Europe In April 2012: Car Sales Down 6.9 Percent

post from The Truth About Cars on 16 May 2012 05:51:42 PM. © The Truth About Cars

Listening to the news from Europe, one thinks that there is chaos in the streets of Europe. Not yet. But Europeans are clearing room for chaos by buying fewer cars. 1,017,912 new passenger cars were registered in the EU, or 6.9 percent less than in the same month of 2011. Four months into the year, [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/05/europe-in-april-2012-car-sales-down-6-9-
percent/

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Decision Close: Opel Will Close Bochum, Keep
Ellesmere Port Open

post from The Truth About Cars on 16 May 2012 04:50:42 PM. © The Truth About Cars

Tomorrow, Thursday morning, GM will most likely announce that the new Opel Astra will be built at the Ellesmere Port plant near Liverpool, and no longer in Germany. This ends weeks of hard-nosed gamesmanship, where one plant was played against the other. According to a report in the London Telegraph, workers at the Vauxhall plant [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/05/decision-close-opel-will-close-bochum-ke
ep-ellesmere-port-open/

Digg this

Whats Wrong With This Picture Just Because They
Fit Doesnt Mean You Have To Edition

post from The Truth About Cars on 16 May 2012 04:25:50 PM. © The Truth About Cars

This morning I had the honor of naming my new *grandson at his bris. That means that I’m old enough to remember when 15 inch wheels were considered large. I also remember when and why car companies started going to larger and larger wheel diameters. The tire industry had moved to radial ply construction and [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/05/whats-wrong-with-this-picture-just-becau
se-they-fit-doesnt-mean-you-have-to-edition/

Digg this

QOTD: Is The 2013 Nissan Altima A Future Number
One Or One-Hit Wonder

post from The Truth About Cars on 16 May 2012 03:59:26 PM. © The Truth About Cars

Our own Michael Karesh will be testing out Nissan’s new Altima this week. This is the car that Nissan is hoping will take the Altima from its current second place slot in the mid-size segment and up to the top of the pile. In lieu of Michael’s take, there are a few factors that are [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/05/qotd-is-the-2013-nissan-altima-a-future-
number-one-or-one-hit-wonder/

Digg this

40 Years Of The M Series A Pictorial History.
Chapter 1

post from The Truth About Cars on 16 May 2012 03:45:39 PM. © The Truth About Cars

It was 1972, 40 years ago, when BMW did something that many would later imitate: Much to the chagrin of its own engineers, who were convinced they already had the hottest cars imaginable, and that to touch them meant to desecrate their creations, BMW decided to put the tuners out of business, and created the [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/05/40-years-of-the-m-series-a-pictorial-his
tory-chapter-1/

Digg this

Gumball 2012: Route and Schedule

post from Gumball 3000 News, Updates, Photos & Videos on 16 May 2012 03:15:04 PM. © Gumball 3000 News, Updates, Photos & Videos

With just a week to go the Gumball 2012 route and rally schedule are here to see. The Gumballers and their cars are descending upon New York from all over the world ready for the 3,000 mile drive across the USA.Gumball 2012 ScheduleNew York to Los Angeles, 7 days, 2 countries, 12 states, driving 3000 [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gumball-3000/~3/DyjKx7G_6HQ/

Digg this

2014 Porsche 918 Spyder Going Into Production
Next Year, New Images Released

post from Automoblog.net on 16 May 2012 02:29:29 PM. © Automoblog.net

Now here is a new Porsche model that we can get excited about! We’ve been hearing about the upcoming small Macan crossover and possibility of a “Pajun” mid-size sedan far too much. Those cars are part of a plan by the Volkswagen Group to push Porsche sales to 200,000 by 2018. Let’s get back to [...]

Automoblog.net - A Car Blog for Auto Enthusiasts

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Automoblognet/~3/_8WJ5DeOLbk/

Digg this

All 5 Of The Fast & Furious Movies Just The Gear
Shifting

Even though you probably don’t want to admit it, I can pretty much guarantee that you’ve seen all the “Fast and the Furious” movies. Sure they’re full of automotive falsities, ridiculous stunts and over-the-top characters, but in the end, that’s truly what makes them great. If there is one aspect of all the films however [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.ridelust.com/all-5-of-the-fast-furious-movies-just-the-gear-shifting/

Digg this

Ethics of Manuals

Over at Salon.com, David Sirota asks if it is "ethical" to drive a manual transmission. The reason for his question is recent news that more people are choosing manuals, and also, that automatics are now sometimes equal to or better than manuals in fuel economy.

I find it odd that he only considers fuel economy in his question.

A more careful ethicist would also consider the resources going into the transmission. For example, a manual will over its lifetime consume one or two clutches. An automatic (unless it is one of those rare CVTs) will consume several changes of automatic transmission fluid, a.k.a. oil.

Also, consider that automatics usually cost about $1000 more than a manual. Why is that? Simply, omplexity. The automatic has more parts, including electronic controls. More parts means more manufacturing footprint to make it.

It seems to me that manuals are more "ethical" than automatics until such time as their fuel economy gains can overcome the manuals advantage in simplicity.

Read The Full Article:
http://theautoprophet.blogspot.com/2012/05/ethics-of-manuals.html

Digg this

Ford Ramps Up Facebook Ads In An Effort To Be
Social, BUYS ALL THE AD SPACE

Even as GM abandons Facebook advertising because of a poor ROI, Ford is going full steam ahead with Facebook spending and including more “sponsored stories” – i.e. cheesy advertorial content – as part of their “accelerated” spending. The problem is that it doesn’t work. Ford’s social media head Scott Monty told Automotive News “We’ve found [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/05/ford-ramps-up-facebook-ads-in-an-effort-
to-be-social-buys-all-the-ad-space/

Digg this