With 536 horsepower, this widebody Golf R is ready for the track
(AutoBlog.com)
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Go APR!
VW Golf R gets the touring car treatment by APR for SEMA
With 536 horsepower, this widebody Golf R is ready for the track
(AutoBlog.com)
With 536 horsepower, this widebody Golf R is ready for the track
(AutoBlog.com)
A Good Read - Harley Davidson Edition
How Harley-Davidson's All-In Bet on Its Past Crippled Its Future
Harley’s longtime bread and butter has been Baby Boomers, those who grew up enamored with the outlaw image to the point that they were willing to spend $20,000 or more on the bikes and leather to live out that image. But the Boomers are getting older, increasingly physically unable to ride or dying out entirely. And Harley’s response—an electric bike called the LiveWire set to debut next year—isn’t so much of a Hail Mary as it is a capitulation. It also won’t be nearly enough.
“I think they have to completely reinvent the brand, and I don’t know if they can do it,” Erik Gordon, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, said. “The jokes are true. When I go down the freeway, I always look to see if this cliche about Harley riders is true. And the crazy thing is that it is true. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone under 55.
“My generation viewed Harleys as American fast, loud, muscle. We liked that stuff,” Gordon said. “[My students] view it as the tired old folks who screwed up America.”
(Jalopnik.com)
Harley’s longtime bread and butter has been Baby Boomers, those who grew up enamored with the outlaw image to the point that they were willing to spend $20,000 or more on the bikes and leather to live out that image. But the Boomers are getting older, increasingly physically unable to ride or dying out entirely. And Harley’s response—an electric bike called the LiveWire set to debut next year—isn’t so much of a Hail Mary as it is a capitulation. It also won’t be nearly enough.
“I think they have to completely reinvent the brand, and I don’t know if they can do it,” Erik Gordon, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, said. “The jokes are true. When I go down the freeway, I always look to see if this cliche about Harley riders is true. And the crazy thing is that it is true. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone under 55.
“My generation viewed Harleys as American fast, loud, muscle. We liked that stuff,” Gordon said. “[My students] view it as the tired old folks who screwed up America.”
(Jalopnik.com)
Did You Know - Tires Edition
Here's Why Tires Are Black
“Original tires had a lighter shade because of the natural color of rubber,” a company representative told me. “Carbon black [a fine manufactured soot] was added to the rubber compound in [circa 1917] and produced a tenfold increase in wear resistance.”
This increased longevity is confirmed by award-winning chemical engineer Jack Koenig, who says in his book Spectroscopy of Polymers that a tire without carbon black would last “less than 5,000 miles.” Consider that most tires are driven between 12,000 and 15,000 miles a year, and are meant to last three or four years or more, and you get how low that was.
The Michelin spokesperson went on, saying carbon black represents about a quarter to 30 percent of the composition of the rubber used in tires today, and in addition to making them more wear resistant, the material that gives tires their black color is also good at protecting tires against ultraviolet rays that can cause cracking, and it also improves grip and general road handling.
(Jalopnik.com)
“Original tires had a lighter shade because of the natural color of rubber,” a company representative told me. “Carbon black [a fine manufactured soot] was added to the rubber compound in [circa 1917] and produced a tenfold increase in wear resistance.”
This increased longevity is confirmed by award-winning chemical engineer Jack Koenig, who says in his book Spectroscopy of Polymers that a tire without carbon black would last “less than 5,000 miles.” Consider that most tires are driven between 12,000 and 15,000 miles a year, and are meant to last three or four years or more, and you get how low that was.
The Michelin spokesperson went on, saying carbon black represents about a quarter to 30 percent of the composition of the rubber used in tires today, and in addition to making them more wear resistant, the material that gives tires their black color is also good at protecting tires against ultraviolet rays that can cause cracking, and it also improves grip and general road handling.
(Jalopnik.com)
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