It’s time for a compassion self check. If a suicidal person jumps 40 feet from a building and lands on your car, what is the first thing you think about? Do you think “I wonder if the poor person died or how badly they are injured” or do you go “Why? Why my car out of all the cars in the city?’ Well, this actually happened and Maria McCormack voiced the latter choice.

When Tom Magill fell 400 feet and reached a believed speed of 126 mile-per-hour, it was McCormack’s 2008 Dodge Charger which broke Magill’s fall and likely saved his life. McCormack had let her husband borrow the car and is regretting letting him do so in addition to the recent work she just put in on the now totaled car.

McCormack is not totally heartless after losing the one car she loved. When she was told by Geico, her insurance company, that her car was totaled and could sue Magill for damages, McCormack said “I’m not going to do that. He has enough to worry about.”

Source: New York Post

As I twitter away the hours of my dull day, many things occur to me. Today I was contemplating the answer to a question that seems not to bother people who should put a modicum of thought into the answer. “Why do people read automotive reviews?”(Why they are written is a tale for another day, and trust me, I will tell it.)

One thing I am absolutely sure of is I know what the wrong answer is.  No one reads them to aid in their car buying decisions.  Seriously, I asked almost eleven people if they had ever relied on a review in their car buying: eight of them said no, the other two were under six, neither read well, but both have fetching electric Jeeps.

Point blank, I am stating here that I almost never read reviews unless the author asks me to, or another individual thinks I will get a kick out of it.  If I want a new car, I will let television tell me what I should buy.  More likely, I will let my wife decide what to get.

But why then, I asked myself? Why do people read these print articles/web gems/blog posts? The easy answer is because they love all things automotive and have a pathological need to devour every word written about internal combustion engine powered vehicles.

Some readers may be haters looking for that little nugget that they can bandy about.  Or is it for pure entertainment? Or is it for validation of the purchase that they already made? Maybe some of us just have a thing for hyperbole.  Others I think are addicted to knowing of that which they will never own.  Perchance there is even a Canadian or two out there who read them just to critique the grammar.

I really would love to know why from some of you people out there on the interwebs read these reviews!!

Almost as important, do people really digest the information the reviewers are relaying, or are the masses no more than skimmers? Should journalists and bloggers write a la CliffsNote style by using more bullets? Maybe overlay highlights on the good bits to save the public’s time?  Perhaps universities should begin journalistic hyperbole workshops? Who knows?

Ford says the new 2011 Explorer is 85% recyclable due to the parts used on the vehicle. One part on the Explorer, the noise-dampening fender baffles come from metal used to create door openings on the F-150. The scrap metal is taken from Ford’s Woodhaven, MI plant to Midway Products Group Inc., in Monroe, MI. Mark Courtright, a Ford product design engineer explains what happens next, “(Midway) stamps it into an (Explorer) part and, with a robot, applies some noise, vibration and harshness sealer around the edge.” Ford says this process will save 119 tons of steel.

Source: Wards Auto

Wisconsin, the land of the Green Bay Packers, Cheese, and cheeseheads, but the state is also home to Road America, where many legendary races have taken place. Road America has produced some close finishes and this one is no exception. For this week’s escapism we show you last weeks ALMS race at Road America. The vehicles involved are the LeMans Prototype race cars and takes place within the last three laps. How close of a finish are we talking about? Well, you will have to watch the video to find out. Have a nice Friday everyone.

One example of how to tell if you’re having a bad day on the job; a swarm of bees attack your car. Case in point: A Wake County sheriff’s deputy by the name of Brandon Jenkins was checking out a disabled pickup. The pickup was moving a trailer of honey bee hives from Mount Airy to Rocky Mount in North Carolina when it broke down before dawn. Deputy Jenkins was walking around the vehicle when the sun began to rise and the honeybees became active. Deputy Jenkins fearing he was in the middle of a real life version of  “Attack of the Killer Bees”  ran to his cruiser, and the bees followed him, covering the car. The sheriff’s office called North Carolina State University’s agriculture department, which removed most of the bees from the cruiser. The rest of the bees on the vehicle flew away once Deputy Jenkins drove away. It’s unknown if Deputy Jenkins is afraid of bees now or avoids honey at all costs.

Source: WRAL.com

What comes with two iPads, one Mac Mini, one iPod touch and four doors? No, it’s not Ben Sanders‘ Pontiac G8, it’s the Brabus SV12 R iBusiness. The rear-seat passengers can use the Mac via one ceiling-mounted, alcantara-covered 15.2″ display and two smaller screens in the headrests. For light web surfing, iPad holders are integrated in small fold-up tables, complete with Apple Bluetooth keyboards.

The driver won’t be bored either: The base S600 engine has been bored out from 5.5 to 6.3 liters, larger turbos and intercoolers push this big Benz to 750-horsepower and a 211 mph top speed. Brabus also announced a Brabus iPhone/iPad app.

I wonder what that will do – calculate fuel economy?

Now entering it’s eleventh day, a traffic jam in China near the Beijing area has become one of the worst ever. The traffic was recorded going at about a half mile per day, or 0.02 mph. The cause is the overburdened traffic system in China, mixed with road construction that is scheduled to last until September 17^th.

Due to the traffic jam, there is no guarantee that the work will even be completed at all. Drivers are unable to abandon their cars and have been forced to buy food from vendors charging up to ten times the normal price for simple items such as water and instant noodles.

With no end in sight, the question now comes down to what happens when all of these cars run out of gas and thousands of cars are simply abandoned as drivers become too frustrated to stay with them. Surprisingly, no incidents of road rage have been recorded yet. Just imagine if this happened in a major U.S. city?

UPDATE: According to reports from MSNBC, the traffic jam has “vanished”  overnight.

Executives at Ford are standing firm with the Flex crossover, even though sales have disappointed. Ford hoped to sell 70,000 to 100,000 of the Flex per year, but through July 2010, 22,932 Flexs have left dealer lots. Analysts say that the Flex should either be redesigned or be given a farewell party. Analysts see two problems; the new Explorer and the lack of awareness for the Flex. Both the Explorer and Flex are seven seat crossovers, aimed at families. Aaron Bragman, automotive analyst with IHS Automotive thinks that if the 2011 Ford Explorer eats into Ford Flex sales even more than the crossovers “days will be numbered.”

Ford argues the Explorer and Flex go after different buyers with the Explorer offering an off-road system. The other problem facing the Flex is the lack of awareness with buyers. Beau Smith, owner and vice president of Sill-Terhar Ford in Broomfield, CO. says “The customer who come in and test-drive the car love the car. There is still not a huge awareness, but our conversion rates are high.”

But Ford says the Flex is staying. Mark Fields, Ford’s Presidents of Americas says both products are important to Ford by “brining in some very, very unique costumers to our brand.”

But if Ford did kill the Flex, problems would arise,

“The Flex hasn’t been the success they wanted it to be but they can’t eliminate that without having serious problems with MKT pricing and volume. And they need a premium large Lincoln people mover.”

Says Aaron Bragman.

Source: Detroit Free Press