The Probe was in no way related to the Tempo. Many would be surprised to know that the Probe was a pleasantly competent car in it’s day. Hell, it’s still a decent driver today despite what the “hur dur front wheel lame tho” crowd says.

All common commercial aircraft have pressurized and temperature controlled cargo holds because airplanes are cylinders and cylinders are easy to pressurize. Half-cylinders are not. And they have heat down there too, in order to prevent cargo from freezing. The last thing the airlines want is for all sorts of liquid…

Jesus Christ on a bicycle no. Mules (and even later full-up prototypes) are absolute and utter trash to drive. I would rather walk. They always smell like an electrical fire (and for good reason), the squeaks/rattles/clunks drive you insane, and they sometimes spring fuel leaks for absolutely no reason. All this is…

Great question! It looks like some spec formula car, so probably some off the shelf Continentals street tires?

No, thank god!

The exhaust is definitely worth it, but save the MagnaRide money and get Konis or some other quality dampers. Despite what the article says, the MagnaRide in the base program is NOT the same as the Shelby, unfortunately. The active exhaust is super cool, though. I can leave it on loud most of the time (because I’m a…

For several years I have been evaluating base-program Mustangs and GT350s and the Shelby is an all-around better car to drive. It’ll hold it’s value better, too. Definitely worth the added price, if you can deal with the seats. I’m a little “husky”, so I find the Shelby seats a smidge tight on long trips.

Not quite. Different transmission, different suspension (no, the MagnaRide is not the same as in the Shelby), different fascias, and all the bodywork ahead of the firewall is specific to the Shelby. Shockingly different cars to drive. Also, they had different vehicle dynamics teams, which mean the driving experience…

Buick Apollo. How is this even a question?

Makes sense. Typical airliners run about 200 psi, and they have to deal with a wider range of runway conditions. The shuttle was always landing on a well controlled and maintained surface (whether pavement or Muroc).

Tires do just fine in vacuum. You’re only adding 15 psi of pressure delta across the carcass. The Space Shuttle flew pneumatic tires and the only tire failure was after landing while sitting on the runway at KSC. Hell, Buran probably had pneumatic tires, too.

“Grobal Market”... seriously... can’t make this shit up...

No. The sticker that says “premium fuel only” protects the manufacturer (mostly). If you damage the car by using the wrong fuel, that’s on you. And by damage, I mean the most typical failures from high EGT: Cat damage, the smell of melting carpet, premature heat-cycling of plastics under the car, etc.

This really isn’t uncommon in stadium and short-course trucks. I remember watching Jimmie Johnson roll it and keep-on-racing at the Lake Geneva SODA race in like 95 or 96. Team owner Randy Herzog was like just gave this “whatvs” shrug, like he was mildly irritated that the truck would need extra body work, but not…

For cat light off (which is over in a few seconds these days), tricks are played to get energy into the system fast. However, the EGT problem I described is more of a steady-state and/or “cumulative damage” issue. Once the cats are hot, the calibration will dial back on wasted energy and the cat temps will stabilize…

Did it have a UAZ engine swapped in?

That’s inconsistent with my experience, but I suppose it’s entirely possible the Mazda calibrators are protecting against high EGTs through some other means when poor detonation resistance is detected. It’s possible to play games with manifold pressure, valve timing, and valve lift to counter the EGT effects of low…

Haha, I guess I just got excited! I’ll say an Our Father later as penance.

Jesus fucking… AAA might want to consider asking engineers about the things they engineer before doing stuff. If the manufacturer tells you to use premium, just use premium. Here’s the real why: Exhaust gas temperatures.