Good one Mercedes, enjoyed the read. VW knows how to make an offroad electric beast if they want to. Three Audi E-trons just finished the Dakar with a few stage wins thrown in. Excellent first effort. Even if the rear wheels kept falling off and shock dampers breaking. If VW made an offroad capable ID.4 that just…

Having resorted to the screw driver method twice in my life I am very thankful to Jeep (Wrangler here) for putting the fitler up top in an easy to reach and replace area. It is a joy to change out compared to my XJ and any other car I’ve ever owned.

Quintero should be out of the Dakar. He didn’t finish a stage. But for ASO’s new Joker Rule (Dakar Experience) he would have been done. He raced an entirely different race than the rest of his competitors since he wrecked his diffs because he has only cared about winning stages. It’s easier to win when you have…

Followup RE: the second incident. The Stewards penalized De Villiers 5 hours for running over the bike. Toyota cannot be very happy. GdV admitted they got the signal warning them of the downed bike, but could not see it as it was hidden behind the crest of the dune. GdV also admitted their warning light was on the…

My 1995 full suspension Litespeed was state of the art. The basic linkage design is still pretty much the norm, albeit with vastly improved shocks and pivots. Rescuing this unicorn Unicoi is a marvelous feat. Personally I would have gone with the butane freeze the mechanism and smash it with a hammer route, but he got…

I never went anywhere in Alaska in the winter without a -20 sleeping bag. I now carry a satellite tracking rescue beacon. Doesn’t hurt to put a tow strap in your car so someone else can pull you out of a ditch. I’m happy to winch out anyone who is in a ditch, but I make them attach the hook and warn them it’s probably…

Villiers is being vilified on at least one of the Dakar forums for the incident with the Chilean. Villiers claims he had room to go around, but a concealed rock threw him to the left hitting the rider. No one is buying that including ASO. In the second incident the Moroccan dumped his bike over the crest of a dune and…

I tend to avoid the Magadan-Novosibirsk route this time of year.

Thanks for de-greying me. You are probably risking your own greying by doing so, but no “offence” (Canadian/Brit/Kiwi/Australian*) taken. Here’s what the blogger wrote: “If Amplify is found guilty, the negligence charges carry a maximum of five years in jail and potentially millions of dollars in fines.” The government…

There’s a startup company with vans and trucks loaded with batteries. They drive around and charge you up wherever you are, for a subscription fee of course and an app on your phone. You run out of battery somewhere in the Nevada desert it’s going to cost ya. 

Here’s a link to the indictment. The relevant sentence listed in the caption of the indictment falls under 33 USC section 1319 (c)(1). The penalty spelled out in the statute for a first violation is “not more than one year.” A second violation gets you two. No way it’s five years. Typical Earther blogger not doing…

Ford has a head start with their F-150 that weighs the load in the bed of the pickup. Next logical step is to add up the weight every month, charge you a fee for it and auto-pay it out of your checking account.

First thing the lawyer does is write a letter that includes the only two words insurance companies are afraid of- “bad faith.” That usually brings them around. The owner probably isn’t covered for the mods unless he added insurance for them, and all of that disappeared anyway when the put him on liability. Then…

I just assumed Teslas had floor mats bluetoothed to the internet and if they move 1mm, Elon is personally notified and your car is barred from super charger stations until you pay a floor-mat realignment fee.

Maybe the future of car culture isn’t as doomed as I thought. Although I’m sure they’ll figure out some way to charge a subscription to move the seat or rear-view mirror or something. Oh wait they won’t even have mirrors just screens, they’ll turn off when your auto-pay (pun intended) misfires. I take it back... I see…

Had this occurred in Portland, Oregon no one would have noticed because the sign would have been covered in graffiti within ten minutes of being put up.

The only question I have is why didn’t she just plead to the lesser charge? Cap her liability and save the tearful I made a mistake bullshit for sentencing (after employing Kyle Rittenhouse’s acting coach). Manslaughter in the second degree under MN law is a max 10 year sentence and the mens rea is negligence (the…

The prosecutors usually get out of civil liability under an absolute immunity rule adopted by the SCOTUS in Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409 (1976). That case did not apply the same standard to criminal acts. The local DA on the Arbery case is the first prosecutor I can remember in a long time who has been prosecuted.

Had a 2007 Impreza that loved throwing that code. I’d get it to pass I/M then it would run for a while and throw the code. I gave it away. 72K miles and already had gone through head gaskets, alternator, front axle, new water pump/radiator etc. I thought once I fixed everything it would be good to go. No... P0440 kept…

Who takes an unknown entity on the road without a case of oil, five gallons of antifreeze and an entire tool chest? Brownell. Been given too many easy rides in new cars, EVs, and motorcycles you ask me.