THE CARS OF J MAYS
YOU REALIZE the passage of time when someone you remember as a promising kid now announces his retirement. And so it is with J Mays, 59, chief designer at Ford … Continue reading
WHEN IS A CHICKEN NOT A CHICKEN?
FORD MIGHT have thought U.S. Customs forgot about the “chicken tax”—but, if so, Ford was wrong. I hadn’t thought of the chicken tax in years, but I refreshed my memory … Continue reading
TAXABLE HP
HORSEPOWER IS motorized fun—so, governments say, why not tax it? Indeed, the idea of extracting cash from motorists is as old as the automobile. Some of the techniques of doing … Continue reading
SUBARU EYESIGHT
ACCIDENT MITIGATION and autonomous driving are much in the news these days. Autonomous driving claims to replace the driver in mundane tasks of mobility. By contrast, accident mitigation takes over … Continue reading
YOU READ IT HERE FIRST (MAYBE)
EVERY SO often, even the blind pig finds a truffle. And so it is with this website. One way or the other, items in the past resonate with the latest news. … Continue reading
B20: DO I FEEL LUCKY?
WHEN B20 biodiesel is discussed, I am reminded of Dirty Harry, Clint Eastwood’s character, saying to the punk, “You’ve got to ask yourself a question, ‘Do I feel lucky?’” This, … Continue reading
PORSCHE GOLD
IT’S FRANKFURT Show time, and it was 50 years ago at this venue that Porsche introduced its 911 sports car. Amazing; a car in current production celebrating its Golden Anniversary. … Continue reading
CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANS
THE CONCEPT of a continuously variable transmission, CVT, for short, has been around for years. There have been several variations on the theme and a good number of applications. In … Continue reading
EURO/BENZ HASSLE
THE EUROPEAN Union in Brussels, the Conseil d’Etat, France’s highest court, and Germany’s Daimler-Benz are arguing about keeping cool. At the core of this are the EU’s stringent CO2 regulations … Continue reading
TRANNY TALK
HOW COME electric vehicles don’t have transmissions whereas traditional vehicles need gears, seemingly the more, the better? The answer is surprisingly straightforward—it’s all a matter of torque. Torque, or twisting … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 