Posts from ‘Technology’
Briggs & Stratton Hybrid
This is an installment in a series of posts looking back on show cars that we feel deserved a little more attention than they got. If you have a suggestion for a Forgotten Concept topic, please shoot us a line or leave a comment below.
It was once possible–and relatively common–to push-start cars with automatic transmissions.
Back in the “good ol’ days,” push-starting a car was a fairly common occurrence. In fact, the skills necessary to push-start a manual-transmission automobile were once considered common knowledge. Interestingly, “Money Saving Facts for Car Owners,” a handy informational booklet/DIY guide that was published around 1960 by Allstate Insurance, doesn’t even cover the process for manual-transmission cars, the authors presumably assuming that everyone knew how to do that. Instead, a handy chart in the booklet (which we’ve excerpted below) covers only the details of push-starting cars with automatic (and semi-automatic) transmissions.
Acura’s 573-hp, mid-engine, all-wheel-drive hybrid NSX is no ordinary car, and the place where it is built—Honda’s Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio—is no ordinary assembly plant.
What’s New for 2019: Acura
2019 Acura Lineup
Acura’s product lineup has been undergoing an exterior-design transformation over the last few years, and the styling makeover has reached full fruition with the 2019 model year. As promised, the brand’s “Diamond Pentagon” grill treatment, a look that debuted on the Acura Precision concept car of 2016, has now proliferated across every Acura model. We recently attended the 2019 Acura full-line media preview, where we got some seat time in the refreshed ILX compact and a couple of hot laps in the NSX supercar, as well as an overview of the rest of the Acura lineup. Check out what’s new:
Hands-Free Haven: Volvo 360c Concept
Volvo 360c Concept
Where would you live if you could commute each workday in an autonomous-driving, fully-functional, connected, comfortable, mobile office space? What if the service was provided via an on-demand subscription basis? Or, what if it was provided by one employer but not another – which company would you work for?
What Was the Cadillac V8-6-4?
Cadillac V8-6-4 (L62) engine
What was the Cadillac V8-6-4? A glib response to this question might be, “a joke,” “a mistake,” or “ a mechanic’s nightmare.” And while the Caddy-exclusive engine was inarguably fraught with glitches, a more circumspect reply might be, “a flawed technological marvel that was about a decade ahead of its time.”
What Was The Iron Duke?
Though technically a Pontiac engine, the Iron Duke found a place under the hood of dozens of non-Pontiac models.
The Chevrolet Vega was meant to be a technical and efficiency tour de force. The good-looking, lightweight little car featured a number of cutting-edge features, and was positioned to prove that the Bow-Tie Brand—and on a broader scale General Motors—was in a position to take on the low-cost and fuel-efficient imports that were starting to show up in dealerships at the beginning of the Seventies.
What is Dynamic Fuel Management?
The L84 5.3-liter V8 will be one of two 2019 Chevrolet Silverado engines equipped with General Motors’ new Dynamic Fuel Management cylinder-deactivation system.
Even if you’re only casually interested in automotive technology, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Cadillac’s ill-fated V8-6-4 engine, which became available for the 1981 model year.
What Does The Eco Button Do?
What Does The Eco Button Do?
Among the many strange and wonderful features many new vehicles now boast is a mysterious button marked “Eco.” In some cases the button may be labeled “Econ,” which is no less cryptic than Eco.
What is Ford SecuriCode?
The Ford SecuriCode system allows vehicle owners to access their cars and trucks utilizing a keypad and five-digit code. The older system keypad seen here is located above the door handle. Most of the current SecuriCode keypads are found on the driver’s side B-pillar.
As we enter the age of autonomous vehicles filled with cloud-sourced entertainment and powered by solid-state batteries, it’s good to know that there are still a few relatively low-tech car features of genuine utility.
Classic Cars
