So, a coprolite is a piece of fossilized feces, literally stone-cold shit, and yet paleontologists get frothy excited when one is found. It’s not how foul a thing is, it’s how good an indicator of an era or experience it is. The Trabant is possibly the worst car ever foisted on the car-buying public, and yet today…

If I close my eyes I can still remember the engine vibrations coming through the steering wheel, the torque steer, and even the no-base sound coming through the stereo of my 1985 Ford Escort as it played De La Soul’s debut album. These era Fords were actually pretty good cars for the money, with much more…

Its clearly too much money for it but wow, I love mundane time capsules in their original state. Someday after hitting the powerball I’m going to open the museum for everyday time capsules. Eff it NP!

I like the design that fits a motocross bike but also fits a wheelchair. Now that is how you future proof a toy hauler

Aside from the fact that wagons used to have three rows and sedans used to have a much larger footprint, you’re ignoring the forward-facing elephant in the room that I explained in my other comment. Huge carseats didn’t exist and weren’t required use until well into grade school back then. They are now, and they’re a…

Car seats are absurdly huge and aren’t getting any smaller. A rearward facing one can prevent the front seat from sliding backward on things smaller than full sized vehicles. I can’t imagine one would fit in my mazda with my seat back all the way.

Was this comment written in 2008?

If you can’t fit two kids and their associated junk in a 3600lb crossover with 35 cubic feet of trunk, you might be an American.

Like how some cars just use the knobs

You think they’d learn that life is about compromise. HVAC and radio controls are just suited to be physical controls. I have driven touch screen cars for literal years and still had to take my eyes off the road to change the HVAC.

I highly approve of changing the terminology from “designer” to “stylist,” as I think it more accurately describes the paradigm shift the role has experienced from considering form and function to purely form.

In 15 years my bet is we still won’t have fully replaced human drivers with self-driving cars.

This! Audi’s previous MMI setup (prior to the touchscreen) was well thought out and proven to work. Much like how aircraft stick to tactile switches for important functions (and how the US Navy is reverting back to analog controls after their recent collision debacles), it’s easier to identify and work something…

Back when swapping in an aftermarket radio head unit was still a common thing, there was a brief period when they all went to a no knob design - just flat buttons. The flat button controls were the touch screen of its day. People hated it. Eventually, they all went back to having, at the very least, a volume knob. I…

I suspect you’ll see a pretty big aftermarket for touch screens. That’s all just packaging, the screens themselves are pretty cheap.

In 2012, the domestic compacts actually started to look attractive to buyers. Japan had lost its way a bit, and Kia/Hyundai were better but not there yet. It’s not a surprise people opted for the Focus around that time. It was really good and pretty much the only game in town unless your heart was set on a diesel over…

Growing up my family owned a Tempo, 3 Aerostars, an Explorer and a Focus. I started out in a hand-me-down 93 Ford Ranger. First car I bought was an 03 Ford Focus. I currently own an 18 Fiesta ST.

Just like minivans?

2nd Gear: Big missed opportunity with the name on the new trade agreement. If only they’d called it the Mexico-Canada-US Agreement, it could have been McUSA.

“Realizing you’ve got shit on your fingers is the first step toward washing your hands.” - Chrisjen Avarasala