This video is a technical deep-dive into modern engine oils and filters, aimed at the home car maintenance DIY-er.
My mate Brett from Driving Enthusiast - https://www.youtube.com/@drivingenthusiastaustralia - dropped by the Fat Cave today, and since we both recently tested the same RAM 1500 Laramie Sport, we went for a spin and rolled a GoPro while we talked about it. This car is one of the most under-rated utes in the market - it tows heavy, it accelerates fast, and it's abundantly luxurious, as well as packed with clever features. Predictably, lefty/greenie types hate it.Make sure you check out Brett's channel and give him a sub - he's doing good work over there.Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contactGet a great deal on home solar (or add a quality battery to your existing setup): https://autoexpert.com.au/solar
Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contactGet a great deal on home solar (or add a quality battery to your existing setup): https://autoexpert.com.au/solarIn this video:Polestar has just started offering battery state of health certificates on select used Polestar 2s being resold in its dealer network. Companies don’t get up in the morning and randomly decide this kind of thing is a good idea. It has to be for a reason.According to them: "As part of the Polestar Pre-owned programme, in which select used cars re-enter the partner network, the certificate transparently shows customers the battery health and capacity of a used Polestar 2. Certifying the useable battery as a percentage, customers can purchase a pre-owned Polestar 2 with peace-of-mind that the car’s battery is in optimal condition."The battery in a Polestar 2 is actually one of the few things that’s proven quite robust so far, with very few owners complaining about range falling into the Marianas Trench. There have been plenty of other faults, but not the battery.Doing this is most probably because the rest of the car has proven to be such an unreliable, abject lemon. Like, don’t mind the lemon - look at how healthy the battery is, dude. Again, according to them: "Since its launch in 2020, Polestar 2 has received over 20 over-the-air (OTA) software updates, allowing the car to continuously improve over time. For Polestar 2, OTA updates have led to efficiency gains, extending the car’s range through battery management, new functionality with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as many loved apps including Waze and YouTube. With regularly scheduled software updates, Pre-owned customers can be assured they have the latest software features in their car."This is a very interesting way to put it. It’s a totally true statement - as far as it goes - but not exactly a complete picture of the OTA reality. I'd argue that many - maybe most - of these OTAs are (often unsuccessful) attempts to fix something that should have been sorted in R&D, before deploying the vehicle publicly.So, battery health certificate or not, Polestar 2 is set to go down in the history books as one of the first enduring EV lemons. Cybertruck is on the podium, certainly, but Polestar 2 is up there, in the Lemon-Scented EV Sweepstakes.
My mate Brett from Driving Enthusiast - https://www.youtube.com/@drivingenthusiastaustralia - dropped by the Fat Cave with a Ranger Sport Loaner, so we went for a spin and rolled a GoPro while we talked about it. It's pretty impressive from a platform, dynamics, ergonomics and powertrain perspective. But it is quite expensive, and my reservations about Ford's product support and long-term reliability linger.Make sure you check out Brett's channel and give him a sub - he's doing good work over there.Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contactGet a great deal on home solar (or add a quality battery to your existing setup): https://autoexpert.com.au/solar
Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contactGet a great deal on home solar (or add a quality battery to your existing setup): https://autoexpert.com.au/solar
Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contactGet a great deal on home solar (or add a quality battery to your existing setup): https://autoexpert.com.au/solarIN THIS VIDEOLast Friday morning, a truck operated by NJ Ashton Group inconveniently, and certainly unintentionally, sprayed 750 kilos of Satan’s fingernails, also known as ‘flock’, which is finely shredded steel fragments, all over a 30km stretch of the M1, which is the northern motorway out of Sydney. Flock has a variety of clever industro-fun uses - it goes into friction materials (like brake linings and clutches - things of that nature). It’s a reinforcer for composites, and rubbers (not those rubbers, dude - your mind doesn’t have to be in the fucking gutter 24/7 - nobody wants flock in those rubbers - maybe Satan - he’d want that. I’m talking about flock in general products made of rubber, and plastic. They even stick flock in anti-static flooring (for electronics factories, or pyro-type manufacturing). And (this is very sexy, to me) they use flock in powder metallurgy as a binder in sintered components. ‘Flock’ is therefore miraculous. But not when you spray it all over 30km of freeway. That sucks. 300 vehicles had their tyres punctured, southbound, between Palmdale and Mount White. This main transport link to Sydney was closed for 10 hours.Nothing screams ‘no response plan’ louder than that. And I would say that we in the electorate deserve more than this entirely fucked-up response.This incident, which was purely accidental and in no way malicious, highlights two serious, interconnected lapses by regulatory Muppets to whom we pay healthy six-figure salaries - mainly, it would seem, to use their arses as little more than an over-priced executive chair polishing system.Problem one: It’s pretty easy, potentially, to disrupt the entire city. When you think about it. And problem two: Since there’s clearly no plan to deal with even one isolated incident such as this, imagine the unfettered chaos potentially caused by a properly coordinated attack. That’s pretty clear, given the ‘Keystone Cops’ response painted across everyone’s newsfeeds Friday night and Saturday morning.
In this episode: full breakdown on the newly released specs and pricing on the GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV. (The Chinese carmaker's new 300kW plug-in hybrid dual-cab ute.)
Get a great deal on home solar (or add a quality battery to your existing setup): https://autoexpert.com.au/solarSave thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contactIn this video, I visited Risen's factory in China, and saw truly cutting-edge manufacturing technology on a scale you will not see in Australia. Risen is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of solar panels. It has roughly 15,000 employees, of which more than 1000 professional propellerheads work in R&D.The company holds over 740 proprietary patents. You can’t miss them, because you have to drive past them to visit the production line……which you can’t walk onto without wearing the full anti-static frock. And then, they blow you. With air. To make sure you don’t bring in any dust. It’s basically the full ‘Skynet’ freak show of cutting-edge robotic automation. Crystalline wafers that are less than four thousandths of an inch thick get scurried about by robots, and subjected to dozens of tightly controlled doping and layering processes in a surgically clean science-fiction set.It’s a decent 400- or 500-metre stroll from one end of the cell production line to the other. Endless processes with built-in testing take place. There are, of course, multiple lines in parallel.I had one impression in my head of manufacturing in China, and this, frankly, was not it. The minders who took us through were the full brainiac - they spoke binary. I struggled to keep up.I’ve been to car factories and R&D centres in Japan, Europe and South Korea. Risen’s factory is right up there. If I hadn’t been wearing a surgical mask, my jaw would have been on the floor.There are people at Risen, and all they do is think about heterogeneous junctions, zero busbar technology, optimising metallic paste, and advanced interconnection systems. It’s closer to rocket science than you think, and more reliable than SpaceX.This is properly advanced technology, and they develop it in-house.
Pricing revealed and pre-orders open for one of my most anticipated new vehicles - Australia’s new ugliest ute - the Kia Tasman. Move over Ssangong Musso; there’s a new monument to dual-cab ugliness in town...Hilarious developments back at headquarters: The penny has dropped, finally, that it looks hideous. They're doing what they can. They’re defending the design, but at the same time also striving to make it seem less crap, at minimal cost - overseas and here.And the price: It’s out of control, dude. Top-spec Tasman is $12k more than top-spec Triton (its closest competitor in the market, all things considered). And line-ball with a 3.0V6 diesel Ford Ranger Wildtrak.That's an intelligence test isn't it? The Wildtrak or the Tasman... How much thinking music do you really need?
The Ford Ranger Super Duty is currently a fairy tale. Ford’s PR team - doing what it does best: Selectively representing the truth about the Ranger Super Duty to the most domesticated car reviewers on the planet.The ones too timid, or otherwise incentivised not to ask any hard questions. Perhaps they just don’t know what to ask. In any case, the official Ford-sanctioned reports so far are just a suck.Ranger Super Duty is going to be OK - too expensive, but OK. Meaning, not nearly as good at towing or load carrying as you’ve been led to believe. At this point, that's pretty obvious.I'm going to break that down for you, in this video, using (you know) facts.If you’re thinking about buying a Super Duty Ranger, this report covers what you need to know. From someone who’s not afraid to do ghetto engineering and actual journalism.
Subaru used to be a great company in Australia, but unfortunately they've been sowing the seeds of their own downfall for well over a decade now ... and the harvest is imminent.
Increasing Toyota ownership of the company means more Toyota beancounters running the show, sucking the passion from the brand and removing - essentially - all the exciting variants from the range, especially in Australia.
Here I use one owner's interaction with them to illustrate this point, and lay out the broader reasons why this once great brand is over the hill.
This video isa a full review and road test of the Elecbrakes eb2 brake controller.
What makes the Elecbrakes eb2 so interesting and effective?
Here in Australia you need an electric brake controller to tow any trailer over two tonnes. The conventional approach involves hard-wiring a controller to every vehicle tasked with towing such a trailer. That gets kind of expensive. Especially if you’ve got one trailer - a boat, caravan, camper trailer, horse float, excavator, diesel generator, whatever, and multiple vehicles, potentially, that tow it.You could be up for several hard-wired brake controllers. And if you upgrade to a new vehicle, you instantly need another one, plus you need to pay for installation, again. There’s actually a much better way to do this.That 'better way' is the EB2 brake controller from Elecbrakes. Elecbrakes is an Aussie business on the NSW Central Coast. They’ve got integrated production, assembly and R&D, in-house. They’re legitimately an Aussie manufacturing innovator and success story. But until I got tipped off, I’d never actually heard of them.A simple black box is the brain. It stays on the trailer, and if it’s there, you DO NOT need a brake controller fitted to the tow vehicle. It’s simple but sophisticated - there’s even an accelerometer inside, which enables proportional braking, plus you get dynamic adaptation to hills built in.So: one trailer, one controller. And most handy dudes can install the EB2 easily. Four self-drilling screws is really all it takes. And they’re in the box. The braking response is very tunable. You can easily tweak it for your particular combination. Plus, there are five preset programs.
A battery recycling facility near Glasgow in Scotland has just blown up - for the second time in 12 months. Toxic, carcinogenic chemicals including hydrofluoric acid, hydrogen cyanide, heavy metal compounds including cobalt oxide, manganese oxide and nickel oxide, plus phosphorous oxyfluoride, formaldehyde and acrolein rained down over nearby houses, and the plume of contamination widens.Regulators and politicians at all levels are very disappointed. Lots of hand-wringing there. The company that owns the facility, Fenix, wants you to know it takes safety very seriously indeed. And of course the Easter bunny - he might be real.In other news: Thankfully, we’re still on track for ‘net zero’. Let’s not let any pesky details get in the way of that vital goal.
Two firefighters have died, one is seriously injured, and another thirteen were injured less seriously, when a Porsche Taycan electric sports car crashed and exploded around 4pm on Wednesday, in an underground car park in Madrid.
In other news, despite mounting evidence of the danger, there’s still no plan to mitigate the risk posed by EVs among us. If you think there’s any kind of risk management plan in place here in ‘Straya, I’ll be auctioning off the Harbour Bridge this weekend. This is your opportunity to score an historic piece of an internationally recognised ‘Strayan icon, dude.
What appears to have happened in this tragedy is:
"According to eyewitness accounts, the fire began when a resident, identified only as Javier, attempted to park his electric Porsche Taycan. Reports suggest that he may have confused the accelerator with the brake, crashing into the garage entrance and causing the vehicle to emit thick smoke and flames."
That’s from the Pinnacle Gazatte in Spain. “Confused the accelerator and the brake”: Yeah. Sounds like the the Porsche owner.
"Initial hypotheses suggest that the first of the deceased firefighters was caught in a blast that affected several parked cars. This large-scale explosion was allegedly caused by a fire in an electric car which had crashed when its owner was driving it into the garage. The second firefighter died from the inhalation of fumes while he was being transferred to the University Hospital of Getafe. All the injured and deceased were members of the Alcorcón fire brigade."
Lobby groups and other arsehole EV advocates will not allow any speed humps on the superhighway to Electric Utopia, with its tantalising pot of ‘net zero’ at the end of the rainbow. Speed humps such as reasonable safety measures.
Apparently, the safety of the public, and of firefighters, is not as important as looking good to other unhinged climate zealots who never studied.
Chrome-domed Pierre Potato-Trump making news , claiming by way of leak to The ‘Strayan newspaper … that the PM, Mr Albo-sneezy, has it wrong on new vehicle CO2 policy, which is apparently set to drive new car prices sky high without a good, old-fashioned Coalition watering-down.
Elmer Fudd giveth; and Spuman taketh away. Thus restoring harmony to the universe, which he was put here to do, obviously.
So, if you can believe anything in the ‘Strayan, Mr Potato-Trump, will retain Labor’s New Vehicle Efficiency scheme, but without the fines for carmakers which overstep mandated CO2 limits.
Those CO2 fines were supposed to kick in on July 1, but if Captain Potato-Trump moves into the lodge, we’ll just get Emissions Wank Lite, which is kinda like skim milk, or a dominatrix without a riding crop.
The core issue about Labor’s New Bullshit Emissions Wank Scheme is that Labor says it’ll drive down the cost of new cars, and the cost of operating them. And stop Australia being a dumping ground for filthy, polluting vehicles. Not that there’s any evidence that any of this this is the case.
If Chris Bowen says it, it’s good enough for me, obviously.
But Fritte-man disagrees, and (oddly) I’m with him on this one.
It won’t do either of those things. The most popular cars in the country will increase in price. Because we love our utes. Because carmakers will be fined for selling them to us. Because they will breach ever-tightening CO2 standards. Because carmakers will pass those costs - the fines / stealth ute tax - on to you and me.
This is a fairly simple dot-joining sequence. Even an economist could do it.
Labor’s policy is nothing but a Greens-appeasing stealth tax on utes and 4x4s. Correction: another Greens-appeasing stealth tax. And also one of Labor’s favourite tricks - social engineering. Divisive bastards.
Telling you what car to buy … without actually telling you. What they’re doing is making your dual-cab ute, or other 4x4 you want, more expensive, in the hope you’ll buy some piece of shit whitegoods on wheels instead, hopefully with a dirty big lithium battery inside, instead of an engine.
The new Jaecoo J7 SHS plug-in hybrid is under $50k, drive-away - and it's fully loaded.
For comparison:
The advent of Chinese automotive brands in Australia will invert the established market, and it's going to be a bloodbath.Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contactGet a great deal on home solar (or add a quality battery to your existing setup): https://autoexpert.com.au/solar
If you plan on buying a new car in coming months, it’s a perfect storm, right now. All the ducks are in a row. The market is commercially crap, dealers are ready to roll. Established brands are getting bent over by the upstart Chinese brands, money is tight. And now there’s an election in five weeks (on May 3). There really hasn’t been a better time in years to stride purposefully into a dealership and negotiate as hard as you can. Show no mercy.Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contactGet a great deal on home solar (or add a quality battery to your existing setup): https://autoexpert.com.au/solar
Chinese car brand GWM just installed a dude named Rob Trubiani as their head of engineering. He's the guy who spent 15 years making Holden's ride and handling so damn excellent. Oh, and he set the lap record for a commercial vehicle at the Nurburgring, in a VF SS-V Redline Commodore Ute. So there's that. His mission is A) fix the ride & handling, and B) fix the intrusive, ineffective ADAS. GWM is on a roll. This cannot possibly end badly.
Check out Brett Davis's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@drivingenthusiastaustraliaSave thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contactGet a great deal on home solar (or add a quality battery to your existing setup): https://autoexpert.com.au/solar
BYD just announced 1MW (one million watts, 1000 kilowatts) of recharging capability. The inferences are: It's as fast as refilling on gasoline/petrol, and EV charging problems are now solved. Survey says: Still slower, and recharging is just as problematic as ever.Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contactGet a great deal on home solar (or add a quality battery to your existing setup): https://autoexpert.com.au/solar
My mate Brett from Driving Enthusiast - https://www.youtube.com/@drivingenthusiastaustralia - dropped by the Fat Cave with a BYD Shark 6 loaner earlier today, so we went for a spin and rolled a GoPro while we talked about it. It's a huge - and hugely impressive - new ute. The performance is staggering, the interior is gorgeous, the tray is huge, and it makes a real statement on the road ... but it does have one significant problem, which could (seemingly) have been so easily fixed.
