Spring Break PSA: Don’t Drink and Drive

Recently, while having a nice wine and Sous Vide steak dinner at a friend’s house, I got a very sobering text from my sister. It was a poorly lit photo of my mom’s car with the entire driver’s side smashed up and the side curtain airbags deployed along with the text, “Call mom!!”

It looked serious and I instantly freaked out. I gave her a call and she tells me it was my 18-year-old brother driving when he got T-boned at an intersection by a driver that blew through a red light. The speed limit on that street is 35 mph so the other driver was probably doing at least that in his RAV4, which would make for quite the impact. What’s worse, he was obviously drunk and started berating my brother and threatened to beat him up when he asked for his information. Thankfully, my brother walked away without a scratch and a witness who saw the whole thing stopped and called the cops. Long story short, cops came and took statements and end up arresting the other driver.

I’m beyond thankful my brother was wearing a seat belt and was in a 2008 IIHS Top Safety Pick. It scored “Good” (the best score possible) for front moderate overlap, rear, and side impact. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave it 5 stars for driver side impact as well. By the looks of it, it definitely earned it. The door panels were cracked but nothing pierced through the cabin. My brother didn’t even have a scratch or bruise the next day.

Sadly, our family’s fifth Honda has been deemed a total loss by our insurance company and needs to be replaced. Needless to say, I want my mom in another Honda (hope you’re reading, Helpful Honda Guys).

Moral of the story: wear your seatbelt and absolutely never drink and drive. NHTSA says 10,265 people died in drunk-driving-related crashes in 2015, accounting for nearly one third of all traffic deaths that year. Do the math, and that works out to 28 people every day or one death every 53 minutes. You’ve probably heard it countless times before, but it doesn’t really hit home until you or someone close to you is affected. So take it from someone who has been affected: just don’t drink and drive.

 

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Porsche, Toyota Debut LMP1 Race Cars Ahead of Silverstone Opener

Forget the LaFerrari, P1, Regera, and 918. The real hybrid hypercars are those fielded in the World Endurance Championship. Here, both Toyota and Porsche dominate with their respective entries. Drastically different in terms of power units, these two teams want to challenge each other in the most grueling endurance races ever devised, including the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans. And with the first race just around the corner—April 15 at Silverstone—both teams have released their 2017 race cars, detailing the differences in how both aim to achieve total victory at this year’s Le Mans.

While both feature hybrid systems, that’s where the similarities end. Toyota’s TS050 Hybrid uses a newly-developed Higashi-Fuji 2.4-liter turbocharged V-6 engine coupled to an 8MJ lithium-ion high-power battery unit that combines to produce a staggering 986 horsepower. Additionally, Toyota’s team has further focused on chassis reinforcements and redesigns to ensure that it doesn’t suffer another heart-breaking near-win failure as it saw at Le Mans last year.

Toyota’s team president, Toshio Sato, told Motorsport, “The whole team is motivated and determined for this season. We want to win, there is no doubt about that, but we know it will be an incredibly tough fight with Porsche.”

As for the team from Stuttgart, they’ve been hard at work developing the 2017 car to dominate Circuit de la Sarthe, as well as the rest of the season. With the 2017 Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche is aiming to complete a hat-trick, winning at Le Mans for the third consecutive year, and the car itself looks the business as it’s been extensively revised with 60-70 percent of the car new or greatly redesigned for the 2017 season.

The 919 is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged V-4 engine that produces 493 horsepower in conjunction with two separate energy recovery systems that feed the car’s lithium-ion battery powering the front axle. In total, the battery generates an additional 400 horsepower, which gives the 919 Hybrid a net horsepower rating of 893 horsepower. While lower in power than the aforementioned Toyota, the 919 Hybrid aims to be the most efficient entrant, looking to stay out longer and require less fuel than the competition.

Further enhancements to the exterior of the race car were made to improve its aerodynamics, intakes, and other exterior bits in order to increase its downforce as well as top speed.

At the car’s launch, Fritz Enzinger, VP of LMP at Porsche, said, “Each and every one of the nine endurance races presents a challenge. Reliability is the basic requirement; six hours of navigating around the many cars in the different categories, each driving at different speeds, makes each race unpredictable — and ultimately it is often only seconds that separate the winner from the rest of the field. At four times the duration of other races, Le Mans forms the pinnacle of the series.”

And speaking of the competition, Enzinger elaborated with, “Toyota is set to be a very strong contender in the top-tier LMP1 category for the 2017 season. We will face up to them with a meticulously enhanced Porsche 919 Hybrid and a team of six first-class drivers.”

From these statements by both Porsche and Toyota, it appears the 2017 season will be hotly contested.

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Tesla Drivers Can Now Draw on the Center Touchscreen

Once again, Tesla has released a completely random Easter Egg feature as part of a software update. This latest one will appeal to your inner artist, or at the very least help you pass the time if you’re stuck at a charging station.

Tesla drivers can now doodle on the car’s center touchscreen and share their drawings with others. Tap on the Tesla logo three times, and the touchscreen turns into a full-on sketch pad. Earlier this week, CEO Elon Musk clued in Tesla drivers to the new feature and posted some of the sketches that users have created.

If you just downloaded V8.1, tap the the T on center screen three times

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 29, 2017

Made today on Tesla sketch pad http://pic.twitter.com/Z8dFP2NN41

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2017

In the past, Tesla has introduced a host of fun Easter egg features. In addition to a feature that prompted the Model X’s headlights to synchronize to music last year, Tesla introduced Ludicrous Easter-egg modes to improve performance on Tesla P100D vehicles.

We hear the newest Software 8.1 introduces not only the sketch pad but also improvements to Autopilot Hardware 2. Updates to Summon allow drivers to park their cars via either the Tesla mobile phone app or the key fob. Drivers can now engage Autosteer at 80 mph, up from a previous top speed of 55 mph. Of course, drivers should still keep their hands on the wheel and be prepared to take control at all times.

Source: Elon Musk via MarketWatch

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Spied! Say Hello to the Buick Regal Wagon

Ever since the all-new Opel Insignia debuted at the Geneva auto show, Americans have been chomping at the bit to see the car in U.S.-spec Buick Regal trim. We must be getting very close, as spy shooters just caught a prototype for a Regal wagon testing in Michigan – yes, GM is finally giving us a D-pillared variant of the Regal.

Though the Opel version was already revealed earlier this year, this mule was caught driving on public streets in full camouflage. The front grille retains the horizontal wings of the Opel version, but we can see Buick’s trademark waterfall vertical slats behind it. The badge is also larger than it appears on the Insignia, and we can just barely make out the impression of the tri-shield logo through the camo. We can see a lot of fake bodywork to disguise the profile from the B-pillar back, but there’s no mistaking the Opel Insignia Sports Tourer’s raked rear glass.

As we’ve reported previously, the Buick Regal is expected to be offered in five-door and wagon variants just like the Euro-market Insignia. GM will end Regal production at its Ontario, Canada, plant this year, which means the Regal is likely to be produced exclusively in Germany at Opel’s Rüsselsheim plant alongside the Insignia. Given the recent sale of Opel to French automaker PSA, it’s unclear how long Buick will have access to Opel’s models. The Insignia offers both gas and diesel options in Europe, all mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission, but the drivetrain lineup may be different for the U.S. A torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system is also available in Europe.

Expect the Buick Regal to make its debut soon, possibly at the New York auto show in April.

Photo Source: KGP Photography

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