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FGR Midalu 2500 V6 is our kind of naked crazy {Autoblog}
Jan 20th 2011 2:15PM Gee, AB, too bad you haven't 'paid the Czech auto industry much mind' since the demise of the Tatra 87. Skoda's made so much design progress, particularly with the Octavia and the Superb, that VW -- upon whose platforms both cars are based -- should be a little embarrassed.
It's no accident that one of the terms of the VW-Skoda purchase was that Skoda was to never sell cars in the U.S.
Detroit 2011: 2012 Volkswagen Passat is one big, fat Jetta {Autoblog}
Jan 10th 2011 1:32PM My thoughts exactly. I've been a fan of VW design...when they were giving us German cars. Now, it's the same two-cents plain, in 2 sizes.
I'm sure both the Jetta and Jetta XL are perfectly adequate cars, but I look for a little more than adequacy. I enjoy approaching my car in a parking lot and smiling.
Video: Ohio police use Tazer seven times on driver in diabetic shock, dislocate his shoulder {Autoblog}
Jan 5th 2011 9:32AM "with all we have available to diabetics it's unconscionable that a driver should have a seizure while behind the wheel."
Hrm. Don't understand much about diabetes, do you? I know I've learned a lot while getting to know my now-father-in-law, who has Type 2. He keeps it well under control, but even then, there's a degree of unpredictability, despite his being continually dosed insulin via pump.
And, he wasn't having a seizure. There's a significant difference between seizure and a low-blood sugar episode.
I understand what you're trying to say here...but if you aren't educated on the topic, best leave well enough alone.
Video: Ohio police use Tazer seven times on driver in diabetic shock, dislocate his shoulder {Autoblog}
Jan 5th 2011 9:13AM Elmo does have a point; even when consistently monitored, and insulin administered via pump, sometimes blood sugar levels can quickly become unpredictable and a problem. The chances, depending on how well levels are monitored, can be very slim, but it does happen. Given that the number of diabetics in this country is significantly rising, our constabulary would do well in learning about the effects, symptoms, and immediate treatment for diabetic shock.
Give the guy a Lifesaver instead of a Tazer shock, and nobody would be in court.
Mercedes students create B55 using big V8 and little B-Class {Autoblog}
Dec 22nd 2010 9:12AM Yes...the press release further discusses this, like saying they put the drive shaft in the B-class sandwich floor. Brilliant move there.
Mercedes students create B55 using big V8 and little B-Class {Autoblog}
Dec 22nd 2010 9:07AM Agree with Nick. For one, we love cars that provide extra credit in the cognitive dissonance category, as this would. Little, unassuming car with MASSIVE power lurking, unseen, under the hood. Remember, this is the classic hot rod formula, and it's how the Cobra was born.
The X6...it's not little and unassuming, it's massive and has few redeeming qualities. Too big on the road (thus rolls like a tumbleweed), so it should be good off-road, then, right? No, not quite there, either. So, it's not good ON the road, it's not good OFF the road, it's massive, but doesn't really have the cargo-carrying usefulness of an X5 (staying in the family). So...what's it good for? It's an answer to a question nobody asked.
Mercedes students create B55 using big V8 and little B-Class {Autoblog}
Dec 22nd 2010 9:02AM I was beginning to think I was not-quite-right in the head, as I do, too. Z3 coupe, anyone? Ugly as sin, but I waited at a light behind one last week, and smiled broadly from the driver's seat of my A4, perhaps wishing a 2-seater wasn't completely impractical for me.
Yup...this is in the same category: "Not quite as attractive as other cars in its category, but could run circles around it so who really cares?"
Volkswagen offering lockable sat-nav system abroad {Autoblog}
Dec 17th 2010 9:19AM @Hazdaz - Yeah, I see what you're putting out there. Some sort of common protocol and control system, say, a Bluetooth for Satnavs. I had the same thoughts about an (albeit, wired) system for mobile phones back in the 90s, when luxury cars started integrating rapidly-outdated, crappy flip phones with their cars. My A4's still got an interface plate in the armrest that does nothing but annoy me.
That way, you can use your stand-alone GPS, well, stand-alone, or integrated, and update it whenever the heck you feel like it.
I'm in.
Audi reportedly charged with developing SUVs in the Volkswagen group {Autoblog}
Dec 17th 2010 9:12AM That was my thought! Suddenly, all of Top Gear's comments on the Panamera came back.
What, Porsche and VW have been doing SUVs longer than Audi? OK, then how long has Porsche been making [its own] luxury sedans?
First Drive: 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon {Autoblog}
Dec 15th 2010 1:11PM @nard/Five: I think we have common ground here: we would have appreciated some powertrain options, not a one-size-fits-all approach.
For example, in order of priority, I think I'd want AWD, a 6-pot, and a manual. (With my current A4 Avant, I've got the first two.)
