Recent Comments:
MGS4 'Gun Metal Gray' PS3 bundle exclusive to Konami website {Joystiq}
May 15th 2008 5:05PM oh yes... wife aggro. Awesome.
NBC passes on U.S. Top Gear for now {Autoblog}
May 15th 2008 10:34AM It seems like when people in here say "American Cars" in reference to this show they only think about American car makers. Top Gear features cars from makers all over the world, just the UK spec versions. I would imagine the same would be the case with the US Top Gear. We actually get some cars here that they don't over there from foreign marques. Plus prices and specs would be in American terms.
Its sad though that the show on NBC would likely be an hour long commercial. I was watching ESPN's "Drive" and it was basically a commercial disguised as entertainment shot on the car show circuit. Pathetic.
More developments on Nissan's compact, RWD coupe {Autoblog}
May 5th 2008 1:49PM I'd agree that 2500lbs would be ideal, but unlikely. They say they're using a version of the FM platform for the Z, with the same wheelbase. We'll be lucky if they can bring the car down below 3000lbs which nowidays sadly seems to be the magic number for "light".
In the US there are 6 cars available that are RWD under 3000lbs: S2000 - 2800lbs, RX-8 - 2900lbs, Solstice - 2900lbs, Sky - 2900lbs, MX-5 2400lbs, Elise - 2000lbs.
The Z is 3300lbs, It would be very difficult to whack 800lbs from that platform. 2 things I noticed about that list above 1-non of those cars share a platform with a non-congruent vehicle, and 2 - they were engineered as low power sports cars from the beginning.
We'd be lucky to get that car under 3000lbs at all.
Miata? Impractical? BAH! {Autoblog}
Apr 28th 2008 7:05PM Yeah, in fact those braces were added over time, I don't think i have the butterfly brace on my '03, and those braces probably account for much of the increase in weight from what was essentially the same car from around 2000lbs. in '90 to around 2500lbs. in '05.
Miata? Impractical? BAH! {Autoblog}
Apr 28th 2008 1:22PM @steve-o
I own a NB Miata, and I can confirm what golly says. That thing is built to be light, not rigid, the trunk since ints not a structural piece has very thin sheet metal, the hood too (thin aluminum). Fenders and doors are thicker though.
Even still the words "Flexible Flyer" come to mind. Though I didnt realize how flexible it was until I added a roll bar, those make a HUGE difference.
My Miata: http://www.emezger.com/miata/pics.html
State shaped like penis bans Truck Nutz {Autoblog}
Apr 21st 2008 1:21PM Dude, i'm sick of the "how do I explain that to my 4 yr old" legislation, or excuse for being offended.
If you don't know how to talk to your kid, thats a YOU problem. Not a problem for the government to take on.
Rumor: GTA IV DLC may include entirely new cities {Joystiq}
Apr 20th 2008 1:21AM @Matt B
Dude, the PS3 40gb does not have WiFi.
http://www.us.playstation.com/ps3/about/specs
Automakers facing a 75 mpg CAFE rating by 2030? {Autoblog}
Apr 16th 2008 12:19PM rar, yes, but combined those guys produce only 11% of what we use. The truth is we live in a global economy so commodities such as oil are put into the global market and go wherever from there.
My only point was that the whole buying oil from people who hate us, or the Arab nations or whatever is really overblown. I don't want to get into the issue of social commentary but the lifestyle of your average Saudi or Venezuelan is probably much less impacted by American policy than that of their own govt.
That being said, I honestly do agree with fuel conservation. Cars have skyrocketed in HP figures and economy has remained fairly static within the past 15 years or so, I figure we could knock 50-100 HP off a lot of cars and economy would very much benefit. I actually thought the CAFE of 35 by 2020 was pretty soft, how rapidly were we able to force automakers into unleaded fuel? How rapidly did we implement emissions control? Why a 13 year wait to push up fuel economy?
Automakers facing a 75 mpg CAFE rating by 2030? {Autoblog}
Apr 16th 2008 11:06AM http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_m.htm
that is a link to the Energy Information Administration about where we get our oil from, and how much etc. Just take a glance at it and you'll see its a pretty wide distribution, so claiming that we get oil from people who hate us is pretty naive. We get oil from pretty much everyone who makes it, some people are bound to dislike the US others, not so much.
Our single largest source for oil is Canada, more than the entire Persian gulf.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed gets multiplatform exclusives {Joystiq}
Apr 6th 2008 2:50PM @Ed
Where is that information about DMC coming from? Everything I have read states the contrary, unless you only count Japan.
