This rests on an Audi platform right? Which means it’s basically a lifted Passat. Wow, in terms of R&D and manufacturing costs vs MSRP these small luxury SUVs must be the most profitable things ever made. Take the Range Rover Evoque for example, it’s built on the Ford Mondeo platform which is comparable to the Ford…

Interesting... Looks like the designers took a number of cues from the real life helmet for the F-35.

Downtime and vacations are a dirty word in corporate America and despite how busy we are, we still aren’t the most productive workers in the world.

- Margaret Atwood

A lot of people who are not working in the military industrial complex don’t like the situation either, but if you want a realpolitik answer as to “why?”: Paying for our partners and allies security gives us a lot of leverage in terms of international relations.

Yeah, I don’t know where this trend of needing to sound insulate the hell out of non-luxury cars. It it for millennials who grew up in the back of BMWs and Mercedes who now refuse to buy a Mustang if it doesn’t have Bentley sound insulation?

I think what red014 means is that it’s just another useless gimmick that companies like Toyota put on cars so that they can add $2,000 for a “Sport” trim. You can downshift your auto just fine by putting the shifter on the floor in the 2 or 3 position.

Fortunately this trend is finally starting to go the other way, see ND Miata vs NC Miata.

Volkswagen Beetle v. MOM HE HIT MEEEE!!!

I thought of that 3rd combination too when writing my first comment. I think the key thing there is “acceleration”. If you have your foot on the clutch and the throttle then you may still be moving, but you are no longer building up speed and momentum making your already panicked situation even worse. So in a…

I don’t mean to sound like yet another manual transmission fanboy, but there just isn’t a panic state with a manual that can result in unintended acceleration. With a manual when you perform a panic stop you stomp your two feet down on two pedals, the brake and the clutch. This will result in you stopping your car…

Oh, I thought you were using the modern informal definition of ‘protectorate’ and not the official international law definition. Because the US started its empire building (now called sphere of influence) late in the game we have been hesitant to make the nations that we have a lot of influence in official…

Yeah, I think now we are pushing Egypt to become a “we give you military aid, do what we say” type ally in the guise of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. This arrangement has it’s own huge problems because these countries our only our allies when it is convenient for them.

I think a lot of ships are already registered in US/NATO protectorates for precisely that reason.

Here we definitely both agree! Maybe one way to fix this is to have the companies that own/operate the ships pay a security fee to the United Nations, then the United Nations adds that fee into the pool of money used to finance a coalition of Navies with interests in the region to provide transit security in that…

But it’s in our national interest to enable our world partners and allies unrestricted access to trade, especially in Southeast Asia, where we are competing for influence with China (The Straits Of Hormuz connects Southeast Asia to Europe).

So? The marshall plan was not guaranteed to directly help the US Taxpayer. Do you think we should have left Europe a burning husk? Thats the whole point of aid, economic or otherwise in the realm of international relations, to further US interests via less direct means.

Well... One way to think about it is that unrestricted trade aids our economy, that then aids you with cheaper products to buy. My counter argument also has inherent problems, but this is the main argument the US has been using to keep a large Navy sense the USSR collapsed.

VW in Europe has a good lineup, though the Mazda lineup should qualify for being the best when the ND Miata and an AWD Mazdaspeed3 get into showrooms. Also not bringing over their Skyactiv diesel to the US hurts their standing.

Yeah, I don’t really understand why Mitsubishi is letting their lineup die of old age. Come on! If Mazda can products one of the best lineups on the market on a shoestring budget you would think the huge conglomerate of Mitsubishi would be able produce a better car.