Dynamic ability, comfort, efficiency, aesthetic allure and a profusion of innovations designed to enhance driving pleasure – the BMW 5 Series contains all the signature ingredients of a best-selling model at the premium end of the executive segment. Indeed, consistently rising … Continue reading

Opposite Lock

Opposite Lock: Why the E30′s True Successor is a Toyota
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In Featured Posts, Interesting, on January 24th, 2012

The iconic BMW E30 has now been debated, glorified, worshiped and written about ad nauseum. If you haven’t owned an E30, and you’ve never had the chance to drive one, all of this fuss over a 30 year old car … Continue reading
Opposite Lock: The ATS Lands a Few Punches; Gets Knocked Out
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In Featured Posts, Interesting, on January 20th, 2012

You have to respect an underdog. That skinny man at the bar who stands up to the Schwarzenegger-looking ‘roid-popping dude hitting on his girlfriend. The Jamaican bobsled team in “Cool Runnings.” The Cadillac ATS. BMW have long set the bar … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: Fuel, Design, and More On the ATS
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In Interesting, on January 19th, 2012

Fuel During a discussion of the BMW ActiveHybrid 3 recently, the subject of energy density came up. Batteries have so much lower energy density than gasoline or diesel that even with the efficiency superiority of an electric motor over an … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: New M Strategy, Cars At the CES, and Chevy Code 130R
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In Featured Posts, Interesting, on January 13th, 2012

New M Strategy It was just a matter of time. The M bits have been sneaking into BMW’s mainstream products for awhile, a shift knob here, a steering wheel there, but now the M-ification proceeds to its logical conclusion. M … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: Once Upon a Car, Connected Drive, and Pure Speculation
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In Interesting, on January 5th, 2012

Once Upon a Car I just finished reading Bill Vlasic’s, “Once Upon a Car”, and highly recommend it. It’s a fast paced look at the implosion of the Big Three US automakers that was pretty much coincident with the onset … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: N54 Legal Matters, the i8 Breaks Cover, and Renderings
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In Interesting, on December 29th, 2011

N54 Legal Matters I received a piece of mail yesterday that was a bit interesting. It seems that one legal challenge to the issues with the high pressure fuel pumps (HPFP) on the N54 engine has reached a resolution. If … Continue reading
Opposite Lock: Time for Winter Rubber
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In Featured Posts, Interesting, on December 29th, 2011

It’s been some time since we’ve talked winter tires – three seasons to be exact. For those of us living in the Northern hemisphere, snow and ice have given us the gift – or curse – of slippery roads. I … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: The i8, Saab, and Happy Holidays
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In Featured Posts, Interesting, on December 23rd, 2011

The i8 I made the press launch of the Toyota Prius in 1999. At the time it was a revolutionary car that Toyota was hoping (but not entirely confident) would sell. They had identified specific markets to introduce it in … Continue reading
Opposite Lock: My Next BMW
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In Featured Posts, Interesting, on December 21st, 2011

I’ll be the first to admit that my opinions, tastes and preferences represent a minority of the driving community. As a purist that favors connectedness over comfort and dynamics over, well… efficient dynamics, I find myself sitting among an ever … Continue reading