Monthly Archives: May 2015


A very interesting look at what can happen when you start layering on what seem like fairly innocuous features to push up efficiency

I've been hearing a bunch of anecdotal reports about the impact of features like brake energy recuperation and auto stop start. I think this is part of what will increasingly drive automakers toward 48 volt systems and different types of batteries including lithium ion.

Enginerdy: Why BMW’s N63 twin-turbo V8 eats batteries
When cars get complicated, weird things happen. In the search for thrift and power, BMW unwittingly made its N63 a battery killer.


The Design of the 2017 Ford GT

2016 Ford GT design - 18 of 61

When the all-new third-generation Ford GT hits the streets in 2016, it will in many ways be the most radical departure in the more than 50 year history of the brand. But that doesn’t mean this new edition has completely broken with its DNA. Enough hints of its heritage remain visible to connect this 21st century supercar to its ancestors while bringing it up to most modern technical and design standards. Ford recently invited us down into the secret basement room under its design studio to talk about how this car came to be.

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We have plenty of transportation issues to figure out, can we please move bey…

We have plenty of transportation issues to figure out, can we please move beyond the flying car?

Flying Car Crashes During Test Flight
A flying car crashed during a test flight in Slovakia on Friday. The Aeromobil car was piloted by Stefan Klein, a co-founder of the company. Klein was able to deploy a parachute for the vehicle, which is said to have helped ease the severity of the impact.


2015 Ford Shelby GT350 – Built From the Wheels Up

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2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the first Shelby-badged Ford Mustang, the 1965 GT350. With an all-new Mustang having hit the streets last fall, 50 years after the original, the first true GT350 since the 1960s is now in the final stages of development and it promises to be truer to the spirit of that first model than any of the cars to wear that badge since.

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2015 GMC Canyon SLT 4WD

2015 GMC Canyon SLT 4wd - 6 of 23

My first vehicle that I ever bought with my own money and had registered in my name was the direct progenitor of the most recent vehicle I’ve had a chance to drive. Just shy of 30 years ago as I entered the second half of my freshman year at was then GMI Engineering & Management Institute (since renamed to Kettering University) I bought an 18-month-old 1984 GMC S15 pickup. All these years later, the most compact pickup you can buy from GMC is now called the Canyon and frankly it’s not so compact anymore. Does this midsize pickup make sense anymore?

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