A biweekly roundup of automotive news, good, bad and just plain weird:
Canadian man sets Guinness record for world's fastest log
That. That right there is not a headline I expected to write in my lifetime. However, there you have it folks, there's a record for the fastest motorized log in the world, and that record is now held by a Canadian. True North strong and free! Never been more proud. *sniff*
The vehicle in question, dubbed the Cedar Rocket, is a 240-year-old cedar tree, felled and mounted on the chassis of a Mazda RX-8. Power comes from an electric engine attached directly to the rear differential, with a couple of electric turbofans added because they look kinda neat.
It's pretty slow: the record stands at just 90 kilometres per hour top speed. Still, it's a speed that is fast enough to be written into the history books, and it's unlikely that anybody else is going to make the attempt.
The Cedar Rocket was conceived of by Brian Reid Sr., of Pioneer Log Homes of B.C. ("Aha," you cry, "Now it makes sense!"). After doing some publicity work over the next year or so, it'll be auctioned off with the proceeds going to benefit veterans' charities. Maybe if we all chip in together....
Kia plans BMW-fighting sport sedan
Well, there's another headline I didn't expect. Kia's move upmarket continues apace, with a new small rear-drive sedan targeting buyers of the likes of the BMW 3 Series.
Rumoured to be called the CK, the coupe-styled sedan features the sharply angular look of current Kias, and will likely feature turbocharged power. With Hyundai moving the Genesis brand into the luxury sphere, Kia going sportier makes a great deal of sense (even if becoming a BMW battler is unexpected).
Having said that, current sporty Kias are more GT than corner carver: the Koreans have lots of work to do on getting electric power steering to work, for instance. It'll always be good to see a new rear-drive option out there for driving enthusiasts, but history shows that even BMW's German competition has struggled to wrest the sales title away from the 3.
Nissan's winter warriors hit Chicago
Snow tires are so important. Don't leave home without 'em this winter. Well, unless you have tank tracks instead.
Here's Nissan turning three relatively mundane crossovers (the Rogue, Murano, and Pathfinder) into real snow cars, with the application of four 121-inch Dominator tracks from American Track Truck. Stupendous!
But no, you won't be able to order them out of your dealer's accessory catalogue just yet. Drat.
Mercedes-Benz brings C-Class wagon to Canada
Many have long argued that the Canadian market's unique needs favour the compact luxury wagon. Nowhere is this more evident than on the North Shore, where the Audi A4 Avant and the BMW 3 Series Touring reign supreme. Too bad you can't get the Audi anymore, not without looking at the taller allroad.
Mercedes seems to have cottoned on - no surprise, as their E-Class wagon already sells well. Now Canadians will have a chance to get a C-Class wagon too, powered by a thrifty 200 horsepower, turbodiesel engine with 369 footpounds of torque.
Seems sensible, right-sized, and great for ski-trips up and down the Sea-to-Sky. Forgive me for also wanting the rest of the C-Class engine offerings to be made available in wagon form, up to and including the C63 AMG's twin-turbo V-8. Yes, please.
Shifting: Keep it simple, stupid
An investigation into Fiat-Chrysler's automatic gear selectors is revealing what we all probably knew already: people don't like unnecessarily complicated shifters. First seen in the Grand Cherokee, the electric switch shifters don't have the tactile feedback of an ordinary "PRNDL" selector, and customers have been known to leave the car in neutral instead of park.
While Jeep's now moved to a rotary shifter, the questions raised are worth examining. Why does every manufacturer feel like it's got to re-invent the wheel here? Honda/Acura's push-button shifter for their nine-speed automatic has the same function as the shifter in the "normal" Pilot, and takes up the same amount of room. Why's it different in the nine-speed version?
Because ... um.
Like the volume knob and the parking brake, stop messing with what works.
Watch this space for all the best and worst of automotive news, or submit your own auto oddities to mcaleer.nsnews@gmail.com.
