What Crash Ratings Mean
The NY Times (registration required) reports: Safety Decoder: How to Make Sense of the Crash Ratings. Sadly, there isn't much to make fun of in this article. It's a good read and worth your time. This makes a lot of sense:
Making sense of everything that's out there, and not out there, can be daunting. Consider that the Hummer H2 and other S.U.V.'s that weigh more than 8,500 pounds, when fully loaded, are exempt from federal crash testing and fuel economy regulations. This is a vestige of how the system was set up before families were riding in such heavy vehicles. Automakers have lobbied to keep the exemptions in place, although proposed legislation in Congress would make these vehicles subject to some crash testing in a few years. One should also consider that such vehicles do not have to meet many minimum performance standards governing the sturdiness of roofs, door latches and many other features.
GM: We're Addicted To Big
The Detroit News reports: GM places bet on crossovers. A long time ago we predicted that crossovers would be the new, mainstay of the American family. It hasn't happened... But now GM has us wondering again. When we first read this article we assumed GM's crossovers would be big and dopey with bodies (and engines) far too big for what is really needed but then:
Lutz said the new crossovers will primarily be powered by fuel efficient 4-cylinder or 6-cylinder engines, but added each "will be compatible" with versions of the company's hybrid gas-electric system under development.Although we're not sure if we should believe him because, heck, he's trying to save a sinking ship. "Do anything, say anything... Don't let it sink!" We think people want these tall wagons because they make a lot more sense than big SUVs and because people are so worried about image, they'll pass over the really smart minivan category. Jalopnik asks the right question, Can GM turn its business around on the crossover SUV, or are we about to have another running punchline for the next decade?
But How Long Can They Hang In The Pooper?
The Detroit News reports: Health tab up for GM managers. We hear a lot of "GM workers have a great deal even after this increase in monthly contributions and deductibles" so they shouldn't complain. Well, we certainly agree that they have a decent deal (we haven't really read anything detailed about the coverage but the fact that MSM says they have a good deal is good enough for us... MSM wouldn't lie to us, would they?). What worries us is the whittling away of benefits to the point that, perhaps, one day there will be none. And GM can be quite an example to other companies. GM's top people get to negotiate for their packages and us regular folks don't and we'd bet Rick and Bobby don't have to worry about paying any co-pays and whatnot. And if those two turnaround to us and say, "Look here, "editorial" writer guys, we do have to pay!" it's not like it's serious money to them. But, you say, "These guys should get to negotiate their pay packages. They have experience running big companies and should get paid for knowing so much." Right.
Old Car Manuals
Cup reporter Keith points us to: The Old Car Manual Project. Holy crap! This is some cool shizznit! If you are into restoration, repair or just nostalgic this site if for you. There's so much at this site there's no way to talk enough about it. Old manuals. Old brochures. There's even paint chips from 1946 Chevys! This is cool stuff.
The Old Car Project is awesome!. A shame there very, very little Japanese stuff in there.
Posted by: Ben K | Sunday, October 30, 2005 at 06:21 PM