MetaFilter posts tagged with car and automotive

Yes, I would like to purchase a 12-pack of radial tires please.

blue_beetle — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:45:18 -0800

Ken Block Gymkhana Practice [video] (an obstacle course for cars)

Lee press-on car

XMLicious — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 05:16:25 -0800

The Tata Nano (pic) is a car that costs less new than the amount I've spent on gas during single car trips, recently announced to the auto market in India. The Chery QQ ^, successful , wide ly ex por ted, and recognized as the Hostage Taker's Vehicle of Choice by China Car Times, is the runner-up for the world's cheapest car but is still approximately twice as expensive. Yes indeed, the price of gas is not going to come back down. So much for my coast-to-coast road trips. Forbes magazine's The World's Cheapest Cars (javascript slideshow)

Superchargers gain a gearbox

SharQ — Fri, 05 May 2006 08:04:41 -0800

The Supercharger was a fantastic innovation, but it has its downsides. Volkswagen tried solving them by adding both a Supercharger and a Turbocharger, in their TSI engines, but this solution is relatively expensive. Perhaps the new invention by Atonov has merit. Instead of using a standard Roots supercharger, it uses a more efficient centrifugal supercharger, and adding a small two-speed automatic transmission to the loop, ensuring that the engine operates on boost throughout the rev range.

It may not sound like much, but it may change the way superchargers are working forever, allowing smaller engines with higher performance, or adding obscene amounts of power to large engines

Is my self-healing quilt body still under warranty?

tpl1212 — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 06:43:11 -0800

MIT Media Labs' concept car project - redefining automotive design and thought, overseen by William J. Mitchell and Frank Gehry [PDF]...via Don Norman's Concept Cars essay...

autoxray

stbalbach — Mon, 12 Jan 2004 22:11:57 -0800

Hack your car. AutoXRAY scans internal vehicle computers and gives detailed diagnostics and real-time graphing output.

How Not To Buy A Lemon

MiguelCardoso — Thu, 20 Nov 2003 14:42:21 -0800

Pssst! Wanna Buy A Reliable, Second-Hand Car? You could do worse than start with Honest John, a plain-speaking, fiercely independent Cockney motor car wonk who'll see you right, no problem. If you're obsessive about reliability, i.e. don't have the time or inclination to look after your wheels and just want the damn thing to get you from A to B and back again, check out the often surprising Reliability Index for the most and least trustworthy automobiles. [Eurocentric warning! Btw, what are the most reliable independent car guides - preferably free and online - in the U.S, Canada, etc?]

Mercedes Gullwing

fezdel — Mon, 14 Jul 2003 17:27:27 -0800

The Gullwing is back. More photos here. Are any manufacturers other than Lamborghini using a gullwing design? Maybe DMC will reappear in the future with their own throwback.

chrisroberts — Fri, 20 Sep 2002 12:08:34 -0800

Drive on air. A new engine design that not only runs on air, but cleans it too.

grabbingsand — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 12:07:41 -0800

Goliath lost. This and other pro-small billboards are popping up in downtown Atlanta. No doubt they have cousins (little ones, I'm sure) springing up in your cities. I couldn't believe my eyes, because the billboards seemed to be promoting the ever-so-British Mini Cooper.

The Mini is... well... just like it says, the veritable opposite of the stereotypical American SUV. Yes, it is the type of car Mr Bean would drive. But when you see them in their natural Anglo habitat, you can't help but notice they're just perfectly suited to zipping to and from wherever. The site lets you find a dealer, build your own Mini and save it for future reference. The catch is that you have to fill out an opt-in form, but with lines like this as part of your agreement, how could you resist?

"- I agree to chase squirrels around the park now and then and giggle like a madman while doing it."

Yeah. I want one. But will the American public?