Recent Comments:
AM General to produce Standard Taxi cabs? {Autoblog}
Jul 15th 2008 2:28AM That is one ugly mother trucker!
Suprisingly, the cabs they use in London cost around $60 000 each when new. However, they are pretty indestructable and could probably be made in the US for around half that amount.
The main issue is that taxi fares in the US are so incredibly low compared to the rest of the western world. The idea is to keep the number of taxi's as high as possible, but that must leave very low margins for the taxi operators given the current gas prices...
Porsche claims victory in London congestion charge case {Autoblog}
Jul 9th 2008 3:07AM Well done Porsche! Top marks for donating the money to charity too!
I will feel slightly less guilty about dumping enough cash to buy an apartment on a new 911 at the end of the summer...
London Mayor: "No More Congestion Charges" {Autoblog}
Jul 2nd 2008 5:14PM Good stuff Boris! Keep it up!!
VIDEO: Porsche engine runs the 'Ring, virtually {Autoblog}
Jul 2nd 2008 11:00AM did i miss something?
how do they simulate the load on the enigine during this test? Surely that will have some significant impact on the pressure, heat, and general abuse that the oil system is subjected to in this test...
Stating the obvious: cross country rallies have huge carbon footprint {Autoblog}
Jun 27th 2008 3:15AM I think the "whingeing hippy hater" has made a somewhat valid point. If we are talking "greenhouse gases" then methane (CH4) contributes 10 times more to the greenhouse effect than CO2.
However, the real validity in "whingeing hippy hater's" argument comes from the general media's (and therefore public's) acceptance that CO2 is the cause of the current instability in the global climate. I certainly wouldn't use the term 'global warming' as that infers that the planet is getting hotter year on year - which it is not. Last year the global average temperature went down...
So where is the evidence for anthropogenic climate change? Well, there isn't any. It is purely speculative and would not stand up in a court.
Don't agree with me? Think of our planet as a closed thermodynamic system. Without delving into too much thermodynamic theory, we can say that energy is conserved in a closed system... the source of energy is the sun, and energy losses from the system are due to things like reflection of the suns rays, heat transfer through radiation etc... most of which is pretty constant.
How do we change the rate of heat transfer? Change the rate of energy output from the heat source (the sun) or change the insulating factor of the earth.
This later one is obviously the one that "global warming climate theorists" would suggest is the effect of increasing the concentration of CO2 in the earths atmosphere. But, the theorists are also saying that the small increase in CO2 (in parts per million) is enough to change the insulation properties of the upper atmosphere so drastically that the global air and sea temperatures will rise by a few degrees in just a few years. These are very large masses, which take a lot of energy to heat up.
Unfortunately, anyone who has studied thermodynamics in any detail (and understood it) will tell you that the global warming theorists are completely wrong. The variability in the rate of heat transfer from the heat source is the cause of climate change, nothing more - and hence it cannot be anthropogenic by any means.
The real issue is energy security, some countries have it, and some countries don't. The best way to package that and sell it to the public is to tell them that their grandchildren will have to wear lifesavers before taking the 'aquabus' to school because all the icecaps melted if they don't reduce their consumption of fossil fuels... fear is the best marketing tactic.
Vauxhall Insignia sports all-seeing front camera system [w/VIDEO] {Autoblog}
Jun 19th 2008 9:42AM Does it have an off button?
Scientists create bacteria that eat junk, produce oil {Autoblog}
Jun 19th 2008 5:06AM Just a thought:
Can we feed the bacteria with hippies, politicians, real-estate brokers and vegetarians?
If so, where can I buy some stock in this company?
Jaguar and Land Rover are hiring! {Autoblog}
Jun 19th 2008 4:45AM I think the fundamental issue has always been "the willingness to move to central England."
JLR has always struggled to hire the best engineers and designers because no-body wants to live in England's version of Detroit.
Infact, before the sell off to Tata, JLR was offering contract positions for Engineers at almost double the rate that Ford was willing to pay. This is because Ford was located in the more popular South East of England, and JLR is based in and around Birmingham.
For those of you that haven't had the pleasure of visiting Birmingham, England; it can only be described as a desolate concrete jungle with high unemployment, high rates of crime, and locals with an English accent/dialect that is incomprehensible to most other Brits (reffered to as the "brummie" accent).
This area in England used to be the industrial heartland, but since the 1970's it has suffered from a monumental lack of investment. Hence, the majority of the British manufacturing industry has since died off, or is in its final death throws.
In a recent survey of British job agencies, it was determined that people originating from this part of England were the least likely to suceed at a job interview simply on account of their accent. Who says England still suffers from it's outdated class system?
Obama promises more meetings with automakers if president {Autoblog}
Jun 18th 2008 6:51AM Promises, promises...
Perhaps I should go increase my holdings in the big three based on this information?
Sorry Bernie, Mosley wins vote of confidence {Autoblog}
Jun 4th 2008 3:18AM I'm sure that someone will set up an alternative governing body if this situation is not resolved in the near future.
BMW, Mercedes, Toyota and Honda have all made their opinion on subject of Max Mosley very clear.
All it will take is for the Germans authorities to cancel the F1 events held in their country this summer to protest against the decision to keep Mosley at the top of the FIA.
Even though the Germans are the most car obsessed nation in Europe, their sensitivities to the "Nazi" situation cannot be underestimated.
