Any questions?
Readers can be a curious lot, with concerns about all things automotive
Q. I just bought a 2006
A. Sorry, but that's how Toyota designed the system. In effect, the company told me the intent was to prevent a car from running in the yard or on a street, making it easy for someone -- maybe a child -- to get in and drive away. But here's why I think the automatic shut-off is a good idea: You might start your car from the kitchen and put the keys on the counter while pouring a coffee for the road. Say you forget the keys and simply get in the car -- which is running already -- and drive to work. What happens when you go to restart the car at the end of the day and realize the keys are still at home on the counter?
Q.How can you endorse the advice of Bob O'Brien of Direct Tire in Watertown -- he said the best tires should go on the rear even in the case of a front-wheel-drive car. Having the best grip in the front is safest.
A. Because O'Brien is right. Most accidents can be tied to one of two major problems: understeer, in which the car plows straight ahead; and oversteer, in which the back tries to pass the front ones. Understeer is easier to fix than oversteer, which often leads to roll overs.
In rainy conditions, hydroplaning -- which causes the car to lift up on water -- is a major danger. The tires with the deepest tread do the best job of pushing water aside instead of floating on it. Since there is less weight in the rear, it is more likely to lift first and then try to pass the front. That means having the best tires in the back makes sense.
And during emergency braking, you want the back tires gripping to better hold back a potential weight shift. Try to look at it this way: you're rocketing down a hill on a bicycle, grab the front brake controls and squeeze as hard as you can. What happens to the weight behind you?
Q. All diesel cars and trucks should be banned in the United States. Don't you realize that particulate matter from diesels will continue to be more deadly than cigarette smoke?
A. OK, so how will groceries get to your local supermarket? Or clothes to the department store? Diesel fuel is getting cleaner and new exhaust and filtering systems in diesel engines are further reducing noxious emissions. The fact is the country's transportation system depends on diesel.
Q. Have automakers maxed out the energy efficiency of automobiles or have they chosen not to explore new engine technology? From 1992 to 2006, the average real-world fuel economy has stayed about the same, in the low 20-mile-per-gallon range.
A. They have not maxed out efficiency. Instead, improvements in engine technology have largely gone to improve horsepower because people want to buy more power. It used to be that 300 horsepower was a grail of sorts. Today, we have 300-horsepower Volvos and Subarus. The same is happening in some cases with gasoline-electric hybrids.
Q. It seems to me that most of the cars you review cost more than $40,000, much higher than the average person can afford. Cars priced under $30,000 seem to appear in a small percentage of your columns.
A. In total numbers, there are many more cars out there in the $14,000 to $25,000 price range. But there are not as many different "models" as there are in the upper reaches. For example, I only review popular cars such as the Toyota Camry and Honda Civic when new models are introduced, and that happens once every three to five years. But at the upper end of the auto market, a steady flow of new models hits the market every year, so there's something fresh to address. I try to avoid re-reviewing cars -- why write about Camry again until it is redesigned?
Royal 