Very sad news.

It's not that it's unfair. I agree that it would be more fair. It's more an issue that to track miles driven, you have to do one of two things. Either you have to include some sort of GPS into every car, old and new, that tracks and automatically reports miles driven OR have mileage reported at regular intervals…

Agreed. No single metric is perfect. My point is that the incremental improvement in taxing fairness by using a more complicated system (e.g., by tracking miles used) is probably not worth the expense, corruption, etc. of implementing the system.

The vehicle mileage tax idea always bothered me because it seems to solve a problem that doesn't exist - namely, coming up with a way that fairly taxes usage of public roads. The gas tax already does this in a near-perfect way. The more you drive, the more gas you use and the more tax you pay. The heavier your…

The U-2. Obviously, it was a very successful spy plane, but it's intended goal was to fly high enough that it couldn't be detected by Soviet radar. However, it was detected and tracked right away. The Skunkworks tried a bunch of different design changes to reduce its radar signature, but without success. …

That's my point. In the Prius, you probably aren't going to make it out of your neighborhood (much less the interstate) before the engine kicks in to charge the battery and provide some power to the wheels. Compare that to these newer hybrids that can go 20, 30, 40 miles on batteries alone unless you apply full…

Neutral: I support what the CFPB is trying to do in terms of eliminating discrimination, but I could see this going to far. These finance companies are in the business of making money. Roughly speaking, each company makes a calculation of risk of a borrower defaulting, and sets interest rates higher for riskier…

One thing I'm trying to understand about this type of hybrid as opposed to something like a Prius. I've only ridden in a Prius a few times, but my impression is that the engine is turning on early and often. In other words, you aren't driving very far before the engine has to run to charge the batteries. As a…

The title of this article should simply be "one reason why you should never buy a new car" and you can then cut out points 2, 3, and 4. If you decide to buy a new car (and there are plenty of perfectly-valid reasons to do so), financing is not necessarily a bad thing. It's called the time value of money. At some of…

Vehicle automation. Cars have gained significant weight over the last 20-30 years in an effort to save us from ourselves. We have added airbags, side impact protection, etc. to protect us in a collision. We have compromised aerodynamics by raising the hood to provide clearance above the engine in the event we hit a…

In my experience, a lack of a thank you wave is often an indication that the other driver is too preoccupied with other things. Hence, your drive behind that person is going to be miserable. When I lived in Massachusetts, I used to take secondary roads from my house to my office. When traffic was light, the roads…

If I recall, the "like a G6" song is intentionally wrong. The gist of it was that they are so awesome, they are on the non-existent next generation of the perceived best Gulfstream V.

In college, I was a rower. For a trip to a race that was only a few hours away, the school had one of their local "city" type of buses drive us to the race. There were two implications. First, the seating included sideways-facing benches that you don't see on a greyhound or the like. I was sitting on one of these…

It's been a long time since I rode in a heavy duty truck, but remembered the rough ride quality. I recently rode in my brother-in-law's 2012 Ram 350 dually crew cab without a load. I was surprised how comfortable the ride was.

A little off topic, but an article about the fermi paradox a while ago had me thinking about space travel. The basics behind the fermi paradox (if I remember correctly) is that if there should be so many other forms of life (some intelligent) out there, why haven't we heard from them? The article raised the concept…

I wouldn't recline if I didn't have to. For me, the issue is lumbar support. I have a herniated disk in my lower back and the seats offer no support at all. If the flight is only an hour or so, I can live with it. If it's any longer than that, I need to recline a little to relieve some of the pressure on my lower…

Agreed. I always remember anecdotes about these diesel engines lasting forever and just breaking in at 100,000 miles. Maybe that was the case 10 years ago, but now???

I've lived (and driven) in Boston and now live in Greensboro, NC. I will take Boston drivers over North Carolina drivers any day. Boston drivers may be aggressive, but at least they (for the most part) are focused on their aggressive driving. The drivers here in NC can't be bothered to pay attention to what they're…

I know this isn't just an issue for pick up trucks, but I wonder about the effect these horsepower/torque bumps have on engine longevity. Did Cummins beef up the connecting rods, crankshaft, etc. to handle the extra torque? If they did, then the engine is now heavier and a little less efficient. If they didn't,…

I wonder if mounting above the wing (vs. below the wing) could offer a lift improvement. It seems like pylon from the wing to the engine would divert some airflow into the gap between the pylon and the fuselage, further increasing the velocity of airflow over the region of the airfoil in that gap and thereby…