The analysis I read was that the pilots in the Max crashes were physically unable to move the manual trim control because of the forces being exerted on it (likewise the main control surfaces). Essentially, once the MCAS went haywire, the only recovery was to disable it, but because there was no MAX type certification…

Yeah, most Pontiacs shared the majority of their parts with other GM vehicles (or in the case of cars like the Vibe and G8, were just rebadges of other makes). Nobody was worried that their Pontiac was going to become bricked. But when you are dealing with a bankrupt company’s proprietary software, there’s not much…

The point of the Max-8 story was that we already depend on the computer not screwing up. They are already implemented in such a way that they can crash the plane all by themselves even if there are competent pilots in charge.

Well, that’s just it. Some of the highest profile crashes of the last two decades were pilots who wanted to commit suicide along with everyone onboard. Besides the Germanwings crash, the MH370 crash was also likely pilot suicide.

You already do trust your life to a computer when you get on a plane- you just don’t realize it. It doesn’t take full automation for a hack to bring down a plane. Just look at what happened the 737-Max. Software issues were a key driver to those crashes despite having pilots at the controls. 

This is a baby step towards what will eventually become the reality of fully autonomous aircraft. Aircraft are actually a lot easier to automate than cars. And in fact, modern commercial airliners do basically fly themselves. The pilots are mostly there to plan, communicate, and respond to unusual situations. Perhaps…

The pilots may be pissed, but at least they have a toilet to piss in without leaving the cockpit. 

Perhaps not a horror story, but I found the autobahn extremely disappointing. I wasn’t expecting a race track (I went to the Nurburgring for that) and have enough track experience that the lack of speed limits wasn’t that exciting in and of itself. But I was expecting a fast/efficient driving experience where I could…

Right, the charging network is still key. But we are just talking about the specs for the vehicle itself here. 

Not sure how I feel about the exterior design, but the pricing and specs look to be spot-on.

Yeah, biggest problem for an average Joe is that you cannot just putter around in an F1 car. Even the safety car is a high performance sports car being driven close to flat-out by someone with considerable racing experience. That speed is basically the minimum speed for an F1 car (and even then drivers have problems…

I doubt they’ve sold more than a small handful of any these cars in the U.S. Just about all of them are going to be leased. I can sort of squint and see the value proposition of a $500/month lease for a 3-row crossover. Even if it’s crap, that’s about the cheapest 3-row crossover monthly you are going to get and you…

I like this car in theory, but the pricing of 911s has gotten out of control. Throw in a few options and you are knocking on GT4RS land. Or, save a few bucks and get a 4.0 Cayman GTS, which is cheaper, lighter, and faster with a glorious NA engine. If you need back seats, you’ll have plenty left over for a sensible…

Given the age of the hardware Russia is using in Ukraine, they are probably still using these in combat operations. I could see parts getting hard to come by as more and more get blown up. 

On the upside, with our new HHS Secretary we will all be eating our roadkill instead of having to bury it in Central Park.

He was just exercising his second amendment right to bear arms. 

The biggest problem with a used Taycan is simply that the new Taycan is so much better. I do recall they had software issues early on, but I don’t think there’s any huge issues lurking. I’d rather own one of these out of warranty than a Macan.

There’s no legal requirement there be any security for a loan at all. That’s what credit cards and other unsecured loans are. Rolling in negative equity is basically introducing a portion of the loan that is unsecured to the creditor.

Either the interest rate, principal, or payment is off then. I don’t see any indication that they are adding $100k of “FU” charges, but maybe they are. If they are, that would have to be on the truth in lending disclosure and the effective APR would be way higher than 10.85%. 

Your math seems off. The principal is the amount you borrow- there is no indication that they are forcing you to borrow or pay more than the car costs. The high cost of this loan is in the interest, which compounds quite a bit at 10% over two decades.