I remember my first driving lesson. My instructor drove us to a quiet (but not deserted!) street. Put me in the driving seat, explained the basics and then told me to start driving.

I’m a brit, so I’ve always driven a manual, so I dislike driving autos for the exact reason you describe. I keep trying to hit the (non-existant) clutch, and hitting the brake instead.

I’ve just bought a VW Polo (about the same size as the Fiesta), because for me that was the practical choice. Works fine as a five-seater for me, although it’s a little bit cramped for three adults in the back.

So, I was driving back from (I think) visiting my folks one evening, and for whatever reason the motorway was closed, so I had to take a diversion, so I ended up coming back into town from an odd direction at about midnight on a wednesday.

To turn Co2 into jet fuel is going to take at least as much energy as you could get from burning that jet fuel, so there’s not much point in putting it on the plane, unless you have some other source of energy.

On all the car’s I’ve owned, you could adjust the nozzle to change where it sprays. I’d always assumed this was standard on all cars, but I’ve only owned VWs and one Peugeot.

If you get Motor Trend you should check out Steve Magnante on Junkyard Gold. He just wanders around junkyards, getting really excited about interesting details on rusty hulks.

You described every major American corporation. Hell, most of American business for that matter.

Small cars are fun aren’t they? It’s that old adage about actually being able to use all of the engine’s power all (or at least some) of the time.

I’ve just got a Polo with a 1.6l, and although I’ve not actually measured the fuel economy yet, I can already tell it’s not exactly great. Like, 300 miles on a tank not great.

And his dad was NASA astronaut Owen Garriot:

I mean, she looks pretty happy in there:

I got pulled over once because my brake lights were stuck on. I pulled over into a service station, and the cops said basically that if I fixed it, I could keep going, and he wouldn’t have do any paper work and everyone would be happy.

Homologation rules make all racing better, because it means the race cars are more interesting, and the rest of us get to lust after homologation specials (even if we can’t afford them).

As far as I can work out, on UK roads it would need indicators etc. and would probably need some kind of wheel coverings (although you probably wouldn’t get stopped).

It looks like it might actually be a mostly-functional exhaust, with four pipes connecting to the engine, and four dummy ones.

Leave it to NASA to spend $20B on a rocket that they 1) Already had the Engines for 2) Already had the Boosters for and then take a decade to get it to fly.

In the UK there’s a “cycle to work” scheme that can help you buy a bike without having to pay the VAT. I guess that’s a bit too much like socialism for the US though.

It’s been good to see The Cavalry is kicking arse and taking names :)

Easy, it’s TeleVision Adaptation. ;)