Author: Eric Peters

Engineers are becoming like magicians – pulling improbable things out of their hats. The difference is, it’s not a trick – and they haven’t got much choice. Every car company has armies of engineers trying to figure out how to maintain the performance and power the market expects of new cars while also complying with the government’s demands – which are becoming harder and harder to comply with. Some of these demands aren’t even official  . . . yet. For example, this idea that carbon dioxide (C02) is – hey, presto! – an “emission.” Of course, it is – in the literal sense … Continue reading →

The post Restricting What’s Not Yet Regulated appeared first on LewRockwell.

A used car is an unknown car. Even with receipts it’s hard to know for sure whether required maintenance was done – and done correctly. That second part being the intangible part. A receipt indicating that the axle lube was changed – or the brake fluid flushed – is kind of like a Federal Reserve Note. Its value is based on faith. The work was probably done. But how well was it done? And was it done with the right parts? Including the right fluids? This latter is very important with late-model cars, which often require very specific fluids (e.g., synthetic oil or oil of … Continue reading →

The post The Four-Wheeled Federal Reserve Note appeared first on LewRockwell.

It’s barely four months into the year and already, armed government workers have shot to death 294 people. This is more than twice as many people as have been shot to death by freelancers – those not wearing government uniforms who shot people at schools – during the past six years. Last year, armed government workers shot to death 987 people. This is almost 60 times as many people as were shot to death at Parkland. If the first three-ish months of carnage are any indication – 2018 will be an even better year. Why isn’t the Soy Boy demanding that armed government workers be disarmed? Why … Continue reading →

The post Cop Massacres appeared first on LewRockwell.

Mandates and subsidies have not only distorted the market for electric cars, they’ve distorted the design of electric cars. Instead of being designed to emphasize their natural strengths vs. IC-engined cars – which we’ll get into shortly – they’ve been offered up as cost-no-object economic and functional absurdities whose limitations and failings everyone is supposed to pretend don’t exist or accept for reasons of political/environmental correctness. They cost too much, don’t go far enough and take too long to get going again. They tout quickness, sexiness, style and tech – all of which makes them expensive and impractical for most people, who … Continue reading →

The post The Electric Cars appeared first on LewRockwell.

The other day, GM announced it would no longer report monthly sales figures. Instead, it would hold on to those numbers internally and only reveal them publicly at the end of each quarter. A GM spokesman says that “thirty days is not enough time to separate real sales trends from short-term fluctuations in the market.” Possibly. But 90 days  – a quarter is three months – is just as arguably too long to give shareholders an opportunity to act before they potentially lose their shirts. The obvious example here being the economic implosion of 2007. If you’d waited three months to dump your GM stock … Continue reading →

The post A Lump Under the Rug appeared first on LewRockwell.

Even long cons can only run for so long. Elon Musk’s electric car con may be on the verge – finally – of coming unglued. This week, he’ll be forced to reveal actual production numbers for the first quarter of the year which are expected to fall well short of what he promised investors – and buyers, who ponied up deposits based on those promises. Last year, Musk breezily assured both groups that an improbable 5,000 Model 3s – Tesla’s first “mass-produced” electric car – would be rolling off the production line in Fremont, CA each week. He’s come as close to … Continue reading →

The post Feel The Burn appeared first on LewRockwell.

New cars have many features old cars never had – LCD touchscreens and WiFi, for instance. But new cars are missing some things, too. Maybe you remember – and wonder why? Bumpers that could take a bump – Until about the early-mid 1990s, most cars still had external bumpers designed to be . . . bumped. They were made of steel and so didn’t easily tear, like today’s plastic bumper covers do – leading to very expensive repairs, usually involving the replacement of the torn bumper cover and then repainting it. So, why? Environmental regs made chrome-plating steel bumpers expensive – so they were replaced with … Continue reading →

The post Old Cars Were Sometimes Better appeared first on LewRockwell.

I’ve written before about low-cost, simple vehicles the car companies aren’t allowed to sell here because they don’t conform to the various edicts issued by the federal government regarding emissions (defensible, within reason) and saaaaaaaaaaaaaafety (indefensible, period – as the government has no legitimate basis dictating such a thing to supposedly “free” adults). Well, here’s one you can at least buy – and it’s legal to own it, too. No government SWAT teams will descend for having one in the garage. It’s the $15,540 Mahindra Roxor. It’s basically a rebooted ‘70s-era Jeep CJ, which means it’s a rugged, simple 4×4. It features heavy duty body-on-frame construction, … Continue reading →

The post The Jeep You Can Buy appeared first on LewRockwell.

They can’t even get automated traffic lights to work – to sync the green/red cycles in order to smooth the flow of traffic – but we’re supposed to believe that millions of automated cars are going to sync perfectly, whizz along at 100 MPH in tight formation, without a hitch – just like the Blue Angels, the Navy’s precision flying demonstration squadron. In the rain and snow. The heat of high summer, the bitter cold of January. Dirt, sand, potholes. 24/7, year ’round – for year after year after year, ongoing. Mechanical and electrical components will never wear out – or crap out, unexpectedly. … Continue reading →

The post They Can’t Sync the Traffic Lights appeared first on LewRockwell.

Have you heard about SOL for cars? It’s like the Standards of Learning for kids –  the tests administered by the schools as a way to gauge whether (cue The Chimp) the children is learning. SOLs are widely considered a scam because the kids aren’t learning – just being taught to pass the test. It’s a game. Likewise, the government’s miles-per-gallon testing. The car companies build their cars to perform as well as possible on the EPA’s test loop, so they can tout the best-possible city/highway numbers – and not just to entice buyers. These numbers are also used to calculate the Corporate … Continue reading →

The post SOLs for Cars appeared first on LewRockwell.

Nissan just announced a new SUV they’re not going to sell here. It’s called the Terra – and the Chinese (and other foreign markets) will get it beginning next spring. Nissan’s Ashwani Gupta says there is growing demand in China for “go anywhere SUVs built like the rugged SUVs old” – which apparently are no longer in demand here. This, of course, is claptrap. There is plenty of demand. The problem is Uncle. It is becoming extremely difficult to sell “go anywhere SUVs built like the rugged SUVs of old” because they are heavy and heavy means big engines and that means a hearty appetite for gas. This however isn’t … Continue reading →

The post The Real SUV appeared first on LewRockwell.

Nissan just announced a new SUV they’re not going to sell here. It’s called the Terra – and the Chinese (and other foreign markets) will get it beginning next spring. Nissan’s Ashwani Gupta says there is growing demand in China for “go anywhere SUVs built like the rugged SUVs old” – which apparently are no longer in demand here. This, of course, is claptrap. There is plenty of demand. The problem is Uncle. It is becoming extremely difficult to sell “go anywhere SUVs built like the rugged SUVs of old” because they are heavy and heavy means big engines and that means a hearty appetite for gas. This however isn’t … Continue reading →

The post The Real SUV appeared first on LewRockwell.

One of the reasons for liking old cars is they don’t try to parent you. The new stuff won’t quit trying to. The 2018 VW Golf GTI I am reviewing this week, for instance. When you put the transmission in Reverse, the radio’s volume’s is peremptorily turned down – apparently because someone decided it wasn’t saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafe to back up while listening to the radio. One can almost see the liver-spotted hand of your mother-in-law adjusting the volume control knob. Many new cars have this “feature” – not just new VWs. It’s incredibly obnoxious. More so because it’s not your mother-in-law and you can’t slap her liver-spotted hand down … Continue reading →

The post Cars That Parent Us appeared first on LewRockwell.

Driving a simulated car – as in a game – is becoming more and more like driving an actual car – in reality. At least in terms of the inputs. The car in the game is steered remotely, via a gamepad. You accelerate and brake the car the same way. Soon real cars will be accelerated and braked the same way. Many already are, at least as far as acceleration. They have drive-by-wire throttle control. Your foot does not actually control the acceleration of the vehicle. A computer controls the acceleration of the vehicle. It assesses data it receives from sensors that are connected to the accelerator … Continue reading →

The post How Virtual Should Cars Be? appeared first on LewRockwell.

Trump is getting heat for his threat to impose tariffs on “imported” cars in order to help American car companies. But what about all the “American” cars built outside America? And what about the “import” brands that build their cars here? GM and Ford and FiatChrysler have plants in Mexico. The American 1500 series trucks they build there are shipped here. They are objectively imported. Should they be tariffized? Toyota has a yuge operation in California. Nissan builds its trucks in Tennessee. Honda has plants in Ohio. BMW builds SUVS in South Carolina. Are these “imported” cars? Should they receive protection from the “foreign” competition – even if … Continue reading →

The post Trump’s Tariff Turducken appeared first on LewRockwell.