Daily Archives: November 30, 2012


My previous experiences with 3-cylinder engines were decidedly unpleasant 3

My previous experiences with 3-cylinder engines were decidedly unpleasant

My first exposure to a three-banger was in 1991 with a Geo Metro paired with a 3-speed automatic transmission. A terrible engine with a terrible transmission in a terrible car. 

More recently I experienced the Smart ForTwo which had a mediocre engine with terrible transmission in a meh car. 

By all accounts, Ford may have finally got it right with the new 1.0-liter EcoBoost. With 123 hp from its direct-injected and turbocharged 3-cylinders, it has plenty of juice and pretty much every reviewer has said it's great to drive. Now if only they would put one more ratio in the gearbox…

Reshared post from +Automobile Magazine

+David Zenlea on the 2014 +Ford Motor Company Fiesta with the 1.0-liter EcoBoost I-3: "A tiny car with an even tinier engine and a not-so-tiny price — it will cost more than the base four-cylinder — the Fiesta 1.0-liter is the epitome of what would once have been considered a "not for America" product. Only, here it comes. Is it ready?"

Read more: http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/driven/1211_2014_ford_fiesta_1_liter_ecoboost/#ixzz2DkW6atJU

Post imported by Google+Blog for WordPress.


Hot hatches rock! 1

Small, light and with just the right amount of power to avoid gobs of torque steer, the Fiesta ST could be the ideal choice for someone that wants a quick car that is also reasonably practical. Output is right in the ball park with the larger VW GTI which I think is just about perfect for a small front-driver. Anything more and I prefer to have the correct (that is the ones that aren't steering) wheels driven so that there isn't so much electronic intervention needed to achieve reasonable balance.

Reshared post from +Edmunds.com

Watch Edmunds video coverage of the 2012 LA Auto Show, including this one on the 2014 Ford Fiesta: http://edmu.in/UgmMPP ^RC

Post imported by Google+Blog for WordPress.


Seems like a perfectly reasonable way to keep any more Bushes out of the White H…

Seems like a perfectly reasonable way to keep any more Bushes out of the White House

Reshared post from +Jim Fawcette

Good Bye, Texas, but First Some Final Business
don't come back whining when you're annexed to Chihuahua

Good take by LAT's David Horsey on setting conditions before Texas waves bye, bye. His final punch line is priceless. I'd add another condition: Repayment of the $200 Billion U.S. taxpayers "gifted" Texas in the S&L bailout. 

Horsey: If we agree to let Texas secede peacefully, " there have to be some guidelines to this deal. Texans cannot just get up from the table and leave a bill for somebody else to pay. Texas must pay its share of the national debt. It was a former governor of Texas who racked up the major part of that bill by giving his rich friends a huge tax cut and then buying two wars and a prescription drug plan on credit.

"Also, the new Republic of Texas must provide safe passage to all the Texas liberals who may want out. We do not want to see Austin become another West Berlin isolated in a vast, hostile territory…. 

"And one more stipulation: When the Latino population finally reaches a majority in Texas and decides to head a little further back into history by reuniting Texas with Mexico, all you secessionists cannot come crying to us, pleading to be taken back into the United States. 

"By then, we will be done messing with Texas. If you are upset, take your grievances to Mexico City."

Some rules for Texas secessionists before they depart from us
There may be secessionists in all 50 states, but Texas can boast of the biggest cohort of independent-minded (unhinged?) folks who want to cast off the “tyranny” of the federal government and go it al…

Post imported by Google+Blog for WordPress.


Can we just get the rapture overwith already so that these whackjobs get whisked…

Can we just get the rapture overwith already so that these whackjobs get whisked away

Reshared post from +Ars Technica

666 chip? Why a Texas student thinks her school ID is the “Mark of the Beast”
The theology behind a battle over RFID tags.

Post imported by Google+Blog for WordPress.