Explaining the burden of "legacy costs" 3 years ago on Autoblog

With all the discussion about the domestic automakers' future lately, a few of our readers have left comments requesting some additional background on the situation; primarily, the history of the oft-touted "legacy costs" and how they affect the Big 3's survival. The legacy costs have their roots in ...

Autoblog Maintenance 201: Brake pad replacement, Part II 3 years ago on Autoblog

In the first half of this particular write-up, we showed the basic process of replacing the front rotors and pads on a VW Jetta. Now we'll go ahead and hit the rear brakes, since the car is already up in the air and we're already covered up to our elbows in grease and brake fluid. We'll also go ...

Autoblog Maintenance 201: Brake pad replacement, Part I 3 years ago on Autoblog

While many aspects of maintenance can be put off until the odometer rolls past 100K, odds are that you'll be doing some work on your vehicle's brakes long before then. Vehicles continue to get heavier and our highway speeds are ever-increasing, both of which put an incredible amount of strain on ...

eBay Find of the Day: Mercedes-Benz Lotec C 1000 3 years ago on Autoblog

Ever since Henry Ford invented the assembly line and ushered in the era of mass production, exclusivity has become an increasingly exclusive commodity. A citizen of the United Arab Emirates beat the system by commissioning a car joint developed by Mercedes and Lotec called the C 1000. It features a ...

Engine management and emission controls (Part 3) 3 years ago on Autoblog

With descriptions of the engine control module (Part 1) and sensors (Part 2) now out of the way, it's time to take a look at some of the other hardware that keeps engines running. Some of these devices will be quite familiar, and others may not seem to be immediately related to engine management ...

Engine management and emission controls (Part 2) 3 years ago on Autoblog

In Part 1 of this series, we took at look at the engine control module (ECM), the "brains" of a modern vehicle's engine management and emission control systems. Next, we're going to dig a bit deeper and investigate the various sensors that feed information about the vehicle's ...

Engine management and emission controls (Part 1) 3 years ago on Autoblog

A modern engine makes use of a wide variety of technology, but it's not necessarily well-understood by the majority of the motoring public. Considering that this stuff isn't rocket science (for the most part), we figured that it's time to lift the hood on one of the cars in our garage and ...

Autoblog Maintenance 101: Differential/axle lube 3 years ago on Autoblog

With fresh fluids in the rest of the drivetrain, it is now time to turn our attention to the axle lubrication. Where as we stated that the transfer case fluid leads a relatively easy life, the same is not true of the rear axle. The reason for this is heat; due to the relatively high frictional ...

Autoblog Maintenance 101: Transfer case fluid change 3 years ago on Autoblog

With an oil change and transmission fluid swap out of the way, it's now time to exchange the oil transfer case lube for some fresh stuff. For those of you with manual transmission, you'd follow most of the same steps to service that unit, so please don't feel slighted (there will be a few in-depth ...

Autoblog Maintenance 101: Transmission fluid and filter 3 years ago on Autoblog

Automatic transmissions are among the most complex mechanical devices ever assembled into a mass-market consumer product. As a result, automatic transmission fluid (ATF) has a tremendously difficult task. It has to lubricate the myriad of moving parts, providing sufficient protection to components ...

Autoblog Maintenance 101: Oil change 3 years ago on Autoblog

It's been said countless times that oil is the lifeblood of an engine. In addition to its primary task as a lubricant (a difficult enough job by itself), the oil also serves to maintain the proper operating temperature for components that cannot be serviced by the primary cooling system, ...

Autoblog Maintenance: Improving economy and decreasing emissions the DIY way 3 years ago on Autoblog

When it comes to increasing fuel economy and minimizing the amount of pollution that your vehicular activities create, there is no better bang-for-the-buck than proper maintenance. A variety of sources state that the worst 10% of vehicles on the road emit nearly 50% of total automotive pollution, ...

Chicago Auto Show: Next-gen Jeep Wrangler undercarriage shots 3 years ago on Autoblog

Autoblog reader Ryan H. requested that we get some picture of the '07 Jeep Wrangler undercarriage. Oh man - those are never easy shots to obtain. Regardless, we're willing to go through the effort it takes to please our readers, even if it means crawling over rocks and dangling ...

We're headed out to the 2006 Chicago Auto Show... anyone need anything? 3 years ago on Autoblog

We, your humble Autoblog emissaries have our bags packed, laptops charged and camera lenses de-fingerprinted. In short, we're fixin' to descend on the City of Big Shoulders via planes, trains and automobiles. Ok, so maybe not trains, but perhaps we'll hop the 'L' if we get a hankerin' for some ...

Ask Autoblog: What determines a truck's payload capacity? 4 years ago on Autoblog

In our post on truck payload capacities, one of our readers asked about the physical differences between trucks rated for different payloads. I'll take a crack at describing this, but space limitations necessitate painting with a broad brush. Feel free to add additional info in the comments. ...

Ask Autoblog: What's the best aftermarket nav system? 4 years ago on Autoblog

Max has asked the Autoblog crew which aftermarket nav system, in our honest and infinitely wise opinion, is best. Uh… we honestly don't know. Most of the nav systems we've used in the past are DVD-based units from the factory. We don't have much experience with the ...

Ask Autoblog: What's the best used entry-level luxury car 4 years ago on Autoblog

Autoblog reader Alex asks,   "I am trying to decide on what to buy for my next car. I am looking into entry-level luxary cars and what I have in mind are a BMW 3-series sedan, MB C-class and Audi A4. I have a limited budget and would like to spend below $30K, so probably ...

Ask Autoblog: Should I get a new Audi A3? Or Certified Pre-Owned A4? 4 years ago on Autoblog

Now there's a brand I can talk about from experience. In fact, I've purchased 2 Audis in the last 2 years. And they were both Certified Pre-Owned. One came from the dealer and the other was from a private-party sale of a CPO A4. Regarding the A3, I've driven it, but I'll defer the driving reviews ...

Ask Autoblog: How do I decide between a hybrid Accord or a gas-only Accord? 4 years ago on Autoblog

E pluribus unum. That's what is says on the back of the one dollar bill. Out of many, one. Did our founding fathers truly understand the power of economics? Did they understand the democratic implications of capitalism? What does this have to do with cars? This question isn't about the ...

Soliciting questions for Ask Autoblog 4 years ago on Autoblog

We're an answer in search of a problem. Ask Autoblog is your chance to stump us with your questions about the car buying process, whether it is new or used, private party or dealer, or comparisons like "What's right for me? A used Sherman Tank or a new Mini Cooper?" We'd like to help you come to ...

Ask an executive 4 years ago on Autoblog

Later this week, I'll be interviewing Jim Farley, VP of Scion for a future podcast. Jim is the voice of the brand and has shot to the top of the hot auto exec list over the past year. I'm sure many of our readers would be interested in asking him a question or two, so feel free. Just fill them ...

Ask Autoblog: What new SUV should I get for off-roading, travel? 4 years ago on Autoblog

It has been far too long since we've done an Ask Autoblog. To remind people, this is where readers can write in and ask us for our thoughts and then have the readers weigh in as well. It usually turns out the readers are far more insightful but we always try. Last night I got an IM from our ...

Ask Autoblog: Is this the new Jeep Wrangler? 4 years ago on Autoblog

Well we're not sure but our favorite tipster sent us this link to the image above. There is absolutely no other text accompanying the photo. Our best guess is it is either a very good photoshop or the New York Auto Show images are already leaking out. We haven't heard this was going to be ...

Ask Autoblog: Will the new Dodge Charger end up like the GTO? 4 years ago on Autoblog

Matt Nauman of the San Jose Mercury News thinks the new Dodge Charger will end up like the recent Pontiac GTO debut and flop. He tries to back-up his case but I think he's missing some key points. The folks up in arms about the two-doors are a very noisy minority. I'm not saying they're a ...

Ask Autoblog: Do manufacturer sketches help or hurt the debut? 4 years ago on Autoblog

You know the sketches; 22 rims, suspension so low speed bumps are a challenge, chopped tops and channeled bodies. Kia released this sketch days ago and other than the taillight shape, it has no visual likeness to the actual minivan. We've learned to dismiss the obvious artistic tweaks but we ...

Ask Autoblog: Where's the motorsports coverage? 4 years ago on Autoblog

Many of our readers either like to read about motorsports, follow them through video games or simply don't give a gosh darn. Here at Autoblog we've been discussing how best to cover the topic. Both Steve D. and Walt have interest in the topic (Dave is still trying to get into it but without ...

Ask Autoblog: What will we see at the Chicago Auto Show? 4 years ago on Autoblog

We know, it's less than two weeks until the Chicago Auto Show and everyone is getting antsy. Granted there isn't as much buzz over Chicago as there was for Detroit but we're still excited. Mainly because it means I don't have to drive to Detroit to cover it. It's right here in my backyard. So ...

Ask Autoblog: What was the best production car at the Detroit Auto Show? 4 years ago on Autoblog

This is even tougher than the concept question since there were just so many production cars on the floor. It was easier to say what didn't impress me like the Chevy Impala and Monte Carlo, VW Jetta and Toyota Avalon. But the good stuff was plentiful like the new Infiniti M cars, Audi A3, S4 ...

Ask Autoblog: What was the best concept at the Detroit Auto Show? 4 years ago on Autoblog

At first I thought this would be a tough question to answer. Saturn certainly brought two of the strongest concepts to the floor, Ford's GR-1 in aluminum dress was stunning and the Chrysler Firepower might actually get made, but in the end I think the Jeep Gladiator takes the cake. It's the ...

Ask Autoblog: What are the most anticipated cars of 2005? 4 years ago on Autoblog

We have a list of our most anticipated vehicles of 2005. Take a second and take part in the survey. Purely for entertainment purposes. // You must turn on JavaScript to view a mybackend.com survey click here to find out how. ...

Ask Autoblog: What do you want Santa to bring the auto industry for Christmas? 4 years ago on Autoblog

To get in the holiday spirit someone asked me if I could get anything I wanted done in the auto industry what would it be. Such an open-ended question was not easy to answer. But I'll give it a shot by manufacturer: ...

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Autoblog Podcast #151: With Car and Driver's Eddie Alterman

Eddie Alterman wades in with Sam, Chris, Dan, and Jonny to talk about SEMA and other recent events.

 
 

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