This is happening because they want to sell tires in large wheel sizes and greater margins as they will face less competition. It was hard for them to form a compelling argument for larger wheel sizes when almost all of motorsport use relatively small wheels. The advent of carbon/ceramic brake disks allows designers…

A well thought out and cogent argument. I argue that if the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel were $8.00/gallon of which $2.00/gallon went to the highway fund many of environmental options you favor would be welcomed by a public with a new found interest in efficiency. I live in Texas where literally hundreds of…

If this is but another Takata (Japanese manufacturer of airbags) failure like we have seen from Toyota, Mazda, Honda and BMW then I think the Cruze should be given a pass. Takata admits of egregious errors in the manufacture of the airbags compounded by poor record keeping which is forcing many car makers into…

Everybody understands that it is football and men's basketball that pays for the rest of the sports at elite schools within a conference. More than likely they are also the schools with big sold out stadiums and arenas. More than likely the bottom half of the same conference has smaller venues that are rarely sold…

If you could get PSA and Renault to bury the hatchet and jointly market their cars in NA they might have something. At any one time it doesn't seem that their individual lines are compelling but if you could cherry pick between them you would have a strong line up. Getting them to cooperate would be nearly…

I'm going for the German transmission conspiracy theory.

I'm going for the German transmission conspiracy theory.

The flat rate is based on an "average" mechanic using hand and factory tools. The fact is that power tools are often used for disassembly (and assembly if no one is looking) which shortens the actual time considerable. Also often there are special tools developed which greatly reduce the time.

Assume that the tax incentives are equal. California loses on high personal taxes, high cost of living and high cost of doing business. Cali may give incentives to Tesla but what about the hundreds of supporting businesses? The last issue is the effect of eliminating the automotive franchise requirement. …

I didn't think the 737 was on the list of twin engine craft that were certified for transatlantic service? Ok for re-positioning but not for scheduled passenger service. Something about certified engine reliability and range with one engine. Florida / Texas flights don't always go in the straightest line because of…

Sure, Disney World has had a monorail from the day it opened. It really didn't have a choice to exclude this iconic form of transportation. Since it opened Disney World has expanded many times over. What has been the choice of transportation to accommodate this growth? Monorail? Nope, it is pretty much like it…

You can still get a Cayenne 6M. My wife has a 2011 version. Fun to watch valets.

Second thought: I notice he has detailed records of how fast the car was going and where. I bet there is no data on who was driving anywhere or at any time. The cops will have to come up with photo data to charge a driver. It looks like much of the driving was done at night or away from overhead cameras. They…

Something needs to be said about the 9 year old 100K+ miles CL55. To average 98mph they had to have a lot of 125 to 155mph stretches. Moreover the drivers were having to push the car all of the time. I think the comparison of the typical US highway with the autobahn is laughable. The autobahn is designed for…

Wheel slippage is when the torque available is in excess of the restraint available from the size of the tire contact, the coefficient of friction and the amount of weight applied to the tire. Before they used hub sensors to sense when one wheel was spinning faster than the others followed by reduction in power…

...and there a cars a lot cheaper than Porsches so what's your point?

Not only a great fob but a great approach. The Porsche has a receptacle for the fob that you turn like a key plus it keeps it in a consistent place. No fob? No problem next to the fob dock is a hidden (looks like a TosLink jack) real ignition switch with an immobilizer function. This allows you to have slightly…

For many cars much of the work has been done for cars sold in Europe. They also have the volume to cover the expense. I expect the cost to do US calibration doesn't add much especially when performed in conjunction with Euro calibrations. Also the software used to develop the calibrations has become much more…

Where were you? Just got back from Japan and rarely if ever was a street sign in Japanese and English and I'm talking about Tokyo, smaller cities were often much worse. The big signs were obviously in Japanese but the English version often started a "Where's Waldo" as these signs were most often mounted on the sides…

"Here are ten items our readers think will also go in the next decade". Thank God you only asked 10 morons. Two of the items, OBD2 and mechanical throttle linkages have a good chance of being obsolete in the next 10 years because they deliver value and cost less. Most of the remaining items cost more and deliver…