Genesis and Ferrari, Design in 7 Days

Genesis and Ferrari, Design in 7 Days

According to the bible, it took God just seven days to create the world as we know it. Unfortunately, God doesn’t design cars, because the average time to develop a new car can be as long as four years. With computers and high tech design systems, the time can be shortened, but the process is still massive, costing an automaker billions of dollars. Even a...

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First Look: Escort Max 360 Laser & Radar Detector

First Look: Escort Max 360 Laser & Radar Detector

While you are on the road, there are many ways police can catch you for speeding violations. Some of them include radar and laser guns, red light cameras, air patrol, and photo radars, commonly known as speed cameras. According to the National Motorist Association, an estimated 1/3 of all speed enforcement citations are erroneous. Erroneous traffic tickets can...

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Toyota Prius: Most Stolen Car in America?

Toyota Prius: Most Stolen Car in America?

Imagine the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds” with a Prius in place of the Shelby GT500. Not very exciting, is it? Car theft has been romanticized in movies and video games, but the reality is far less exciting. Cars are stolen every day in this country, and it happens in plain site at grocery stores, in home driveways, and in mass-transit parking lots. Instead of...

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The Start/Stop Button: A Silent Killer?

The Start/Stop Button: A Silent Killer?

A huge lawsuit against ten of the world’s largest automakers was quietly filed last summer. The suit claims at least 13 people have died due to a major safety defect in automobiles made by BMW/MINI, Mercedes-Benz, FIAT/Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda/Acura, Hyundai/Kia, Nissan/Infiniti, Toyota/Lexus, and Volkswagen/Bentley. The issue has nothing to do...

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Autonomous Vehicles, Malicious Drivers

Autonomous Vehicles, Malicious Drivers

You’ve probably heard the news: An autonomous Google-Lexus brushed a city bus at about 2 miles-per-hour. There’s been plenty of discussion on the incident, some of it oddly hysterical, but most of it has centered on the idea of the future capabilities of autonomous traffic to operate in traffic as it exists today. In other words, from everything I’ve read, the...

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Does this weathervane look familiar?

Does this weathervane look familiar?

If you began reading Hemmings in the 1950s or ’60s, there’s no doubt you’d recognize what car this interesting piece of sculpture represents. But as the hobby has shifted from the Ford Model T and Model A and what the AACA terms “Full Classics” into ’50s cruisers and muscle machines, some of the early history has become a bit obscure even to the most dedicated...

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Distracted Driving: The New Normal?

Distracted Driving: The New Normal?

How many times per day do you see people texting behind the wheel? I’d venture to guess that every time you’re stopped at a light or stopped on the highway in heavy traffic, you’ll be able take a look at your fellow drivers and see at least one with his or her face buried in a phone. It’s dangerous, and it shouldn’t happen, but we, as modern-day Americans, have...

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Questions and Answers About Winter Tires

Questions and Answers About Winter Tires

Winter weather has already started its sloppy march across the northern parts of the United States. But that doesn’t mean it’s too late for some winter tire advice. Why do you need winter tires? The fast answer is handling. Well-designed winter tires have deeper treads than summer or all-season tires. (The latter, by the way, are really three-season tires if...

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What Does the Wrangler Pickup Mean for FCA?

What Does the Wrangler Pickup Mean for FCA?

Two months ago at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Jeep CEO Mike Manley confirmed that the next generation Wrangler will spawn a pickup. No other official announcements related to the exciting new product have been released. But as TTAC reported in October (The Untapped Potential of Wrangler), the move was entirely predictable. And it was...

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Calamity Jane – a heavy-duty heroine for the nuclear age

Calamity Jane – a heavy-duty heroine for the nuclear age

For those of us raised in the United States from the 1950s into the 1990s, the ever-present threat of nuclear war was acknowledged, but not necessarily dwelled upon. Fallout shelter signs were a common sight in cities and towns alike, and most municipalities had their own Civil Defense department, marked with the instantly recognizable blue circle, white...

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What Car Could You Drive for 24 Hours?

What Car Could You Drive for 24 Hours?

From June 19–22, over 150 cars and hundreds of drivers will race the ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race on the Nordschleife (north loop) of the Nürburgring in central Germany. The Nürburgring, with a lap length of over 20 km, allows a driver to race in 150-minute intervals before being required to take a 2-hour break. A driver’s teammate then takes...

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Grace, Beauty, Soul…Toyota?

Grace, Beauty, Soul…Toyota?

I have always hated Toyotas. When I see them on the road, there is an instant feeling of disgust that wells up inside of me, which is inevitably combined with feelings of pity and anger at the people behind the wheel. Toyotas are sad, boring, and bland as Cream of Wheat. But, there was a time, albeit short lived, when a Toyota had grace, beauty, and soul....

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The Great Controversy: Oil-Change Intervals

The Great Controversy: Oil-Change Intervals

I’m writing this from a waiting room inside the service department of an auto dealership. I can’t say I like it here. All the chairs are placed in a semi-circle and face a wall-mounted television, which is currently tuned to a show starring three angry judges who like to yell at people. The volume is too high. I don’t even have a television at home, so this is...

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