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Thread: The State of The Car

  1. #961
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    FWD is easier in (very) slippery surfaces, but good tyres are king.
    Lack of charisma can be fatal.
    Visca Catalunya!

  2. #962
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trailbreaker View Post
    Those are good choices as well. Weird enough, I used to dislike FWD a lot but ever since moving in an area that snows more I actually prefer FWD or AWD to RWD.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    FWD is easier in (very) slippery surfaces, but good tyres are king.
    The importance of tires is very understated, a lot of people in NYC use all seasons as all seasons and wonder why they mess up in winter when there's 2 feet of snow outside. I wish people actually cared more about cars and didn't treat them like appliances. At least do basic maintenance and read the manual. If they don't do any of that, you can bet they're not checking their pressures either, which can change a lot in a place with lots of temperature swings.

  3. #963
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    Quote Originally Posted by NSXType-R View Post
    The importance of tires is very understated, a lot of people in NYC use all seasons as all seasons and wonder why they mess up in winter when there's 2 feet of snow outside. I wish people actually cared more about cars and didn't treat them like appliances. At least do basic maintenance and read the manual. If they don't do any of that, you can bet they're not checking their pressures either, which can change a lot in a place with lots of temperature swings.
    You're absolutely right. People find it hard to believe they have to check tire pressure and oil every so often. Take care of your car and it will take care of you for sure.

  4. #964
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    So Mitsubishi is going to be taken over by Nissan, and Suzuki possibly by Toyota.

    I think maybe Subaru is the only independent automaker left in Japan? Maybe Mazda?

    NEWS: All your Mitsubishi are belong to us | Japanese Nostalgic Car

  5. #965
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    Mazda is pretty much independent, even though I think that Ford still has a minor stake in them.

    Subaru is (partly) owned by Toyota isn't it?
    Lack of charisma can be fatal.
    Visca Catalunya!

  6. #966
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    Mazda is pretty much independent, even though I think that Ford still has a minor stake in them.

    Subaru is (partly) owned by Toyota isn't it?
    I thought Ford sold their stake in Mazda, although that explains their engine choices.

    I think you're right, Subaru is partly owned by Toyota.

    Otherwise you only have Mitsuoka as the only other independent car manufacturer.

    Official Website | Mitsuoka Motor

    You know, the ugliest sports car of Japan.

  7. #967
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    According to some teenagers Ford still owns 2.1% of Mazda. Whether this is enough to consider this as a controlling stake in the company is another matter.

    On the other hand, I actually like the Orochi. I mean the flamboyant styling is too much and the 5 speed automatic is out of place as I prefer to row my own gears. But I completely appreciate the blend between supercar looks, sportscar handling/performance and luxury car manners.

    It is my kind of car indeed, even if I would do it in a completely different way.
    Lack of charisma can be fatal.
    Visca Catalunya!

  8. #968
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    Good to know Ferrer.

    So with VAG paying out at least $14.7 billion over their diesel fiasco, Audi officially bows out of Le Mans. The payout is only for the 4 cylinder diesels and not the 6 cylinder ones, and that's not even including the criminal charges and civil lawsuits that VAG will have to deal with.

    Audi with new motorsport strategy: Formula E instead of WEC | Audi MediaCenter

    Judge Approves VW's $14.7 Billion Settlement Over Emissions Scandal : The Two-Way : NPR

  9. #969
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    I was going to put this in the Vectra thread, but it seems more appropriate here:

    Quote Originally Posted by f6fhellcat13 View Post
    Personally? I don't know.

    Trailbreaker has shown affinity for G, N, and W-bodies in the past, so he seems to have a kink for the General's less-loved merchandise.
    On the subject of N-bodies:an investigation into the plastic-clad truth of the Pontiac Grand Am.

    It is a shame there are so few automotive writers who can actually write. Though, if there are some of which I'm unaware, please let me know. (English only, please).
    Mr. Baruth's writing chops and knowledge about cars are certainly present, and he is one of my favorite autojournoes presently, but he can be very unfocused and descend into political screed very easily, which I rarely enjoy when reading about cars.

    I would recommend his "Avoidable Contact" articles; he was younger, less-jaded, and even less-focused but his talent shone through all of that.

    Avoidable Contact: Who wants to last forever?
    Avoidable Contact: Rich Corinthian Swaybars

    I also enjoy Jason Torchinsky (Jalopnik) and Murilee Martin's (LeMons, Jalopnik, TTAC, Autoweek, and many more) stranger takes on the automotive universe. Torch and Baruth are certainly my favorites at the moment.

    Murilee
    Torch
    "Kimi, can you improve on your [race] finish?"
    "No. My Finnish is fine; I am from Finland. Do you have any water?"

  10. #970
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    I enjoyed Murilee Martin's articles on strange junkyard picking and odd finds a lot when he used to be on Jalopnik.

    Torchinksy tends to write more clickbaity articles and I tend to avoid those.

  11. #971
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    Torch's clickbait is absolutely skewering actual clickbait. Usually a massive pisstake, generally good for at least a chuckle or two.
    Life's too short to drive bad cars.

  12. #972
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    As I've had a introduction to automotive journalism a few years ago I feel I can judge on it for a bit too. In 2012 I had a 6-month internship at Autokampioen, a Dutch magazine. A dozen or so articles of my hand were published in print and a lot more online articles.

    From my personal experience, it is very difficult to write an article on a subject like cars. Everybody has their (mostly) biased opinion on a vehicle. Your bound to step on some enthusiasts foot.
    Secondly you don't want to write your articles too in-depth (in mainstream media) as your bound to lose the less-educated reader. But you will also lose a lot of readers if you don't. Finding this sweet-spot is the trick every journalist struggles with, when writing for a mainstream outlet.

    I remember my first article; a 1-page on the classic Fiat Punto Turbo. My colleague (journo) reviewing it barely read it, before it was in the bin. Too technical for a big audience. Second try.. Too 'popular', we lose the avid techies. In the bin. I think it was ~6 tries before I found the sweet spot.

    On our then department we had a good mix of people / characters. There were journalists and there were (ex-) racers and engineers. You really need that mix. An engineer, though technically outstanding, will write boring articles in which barely any stylistic figures are used. The journalist will write a beautiful piece of proza, but gets the technical side all wrong.

    Boy, am I happy I still test cars, but can write a boring error report to my fellow engineers, telling them to fix their shit
    Last edited by drakkie; 10-28-2016 at 06:03 AM.

  13. #973
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  14. #974
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    Couple of things-

    Audi- looks like they're caught cheating on other emissions as well. It does not look good for VW now, they have too much crap going on.

    Porsche- the new 911 RSR is mid engined and people are throwing a fit about a mid engined Porsche race car. They've been doing that since the 917, not sure why that's a new issue now.

  15. #975
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    The latter is quite an amusing development. I have not followed GT racing of late, but it seems the ultimate admission of the fundamental flaw of a rear-engine the engineers in Zuffenhausen have been working 50 years to fix.

    Cummins/Chrysler have been dinged for cheating diesel too. RIP diesel?

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