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Environmental Elitists to Greenwash Alexandria Coal Fired Generating Plant

Hello Yupette,

Big news from Alexandria is that a $450 million deal has been reached to close the GenOn Energy (formerly Mirant, formerly PEPCO) coal-fired generating station located on the Potomac, about 3/4 mile from Arlington.

Major players in the deal are the City of Alexandria, the American Clean Air Foundation (which is closely linked to the natural gas industry) and the Sierra Club.

The GenOn generating station will likely cease operating in October 2012 and be demolished, then redeveloped into an upscale mixed-use waterfront neighborhood, full of energy-guzzling residences, commercial properties, vehicles, and yachts.

The feeling among all parties to the deal was akin to the way the Obama Administration felt about Osama Bin Laden earlier this year, the generating station was worth more dead than alive.

Although the GenOn station is located less than a mile from Arlington, it appears that Arlington County has had little or no say about the operation, retirement, and redevelopment of the generating station and its associated infrastructure.

Alex.

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Auto Tuning Show Maxi Tuning Muscle Cars

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AUTOS TUNING 2009(PARTE 2)

AUTOS TUNING 2009(PARTE 2)

Four Mile Run - Future Flood Problem

Hello Yupette,

I live in East Falls Church, not far from Four Mile Run.

There was flooding along Four Mile Run this past weekend.

Thanks for the posts about the redevelopment of East Falls Church and Columbia Pike.

Before any more 'planning' is done to redevelop EFC and the Pike there needs to be a comprehensive survey of the Four Mile Run watershed to see how much more run off from buildings and parking lots is going to be dumped into Four Mile Run.

Like many others in my neighborhood, I oppose any more 'urbanization' of Arlington County.

Dave

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VIDEOS DE AUTOS TUNING PARTE 3

VIDEOS DE AUTOS TUNING PARTE 3

'First Responders' Looking for Another 9-11, Don't Want to Cope With Natural Disasters

Hello, Ms. Yupette,

I finally retired from the Arlington Fire Department this year.

We've just had an earthquake that caused damage around the region. Earthquakes on the East Coast aren't even on disaster preparedness organizations' radar.

Neither are the three natural disasters that can cause serious infrastructure damage, loss of life, and human misery. They are: tornadoes, hurricanes and the concurrent damage caused by wind and flooding, and prolonged loss of electric power in winter caused by ice storms.

What the cowboys who run Arlington's emergency preparedness organizations are looking for is another 9-11 attack on the Pentagon. That just ain't gonna happen.

What am I doing to avoid the bad stuff that will happen from the hurricane that's approaching? Going on vacation. Several members of my immediate family live in central Pennsylvania. Time for a visit. Taking the perishable food from my refrigerator with me in coolers. Returning next week. Enjoy the hurricane.

Retired Firefighter

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Autos Tuning

Autos Tuning

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Demonstrators, Local Residents Demand End to 'Secure Communities'

Hello, Yupette,

Last evening a large and vocal group of demonstrators demanded an immediate end to the Department of Homeland Security's so-called 'Secure Communities' program at a meeting of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. The meeting was held at Founders Hall of George Mason University, on Fairfax Drive. At least 30 uniformed police officers were present to monitor approximately 200 demonstrators. The demonstrators moved indoors and the Council members heard about 50 speakers.

The speakers overwhelmingly denounced 'Secure Communities' and called for an immediate end to the program. Several Arlington activists spoke on both sides of the issue. The most appalling statements came from attorneys who represent immigrant defendants regarding significant and serious abuses in the 'Secure Communities' program. Several local residents detailed the kafkaesque experiences they and their relatives endured after being apprehended by the police and sent to detention centers operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Tom

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Audrey Clement Will Share County Board Ballot With Democratic Party Incumbents

Hello, Yupette,

News from the Arlington Voter Registrar's office is that no Republican or third party candidate submitted voter petitions to run for County Board by the close of the polls tonight.

So Audrey Clement will face Mary Hynes and Walter Tejada in the November elections.

Hooray! Finally we have a choice. Someone who is REALLY for the environment. Someone who is fiscally responsible. Someone who CAN and WILL say NO to Chris Zimmerman !!!

I will gladly volunteer to help Audrey. You can too. Visit her Web site: www.audreyclement.org.

2100

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Cars Tuning ( Autos Tuning )

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Endorsements - August 23rd Democratic Primary

Hello

Arlington Yupette does not accept advertising. Our volunteers do not offer for-profit 'consulting services' to developers, non-profits, etc. Our volunteers are not 'committee members' of any political party, or board members of any non-profit, or for-profit organization.

Our volunteers attended debates, read campaign literature, talked with candidates, and determined what candidates actually accomplished if elected. So here are our endorsements for Tuesday's Arlington Democratic Primary:

For Virginia Senate 30th District - Rob Krupicka

For Virginia Senate 31st District - Jaime Areizaga-Soto

For House of Delegates, 49th District - Stephanie Clifford

For Commonwealth's Attorney - David Deane

Polls open at 6 AM and close at 7 PM. You don't have to be a Democrat to vote. This is a primary election, not a party caucus. You don't have to promise to support Democratic candidates in November. See you at the polls on Tuesday..

Susan

Labels: Audi R8 Pricing

Labels: Audi R8 Pricing

Ford Focus EV to be Introduced Soon; County Board Buys a $43,000 Hybrid for 'Evaluation'

Hello,

If you visited the Arlington County Fair you may have seen the $43,000 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid Arlington County purchased (for the list price) for testing and evaluation.

But County Staff who are in charge of testing and evaluating the Volt were clueless about the imminent introduction of the all-electric Ford Focus EV, which will list for approximately $32,000 with an approximate $7,000 tax rebate. That will make the all-electric Focus affordable for millions of drivers. The Focus EV has a 100 mile range, which makes it ideal for trips inside the Beltway.

Ford also just announced an optional rooftop photovoltaic charging package for the Focus EV which will list for $10,000.

But how will the basic Focus EV (or a similar all-electric vehicle, or even a plug-in hybrid) be charged if you don't own a single family home with a garage? Or if you own a Focus EV with a photovoltaic panel roof and park in an underground garage?

The County's citizen energy task force was long on sustainable development and short on renewable energy.

The Ford Focus EV will be introduced in months, not years. What's the County Board and the County's bloated transportation bureaucracy (not to mention apartment building owners and condo communities) going to do about it? Ford has not been shy about disclosing the Focus EV's marketing plans.

Susan

AUDI A1.

AUDI A1.

Which way to go?

Right now we're sort of in a transition stage where some companies are choosing to build electric vehicles while others are building hybrids and another group is just trying to create the most efficient internal combustion engine possible. There is a large amount of pressure to make changes due to rising fuel prices, environmental issus and limited oil supply. Therefore manufacturers are making strides to try and improve fuel economy and the impact cars put on the earth.

There are advantages to all these paths manufactures are taking. First off electric cars don't have to have any impact on the environment when they are driving and operating (this of course depends on where your power comes from). This makes them very good for the environment compared to vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. They also require significantly less maintenance because they don't require oil changes, oil filters, timing belts, or spark plugs. This means it's not only cheaper for you, it's also better for the environment in this regard as well. The downside however is right now they don't last very long on a charge or if you buy a hydrogen powered one stations are not available in most places, and we don't know how fast fuel stations will adopt hydrogen pumps. So that means right now don't expect to get too far with your vehicle. That's the electric cars biggest downfall is that your limited to just driving short distances between charges and obviously the wait for the vehicle to fully charge. I believe it's these factors that make them so unattractive to potential buyers.

Not as "green" as you thought.

The next one is hybrids. I see these as a temporary solution that isn't very green at all. All the Prius owners reading this just jumped up! Yes that's right they aren't good for the environment at all. You see they use batteries which have the metals mined here in Canada and are shipped across the world, assembled into a battery and then shipped again to be put into the car. This of course requires a lot of energy and means that when you get your car it already has a massive carbon footprint. It would take YEARS of saving on fuel to make up for this, to be honest I still don't know if it's really possible. That means these cars only save you on fuel, they still requires oil changes, oil filters, timing belts etc. They also require new batteries after so many years too because even though they are rechargeable they don't last forever. Essentially these cars created added complexity and weight to a vehicle for a relatively small increase in fuel economy. I'm not sure it's worth the trade off.

Volkswagen's turbo direct injected engine.

The last option is what we've been using for years, the trusty internal combustion engine, this is one that has powered cars for years and has proven reliable. The only problem with this method is that it will always rely on oil products. Right now through turbo charging, direct injection and variable valve timing we can create far more efficient engines than ever before. They consume less fuel, create more power and create less emissions. The only question with these engines is how efficient will we be able to get them. Is it possible to create a 100MPG car that is comprised of only an internal combustion engine and no hybrid components? Right now though manufacturer's are holding back by only producing small fuel efficiency upgrades at a time. 5 or 10% isn't enough, we need much more fuel efficient cars. I think if we really demanded them though we would see some pretty fuel efficient solutions. Right now VW's TDI engines in their golfs, passats, and jettas can get over 50MPG's on the highway. Keep in mind these cars aren't any different from any other model apart from the diesel engine. My guess is with stop/start technology, aerodynamic tweaks and weight saving measures they could get this number much higher.

Now here is the ultimate question will internal combustion engines ever get to a point where it's so efficient that burning fossil fuels won't make a big enough impact to worry about? Or has the internal combustion engine reached the end of its useful life? I don't think hybrids are a viable solution at all because they create a pretty big carbon footprint while being made and then continue to make one as they are driven. Should we just suck it up and deal with the short comings of an electric vehicle and hope they improve over time?

Audi TT

Audi TT

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Fondos autos Audi Futuro

Audi Cars Pictures And Video

Audi Cars Pictures And video

Symbolic Of Audi Victories

symbolic of Audi victories

Sun Gazette Candidate Coverage - Pay to Play

Hello Yupette,

I was standing around a candidate's table at the County Fair yesterday when a advertising sales person from your favorite local newspaper (who could it be? who could it be?) approached and started talking to the campaign staff.

Of course, several campaign workers were very interested and started chatting her up, telling her that the campaign was in the mood to buy political advertising, etc. This led to an animated discussion about your favorite editor, no last names, call him 'Scott'.

Turns out that 'Scott's' nickname around the newspaper is 'Mr. Sub Man' for the way he devours submarine sandwiches at work.

Oh, the ad sales person told the campaign staff that she sat right next to 'Scott' at the newspaper's Edsall Road offices and she could arrange favorable news coverage in return for 'serious campaign advertising'.

The campaign staff told her that everyone was very familiar with 'Scott's' journalism and told her to check out the Arlington Yupette blog to see your coverage of 'Scott' and the newspaper.

Thought you would enjoy some news from the County Fair.

fed up Dem

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Motorcycle Cartoon: Yamaha YZF

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Lack of mainstream diesels in North America

Across Europe diesel vehicles are extremely common, many choose them as their daily driver and family vehicle. The choice is simple for them diesel cars provide greater fuel efficiency and are more suitable for driving on general roads. In North America it is the complete opposite, diesel cars are very rare. In general diesels are reserved for heavy duty pickup trucks and transport trucks. While a rising number, very few choose these engines for their cars.

I think people have the wrong idea about diesels. In the past they were loud, clattery, and produced smoke and soot. Todays diesels are much cleaner and produce far less emissions, little to no smoke and clatter is much better controlled. In fact generally only under idle are they making any noticeable noise over a gasoline engine. It is also commonly believed they are unable to get going in colder temperatures. This is no longer true with better heating elements in the engines, and additives in the fuel

At one time a lot engines produced for european cars couldn't run on our diesel due it being too unrefined. This prevented many from coming over here and for years people missed out on excellent fuel efficient vehicles. There was one big brand however that sold them. That brand being VW, however people still chose gas over diesel despite large differences in fuel consumption. This makes me believe the lack of availability wasn't the biggest reason why they aren't more common.

I believe the lack of success though is mostly due to lack of education over anything else. People fail to realize the large benefits a diesel motor can provide for them over a gas equivalent. For example if your comparing direct sizes a diesel will generally produce more power and will use less fuel covering the same distance. An example of this comes with BMW 335d which is a 3.0 litre inline 6 cylinder just like the 335i except the "d" indicates diesel. This car produces 265HP which is less than the 335i's 300 but the car also produces 425 Ib/ft of torque or 125 more than the 335i. The 335d also offers far better fuel efficiency and almost identical if not superior performance in some instances (such as passing power).

Just like the 335i but drinks diesel instead!

A diesel engine also provides other benefits to average driver they may not realize. An important thing to note when looking at a diesel car is not so much the amount of horsepower produced but the amount of torque. You see torque is what gets you up to speed and allows you to pass other motorists quickly, so the more the better. As you read above, diesels can produce significantly more torque than a gasoline equivalent. Another big aspect is where the power is produced. In most gasoline engines power is produced at the very top of the rev range. This means to get full power you have to rev the engine right up. A diesel produces it's peak power very low in the rev range meaning you don't need to rev the engine high to get power. This is very useful for the average driver because on normal roads you don't want to rev the engine up high and generally don't. Of course this is one of the secrets why a diesel consumes less fuel, it doesn't ever rev high. In fact their low revving nature means that if you do get up to the redline you will actually lose power, and are better off "short shifting" or changing gears earlier rather than later.

So we can see all the benefits of these engines and with more coming on the market now we need to remove any old misconceptions about these engines. I think education is the most important thing to do for people right now, show them how refined and quiet a diesel could be. Emphasize the added power and fuel efficiency. There are never any ads on TV explaining why to purchase a TDI volkswagen over any other (or at least I haven't seen any). We need more of this for diesel to take off here.

Sun Gazette - Bad to Worse

Hello, Yupette,

I attended the July 28th candidates' debates for the 31st Senate District and 49th Assembly District at El Puerto on the Pike. Based upon what I heard the candidates say, and the significant conflicts of interest Sun Gazette Editor Scott McCaffrey maintains, Mr. McCaffrey and the Sun Gazette should not be endorsing any candidate for public office.

Scott McCaffrey refused to attend the July 28th debates. If he had attended he would have known that Jaime Areizaga-Soto served as both a White House Fellow and as an aide to the Democratic leadership of the General Assembly.

Mr. Areizaga-Soto demonstrated during his debate with Barbara Favola that his knowledge and working relationships with senators will make him an effective State Senator. Barbara Favola demonstrated that she doesn't really know what's happening in the General Assembly.

But the real problem with Scott's endorsement of Barbara Favola is he's a member of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce's Executive Committee and serves at the pleasure of fellow Chamber members who are Barbara's campaign contributors.

As in past endorsements, Scott provides several excellent reasons why a candidate, in this instance Barbara Favola, should not be running for election or re-election and then proceeds to endorse the candidate.

Scott's employer, American Community Newspapers, is run by a group of chamber of commerce and real estate boosters in Dallas and Leesburg. ACN is owned by a consortium of banks and financial services corporations, led by General Electric, that are only concerned about ACN's bottom line. To the point where the Sun Gazette runs an ad next to Scott's endorsement of Barbara pointing readers to favolafacts.com, a laundry list of Barbara Favola's conflicts of interest and contributions received from Republicans and Neocons. Surprise, surprise, McCaffrey and the Sun Gazette endorsed Barbara Favola.

Terri

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Solution to the County Board's Racism and Elitism - Boycott Arlington

Hi Yupette.

There is a solution to the County Board's racism and elitism - boycott Arlington except for minority-owned small business. Let the County Board and the Chamber of Commerce aka White Citizens Council know you're not shopping in Arlington until the committees, commissions, non-profits, etc. reflect the County's racial and ethnic diversity. This county is as bad as it was 50 years ago. A token minority here and there who goes along with the program. I've had enough. I'm shopping elsewhere and letting the racists and elitists who control everyone and everything know that I am.

Pike Resident

The trouble with battery powered cars

Today we have realized that change is needed and the gas powered car can't last us forever. As I'm sure you know oil is not forever lasting and therefore we need an alternative. Right now manufacturer's are looking at electric vehicles as their alternative and this will work very well except for one problem, they like them to use batteries.

Lets start right from the beginning so you'll what I'm on about. All our cities and towns are built around the car, as in we have parking lots, roads gas stations etc. It's been this way for many years. Gas powered cars are perfect for this except for the pollution they create while driving. Think about they way you drive right now. The way things are designed is that you drive where ever you wanted to go and then back and repeat (like on your way to work). When you're out of fuel you just pull up to the gas station and fill up which takes all of about 3 minutes.

A current electric car.

Battery powered cars however go against the way things are designed right now. Most electric cars can go maybe 100km (62 miles)  per charge and this of course varies with temperature and how you drive. Right now batteries don't like really cold or really warm weather and of course with that efficiency drops. Now you may think this is fine because you will just charge it up at night and then drive to work again in the morning. This will work fine if you're using high voltage (battery powered cars take much longer on a regular voltage outlet) and only go to and from work. A lot people are very busy and will have to pick up their kids or want to go out after work and do shopping or what ever else and this is the major downfall of the battery powered car. You can't do this unless everything is very close to you. These cars take HOURS to charge and when it's being charged you obviously can't drive it.

This is why I don't think battery powered cars are the solution. I know battery and charging technology will improve over time but how long will this take? Over the past ten years battery technology really hasn't improved that much and I don't see it improving dramatically any time soon. So this means we're sort of stuck right now. This means lifestyles will have to change and gas stations will become obsolete, and if you haven't already noticed by how upset people get when facebook makes a new layout, no one likes change. Therefore they aren't going to want to change things when getting a new car, they'll simply choose a gas powered vehicle instead and we're right back to square one.

The solution for the everyday electric car.

There is however a solution and I think this is best way to integrate the electric car into what we have today. This is the Honda Clarity FCX and other hydrogen powered vehicles. Put simply this car has a hydrogen fuel cell which generates power on demand. This car has a fuel tank that takes hydrogen instead of gasoline or diesel. The fuel cell converts the hydrogen into electricity (There's a lot more to it than this, think of it as the super simplified version). The way it really works isn't important right now but what it does do is allow electric vehicles to work just the same as the conventional gas and diesel powered cars we're used to today. That being they can go for a few hundred miles on a tank, can be refuelled in a few minutes and be driven a few hundred miles again. These cars allow use to keep all of our current gas stations and just convert them to sell compressed hydrogen. They allow people to just get in and drive without thinking about charging or really planning things ahead. A car has never been a thing you had to really plan ahead to use. You just got in and drove, it was your freedom. The Honda allows this. The only difference the consumer really needs to know is this car takes hydrogen at the pump and not gas or diesel. That's it!

You may now be thinking that "It's very complicated to create compressed hydrogen and it's more work than it's worth." To this I would respond, at the moment we drill below the ocean and up north for oil. People are constantly searching for more and the process for refining the oil is also very complicated. Generally we manage this just fine. I would imagine creating hydrogen is just the same complexity and we will get that down in no time.

Some say it will take years more to get this technology working for us but I believe if we can just get these cars on the road it will happen sooner than we think and it *will* work for people today. No big change required. Battery powered cars are simply not setup for the infrastructure we have today and would require a lot of changes for people to adapt and more people to purchase battery powered cars. I think the sooner we get these cars out the better. As I mentioned before battery powered cars are just too limiting, I don't want to have to think about when I'm going to charge my car or what are the peak hours for electricity. I want to get in and drive the car and just spend a few minutes fuelling it up for hundreds of kilometers of travel again.

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una increible Moto Yamaha

Una Increible Moto Yamaha

una increible Moto Yamaha

The effect of a heavy car

Cars today are heavy. We demand things like satellite navigation, safety equipment, heated electric seats, and many other amenities. That's all well and good but these things add weight, and while not all of them weigh a lot individually. It adds up.

With all the added weight in cars you need an increase in horsepower to keep the car moving at a decent pace. This of course requires more fuel because lets face it, horsepower isn't free. Not only that but additional weight also ruins the balance and handling of a car. This in turn ruins how much fun the car is to drive so creating a lighter car is making a better car in that regard.

Of course giving up everything to create a light car that handles well probably isn't worth it and let's face it if a car lacked features, it wouldn't sell. There is however another way to reduce weight and that is using materials that are lighter than steel. As you probably know already steel is very heavy and cars use a lot of it. If manufacturer's created cars out of ligher materials such as aluminum or if it can be done cheaply enough, carbon fibre and fibre glass. Weight would be much reduced and cars would still maintain the features they have now. A lighter engine also makes a big difference, using aluminum can reduce 100 pounds from one previously made of iron.

Some people believe it's engine technology that will provide the best fuel efficiency for a car but the weight of a vehicle plays an even bigger factor. For example, if you look at a Honda civic from say 20 years ago it's fuel economy will likely be similar or even better than one from today. These cars do not have the technology from today in there engines, nor do they have transmissions that are as efficient. That leaves these cars with one thing and that is you guessed it, weight. Over the years the Civic has gotten bigger and of course heavier as well.

The super light version of the GT3

Not only does decreased weight make a car more fuel efficient, it also makes your car go much faster, which is always nice. Even sports cars have gotten much heavier and is why they have created super light versions of the same model. This begs the question, why not just create one model that has lightened materials and is built much smarter to shed the weight but still give most of the tech and luxury features people demand, because right now it's have it all or none of it. Perhaps you won't be able to get down to all the weight shedding of these super lightweight models, but a little compromise never hurt anyone. Now a lot of these cars use carbon fibre which is quite expensive but using it more sparingly and in areas that will make the biggest difference such as the hood or doors (Not just to make the car look better) would keep costs down.

If cars and trucks are built with lighter materials we will have faster, better handling, and more fuel efficient vehicles and I'm sure everyone would enjoy this. Now we just need to do this at a reasonable price, get on it auto manufacturer's!

Zimmerman to Use Commercial Real Estate Tax Surcharge to Pay for Pike Streetcar

Hello Yupette,

I belong to the Arlington Chamber of Commerce; and I often attend Chamber events and try to find out what's occurring in the area of economic development.

It appears that Chris Zimmerman will use funds from the 12.5% commercial real estate surcharge (which generates about $40 million in tax revenue for the County every year) to fund the Pike streetcar system. Tax revenue from the commercial real estate tax surcharge is only supposed to be used for new transportation infrastructure.

Zimmerman will defer any new transportation construction (like a new entrance to the Ballston Metro Station) until after the Pike streetcar system is constructed. This will cost $160 million for the 10-14 streetcars and another $50 million or so for Columbia Pike road reconstruction.

Also appears that Zimmerman and the County Board can issue bonds to pay for the Pike streetcar system without having a bond referendum.

This has become common knowledge around the Chamber. So thought I'd pass it along.

Thanks for your blog.

Mark

Moto-Cross

Moto-Cross

The Evolution of Pickup trucks

A true working truck. 

It wasn't long ago when a farmer used a truck to transport things across the farm and construction workers carried supplies with them. Today this still happens but thats the minority use of the truck. The majority of pickup truck buyers use them as everyday vehicles to go to the store, take the family for a night out or to drive to work. An un heard of use in the early days of trucks.

So when did people decide they wanted a truck for leisure use and when did we add luxury items in these trucks. Trucks from the 50s had metal dashboards were almost all manual transmissions. They were nothing more than a bench seat, a steering wheel, and some pedals. Today our trucks are equipped with bucket seats, leather interiors, high quality stereos and features found in top luxury cars.

Particularly interesting is how peoples expectations have changed for a truck. Years ago trucks had to be able to carry things and tow a small trailer. Today people want their truck to have enormous capability such as towing and payload but also want it to be luxurious and comfortable. It's important to note that many will never use these towing or payload features. (at least not till the full extent) This makes me wonder why the standard pickup trucks (F-150, Ram 1500) are getting increasingly larger with each revision. If people want and generally only use the luxury features of a truck why not make these trucks smaller and the people who use trucks daily for towing just buy the heavy duty trucks. This would allow better fuel economy for most truck buyers and a truck which does the same thing for them as it did before. I'm sure most companies could still manage with F-150's that towed slightly less and wouldn't mind the increase in fuel efficiency that comes with a lighter vehicle.

F-150 King ranch interior.

I only say this because when I ask anyone or hear anyone talking about their truck they never complain about it's lack of towing capability or it can't carry enough. What they do say is it's thirsty or the interior isn't as refined as they would like. Think about it, have you ever had someone tell your their F-150 can't tow enough or the payload should be higher? I have yet to hear a person say this and don't think I will anytime soon.

So far some manufactures have made small moves to make their trucks more luxurious, an example of this is Ram switching to coil springs in the back of the 1500. Toyota has made some changes on the last revision of their Tundra which makes it ride smoother as well. This obviously reduces capability somewhat but improves what is more important to the majority of truck buyers.

So where will the pickup truck be 10 years from now? Will they still be selling in bundles or will people trickle over to cars and crossovers. Time will only tell but one thing is for sure, the pickup will go through many more changes to suit what people want.

Bob Lutz - "Car Guys versus Bean Counters" Book Review

"Car Guys vs Bean Counters"
The Battle for the Soul of American Business
By Bob Lutz

Moto Cross

Moto Cross

The effect of rising gas prices

The Ford F-150 still remains the
biggest seller of all vehicles.

Gas prices are on the rise, this is no secret. The strange thing is peoples habits remain the same. For this year so far the top selling vehicle is you guessed it, the Ford F-series and by a mile. Other top sellers included the dodge ram in second and GM and Chevy trucks made the top ten. There wasn't a single hybrid on the list, I think the most fuel efficient car on it was the Hyundai Elantra. So people will complain about high prices but doing something about it is another matter. Unless there is some hope that prices will go down.

I recently asked my fellow car folks if they are looking for a more fuel efficient car. Very few responded with yes, most feel other features are more important. That is fuel economy is second to these features. I also talked with other people who aren't gear heads and they responded similarly. This seems in general to be the trend, sales say so, regular consumers say something, and gear heads say so.

This must mean fuel efficient cars are lacking a lot to keep them from selling well. I looked around to see maybe why people aren't interested. There is one thing I consistently see from these cars and that is they aren't fun to drive. They lack good handling and balance that other cars provide. This makes me wonder, why don't companies spend money on producing a good chassis. Having a less powerful engine doesn't make a car boring to drive. I like to think of it this way. "It's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow." I know I and many others would strongly consider a car that is more eco friendly if it drove similar to a sports car.

What people think of when they think
eco cars. 

Image is a big problem with eco cars because they're widely known as boring cars that are used as an appliance to get there, cheap. They're seen as a car that is bought by somebody who only looks at the spec sheet and not what car offers when you go and drive it. So unless you couldn't care less about driving, you're not likely to buy one of these cars. Put it this way, it's not something you get excited about buying and a car should be something you're excited to pick up.

Thus manufacturer's need a solution. If I were creating a eco car I would ensure it has a sporty chassis that can deal with being thrown around, provides good feedback and a positive feel. A nice interior also helps go a long way. Creating an econobox won't make a car stand out or sell any better. It's important to attract people with something different.

So here's your part. If you were creating an eco car car, what you do to improve it, and make it sell better? What would make you excited to purchase an eco car?

De Motos En Duro Y Cross

de motos en duro y cross

Moto Cross

moto cross

Technology in today's cars

These days a car comes packed with more tech than ever before. Nav systems, iPod connectivity, Bluetooth, safety systems etc. These systems provide various uses to the driver and passengers of the vehicle but how many of them are needed. At this point a car has become more than just a machine to transport people from point A to B, they have more tech than my living room.

So how much of this technology do we actually need? I know many of these technologies are meant to save you from an accident, but isn't that your job? I think people rely too heavily on the car to do things for them. With the amount of traction control systems, stability control, ABS and so many others. People don't really have to think about how fast they're going and when to brake. They feel invincible. They allow the car to do most of the thinking. This especially comes out in winter driving where people drive like they normally do and let the systems keep them on track, it's easy to spot these drivers because they're the ones in the ditch on the side of the highway.

Ford's My touch system uses the touch screen for most everything

It's not only those technologies that worsen drivers but also tech that allows you to send and receive text messages and make phone calls from you car. This causes distracted drivers. You might say it's better than just texting or calling without using these features, and you might be right but that doesn't mean you're paying anymore attention. The problem is a lot of these cars I'm looking at you ford use touch screens to operate many controls which means you have to take your eyes off the road no matter what you're trying to do. What was wrong with simple buttons and knobs? As I mentioned before, the purpose of a car isn't to have a social event with all your friends, it's to get you to where you're going. Save the conversation until then, please.

Features like navigation can make life easier and touch screens may seem all high tech but you can't be looking at a touch screen while driving, and it just doesn't work if you have to access normal things like volume, next song and climate control settings through it. Trying to go all high tech with a central control system really only works if buttons are included. After all you're driving a car, not using an iPhone. I think the problem with the systems that are done through the screen is that they attract buyers to dealerships where they use it for 10 minutes decide its great and buy one. They later realize in day to day use it's more cumbersome than it's worth. Putting in both solves this problem.

I realize most cars have some sort of voice controls as well but talking to your car all the time isn't exactly practical, especially if there are other passengers. Also for simple things like changing temperature or radio station probably takes longer than it's worth to use this feature.  

So this is to any car manufacturers listening. We want buttons, not just everything through a touch screen. There are too many menus to go through which means you have to take attention of the road longer and there is no tactile feedback with these screens.

To drivers on the road do not rely on all the technologies in your car to prevent you from crashing and keep your eyes on the road not on all the devices in your car. Yes these systems can help and can save you but that doesn't mean paying attention and driving cautiously is obsolete.

Fotos Motos

fotos motos

AIM, AVG Greenwash Arlington Residents

Hello Yupette,

I surfed around Arlington Independent Media and the County's PR video network, AVN. It's more than obvious that neither is interested in promoting a truly "green" Arlington but are tied to the County's "greenwashing" PR aimed at preserving the status quo.

So you won't see the most basic renewable energy information, e.g., solar hot water heating.

In other progressive communities you'll see many advertisements for renewable hot water systems, for example, zoeenergy.com in New York. And in places like Florida, inexpensive solar pool heaters allow outdoor swimming pools to be used almost the entire year.

At this point, it appears that solar hot water heating may or may not be installed at the new Wakefield High School, although there will be two swimming pools constructed there.

Arlington is falling so far behind everyone else when it comes to installing renewable energy it's appalling. With all our wealth we can and should be doing much better. That's why I'm not voting for incumbents on August 23rd and in November.

Denise, 22205