I May Be Away But The Nuts Are The Same

I'll admit I've been gone a bit and quite a lot has happened.  The Detroit Auto Show has come and gone with some neat stuff and some ridiculous stuff.  Same for Chicago and Geneva.

What's comforting is that despite all this time the knuckleheads can always be counted on.  This time courtesy of the Republican party and Mitt Romney.  Who else could into Michigan, proudly maintain he was against the auto industry bail out, brag that not only is he a "car guy" but his wife drives "a couple of Cadillacs"?  What?  At the same time?

And then wonders why the race was so close.

Dude, you're in a state crushed by the recession.  Either catch a clue or get out of town.

Nutjob Comment of the day: 8/31/2011

Found this gem when I was researching the “Electric Fast” post.  It was posted in the YouTube comment section for the Mini E run on the Nürburgring.  Now, it is a year old, but it just aged so nicely that I had to use it.

Let's hope it will take ages before these cars enter reality of our lives. The battery is already the worst mechanical (well, organic actually) device, so adding a car with these unreliable things, is really no progress. There has been virtually nog progress since the last 50 years, when it comes to regular batteries. It's still outdated techniques, and it will remain that way.

Posted about a year ago on YouTube.

I wonder if this guy uses lead acid batteries in his laptop?  Maybe he grows his own, after all they are organic.

Electric Fast

Just how exciting could an electric car possibly be?  I mean seriously, what comes to mind when you hear the phrase, “Performance EV?”  The Prius?  The hybrid version of the Camry or Fusion?  There is some progress.  Tesla broke new ground with their roadster and Honda has the more affordable CRZ hybrid.

But what can they do?  I mean really do?

Maybe they should throw them around the Nürburgring.  Mini, Peugeot and Toyota did and all with impressive results.

The first was BMW with a modified version of the Mini E.  They did it on December 4, 2010 and set a record for an electric vehicle on this course.  Sure, they were the first, but a record is a record.  Here’s their run:

Mini begins the assault on the “Ring”

Okay, it is a Mini and the soundtrack is horrible.  But it is a purpose built performance run and not just tooling around.  It’s impressive .

Then Peugeot got into it with their EX1 concept car.  Concept seems to be a misnomer since the car was built and pretty much wrung out on this course.  This run was made on April 27, 2011.  Below is the highlight video of their run.

Peugeot takes on the “Ring”

Now we just keep getting faster, and looking at this one, it should go faster.  Just because . . . well it just does.  And it did.  The odd thing is you see this thing from behind and you go, “what the hell?”  At least I did.  Again, an impressive run with a silly soundtrack.

In August of 2011 Toyota got into it.  I’ll admit I’m not a huge Toyota fan.  I’ve been off them ever since their handling of the acceleration issues in their conventional cars came to light.  That aside, this is a thrilling ride.  Their video is just a cockpit camera with real world sound.

The steering wheel looking like a video game controller is a bit distracting but then the sound of this thing starts to sink in and you know it’s going fast, very fast.

This is Electric Fast.

Toyota Motorsport GMBH Attacks the “Ring”

IgnorantCarNut Video of the week

I have to admit I had just started looking when I came across this one.  I had to have this – I have the same flippin’ bear!

Watch for the bear!

Nutjob Comment of the Day: 8/26/2011

Any time your read a review of something you can be guaranteed that there is going to be a few notables in the comment section that shine above the rest.  This is not always a good thing.  Especially when a smart ass like me is actively looking for material.

The 2012 Camry is starting to show up and has already been reviewed in a number of places.  One place is by James Healey of USAToday.  Like most reviewers I don’t always agree with him.  There are times I think he is a flippin’ genius because he has picked out the exact same nuances I would have.  There are other times I question his membership in the human race.  But there is one thing I CAN say about him.

At least I can understand what the hell he’s typing.  The same cannot be said about those who post in the comment sections below his columns.  Case in point is a comment left just after his review of the 2012 Camry was posted.  Someone please translate for me:

Well quite biased anti Camry review with a lot of nonsense in it. I believe this review has no merit because the author does not have clear idea what he is reviewing - family sedan or sports car. Anther thing -complete lack of fairness - by selling author's own opinion as a holly truth. In general car's outside look should not be reviewed at all because the exterior perception is very subjective and individual. Does the author has knowledge and/or degree and/or experience in auto design? If not what is his credibility to talk about design at all? I basically found Sonata's exterior design terrible - for me Sonata exterior design is 100 percent kitsch, which may be some people loved form of art but for me is pathetic. So please start talking about technical parameters and stop moaning about great Sonata's exterior.

Posted on August 23, 2011.

I’m really not going into tearing this apart for two reasons.  First, every time I read it my brain starts to hurt.  Secondly, a regular in their comment section already did her best.  I will add one thing though.  From Webster:

Definition of kitsch:

1. Something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality
2. A tacky or lowbrow quality or condition <teetering on the brink of kitsch - Ron Miller>

With that in mind here is one person’s definition of kitsch.

2012 Hyundai Sonata

That being said the person is entitled to their own opinion even though James Healy apparently isn’t.

So I’ll let the gibberish above slide and go with this one for Nutjob Comment of the Day.  Taken from the same group of comments:

This guys a jerk

Posted on August 23, 2011

Clean, simple and to the point.  What it has to do with cars I have no idea.

(You may have noticed that I don’t usually mention the name of the poster.  I do give reference to where it is and if you like you can hunt it down.  I’m just gonna let the words speak for themselves.  And that’s the holly truth.)

Toyota: Reinventing Average

The 2012 Camry is starting to show up in the media and don’t worry.  There is nothing about this car that is going to offend you.  Or surprise you.  Or excite you.  Or even threaten you with an involuntary bowel movement.

It’s new, not all new as it carries over some power train parts as well as some other stuff.  The sheet metal has been redone and the interior is considerably upgraded.  Apparently it now competes with the Sonata.

Huh?  Shouldn’t that be the other way around.  it is the segment leading car, isn’t it?   By sales numbers it is.  By having a car roll up and say, “HOW YA DOIN’?!”  Not so much.  This car says things more like, “It’s all right,” “Don’t worry,” and “The Prozac is in the upper right pocket.”

It’s still god-awful boring.

2012 Toyota Camry

When I went looking for pics, about seventy-five percent were silver – ish.

It struck me that this is a somewhat exciting view.  It also struck me that this may be the view you would have if you had been struck by a lunatic leaving a mall parking lot after picking up the latest Britney Spears CD.  (A sane person would have already downloaded it thus avoiding you entirely.)

You may have noticed that this is not a review of the car itself, but mostly bitching and whining about what the car is.  Well, I’m a consumer, I don’t review cars.  I evaluate them based on what my needs are.  It’s all based on my feelings and a great deal of whimsy.

And whimsy says I don’t need this car.

Update 8/23/2011

Just a note that I’m still fleshing out the pages.  Added a new comparison on the Price Comparison page.  Interesting to know you could blow almost $22,000 on a Nissan Versa.

Added a couple to the Hot Wheels page as well.  The Chevy Nomad is there because I really do think it was designed by Mattel.  Come on.  Can you imagine this design pitch?

“No, really!  A station wagon with just two doors!”

It’s a great car but try saying that out loud.

The AMC Javelin AMX is there just because it’s cool.

And Hot Wheels are cool.