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.
5 Reasons Why You Still Need to Learn to Drive Stick
T-shirts bearing this design can be had at Redbubble.com.
The manual transmission is dead. I refuse to acknowledge any evidence to the contrary. The fact is, autonomous technology—even semi-autonomous technology—is completely incompatible with the manual transmission, and that is where the industry is headed.
Read more...