Nearly all of the Volvos, several acuras (RL and NSX as well), Lexus Rx450, Porsche 918... Not exactly a new idea.

I’m nearly positive they’re just shoving the Volt powertrain in a crossover. They can call it the Chevy Dolt.

I have no issues with the size and find the cargo usability very high (and I also own two Volvo wagons!). I have carried four adults on numerous occasions and everyone was happy. Only issue is with taller passengers in the back. I've had 6'7" folks up front without issue though. I mean, it's a compact car, but it's…

I suspect it will be replaced with a midsize crossover. Aren’t they bringing out 22 electric/PHEVs by 2021 or something? I wrote a big diatribe on here about a viable HD Diesel replacement using the Pacifica pack and 6.4 Hemi. It was competitive in my model to the 6.4 Powerjoke as far as towing at 10k feet plus and…

Volt shares the Cruze platform and the engine is the same family as the 1.5t.

I think the electronic wastegates on the newer EcoBoosts help; likely allows them to map it as an NA engine up until a certain torque demand. Still, reality says that lower static compression ratios and boost enrichment offset much of the pumping loss benefit. Modern V-8s with displacement on demand are really quite…

I’ve driven both Chevy and Ram V-8s and gotten shockingly good mileage. Every Ecoboost I’ve driven has been more like a big block in terms of fuel usage.

Even cheaper than buying a K&N filter is to just take your filter out and pour a bunch of dirt/sand into your intake. The end result is the same (actually lower resistance) and you don’t even need to oil it!

I laughed so much harder at this than I should have.

Lots of references to LS here...considering it has absolutely nothing to do with an LS.

I have that book sitting 6 feet from where I am at this very moment!

Plutonium IS NOT extremely radioactive. The principal isotopic concerns in a nuclear accident are iodine-131, xenon-131/135, cesium-137, and strontium 90. The iodine and xenon and basically gone in less than 100 days. Cesium and strontium take longer, but are released in much smaller amounts typically. They are most…

An F-35 doesn’t need drop tanks to do the same missions as a legacy aircraft...that’s sort of the point of having 18,000 (or more) pounds of fuel on board. An F-35 fully loaded externally is probably still no more noticeable on radar than a totally clean superbug, and those have one of the lowest signatures around (by…

The fact that you succeeded as painlessly as you did, given the stakeholders and politics involved, is nothing short of amazing. Until people are involved in a project of remotely similar magnitude (as I have been), they can never understand the difficulty and uncertainty. I say Bravo...but people love to complain, so…

The fuselage is wide to hold two 2000 pound bombs, two AMRAAMs, and 18,000 pounds of gas along with all of the sensors (and then some) typically occupying multiple pods...all while completely hiding the compressor blades.

So we have a plane with the footprint of an F-16, similar payload and better range than a mudhen, best avionics extant, similar rate to an F-16, better high AoA than a Hornet, better acceleration than anything this side of a slicked Block 50, better RCS than an F-22, and a LRIP price under $90M... and we’re mad about…

I am a big fan of plug-in hybrids (see https://jalopnik.com/comment-of-the-day-do-the-math-edition-1797035708). However, i’d caution on the efficiency of micro-turbines. They are typically in the low to mid 20% range for thermal efficiency. Meanwhile, small 4 bangers achieve in the 37-41% peak range (and they spend a…

Nuclear power already is the safest form of power, extant. New plants do increase that margin even further (typically by a factor of 100), but that merely should serve to ease licensing and reduce costs of “safety-grade” systems. Of course that has not been the case, as we’ve now been forced to not only license the…

We lived in Pittsburgh and now Maine with the Volt. With 4 X-Ice tires, it’s absolutely fine in snow. The S60R on snows was obviously better at getting moving, but it also could get you into trouble, as I’d rip it up to speed, a la Monte Carlo Rally, then realize I still needed to turn; few pucker moments from that. 

Seems to me that if you want a car that does what they claim without issues and with warranty coverage, you buy a Chrysler products. They’ve been pretty awesome with SRT products. GM vehicles are advertised to be great at the track or off-road, but almost always have issues (Z06 valve springs on C5, cooling on C7 for…