Only been to Road Atlanta once... 2004. Getting towards the last hurrah of the all-conquering Audi R8 FSIs.

The one neat thing that 12 cylinders always had above most other engine designs is utter smoothness. A normal V12 balances out without crank counter weights or balance shafts. Many other engine layouts can’t say that.

Although the W12 is a whole different animal. Meant to package 12 cylinders in a much shorter (but…

As a former Ypsilanti resident... I lol’d.

They will this time! As compelled by the U.S. government...

Pretty much what I tell people when consulted about buying a new, economical car.

Back in 2011, I decided to take a road trip in my 97 Jetta GLX that had a TDI swap. I had only been living in California for just over a year and the annual TDIFest was all the way in Kentucky. But, I had friends who were going to be there I’d wanted to visit, relatives in Tennessee I could visit along with friends…

I tell all who ask me for car buying advice to not buy a diesel if they only do city or stuck-in-perpetual traffic driving. Diesels don’t do well there and they only end up having expensive issues after awhile in that environment.

I have had numerous VW diesels need very little beyond their routine maintenance when…

I was bummed about this for both drivers. Both were deserving of the win. Rossi had on a couple occasions made up significant ground and appeared to be the faster car between the two, Wickens appeared to have things well enough in control, though. I would have been happy if either guy won that hard-fought battle. So,…

You mean the hybrid that won’t really significantly boost your fuel economy but allows you to have all kinds of cool tailgating electric hookups?

hahahah

Well, then let’s the public at large make that decision without any bans if they’re all genuinely meeting emissions.

True that, re: killer diesel myth.

That’s the best part about owning a diesel in the U.S., since its adoption rate has never been that high, whenever there’s a panic for whatever reason where people rush to buy gas, there’s no line for the diesel. AND, your vehicle is so efficient you could likely get away with driving by all the packed fuel stations…

Diesel may indeed see a brief renaissance. Selective-catalytic reduction along with diesel exhaust fluid (aka adblue) is highly effective at converting NOx so long as the dosing rate is correct. The one real challenge is in freezing temperatures, the liquid can freeze easily as it’s only a solution of about 2/3…

I’m sure I could come up with some stories... but the image you posted just has me reminiscing about driving through Wyoming, anticipating getting to Yellowstone. Whole state is at fairly high elevation, the clouds always seem closer to you than what I’m used to in the Mid West and sea level California.

Eh, I fly from California to Detroit in January to attend. Though it’s more out of tradition than anything. And it’s my excuse to not only go to the show, but also catch up with local family and friends from when I lived in Michigan. Plus, it’s a lot cheaper to travel that time of year than the holidays, so for me, I…

Part of me isn’t really surprised that Goodyear had some major issues.

It’s for the generation 1 Touareg... with the V10 TDI (BKW and BWF engine codes). I obtained the repair manual in PDF form direct from VW, erwin.vw.com

Is it bad that I miss this level of engineering “fuck you, because we can” from ze Germans? I mean, VW/Audi were already toning it down once Piech left the building. And in the wake of dieselgate, it’s really toned down.

I kind of want to have my own collection of Piechmobiles. A B5.5 Passat wagon W8 (although my 05…

Lol, right??