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””
Porsche has announced that it’s creating braided carbon-fiber wheels, being offered as an option on the 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series.
Cost (in Germany): EUR 15,232, including VAT. Continue reading “Magnesium versus Carbon Fiber: Lightweight Wheels Reality Check”
“A cigar is just a cigar,” goes the old saying, and “An automobile tire is a tire is a tire.” Well, neither description is that simple. Tires aren’t just an undifferentiated mass of rubber, and they aren’t all made the same. Continue reading “Radials: Superior Tires by Design”
Formula E: Energized, Inspired, All-electric!
Formula E’s first groundbreaking season ran in 10 of the world’s top cities, starting in Beijing in September 2014 and ending in London in June 2015.
Continue reading “Forged Magnesium Wheels: for Racing Applications”
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”
They’re small, often inconspicuous (sometimes overshadowed by a flashy or elegant wheel design, or hidden by a wheel cover), and taken for granted. But, and almost needless to say, they’re important.
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…?”
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”
Yandex is a Russian multinational, multi-service tech company. Wikipedia describes the internet–related services and products firm as “the largest search engine” in that country, with “about 65% market share,” and says Yandex ranked as the 4th largest search engine worldwide, as of 2012. Continue reading “Self-Driving Cars: $7 Trillion Payoff?”
With new designs, models, and range and power capabilities appearing regularly, the future of EVs is positively electrifying.
Hyperbole, puns and political posturing aside, mobility is going green. Continue reading “Plug In. Turn On. Drive! EVs In Global Demand”