A biweekly roundup of automotive news, good, bad and just plain weird:
Paying a premium for premium fuel
According to the American Automobile Association, something like US$2.1 billion was wasted on premium fuel last year. Consumers, unclear what higher-grade fuel actually does, are filling up their regular cars with 91-octane fuel.
If your Civic or Camry is intended to run on 87 octane gasoline, you’re wasting your money. Here’s the quick thumbnail lesson.
The octane rating on the fuel pump isn’t a measure of the quality of the gasoline, it’s a rating of how resistant the fuel is to pre-ignition (also known as spontaneous combustion or knock). If you have a high-compression performance car, or a turbocharged or supercharged car, your car’s engine control unit may be able to extract more power with higher octane fuel. It may even be a requirement – check your gas cap or fuel filler door.
If, however, you have a standard engine, the higher octane does nothing. It adds no power and doesn’t increase range. You get nothing except, perhaps, a placebo effect.
The one caveat is that lower octane fuels are often blended with ethanol, which burns slightly hotter than gasoline, and can be a little harder on an engine in the long term. But that’s splitting hairs – you’re much more likely to have an electrical problem with a 20-year-old car than you are a mechanical one caused by running regular-grade fuel.
Guidelines released for self-driving cars
It’s not the technology that’ll be the biggest hurdle to the fully autonomous car, it’s the law. With the United States Department of Transport releasing a new document outlining how the self-driving car of the future will be regulated, there’s at least now a road map forward.
The guidelines break down federal and state responsibilities, and list 15 points that every autonomous car should conform to. These include everything from privacy and cybersecurity against hacking, to ethical considerations.
The last has been provoking an interesting debate over the last few months. When our cars are completely self-aware, should they choose to swerve into a lamppost and kill a single occupant rather than mow down a herd of schoolchildren? Armchair philosophers have been debating over the prospect like crazy.
But here’s the thing. There’s another, larger elephant in the room that the government hasn’t quite addressed yet. As autonomous vehicles become more prevalent, somebody is going to misunderstand the technology and get themselves injured. Then they’re going to sue. Based on what happened with Toyota’s unintended acceleration scandal – which was shown to be human error rather than a problem with the cars – they’re probably going to win.
So, even with the way forward to an autonomous future, watch for mainstream automakers to proceed cautiously.
Canyon jump honours Evel Knievel
It was the one stunt Evel never got to do: jump a rocket-powered motorcycle across the Snake River Canyon in Idaho. Why do such a thing? Because he’s Evel Knievel.
Forty-two years later, however, somebody’s finally done it. Eddie Braun cleared the canyon this week in a steam-powered rocket-cycle, one built by the son of the man who built the X2 Skycycle that Evel was supposed to use.
During the stunt, the rocket contraption hit 400 miles per hour, hurtling up a huge ramp, sailing over the canyon and parachuting gently down on the other side.
Braun didn’t claim the victory for himself, telling the Idaho Statesman, “I like to say I’m not doing something that Evel Knievel couldn’t do. I’m simply finishing out his dream. How many people get to finish the dream of their hero?”
Driver caught going 89 mph in a DeLorean
We all know what happens when you hit 88 mph in a DeLorean, right? Great Scott! It’s back to the future we go!
Well, the Essex police were not so amused when they caught one DeLorean owner travelling along the public road at 89 mph. “You’re nicked mate,” they said, or whatever it is bobbies say these days.
However, Nigel Mills wasn’t having it, and decided to fight the ticket. Apparently, a group of people are illegally camped out in the parking lot of the company he owns, and police refuse to evict them. However, they’re still happy to hand out fines to honest, mostly law-abiding, time-traveller wannabes.
Owing to a lack of procedural evidence, the ticket was waved – or did Mills simply travel back in time and change the course of history to get out of the fine? We’ll never know.
Hospital farewell includes vintage emergency vehicles
The can’t miss car show for North Vancouverites is coming up this Sunday on 13th Street between St. Georges and St Andrews as part of the Grand Farewell Commemoration event for North Vancouver’s General Hospital. The old building now faces demolition, and the community is giving it a final send-off.
Seventy-five vintage vehicles dating back as far as 1929 – when the hospital first opened – will be on display, as well as an assortment of vintage emergency vehicles. Each decade gets its own class, and the car show will be part of a whole bigger gala with entertainment and children’s activities. Head over between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday to take part.
Watch this space for all the best and worst of automotive news, or submit your own auto oddities to [email protected].
