Category: Tech & How To
What is the 2012 Buick Regal’s eAssist™ all about?
Automotive technologies are appearing on new vehicles faster than customers can absorb them. Hybrids, electric power, handling dynamics, lane departure warning systems and more rapidly are replacing mechanical systems that we all loved and easily understood. Which means now you need to do even more research before spending your hard-earned cash on a new [...]
Carbon monoxide kills: Staying safe in your car
It’s common knowledge that carbon monoxide kills. It’s the culprit in car-running-in-garage suicides—though it’s harder to do that with today’s cleaner running engines. Poorly vented furnaces and stoves account for news reports of fatalities every winter. However, snow country drivers have to know that carbon monoxide can be a killer with cars in open air, [...]
2013 MyFord Touch, Take II
As an early adopter of technology, I was thrilled when Ford introduced its MyFord Touch in-vehicle connectivity system. I liked the touchscreen display, the fact that so many features can be controlled through voice activation, and the control pads that help keep the driver’s hands on the steering wheel. As with any new technology, glitches [...]
Extra eyes: Automotive lane departure warning/keeping technologies
We’ve all been there: we start a drive with too little sleep, thinking that a full tummy and some good tunes will keep us awake on our trip. Unfortunately, reality sets in as we are jolted awake when the car hits the Botts dots on the road. Not good. With today’s technology, manufacturers are working [...]
Ford’s MyKey Technology: Keeping Teens Safe
When Ford introduced its MyKey technology two years ago on select 2010 models, parents loved it but teens hated it, begrudgingly. Because although it put restrictions on them, parents said they would let their teens drive more in a Ford MyKey-equipped vehicle. What is MyKey? MyKey is, through the use of electronics, a way to [...]
Cracked connecting rods: technology you want in an engine
Cracked connecting rods sound like something one wouldn’t want in an engine, but automotive performance enthusiasts know that it’s a way to make the connecting rod assembly stronger and the engine more durable under stress. Here’s how it works: The connecting rods are what turns the linear motion of a piston sliding up and down [...]
Smart keys, slick crooks and car theft
Your car’s “smart key” could result in a high tech car theft, or as a couple of New Jersey car thieves proved, your car can be stolen by a simple sleight of hand. The high-tech route was discovered by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, which found that the smart, or proximity, [...]
Car buying memo: take the demo
To tell you the advent of the Internet has changed our lives should come as no surprise; you’re reading this online. And that the Internet’s pervasive prominence has changed the face of retailing certainly isn’t news – simply ask any one-time employee of Borders how its business model stacked up against that of Amazon.com. Sure, [...]
Don’t get soaked buying a flood-damaged vehicle
With all of the torrential rains and flooding throughout much of the country this year, thousands of cars and trucks have been inundated with water, mud and other damaging debris. Some of them will be cleaned up to reappear on the used-car lots of unscrupulous dealers, so buyers need to know how to spot and [...]
What is Brake Assist?
It seems counterintuitive, but when most people “panic brake” they don’t brake as hard as they could. Researchers aren’t sure why that is but the result is that even experienced drivers were in a collision that might have been avoided had the car’s full braking capability had been used. It might be possible to teach [...]
