BETTER HIGH-BEAMS
TOYOTA ALREADY has improved high-beam lighting available on its European and Japanese models. I hope the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration honors this company’s recent petition to allow such systems in … Continue reading
BRAZILIAN CARS
A RECENT report from the Associated Press titled “Cars Made in Brazil Are Deadly” makes for fascinating reading (http://goo.gl/A1bKq). In particular, typical of the BRIC (Brazil/Russia/India/China) group of quickly developing … Continue reading
MERCEDES-BENZ GLK250 BLUETEC
DIESELS AND Daimler-Benz go way back. In fact, the world’s first passenger car powered by Rudolf Diesel’s compression-ignition engine was the 1936 Mercedes-Benz 260D. The newly introduced GLK250 BlueTEC 4Matic … Continue reading
E30 NONSENSE
WHEN WILL this ethanol fuel nonsense cease? We already have 10-percent ethanol “extending” our gasoline; that is, the gasoline is really E10. And then there’s E85 (85-percent ethanol/15-percent gasoline). It … Continue reading
CHINESE PLATES
THE CHINESE have been entrepreneurs for millennia; they’ve been communists for less than 64 years. This is confirmed by recent happenings concerning Chinese license plates for automobiles. I add my … Continue reading
PETER BROWN’S PETEYS
FOR 25 YEARS, Peter Brown has been editor or editorial director of Automotive News, which is the weekly newspaper of the multifaceted automotive industry. He’s approaching retirement and, in the … Continue reading
AUTO SHANGHAI 2013
IN A rich tradition of reporting on auto shows I haven’t actually attended (see Paris 2012 at http://www.wp.me/p2ETap-ho), I offer an outside look at 2013 Auto Shanghai. In full disclosure, … Continue reading
NEW CAR MATH
ARITHMETIC TRENDS of new car purchases are downright scary. According to an item in the Orange County Register, April 21, 2013, auto loans are lengthening to 96 months—that’s eight years! … Continue reading
ASTON MARTIN’S 100TH
LET’S CELEBRATE the 100th anniversary of Aston Martin. Let’s also clarify some hype about its dual-fuel Rapide S Hydrogen Hybrid to be raced at next month’s Nürburgring 24-hour. It’ll be … Continue reading
RACE DRIVERS EVOLVED
TODAY’S RACE drivers—especially those in the lofty realm of Formula 1—have evolved into specialists who possess intellect as well as athleticism. They’re closer to astronauts than they are to race … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 