How motoring sparked into life Electricity has always been a potentially better source of power than petrol.
When your dream car is not made any more... Every motorist has a 'dream car'. It is almost never their first. So don’t make a rod for your back.
What do high and low mileage actually mean? High and low mileage can be assessed annually to show usage or over a vehicle’s lifetime to indicate wear and remaining lifespan.
Do we need special laws to tame younger drivers? While there are capable young drivers and clumsy older ones, the data clearly shows that young drivers are exceptionally vulnerable.
I can’t find the tyre size I want If the minor change-up size is more readily available, the difference in most respects will be marginal.
Here’s the difference between a bump and a yump With a sudden big bump, the front wheels hit the bump first and the nose is thrown upwards...and thus the back is forced downwards.
Car design: Topical vs tropical The tastes and priorities of Kenyan motorists have changed, with fewer motorists expecting their family car to be used for regular or serious safaris.
The sounds and smells of F1’s complex policy pie All the stakeholders in F1 have a different opinion of what might replace the current configuration, for various different reasons.
Hitching a lift down the Taita Hills ...in the back of a rally pick-up The plunge down the side of a mountain for the next 20 minutes, with yumps and bumps and rocks and never-ending sideways-sliding round sharp corners, was not sedate.
A few words from the Safari jabber-jockeys At rally speeds things happen in a rapid and non-stop cascade, so the “language” of pace notes has to be quick and exact and meaningful.
Fuel types refined from crude oil Different types of fuel are not "made" from oil. They already exist in it and are "extracted" from it.
Changing effect of motorsport on buyers of ‘ordinary’ new cars... Rallying may have been in its infancy, but it did not tell consumers much that they did not already know.
Risk of buying a car with high mileage You should always judge the vendor as thoroughly as you judge the vehicle.
The origin of Quatrocross The name Quattrocross was inspired by motorsport terms like "motocross" and "autocross," with "Quattro" linked to 4WD due to the Audi Quattro's rally debut.
Fuels: When the same stuff is a bit different... The two fuel levels are theoretically interchangeable, and for high performance cars with especially high compression engines Avgas can be beneficial.
Cars that fly If you gave an ordinary car big enough wings, a powerful engine and a runway, it could take off.
Making more cars in less time and at a lower cost Manufancturing cars in large numbers is more logistically “efficient,” allows more of the process to be mechanised, and achieves a more consistent result.
Is it illegal to drive barefoot? If there was to be a law about what to wear (or not wear) on your feet when driving, the flip-flop would be a more worthy target for prohibition than a bare foot.
What happens if I put adulterated fuel in my car? The term "adulterated" refers to the usually deliberate mixing of different types of fuel - usually the addition of kerosene.
Want to turn your car into an elite rally car? Rally rules insist that competition cars - at all levels - must be "homologated".
One cure for windscreen blur The only remedy is a new windscreen, which will be noticeably clearer even if the old one looked generally okay.
Why tyres don’t peel off the rim on corners To demount a tyre from a rim requires the pressure to be released and an extremely concentrated force to be applied systematically and progressively.
Finding the hue that won’t make you cry The physical laws of light and dark are absolute when it comes to the heat of sunlight - on the surface and then inside.
Can you go fishing in a VW Beetle? The fit and finish of the Beetle was (and is) so precise that it was so airtight that owners had to wind a window down a bit to close the doors.
Roof please… Convertibles are intrinsically less safe in many accident situations, less secure against theft, and their bodywork is less rigid.
