99 ford explorer does not have any means of releasing the gate from the inside, however unlocking the doors unlocks the hatch to be opened from the outside.

I don’t get this either - most hatchbacks/wagons I know of primarily have a lever or button on the hatch itself - not an interior lever like a sedan/coupe would have. At least this is true for Subarus since forever.

there is a button in the hatch to open the trunk, as most hatchbacks i’ve ever owned, it works if the doors are unlocked, no real need for a button inside. I’ll agree with the sound system, it was completely idiotic. One thing he didn’t mention is that it had ipod control but you can only control it with the steering…

Focus hatch had one.

Living in the UK I have owned a LOT of hatchbacks, not one has ever had an internal boot (trunk) release, only ever seen them on saloons and then not all of them over here. Honestly as the owner of an Abarth 500 I was surprised to find the (pointless) boot release button on the keyfob, even when you have "popped" it…

My Jetta SportWagen has a hatch release switch on the door panel, near the door storage pocket.

I second this. Hatches usually don’t have an interior rear door release. That may be for safety reasons. Stuff like kids are far more likely to fall out of an accidentally opened hatch than a trunk.

The one who screams to pull over when you’re running from the cops. That shit takes a lot of concentration, damnit. Don’t interfere

In the 9-3 Aero-X, they changed the “Check OK” message to say “Ready for takeoff.” I loved that so much.

It looks like an enormous toy and I love that.

Note also the little airplane-style reading light to the left of the “fasten seat belt” light. My older 9000 has both of them too.

They did have that “born from jets” ad campaign.

There are other ways. Instead of curbing HP, they could get every car on a real diet. Stop chasing 5-star impact ratings and start chasing MPGs. The NHTSA impact rating system is both arbitrary and self fulfilling. As the number of overachieving cars increase, the standards get higher. All the while increasing vehicle…

I’m going to start buying coyote crate motors and await this glorious shell you speak of.

This is the thing that burns me up. I feel like I’m a reasonably intelligent individual. I have a master’s degree from a top-shelf university, I read a fair bit, and I used to work for a car company. Yet, I don’t have a damned clue how the CAFE numbers come to be. As far as I can tell, they test cars using the same…

1st Gear - Stop with the ridiculous CAFE requirements. If people wanted cars that were appliances on wheels that were nothing but a mode of transportation with really high MPG ratings, they’d buy them. People want more than that. Don’t punish a company because people want to buy their V8 muscle car over the…

Neutral: It will make them more expensive. The EPA by its own, often low ball, estimates is predicting that new cars will cost $3,000 more than an equivalent 2010 model year vehicle.

Probably. Just have to find someone who can source them and work on them. I have people for most makes and models but I have never had a Saab dude. I am a car guy, but I am no tech. I worked on my cars as a youth. Now I would need a SAE cert. I am sure I know some guys who know guys that are friends of guys that are…

makes me miss saab even more.

So basically they are forcing our cars to be electric...