Is there any possibility that this increase is from an over-reliance on driving aids? My personal experience is that there’s a 1- to 2-second delay in my brain where I’m thinking, “Does the system see that? No? Aack! Gotta take over!” And that can easily create something closer to an emergency situation than would…

You’re right. But if I’m reading the article correctly, the NHTSA is mad because when the Boombox mode is used, whatever’s being played overrides the standard noise. So it’s not that it’s silent. It’s just playing whatever’s on the stereo instead of the whirring, chirping sound. 

If this commute is in heavy traffic, and he’s interested in adaptive cruise to ease the boring slog, he should know that all systems are not created equal. Some of them are bad enough to make the drive more stressful, rather than less. Ford’s, for example, will allow a huge gap to open in traffic, before flinging…

Perhaps I am uninformed, or perhaps another press release has been issued that’s not covered here, but aren’t these exact engines the ones powering pretty much every available Rolls Royce model? And won’t they continue making those past next June? Do these regulations not apply to Rolls Royces? Or is this just the…

Erm, Prius ICE replacement: $1,795.

This. And some of the people who are here armchair-quarterbacking his actions that day are the same ones who will argue that when a cop shoots (a non-white) someone unnecessarily, well, they panicked, and it was a dangerous situation, so leave ‘em alone.

See, I’m a liberal-leaning gay man who likes tailored suits and dinners that come in courses. And I drive a traffic-cone-orange Camaro. Why? Because I like it. And what you think of me when you see me drive by has exactly no impact on my life. Drive whatever you like. 

Sooo, there’s writing on the wall, but nobody can read it?

Question for you, or any resident lawyers: Honda has sent out letters telling lessors that they now have to return their cars to a Honda dealer, and can’t sell them to a third party. Can they make this change at this point? Doesn’t the original leasing contract still apply?

I should love Cadillac. 600+ HP sedans with a manual transmission! Comfortable, powerful tow vehicles! EVs that aren’t dolphin-nosed piles of half-assed beta tester! Sports sedans on a Camaro platform!

Genuine question for anyone smarter than me, or who develops these systems: Why not? If the car knows 1) where its lane is, and 2) that there’s a large, stationary object in it, then 3) why would you want it *not* to stop?

Because people want a large, powerful, American cruiser. And for regulatory and social reasons, a Brougham d’Elegance is no longer available. The crew-cab pickup is either the Caprice, Park Avenue or Fleetwood of the modern market, depending on the trim. The fact that it has a bed on the back is ancillary for most…

I can’t help but think your cartoon illustrates what’s happening right now with Battery-powered vehicles. They’re a simple answer to the question of how we manage greenhouse gas emissions that are also, in their current form, the wrong answer.

Oh yeah? Ask Alfa Romeo about that. 

The first generation Mercedes CLA. Every part of that car is a cynical half-effort designed to overcharge you for wanting a Mercedes while punishing you for being too poor to buy a “real” one. It does exactly nothing better than an Accord, yet manages to be twice as expensive and half as reliable. 

I think you’re reading too many reviews that are breathless cut-and-pastes of the marketing department’s press releases. If you want that kind of content, maybe check out the car reviews in USA Today, or similar. He’s told you that it’s a perfectly fine car that does car things perfectly fine. He didn’t say it was a…

At least drive a manual Corolla hatchback. No, seriously. It’s not as much fun as the writer’s dearly departed 3, but almost nothing new is, and it’s a *lot* better than you think. Also, you can get every option they offer and come nowhere near $35k. As an added bonus, it’ll probably be problem free and worth more…

My mother had a 1987 S-10 Blazer with the 2.8-liter V6. I learned to drive on that car, and I think my friends and I timed the 0-60 at something like 17 seconds. It couldn’t spin a tire under any circumstances other than on ice. Exceeding 70 MPH was possible, but only downhill. But on the other hand, it got 17MPG and…

I’m pretty sure that Land Rover sets its tow ratings to the same capacity here as they list in Europe, and even then, they have a tendency to be wildly optimistic (the original Discovery, IIRC, had a fantastic rating that the fine print specified was only possible in 4WD Lo). European countries generally limit…

Well, it’s like this: I have a late-model Camaro. It’s very fast, has all the modern safety tech, decent infotainment, and offers among the best-handling chassis available today not made by Porsche or similar.