Cars

Behold the successor to the civic as the new tuner standard, folks: That’s right, it’s a Scion tC (née Toyota), it’s got a supercharger-friendly engine, and it’s only 15k. The xA and xB scions are really, weird, but I find this coupe oddly handsome. If it has good dynamics (and it should) I see kids running to ’em in droves. So, when you see one fly by with neon lights on the undercarriage, a wing fit for a b-52, and an exhaust bigger than a Folger’s can, at least you’ve been warned :-)

Looks like the Jeep Liberty is going to have a diesel engine + manual transmission available next year: The diesel Jeep Liberty will be powered by a 2.8-liter common rail turbo-diesel engine produced by DaimlerChrysler. It will be available with a manual or automatic transmission, as well as two- or four-wheel drive. It is expected that the diesel-powered Liberty will have up to a 30 percent improvement in fuel economy, versus a comparable gasoline-powered Liberty. ...

Well, with another autocross this weekend, I guess I should probably talk about the last one: Pics: Got first in my class, but it was a slaughter: No one else had race tires, nor any experience autocrossing. Capture of my times: 40.186(1) 40.604(1) 37.637 37.375 38.955(1) Best time: 37.375 I had the victoracers running at 50/45 psi throughout the first 4 runs, and then had a wild ride on the last run with 40/45 pressures. ...

Great! The biggest competitor for the MINI comes from….BMW ITSELF: Interior: Basically, what you have here is a rear-drive MINI, folks: A premium small car (priced in the low $20k’s). BMW swears it’s not going to bring the car here, because it feels it will “dilute the brand image”. Okaaaaay….a MINI shares about 50% of its mechanical & electrical parts with a 3-series Beamer (the 5-link rear suspension is basically identical, minus the driveline). Has that ‘diluted the brand’. What I read here is: “We don’t want to deal with the plebian VW crowd.” ...

Okay, so I’ve had car fever since the blasted auto show on Saturday, so in hopes of assuaging the Gods of Capitalism, I’ve weaned myself down from wanting to buy a new Toyota Tacoma: (I will have one of these puppies one day, folks: Utterly reliable, simple, easy-to-work-on, efficient, and still with that simple truck image. These little workhorses aren’t poseurs. They need to make ’em with a diesel engine from their European Yaris. Imagine, a little workhorse like this getting 40 mpg, with gobs of torque) ...

Quick one: Q: What’s the difference between a porcupine and a BMW? A: A porcupine has pricks on the outside.

Depressing blog of the day: My dreams have been trending towards the apocalyptic lately…no real idea why: Last night I was reading on fark about some pending announcement from NASA about a “significant” event in the solar system. So, of course, some fellas are making cracks about some comet or asteroid being inbound and them not wanting to tell us about it. So, I promptly go to sleep (well, at 1:30 am, but more on that later) and have this ultra-vivid dream about the End of the World: For some reason, I was at work, and the skies were dark and ominous. We were all looking out the window of Building 082 towards the south, and I got hints of conversation: ...

The Car Connection [ The Web’s Automotive Authority ]: Consumer confidence dropped in February, as persistent worries about jobs undercut optimism about future prospects, according to the Conference Board, which reported its consumer confidence index dropped more than nine points to 87.3, following a rise in January to a revised reading of 96.4. “Consumers began the year on a high note, but their optimism has quickly given way to caution,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center. “Consumers remain disheartened with current economic conditions, and at the core of their disenchantment is the labor market.” The lack of confidence also appears to have helped slow car sales, which fell below expectations in January and are sluggish again in February. Gary Lapidus, Goldman Sachs analyst, said in a note the shortfall in sales is pushing up both incentives and inventories sitting unsold on dealer lots. -Joe Szczesny ...

I drive a MINI Cooper. I race a MINI Cooper in Autocross. Here’s a pic of me doing so: And I thought I’d hate the new Mini Cabrio with a passion, but I kinda like it. Really opens-up the car and it doesn’t look as chunky & girly as I thought it would.