Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

Category Archives: Driving it Today

IS IT EV TIME YET? PART 1

I’VE BEEN COLLECTING news items on what’s seen as the inevitable transition to electric vehicles. Indeed, this stack has reached critical mass, worthy of Part 1 today and Part 2 … Continue reading

November 11, 2018 · Leave a comment

HACK MY TESLA? EASY-PEASY FOR A WHILE THERE

ALL IT TOOK for Belgian researchers to unlock and drive a Tesla Model S was the car’s weak encryption code, $600 of minicomputer hardware, and two seconds of effort. Rest … Continue reading

October 18, 2018 · 1 Comment

A SEVEN-YEAR UPDATE—2019 INFINITI QX50 PART 2

YESTERDAY IN Part 1, I discussed the new Infiniti QX50’s impressive VC-Turbo engine, as in variable-compression-ratio turbo. Today in Part 2, I assess several of the QX50’s other 2019 virtues … Continue reading

October 13, 2018 · 1 Comment

A SEVEN-YEAR UPDATE—2019 INFINITI QX50 PART 1

THIS TWO-PARTER is a road test of sorts. A 2019 Infiniti QX50 recently resided at our place for a week. It bristles with high technology, especially when put in perspective … Continue reading

October 12, 2018 · Leave a comment

SUBSCRIBE TO AN AUTOMAKER?

YEARS AGO, September 2001 specifically, in the R&T piece “Whither the Automobile?,” futurists at American Honda told me that automaker subscriptions were a coming trend. That is, rather than buying … Continue reading

September 30, 2018 · 3 Comments

WWBD? (WHAT WOULD BADDIES DRIVE?)

IT USED TO be that movie bad guys drove nondescript cars purposely stripped of automaker logos. It was fine for the good guys, for instance James Bond and Frank Bullitt, … Continue reading

September 2, 2018 · 2 Comments

TIDBITS ON AUTOS—FROM THE BEST SOURCES

EVEN IN these days of e-this and e-that, I find the weekly print Automotive News the most useful and authoritative source of what’s happening in the world auto industry. And … Continue reading

July 28, 2018 · 3 Comments

CHINA AND THE AUTOMOBILE

THE LATEST Automotive News, June 11, 2018, has a fascinating piece on a complex subject: China and the automobile. Hans Greimel, the industry weekly’s Tokyo-based Asia Editor, titles his article … Continue reading

June 16, 2018 · 1 Comment

TESLA MODEL 3 TIDBITS

TESLA MODEL S sedans and Model X SUVs are no big surprise here in the Southern California vehicle mix. Come to think of it, nor are Ferraris, Maseratis, and the … Continue reading

June 8, 2018 · 3 Comments

CLEARING THE MPG AIR, IF NOT THE AIR ITSELF PART 2

OUR DISCUSSION of the Trump administration’s proposed backpedaling on existing Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards started here yesterday in Part 1. Today, we touch on states’ rights, international implications, returns … Continue reading

April 5, 2018 · Leave a comment