El Kabong

Well, they fined Honda 70 mil for similarly large oversights, supposedly. So I'm guessing they're pretty corrupt. I was discussing this elsewhere when some hysterical old biddy crawled out of the woodwork to lambaste me for buying a Ram. After I let him flail away for a bit I pointed out to the intelligent posters that this was an industry-wide issue. IMO it's a mix of customers bringing a Wal-Mart mentality to car-shopping leading to automakers cutting costs any which way they can, while NHTSA plays the role of Roscoe P. Coltrane.

"Every EcoBoost-powered Ford that we’ve tested, Mustang or otherwise, has either delivered decent fuel economy or served up great power-but never both simultaneously. The EcoBoost installed in the droptop Mustang delivers neither, being both the slowest 2015 Mustang we’ve tested while also not being particularly efficient." "A last-generation Mustang V-6 convertible we rented outran this EcoBoost... the Mustang driver will need the turbo’s racket to mask his or her whimpering shame when Volkswagen GTIs and Honda Accord V-6s display their taillights in stoplight drag races." "You could forgo the EcoBoost for the V-6, but Ford rigs that ballot: The cheaper V-6 Mustangs are restricted to but a handful of options—no navigation, no heated and cooled seats, and none of the performance-enhancing goodies available on EcoBoost and V-8 models. That has the effect of forcing many buyers up to the EcoBoost, which starts at $35,700. With options, our turbocharged convertible rang in at an as-tested price of $43,365." "This is particularly frustrating in light of the rest of the convertible package’s general excellence... It would be a treat to pair the Mustang’s full dynamic potential with the least-expensive engine, particularly since that engine is actually good, but that doesn’t fit Ford’s marketing scheme... for now, if you want a topless Mustang with lots of stuff and a nice engine, you’ll need to pony up a minimum of $42,700 to get into a V-8–powered GT droptop." Basically, the EB marketing guys sabotage a pretty good car. Read more at http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2015-ford-mustang-ecoboost-convertible-test-review

"Yep, 55 grand. Why lead this review with a price breakdown? Because it underscores the point we’ve made about the MKZ all along, which is that it doesn’t offer a whole lot more than the Ford Fusion with which it shared its mechanicals—all but one of the powertrains and even the infotainment setups are identical—yet it is far more expensive. Indeed, this particular MKZ is nearly as expensive as possible, which makes its shortcomings stand out even more." "Particularly egregious is something endemic to all MKZ hybrids, regardless of price: the sound of the Atkinson-cycle 2.0-liter four-cylinder/CVT combo, which drones miserably under acceleration... we averaged a ho-hum-for-a-hybrid 31 mpg, nowhere near the EPA’s 40-mpg combined rating, which was itself revised downward from the overly optimistic 45 mpg stated when the car was introduced for 2013." "The Black Label’s material upgrades, which include a black microsuede headliner, leather-topped dash and door panels, and black-stained wood, are worthy of a Mercedes-Benz. But in our car those niceties contrasted starkly with ill-fitting dash-to-door junctions, a warped rubber liner in the lower center console, and grainy hard plastics behind the headrests and in the cup holders." With the exception of some kind words for the styling, they were pretty harsh on it. Read more at http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2015-lincoln-mkz-hybrid-review

No joke. Hawking (and many, many others) have gone public in their concern about combining AI drones and weapons: "In an open letter posted online Monday, Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and hundreds of other scientists warn humanity about such a dystopian military future. Like something from a Hollywood blockbuster, the scientists caution that only a ban on autonomous weapons now can stop an arms race that could see killer robots wipe out humans tomorrow. 'If any major military power pushes ahead with AI weapon development, a global arms race is virtually inevitable,' the letter says, 'and the endpoint of this technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow.'" More at http://m.torontosun.com/2015/07/27/stephen-hawking-fields-questions-on-artificial-intelligence-on-reddit

I'm not 100% on board with that... I think many customers are savvy enough to know when a chassis isn't up to snuff. If this were not so then why isn't Lincoln selling better? The trick, IMO, is to trickle down your chassis tech from top-end stuff. This is why I'm so excited to see the next Camaro-there's no way it would have the chassis it's gonna have if Cadillac hadn't had need of it first.

All I was thinking is that scene in Office Space where Bill Lumberg sends the guy looking for the stapler into his new cubicle in the boiler room. "Ya. That'd be greeeeeeat."

Uh... you're gonna become an asshat? THAT ain't good.

You know you're really something when the party follows wherever YOU go.

Where does my golf cart have room on the bumper for a license plate but no room for my clubs?

MOAR MOAR MOAR MOAR

I won't tell you any inspiring stories masquerading as advice... ok I will but my heart's in a good place: When me and the missus got hitched we were so broke we couldn't even declare bankruptcy (thanks to student loan laws in Canada that is really a thing). But things did come around eventually.

It is the bane of government-sponsored watchdogs: they are appointments, not hirings. I'm not even saying that Mopar is without fault here. But NHTSA doesn't exactly have a lot of cred anymore in my books. Hearing that a good portion of that fine is going directly to them just cements my cynicism. What, next time they're in the red they'll magically conjure up another massive recall notice?

Proverbs of Kabong: if your rep score is out of whack, it's not because everyone else is out of whack.

Actually, that's worked out fairly well for my rep vote. :D

One would hope that the 70 million will go towards increasing the number of NHTSA employees so that they can avoid having to point fingers when they overlook stuff and need to save face later.

Good news: you know what the inside of a funnel cloud looks like! The bad news is pretty self-explanatory.

Ant-Man: as goofy a premise as Guardians of the Galaxy, but they pulled it off all the same.

Doing the same run in early September. Only thing not finalized is the lodging in Jasper.

Actually, it ain't that ugly. The bodywork quality is top-notch. The graphics are an eyesore, and too many fake vents for my liking. But then again, Trans-Am, right?

From a personal preference I hope so. But it wouldn't be terribly difficult for them to achieve with a V6 either.

Uh huh... because why? GM can't do horsepower per litre? GM was the outfit that did 130hp/L a decade ago when they (along with Audi and Mitsubishi) pioneered DI for gas engines. The question is not one of ability, but of necessity.

Guess I should read closer as well. Oops. Anyways, they're making a 500 horse V6 because... it needs to happen?

They're within 35hp of it now. Should be easy-peasy.

Speaking of Alberta.The family is watching Cool Runnings for the umpteenth time. My family loves this movie. It hit me when I saw the skyline in the movie.... Calgary has changed just a little bit since this movie was made. Just a bit. Good grief, that movie is what, 25 years old now... You still see the ski jumps and bobsled run heading out of town on your way to Banff. And of course, the Saddledome is still standing.

It's like I always say: you don't go to the circus to get mad at the clowns. As with the previous ban, it is of zero concern to me. But I read the other guys's last post before he got gassed. The irony was stupendous. Also: steak-it's what's for breakfast (in Alberta).