assigned as an end-of-line test system prove-out subject, this car…

Sound advice, but I would still prefer the DCT...

who the fuck would buy an EVO MR with an auto

Just to be clear...there are a lot of us that think that DCTs enhance the driving experience, not detract from it. I like manuals, but prefer DCTs for the same reason that I don’t want the steering column-mounted spark advance lever that used to be on most cars - there are modern alternatives.

I actually would! The trolling potential is over 9000...

Life is indeed too short to make car purchases based on what other people think. This is why I get annoyed by “you’re not a real enthusiast if you XXXXX” kind of posts...

Best news in ages. I know that the teams acted for their own reasons, most likely financial in nature, but I still applaud them for forcing Bernie and Jean to back-down...

There’s nothing wrong with people not wanting to buy cars based on transmissions. Anyone can see that you’re passionate about these, but this position is really hard to defend.

My *wife* will not accept an automatic equipped car, and neither should anyone else who gives fuck one about actually driving.

I was involved with ECOcar II, and this program is a superb training ground for the next generation of auto industry personnel - and not just engineers. ECOcar team members come from a variety of disciplines, including marketing, program management and quality management. ECOcar participants are often recruited by the…

Go to a BMW dealer and, if you haven’t ridden a bike with a ‘race’ shifting system, secure a test-ride on a bike so equipped. Banging out near-instant up-shifts and down-shifts is a lot of fun, and DSC will simply bring this to a higher level of performance. I think that it would be easy (speaking as an automotive…

Entry-level detectors, and older detectors of any provenance, will indeed produce frequent false alerts in today’s RF environment. Premium detectors, including the Escort MAX360 and late-model Valentine V-1s, are selective enough to rarely false and sensitive enough to detect scatter from other vehicles.

This is a great article and, while I think that many are going to blame the DOT for this, much of the blame sits with the manufacturers. Many cars equipped with filament bulbs use voltage regulation (typically pulse-width modulation of the battery feed) to extend bulb life and manage current consumption, and this…

Read the linked article; there is still a fair bit of the original car there and the owner wanted to start with an actual street car.

The GT-R has, in my opinion, always been a “driver” and enhancing its road manners is probably a good move. The can always offer a NISMO with even greater differentiation if the market demands one...

Using audio analysis to measure engine RPM is a mature technology:

I love your reviews, and this is probably one of the best. Kudos...

I do transmissions for a living, and I think that there are two classes of answers: results and market acceptance. I have no issue adding gears until a point of diminishing returns is reached; weight, cost, packaging and performance with ultimately cap the number of discrete gears on transmissions based on today’s…