Very true. Operations and process implementation matter so much more than location of manufacture.

I am very grateful for modern engine management.

1.4 litre Golf mk5 with a whopping 75HP....61-70% Jalop

The reason has nothing to do with fuel or my latent desire to pollute your driveways — it has to do with oil. When your car has been sitting out overnight, all the lubricating oil that's coating all of the crucial, moving bits of the car has settled down to the bottom of the oil pan. When the temperatures are really…

You should also let your car cool down after any drive more than 7.35 miles. Let it idle for 15 minutes, then turn the engine off, but leave the key on for another 6-10 minutes (you should also have the interior blower fan going at this point, too - it'll speed up the process). After that, you can exit the car and rub…

I don't really understand why the concept of parking heaters seems so foreign to people in the US. http://www.webasto.com/index.php?id=1… In Europe they are on the options list of almost any major manufacturer and tons of places can retrofit them, too. They use a little gas or diesel (about half a litre per hour) to…

It would take quite a bit longer than a few minutes idling to get your car into closed loop. Quickest way to closed loop is driving normally for a few miles.

Torch,

That system actually goes way beyond light control- the light sensor is also able to detect the angle of sunlight in higher end models and adjust the HVAC system accordingly to keep interior temps consistent (for example, if it detects more sunlight on the passenger's side than the driver's, it will drop the passenger…

The pictures of the suspension will remind just about any auto enthusiast who also read the James Bond books by Ian Fleming, of the line in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", in the first part of the book where Bond is racing Tracy into town. She's driving a Lancia Flaminia Zagato Spyder, and Ian Fleming described…

It's not about keys. It's about separate user inputs to produce separate results. If there was one pushbutton to start, and a separate pushbutton to stop, that would be okay.

The real design error isn't where they put the pushbutton, but the fact that the same button is used to perform two actions with radically different consequences: starting and stopping the engine. It's dumb for such an important operation to be implemented with a modal control, and yet everybody else is doing it.

I use the dimmer.

Aye, good for them... for everyone, actually. *Actual* innovation is about as far from a zero-sum game as you can get.

She's Welsh (from Wales). Not Zeta-Jones or Hopkins mid-Atlantic accented Welsh, proper Welsh, so you wouldn't understand her, sorry. She's going to have to stay here.

yeah you nailed it on the head right here. Sometimes I feel like I am the only person within a 100 mile radius that even knows what either an SU or CIS is. But these motors are seriously robust. Sometimes a little tricky to find a few things for, but very well built for the long haul. Trannies too

Common misconception here. The engine isn't at all problematic in these cars. In fact, it's insanely durable and is quite similar to any old GM lump except for a few differences; namely that there isn't a timing chain, the cam is gear driven and the cylinders have liners. Yeah, you need to have a mechanic familiar…

It's not exactly a new idea, but the dedication to adding lightness by using non-traditional materials and manufacturing processes. They may seem like expensive gambles today, but I think the companies that get onboard early and get it right will be very pleased with the results 5 yrs down the road.

Renault's R&Go smartphone integration.

Honestly, I love the idea of self-driving cars.