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  • Phil L.
  • Member Since Dec 22nd, 2005

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Recent Comments:

Toyota tops Kelley Blue Book best resale value awards {Autoblog}

Dec 3rd 2009 9:02AM It qualifies under "ALT. FUEL": The Audi A5 can be had with a diesel engine

Hydrogen cars + math. Worth the trouble? {Autoblog Green}

Dec 2nd 2009 8:33AM Yeah, it looks like it now requires a site-specific account. I have a generic Wordpress account; it didn't allow access to that site.

REPORT: Initial Chevy Volt launch will be in select U.S. markets only {Autoblog}

Dec 1st 2009 3:35PM Translation, based on past similar situations: California will see the Volt first; everyone else can wait...

Smart ED production kicks off at Hambach plant {Autoblog Green}

Nov 19th 2009 2:19PM Doug -

Ow, that smarted...

Wait, did I just say that?

John Surtees pilots electric Ginetta G50EV through Channel Tunnel {Autoblog}

Nov 19th 2009 10:03AM I see there's a camera mounted on top of the car. Does this mean there's a video of the trip out there somewhere?

Pole Dance: NHTSA to add new side-impact crash test? [w/VIDEO] {Autoblog}

Nov 18th 2009 3:49PM The convertible's side-impact airbag deployed. The front impact (i.e., steering wheel) airbag did not.

I suspect that the side-impact airbags are an option, and the couple in this test didn't have them.

Meanwhile, most drivers come equipped with arms. Is there a reason the crash dummies in this test didn't include this important feature?

VIDEO: 1977 Dodge Colt dealer film is a completely amazing time capsule {Autoblog}

Oct 29th 2009 9:30AM I ended up with a Chevette from that era.

Yeah, non-opening quarter windows and no rear defrost, just like the video says. It was the stripper "Scooter" model for '79.

I can't complain much, though - I got the car free for the hauling (partially disassembled at the time) and got it fixed up over a summer. The 1.6 was more durable and tunable than people give it credit for - and with RWD, fun to push in a curve. Sadly, the trouble areas were in places where it was obvious GM cheapened the design (front shock towers routinely punched through, even before rusting out).

Still, it was a cheap, dependable daily driver once I took care of some of the problems. I probably could have said the same thing about a Colt - but no one I knew had one they were trying to give away...

NHTSA releases new info about crash that prompted Toyota floormat recall {Autoblog}

Oct 26th 2009 3:50PM It's pegged - but the display says "Check PCS System". A diagnostic mode? One of my vehicles has a dashboard diagnostic mode. It swings needles through their full arc on startup.

REPORT: All those clunkers messed up with no where to go {Autoblog Green}

Oct 26th 2009 1:57PM I agree.

But that's not what CARS was about. It was primarily an economic incentive program. It called for destroying the vehicle's engine (using a sodium silicate solution; so the motor oil was taken out, but someone still needs to cleans up the sodium silicate) before it went to the scrapyard. You say goodbye to much of the "reuse" portion of the useful engine parts when the internals are junk.

Small-car surge stymies auto electronics growth {Autoblog Green}

Oct 26th 2009 1:49PM Traditionally, Europeans have been willing to pay premium prices for well equipped, premium small cars. So they get a market full of such choices.

Americans traditionally view small cars as cheap cars, and haven't been willing to pay premium prices for them, even when well designed, built and equipped. So we have a market full of stripped-down choices or cheap cousins of their European relatives (this is for you, current US Ford Focus).

The difference in manufacturing expense between building a small car and a large car isn't as large the the US consumer perception in the difference of their value. The current economy is changing this perception gap (we'll finally get the Euro Focus!), but it's taking some time.






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