Wheels: Performance and “Plus Sizes”

Whether tuning or personalizing or modifying, changing or replacing the basic operating equipment or just the aesthetics of your ride–from the audio system to the engine itself-is a way to show off your engineering or design skills, and make a statement about yourself and what your car means to you. Indeed, the market for aftermarket wheels, tires and suspension components represents multi-billions of dollars annually.
Continue reading “Wheels: Performance and “Plus Sizes””

Made in China? Wheels Buyers Beware

Wheel disks exports from China are very popular in the automotive aftermarket, largely due to their low price. For example, experts say in 2016 Russia imported about 1 million Chinese-made wheel disks.  But extensive expert  testing and evaluation show that these wheels are not worth even their low price, and may pose a risk to consumers who buy them. Continue reading “Made in China? Wheels Buyers Beware”

electric vehicles honda

Signs of the Times: Are Gas Engines Going, Going…?

Steam was the key to the engines of the first self-powered road vehicles (credit Frenchman Nicolas Joseph Cugnot with “first honors” in 1769). Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz among others made their own important contributions to the development of successful, practical gasoline-powered vehicles that (along with Diesel-powered engines) gave us the age of modern cars and modern driving.

Continue reading “Signs of the Times: Are Gas Engines Going, Going…?”

collector car market

Collector Car Market of Tomorrow

Many people used to consider collector cars an investment, similar to pieces of art and rare jewelry. But in the past decade this market has demonstrated unusually high volatility. Prices on classic autos dropped sharply following the 2008 financial crisis only to reach new record highs by 2015. At that time many potential buyers started questioning whether such a rise was a sign of a market bubble. They were right– the collector car bubble did indeed burst, along with art and other high-ticket commodities  in the luxury goods segment, as well as high-priced real estate.  Continue reading “Collector Car Market of Tomorrow”