WingBender

Oh dear.

The 5-speed Fiesta takes a 3 mpg hit on the EPA highway cycle (37 vs. 40) compared to the 6-speed auto. I assume this is due to a lower top gear ratio. Is Ford planning on eventually offering a 6-speed stick to alleviate this gap?

Even TTAC likes the Fiesta.

Back when the first Escape came out, C&D loved the handling. Either the bar has been raised since then, or Ford has once again dumbed-down the suspension on one of their products to appease the Grosse Point matrons who have to drive over a few potholes on the way to the mall.

The New York Times is a liberal rag. They have to make statements like that to maintain their leftie credentials and not alienate their readership. NYT headline: "World Ends Tomorrow. Women and Minorities Hurt Most".

Linky

It always happened on the right side for some reason. The sticking caliper was due to a design flaw, but they never fixed the design, so the replacement calipers had the same problem. I had to drive it like that a couple of times, stopping every mile or so to let the one brake cool. The disc would glow red hot! The Mazda V6 on the GT was a great engine. Its only issues: it was prone to leaky valve cover gaskets, so you'd get a whiff of burnt oil smell, and the valve guides would leak oil into the combustion chambers when it was parked, so you'd get some blue smoke out the tail pipe for a mile or so on a cold start.

1996 Contour SE (2.5 Duratec, 5 speed): 131k miles. On its 4th water pump. Have also replaced alternator, starter, catalyst and a front wheel bearing. Engine seems basically sound, running Mobil 1. Original clutch. 1993 Probe GT, sold at 167k miles, right after replacing the original clutch. It went through a number of rear brake calipers, which would tend to lock when setting the parking brake. Replaced the distributor and thermostat along the way.

The Boeing Company recently decided to build a new assembly line in South Carolina, a right-to-work state. The company tried to negotiate a no-strike clause with its union in the Seattle area, the IAM (aka, "UAW Lite"), to no avail. So instead of creating new jobs for IAM workers by putting the new line outside Seattle, the new jobs will now go to a non-union workforce. Going on strike is so 20th century. We're not talking about 9 year-olds working in coal mines anymore, people. Lost your Christmas bonus, dude? In 23 years working as a degreed professional, I have never gotten a Christmas bonus. Suck it up.

Jeremy Clarkson is no more an auto reviewer than Michael Moore is a documentarian or Rush Limbaugh is a political analyst. Like the other two, he is an entertainer. Hope this helps.

My parents had an '83 T-bird V8. The TBI on it was psychotic. You'd start the thing and the engine would rev way up, then it would drop down till it would almost stall and the car was shakin' and shimmyin'. It kept revving the engine up and down with no throttle input until it was warmed up when it would finally smooth out.

1989 Honda Civic hatchback. It was the base model, so no trim letters in the name. It had a 70 bhp motor and a four speed. When started cold it sounded just like a diesel. The suspension felt like it was sprung with rubber bands, which was probably a good thing -- the lack of power kept me from getting into trouble with it. No tach with the wide ratio transmission, but the engine noise prevented me from over-revving it. It looked okay, though.

The true idiot is the one who handed them the keys.

OPEC wants oil to settle in around $80/bbl, which should give a good indication of where gas prices are going to be.

A comment from a TTAC poster: Edit: Just saw they yanked this comment.