In July 2008, I covered a new (to me) technology that promised to let us drive a mile in someone else’s carbon footprint by scrubbing CO2 from the region and turning it into hydrocarbon fuels. But back then, the known processes required more energy input than the resulting fuel contained, rendering the exercise pointless. Recent [...]

A friend recently asked me, “What’s the best sports car for the money?” “Easy,” I told him. “The Mazda Miata.” He didn’t look convinced. I explained that for about as much as it costs to buy a Toyota Camry LE, the MX-5 Miata offers the purist’s recipe of fun: rear drive, manual transmission, lively engine, [...]

I love that the cloud can store my music for enjoyment on multiple devices, and that Dropbox or iCloud can keep my docs innocuous from terrestrial catastrophes (and one hopes from hackers). But I’m not wild about a cloud development that was widely reported last Halloween. Ontario-based Peak Gain Systems, bless their hearts, came to [...]

It’s just the flip of a calendar page. It means even less in the automotive world, where the new year traditionally begins in the start and the new product zenith bridges from the Detroit show to the Geneva show. Still, the calendar year is how we measure the economic success or unfortunate of the auto [...]

You may not know the study Faurecia–there’s no “Intel Inside” branding on the cars they help make better, but Tier I suppliers like this work on their own to pitch new ideas to the manufactures they supply, and sometimes they engage our help to get the OEs interested. I recently got a look at some [...]

Even Swedish Automobile N.V.’s improbably optimistic press office has given in. After General Motors rejected the latest deal between Youngman Lotus and Saab Automobile, the Saab board “subsequently decided that the company without further funding will be insolvent and that filing bankruptcy is in the best interests of its creditors,” says its Monday morning press [...]

The first time I experienced a blind-spot warning system was back in 2007, in an Audi Q7. I didn’t realize the big SUV even had the technology until I went to change lanes, and was startled when a light at the stem of the right mirror flashed at me three times. What the heck was [...]

Earlier this week, the National Transportation Safety Board prefabricated a recommendation for a total ban of the use of cellular devices while driving. At first, it was reported to be limited to texting and handheld use, but later, it was clarified to mean an absolute, outright blackout on all use, handheld or hands free. NTSB [...]

Today is where you find out what others on staff have to say about my long term super wagon. As mentioned in the arrival piece, I won the lottery and was given a 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon to drive and write about for one year. More accurately, the Caddy Wagon was assigned to me, [...]

It’s a bittersweet moment. This is my 88th and final column as editor-in-chief. As of next month, Edward Loh will take over, and Motor Trend will begin a bright new chapter in its 62-year history. “Life’s a journey,” I wrote in my very first column in the November 2004 issue. Back then, I wondered how [...]