Author: Eric Peters

Thanks to Uncle, you can’t buy a new diesel-powered Volkswagen right now – and maybe never again. VW has suspended sales of all its 2016 models powered by TDI (Turbo Direct Injection) diesel engines until they are “certified” by Uncle’s EPA, which may take awhile. Possibly, a long while. So, until further notice: No more Beetle TDI. No more Golf (or Golf Sportwagen TDI). No more Jetta TDI. Which means… no more affordable diesel-powered cars for you. Period. Because VW was the only car company selling diesel-powered cars that weren’t also expensive cars. And even if they are allowed to resume selling diesel-powered … Continue reading →

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Here’s one way to get around the high cost (and hassle) of owning a car… Don’t. Bizarrely, GM – a company that makes cars – thinks it’s time to stop selling cars. Rent them to people instead. By the hour. It is investing in this idea, heavily. The automaker reportedly spent $500 million to buy a controlling stake in Lyft, which is a ride-sharing company like Uber. GM also just announced the ramping up of its own in-house ride-sharing service, an app called Maven.      It lets you call up a Chevy Spark, say, for as little as $6 per hour. … Continue reading →

The post Is the Car Business Putting Itself Out of Business? appeared first on LewRockwell.

Automated braking, Lane Keep Assist, Park Assist, Back-Up Cameras, Traction Control, ABS… all this technology is, is idiot-proofing. It operates at the level of an idiot, too. A skilled/competent driver not only doesn’t need it, he can often outperform it. Skill and competence, are, however, not what’s wanted. They are the opposite of what’s wanted. What’s being engineered, arguably. You get what you encourage. And less of what’s discouraged. The automated braking systems soon to be mandated decelerate the car when it’s either not necessary or so prematurely it’s preposterous. Like there’s an old lady (or a Clover) underneath the dashboard somewhere. Which of course … Continue reading →

The post Safety Devices That Kill You appeared first on LewRockwell.

I recently wrote about the Fading Away of the manual transmission (see here). As it turns out, I was wrong. Manuals will not fade away. They will be regulated out of existence. Here’s how – and why. Federal bureaucrats intend to mandate automated braking in all new cars – if the car companies don’t install these systems in every car they sell on their own initiative. These systems – which use radar proximity sensors to detect the presence of an object in the car’s path and apply the brakes automatically  if the driver doesn’t – are already in about a third of … Continue reading →

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It’s taken as gospel that pre-modern cars, especially those made in America, and particularly those with big V8s, were “gas hogs.” But were they, really? And are new cars as fuel-efficient as advertised? The answer may surprise you. Modern cars have, in general, smaller engines. These are tasked with moving cars that are, in general, heavier than the cars of the past. So they often have to work harder – especially if they’re tasked with moving the car quickly. This has consequences. I’ll give you a study in Now vs. Then and you draw your own conclusions. First, the Now – a modern … Continue reading →

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There are two things pushing the manual transmission off the stage – or at least, off to the sidelines: First, there is government pressure – lots of it – that’s got the car companies sweating nights to figure out ways to make what they make use less gas while still delivering what car buyers (most of them) expect in terms of power/performance. This is no easy trick. De-powering the engine (or making smaller engines) is problematic because cars have become heavy, in order to qualify as “safe” per Uncle’s edicts… but making them lighter – so they could get by with less engine … Continue reading →

The post Fun Driving Matters appeared first on LewRockwell.

The other day, I wrote about ethanol – the corn-sourced alcohol that’s used as a fuel additive in almost all the “gas” sold in the United States. Air quotes used because the “gas” is actually 10 percent ethanol. Or, more. I got replies – mostly favorable, a few not. Some of the nots touted the virtues of ethanol – and I will freely admit there are some. As I hope the nots would acknowledge ethanol’s downsides. It’s neither here nor there. Let’s assume for the sake of discussion that ethanol is the ideal fuel. It’s still an irrelevance… morally speaking. … Continue reading →

The post Is It a Good Idea? appeared first on LewRockwell.

Why does GM continue to throw money at electric cars? Perhaps because it’s not their money. It’s yours. And mine. In the form of apparently endless taxpayer-extorted “help” (via federal taxation) to spur the design and manufacture of vehicles that have to be given away at a loss because – channeling Donald Trump – they are losers. First the Volt – so few of which were offloaded (“sold” would be an affront to honest English) GM had to idle the plant devoted to their assembly. Then GM doubled-down and ginned up the ELR – a Volt dressed in Cadillac duds that … Continue reading →

The post Another Rip-Off Electric Yugo appeared first on LewRockwell.

Ethanol – corn alcohol – won’t take you as far as a gallon of gas. But that doesn’t mean it is isn’t powerful stuff. Politically powerful stuff. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is feeling the heat right now as the ethanol lobby pressures him to openly commit to expanded support for federal ethanol mandates – a kowtow every recent presidential candidate from both parties has done up to now. The ethanol lobby’s potency derives not only from the money it has and the campaign contributions it can make (or not) but also from the fact that – in a presidential election year – the … Continue reading →

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“Anarchy” is one of those words that many people react to emotionally – having been conditioned to do so. The word has become generally synonymous with chaos and disorder. Dog eat dog. As EPautos’ king troll (Clover; see here for more about him) puts it, anarchy means “do whatever the hell you like.” Well, no. Anarchy, strictly defined, means simply the absence of government. It does not mean people won’t – much less can’t – govern themselves. The fact is most people do exactly that. And they do it without government. Already. Do you need government – its threats and laws – to keep you from taking … Continue reading →

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Imagine that the government decided to tax you to finance a step ladder project to the Moon. In a very real way, that’s exactly what’s happening. In California right now – and probably soon, other states as well. The “moon shot” in question is a $22 million project (just for openers) to build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations at $15,000 a piece  in the Los Angeles area to support electric cars … which can’t get very far without an electric umbilical cord. Electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and the electric version of the VW Golf have a full-charge range … Continue reading →

The post Paying for Electric Cars appeared first on LewRockwell.

The other day, I ran into a guy I know who owns a late model Dodge Ram pick-up with the 5.7 Hemi V8. The truck has just over 100k on the clock. Guy tells me he was pulling out onto the main road, glanced in the rearview and noticed a car coming up behind him fast, so he hit the gas … so the other guy wouldn’t need to hit the brakes. And blew his engine. The Hemi suffered a catastrophic failure of Broken Connecting Rod magnitude. He will need a new engine. Apparently, this sort of thing is not uncommon (see … Continue reading →

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We’re supposed to revere – and follow – the Constitution. But if they don’t, why should we? By they, I mean the people who lord it over us. Our rulers. I choose the word deliberately, in the interests of editorial accuracy. We’re certainly not ruled by the Constitution. And neither are they. Consider, for instance, this business of judicial review. The power claimed by the Supreme Court to “interpret” the Constitution. It is a power you will find nowhere in the Constitution itself, or even hinted at. It was simply asserted by the first chief justice, John Marshall (who was a … Continue reading →

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Here’s one that demands pushback – as much as can be sent its way. Arizona lawmakers want to make it illegal – a criminal offense – to film cops on private property. In (air quotes) your home. The air quotes being necessary to impart the appropriate irony. If SB 1054 becomes law, anyhow. If it does, AZ residents will be required to obtain the permission of any cop before they may lawfully record his actions. The legality of the cop’s conduct is ultimately irrelevant. He will be able to arrest you, if you film or otherwise record him without his prior ok. This is an … Continue reading →

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Radar detectors, like bulletproof vests, don’t make you invulnerable. They improve yours odds. And like a bulletproof vest, the more you know about your radar detector’s capabilities – and vulnerabilities – the better off you’ll be. Here are some things worth knowing: * Radar detectors usually can’t pick up “instant on” radar… until it’s too late – One of the ways police foil radar detectors is by not giving them a steady signal to detect  – which gives you less time to react. Instead of lurking by the side of the road with his radar on, waiting for you like a venus fly trap, the … Continue reading →

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