A study out of University of Montreal finds that “macho men” are more aggressive drivers than those men who were less inclined to hyper-masculity. More honking, more risky behavior. I’d guess they’d also be more likely to bash through lines of police cars and jump over washed-out bridges.
via Jezebel. Image from Smokey and the Bandit
Check out the full evolution here.
In the continuing saga of my exhaust leak, I’ve discovered a new issue. There’s a big crack in the pipe going into the catalytic converter.
I think I missed it last time I was under there because I was looking from the other side. But with the camera the hole reveals itself. It’s only 2 years old, so I don’t know why it would have a fracture like that. It looks like it happened from over-tightening.
I posted to Brick Board here.
We know Volvo loves to crash their vehicles to demonstrate safety features, but in a recent demo the crash was truly an accident. To show off their Collision Avoidanceâ„¢ system with Full Auto Brakeâ„¢ technology, Volvo launched an equipped S60 toward a stationary truck at 20 mph, in front of press and video cameras. Unfortunately, the system failed and the car plowed into the bumper, destroying the front end of the vehicle and the careers of the people in Volvo’s PR and engineering departments.
So deadpan; so awesome.
Tank on empty, yo!
I just posted this on the Brick Board:
My brick rasps awful loud and I went under and found where it’s leaking. It’s at the flanged fittings where the header meets the cat. converter. I got a generic exhaust gasket from a local shop and it fit correctly. The old one was held on by one out of the three holes.
I tightened up the bolts but it still leaks. When I hold my hand around the back of the flange for the cat converter I can feel exhaust leaking out. It’s on pretty tight though, so I’m not sure why it would still be leaking. I tightened each bolt equally. Could they be too tight? Bad gasket? Bad flange?
This is probably the smallest spot I’ve parallel parked into, and I don’t think I could go any smaller. The height of the SUV in front allowed me to tuck the bumper underneath just so. Unfortunately I couldn’t open the back hatch, but at least I could park in fron of my place and not 2 blocks away.
I’m heading down to VA and plan to put the brick on jacks and paint the front wheels. I found a great thread on Turbobricks about repairing Virgos. Looks like I’ve got some reading to do.
Image from Crazychopstick on Turbobricks.
Now I understand why people need SUVs to go to the mall. It’s so they can easily pull back and leave after they plow over the cars in the parking lot, like this skilled driver.
That’s cost you $500.
Mecedes Benz will be premiering a new shooting brake concept this week in Beijing. Which raises a couple of questions: When does a station wagon turn into a “Brake“? And is it “Brake” or “Break”?
According to the Times, “the brake body style…in strictest terms is a coupe with a squared-off back.” That slick vehicle pictured above doesn’t look like it started from a coupe, unless you buy into the Daimler marketing-speak that refers to the base CLS as a 4 door coupe.
As for the second question, it depends on which side of the English Channel you reside. In England it’s “Brake”, in France it’s “Break”. I’m guessing in the US it’ll be offered in gray, while in the UK it’ll be grey.