I daily drove an Insight with a manual for years. It worked great. But maybe I don’t understand what you’re asking. There’s a big motor on the engine flywheel. It offers assist to the anemic engine when you step on it and goes into generator mode when you close the throttle.

I didn’t mean to imply that this event should be no big deal for those employees. The change from employed to unemployed will always be stressful and difficult. I only mean that these employees were well aware of their lesser job security from the day they started and had higher pay because of it. Hopefully they used…

I truly don’t mean to sound crass, but isn’t this the entire point of hiring them as contract workers in the first place? When someone is hired on as a contract worker, aren’t they effectively being told “We need and will pay for your help right now. We know that need may disappear at some point in the future, so we…

I’ve done 2 saddle-sore 1000s. (This is what the Iron Butt Association actually calls the 1000 mile day.) They are not fun, and they are definitely a lousy way to spend a day riding. What they are though, is a way to cover major ground over this VAST country in a short amount of time. This lets you reach destinations…

Honda, you NEED this guy on the payroll.

Aside from the obvious, that this has more to do with the washing practices than it does the towel selection, this is why I have dedicated drying microfiber towels. They never serve any other purpose, so they never get very dirty.

Why would one buy this over the Corolla? It gets just as much praise for its driving characteristics, it’s got at least as good a reputation for reliability, it’s cheaper, and it’s VASTLY better looking.

Why?

Then you could roll coal while sitting still at a stoplight and sit in your OWN cloud of partially burned hydrocarbons!

Yes, it’s true. The trucks are too damn big.

I don’t think we disagree at all about the value of self driving cars. Should they eventually become available, they’ll be tremendously beneficial. I was only saying that autopilot is not that useful, precisely because it is NOT a self driving system. It is a slightly more advanced cruise control, just like it is on…

Are you arguing that autopilot is less beneficial in a car than it is in an airplane, or are you arguing that the name for the feature is inappropriate?

I’m not arguing that Tesla’s (or especially Musk’s) presentation of the feature has been good. I’m only arguing that the name in particular seems quite appropriate. If you’ve operated a plane or a boat with an autopilot system, the name gives you the right idea for what to expect immediately. If you haven’t, then the…

I’ve been in lots of vehicles with systems called “auto pilot”. Airplanes, sail boats, and more recently cars. Not a single one of them has been a fully automated drive system. Every single one of them is a driver assistance system. They maintain speed and direction, and altitude if applicable. They do not prevent…

Good article Tom. I didn’t know about this tactic.

Easy. A proper transmission.

Which part of that comment was meant to be the counterpoint? Was it the simple math, or was it the oh-so-inventive name calling?

Are you serious? A difference of 500-600$ on a device you’ll use for 5+ years is peanuts. A simple preference for the interface or app availability is more than enough to justify that extra cost. Hell, a preference for color availability on the device itself would be enough to justify that, if it’s what floats…

Oh yeah, cooling for a car seat in the back is woefully inadequate for some options. High quality window tint makes a very noticeable difference.
FWIW, I hope you don’t let rear vents push you into a minivan. Our Golf Sportwagen has vents in the rear. And yes, a Sienna really is that much bigger. It’s a full foot…

Yeah, I also have 2 kids in big car seats. And I agree that fitting someone else into the back row is not very practical. Everyone lives their lives differently, but at least for us the circumstances where not being able to fit more people is actually a penalty are quite rare. The penalties of driving a larger car…