Men Free Blog

In an episode of “Seinfeld,” Kramer and a car salesman vowed to drive a Saab 900 “into the slash” just to see what would happen. Kramer said he had done it once but blacked out and woke up in a ditch with a full tank of gas. There’s now a website that would have benefited from Kramer’s experiment. Tank On Empty is collecting stories and experiences of how far each model of car can go past the slash before running out of fuel.

So let’s say you drive a Dodge Intrepid. According to Tank On Empty, the most mileage after the low-fuel light has come on is claimed to be 99. The least is zero and the average is 36.4. Unfortunately, there are no distinctions made for any difference in engines, model years, options or geographical location. And, it turns out, 99 is the most miles users are allowed to enter and drivers are not required to push their cars until they’re dry.

The site has a good idea trying to compile this kind of data. But it’s fatally flawed methodology offers results that are, unfortunately, completely worthless.

Instead of a light, what we need is to go back to the system Volkswagen once used. Until 1962, VW Beetles didn’t have a fuel gauge. Instead, when your car’s tank ran empty and sputtered to a stop, you flipped a lever that activated a small fuel reserve that would hopefully give you time to find a place to refuel. Classic VW owners quickly learned how to calculate their remaining travel time.

[Source: tankonempty.com via gumball144.com]

When we first caught wind (or is that exhaust?) of it, the Xbox Live Arcade version of retro car combat game Vigilante 8 was due for “spring.” Now, more specifically, developer Isopod says it’s shooting for early June, though it warns that the final decision will be Microsoft’s.

Though that’s a little later in spring than we would have liked, we were interested to hear that the team has already moved on to making DLC for the game, so what it lacks in promptness, it sounds like it could make up for in sheer girth.

[Via X3F]

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While we were in Virginia attending the inaugural race of the Jetta TDI cup series, Volkswagen provided us hacks with a some new Jetta Sportwagens with which to make the 45 minute morning and evening commute between the Berry Hill Inn and the race track. Like the last generation Jetta Wagon, the new Sportwagen is branded as a Jetta in North America because Jetta is Volkswagen’s top-selling model here. The rest of the world, however, knows this estate-bodied Volkswagen as the Golf Variant. No matter, because the Golf/Rabbit and Jetta share all their important hardware and are, for all intents and purposes, the same car.

In typical fashion, the new Sportwagen has grown since the previous model was retired and is now nearly as big as the last-gen Passat wagon. My first impression upon climbing into the Sportwagen was how it felt nearly as roomy as the 2000 Passat wagon that resides in half of my garage at home. VW provided an assortment of cars with both 5-speed three-pedal and 6-speed two-pedal transmission arrangements. Unfortunately, all were paired with the base 2.5L inline five-cylinder engine. Check out my impressions of the new Jetta Sportwagen after the jump.

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Under proposed new fuel economy rules set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), automakers with powerful short-wheelbase models are going to feel some pain. The agency is considering a plan to create two sliding scales of efficiency for cars and trucks of different sizes. Automakers will be assigned fuel economy standards based on the “footprint” (short wheelbase = small footprint) of their vehicles, and the number of vehicles they sell. Companies like Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, independent luxury brands with high-performance models, will be hit the hardest. Interestingly enough, Toyota, Chrysler, and General Motors, big players with diverse model lineups, won’t feel as much pressure.

Conforming to the tough new proposed rules may be very expensive. As a result, some industry executives expect some automakers, such as Porsche, just to pay the fines–it’s less costly than changing a model lineup. Regulators are under the gun to adopt a policy by April 1, 2009. In the meantime, the NHTSA will be taking public comments over the next two months. Time to send ‘em a letter…
[Source: Autoweek]

When you growl out lyrics like “we all just wanna be big rock stars,” even satirically, as Chad Kroeger did when he laid down the vocal for Nickelback’s “Rockstar,” there’s bound to be an overtone of schadenfreude when you get busted for acting like a rockstar. Kroeger was pinched in 2006 for driving his Lamborghini too fast and too drunk (amusingly chronicled here). The wheels of justice don’t turn as fast as a lead-singer-piloted Lambo, apparently, so Kroeger’s (née Turton) sentence was just recently meted out in Vancouver. Twice the legal blood alcohol level and 80 miles per hour will net you a fine of 600 Loonies (like $2,000 now that the US dollar is all Caspar Milquetoast) and a driving suspension for the rest of the year. Oh darn. I think we’d be inclined to consider ourselves lucky if we received such a light tap on the wrist, but the indignity of it all will see Kroeger appealing. When he eventually loses the second appeal, we suggest he be sentenced to writing a truly new song.

[Source: BBC]

Four U.S. states, one Canadian province and one territory have already banned smoking in your car when children are present. Next up to potentially adopt the legislation is Ontario, Canada. A bill has been introduced into parliament that would fine anyone smoking in a car when someone under the age of 16 is also in the car.
The bill makes no exceptions for, well, anything. It doesn’t matter if the car is stopped or moving, if all the windows are down and the sunroof open, or whether the smoker is driver or passenger. Smoke inside a motorized vehicle with a “child,” and it’ll cost you $250 Canadian.

While we don’t argue with the supposed spirit of the law — protecting children from the ill health effects of smoke — we do wonder about the relevant age. Sixteen years old seems kind of long in the tooth to be classified as a “child,” while 17-year-olds are suddenly adults who can handle it. There would also seem to be more dangerous things out there than traces of smoke at 55-MPH with the windows down, but it is Canada after all, so maybe not.

Thanks for the tip, Rodstar!

[Source: Canadian Driver]

Dodge’s marketing slogan is “grab life.” Apparently, the message has resonated with the youth demo in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, where a 7-year-old swiped grandma’s car keys and commandeered her Durango while she was unawares. An unplanned demolition derby on the streets of the Florida enclave immediately ensued. His eight-minute joyride saw him take out a pair of mailboxes, hit two parked cars in a Costco parking lot, and then two more moving vehicles at an intersection before he drove into a street sign and broke the right front wheel off the truck, ending his impromptu cruise through the neighborhood. Miraculously, no one was hurt throughout all this. The obvious quote of the day comes from PBG police officer Ellen Lovejoy, who noted that the kid’s actions constituted “unusual behavior for a seven-year old.” Maybe he was just getting himself amped up for this week’s impending Grand Theft Auto IV release.

[Source: Palm Beach Post]