Car news

Oh, Ferrari. You make such lovely, fast cars. But, damn, are you in some serious denial right now. The Italian automaker is currently involved in a stupid tiff with a wealthy German fashion designer whose aesthetic sensibilities seem to be based on the result of mixing Red Bull and puréed Euro notes with the collected crotch sweat from a Berlin discotheque. Ferrari wants the designer, Philip Plein, to remove pictures of his own cars from his Instagram account, because they feel his feed “tarnishes the reputation of Ferrari’s brands.” Ferrari, you deluded fools: this kind of wealth-can’t-buy-taste shit is the reputation of Ferrari’s brands. Advertisement Here’s a sample of one of the images Ferrari finds troubling: Those are Plein’s shoes sitting there on his matching electro-lime green 12-cylinder Ferrari 812 Superfast. Sure, he’s using the car as a prop to suggest the sort of associations he wants with his shoes, but he’s … [Read more...] about Ferrari Wants Instagrammer To Remove Pics Of His Car Because It’s Delusional About Who Buys Ferraris

California regulators have shot down what appeared to have been a very ill-advised plan to let self-driving car manufacturers dodge liability for crashes if the cars weren’t maintained to industry-written specifications, the Associated Press reported. No such maintenance requirements exist for standard human-driven vehicles, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles was only considering the proposal after it was suggested by General Motors. If the rule had been adopted, Association of California Insurance Companies vice president Armand Feliciano told the AP, scenarios could include automakers dodging responsibility for major car crashes because of things like slightly under-inflated tires or failing to meet oil change schedules. In November, activist group Consumer Watchdog wrote a letter to the California DMV suggesting former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief counsel Paul Hemmersbaugh, who now works for GM, had improperly hit up government connections … [Read more...] about California DMV Ditches Rule to Limit Liability for Self-Driving Car Manufacturers

Danielle drives a manual Honda Fit—a good car! But it’s getting worn out and is no longer ideal for hauling two kids around. She is feeling some pressure to get something “more responsible” but doesn’t want to give up the stick shift life. What car should she buy? (Welcome back to What Car Should You Buy ? Where we give real people real advice about buying cars. ) Advertisement Here is the scenario: Is there a phenomenon when you are a completely competent and independent adult, until you have kids, and then your parents start treating you like a teenager again? Just me? Despite the fact that, when I was kid, my parents hauled me around in a 1965 Porsche 911 with no seatbelts (my dad belted me in with tie downs. Ah the ‘80s), an old Mercedes from the junkyard that my mom could only start by beating the carburetor with her clog, and a 1970s Rivera that may or may not have had a back seat (I can’t remember), my parents have been all … [Read more...] about I Need A Responsible Family Car With A Manual Transmission! What Should I Buy?

On Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke at a company investor day focused on autonomy, relaying news that Tesla had switched to a self-driving computer designed by in-house engineers and dropping some big promises about what, exactly, the future of its Autopilot feature and autonomous driving will look like. And boy, it’s a doozy. This being Musk, who is well-known for sensationalism and spectacle—and with the New York Times reporting that Tesla is expected to announce a first-quarter loss this Wednesday when it is already burning through billions, giving the event curious timing—there’s a lot to unpack. Advertisement Here’s some of the stuff that Musk said on Monday, ranked using our proprietary “How many Elons out of five Elons” system. The new Tesla micro-chip is “the best chip in the world... objectively” During the event, Musk showed off Tesla’s new “full self-driving computer” or FSD Computer, which … [Read more...] about Stuff Elon Musk Said About Tesla Autonomous Cars on Monday, Ranked

An extensive report by a former police apologist officer has surprisingly absolved California police officers of any wrongdoing in a police shooting, concluding that it was reasonable for multiple officers to open fire on a man who fell asleep in his car. On Feb. 9, a Vallejo, Calif., Taco Bell employee called 911 and informed an operator that there was a man slumped over in his car in the fast-food restaurant’s drive-thru, according to T. Responding officers say they noticed a gun on 20-year-old Willie McCoy’s lap and decided not to move his car. After determining that the doors to the vehicle were locked, officials say the sleeping rapper, known as “Willie Bo,” woke up and would not comply with their verbal commands to put his hands up. According to a press release, when McCoy started moving his hands towards the gun on his lap, police fired multiple rounds into the car, killing McCoy. “They killed him in his sleep,” said McCoy’s cousin, … [Read more...] about ‘Expert’ Says It Was ‘Reasonable’ for Cops to Fire 55 Bullets at a Man Sleeping in His Car