Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Car makers to be forced to disclaim ‘Official’ economy figures

We’ve banged on for a long time about the futility of official economy figures, especially as car makers get better and better at ‘gaming’ the official economy tests to produce the results they want. Much of the impetus to create the best headline economy figure for a car is driven by taxation, with car makers well aware that the better the official economy results are, the lower their CO2 will be (CO2 isn’t tested for – it’s just extrapolated from the official mpg) and the more appealing the car will be to buyers, particularly fleet buyers. But a ruling by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) against Audi could at least see car makers having to admit in their adverts that the ‘official’ economy figure bears no relation to what owners can expect to achieve in the real world.

Hamana, hamana, hamana… SOLD!

The first thing that hits you driving over the hundreds of miles of desert on the way to see the monster Scottsdale classic and collector car auctions every January is the HUGE number of motor homes scattered willy nilly all across the sand and rocks like dice. Every winter Arizona sprouts fields of Winnebegos and Hitchhiker IIs like big, rectangular wildflowers, only less pretty (Not counting the requisite lion and dolphin murals airbrushed on the backs, what are those about, anyway?). Can snowy winters in Saskatchewan really be that bad?

Chrysler recalls Charger police vehicles

Chrysler is recalling almost 10,000 Dodge Charger police cars from the 2011 and 2012 model years. The affected vehicles have a faulty bulb-harness connector that could overheat, causing the low beams to fail. Certain vehicles could also lose their antilock brakes or stability control if the power-distribution center overheats.