TOP 100 RACING SITES
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| Diesel Gets a Bad Rap Here we go. California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a report saying that diesel emissions cause 84% of cancer risk in Southern California. Namely, diesel exhaust coming from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach cause the biggest risk. In those areas, the study says, 2,900 people per million are at risk for cancer. More acceptable risk is 1 to 10 people per million. Cue up the green activists saying, ‘we told you so.’ In Europe, diesel has been the rage for years, It’s often at least 25% more efficient than gasoline engines. And the new diesel engines are just about as clean. But this study will probably give diesel a black eye in the fuel efficiency debate because it’s bound to be misinterpreted. Someone at the Sierra Club once told me that diesel is a bad idea because it causes cancer. He pointed to a decades-old study that looked at locomotive workers who were exposed to diesel. If you’re talking about the sooty, belching 18-wheelers pulling out of the Port of L.A., then diesel‘s carcinogenic emissions is a real problem. But that’s not the case with the new generation of cleaner diesel cars. Mercedes-Benz has led the way with clean diesel and Honda will have its own answer to that quandary very soon. Hopefully, these new cars will get a chance for acceptance before they are lumped in with freight trucks and labeled carcinoma cars. rss.businessweek.com |
Take 2: Car Country Looms Large Against Obama and For Clinton If you want to see just how incompetent politicians can be, come to Michigan.Sen. Carl Levin, Debbie Dingell (wife of powerful Democratic Congressman John Dingell)and Governor Jennifer Granholm all thought it was a cute idea to jump ahead of other states in holding a Democratic primary this year.Their beef was legit. Michigan gets shafted every year by having a primary election in March after the nominations are secured. So, they forced the issue. The result was holding an early primary that the Democratic National Committee punished by refusing to seat the state's delegates. The Democratic candidates, to butter up Iowans, pledged not to campaign here. John Edwards and Barack Obama actually removed their names from the ballot, while Hillary Clinton did not.Had Michigan just stood pat this year, it would have an opportunity to play a huge role in the nomination process as matter of course.Democratic party chief Mark Brewer says the DNC's request that Michigan hold a caucus now to remedy the botched primary, won't happen. He says it would take eight or nine months to organize a caucus.It's nonsense. Michigan could easily stage a state-wide caucus in, say, 60 or 90 days if it wanted to. The real reason the Dems in Michigan don't want to hold a caucus is because Granholm and Dingell have already openly backed Clinton, and they know Clinton fares poorly in caucuses.Granholm and Dingell are now strategizing to play a role in putting Clinton over the top. She gathered 55.3% of the vote that day with no other Dems on the ballot. That she could only score that many votes while being the only Dem on the ballot speaks volumes about how well Clinton will do if she is up against Obama on an honest ballot or in an honest caucus.If Michigan is "needed" to decide the outcome of the nomination, it will be a mess. And Michigan stands to usurp Florida as the shadiest state in the union when it comes to elections. That will surely draw attention to Michigan--as Granholm, Levin and Dingell wanted in the first place--but not the kind I'd want as a Michigander.One gets the idea that Mark Brewer is hoping that Michigan is not needed to decide the nomination now--ironic since the purpose of moving the primary up ahead of Feb 5. Super Tuesday was to achieve attention and media on Michigan. If the nomination is decided without Michigan, then the state's delegates will likely be seated in the proportion of the rest of the country when all is said and done.It is inconceivable that the DNC would allow the Michigan primary results stand as is if they are needed to decide the nomination. So, there is still no solution to the process. Just more confusion.In an odd way, all this mess may lead to actual reform of the primary system. Sane people say that every state should have a primary, and the order of the states should rotate regionally every four years so no two states like Iowa and New Hampshire get the big media and hotel dollars every four years. rss.businessweek.com |
Walker Racing won't make move to IRL in 2008 Walker Racing won't be making the switch from Champ Car to IndyCar this year after all. Walker Racing said in a statement Sunday ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Saturn Astra Disappoints I wanted to like the Saturn Astra. I like the brand. I liked driving the Opel version. It's a cool design. It has European roots. So, what happened?I drove the manual transmission version of the car for the better part of a week. The first thing I felt was a car with a flabbier suspension than I expected or hoped for. I was hoping for a taut handling sub-compact to replace the Ion rental special Saturn mercifully discontinued. Not so much. My top choice in this segment is the Nissan Versa, followed by the Honda Fit.And the manual tranny? is this really the one Opel uses in Europe, or did they dumb it down? Unless you buy an up-market car in Detroit, the manuals you get in cars like the Saturn and Ford Fusion feel like a chicken leg moving through a cup full of marbles. Contrast that with tight notchy sticks found in Mazdas and Hondas.\I should note that my assessment on the suspension, stick and handling differs with my colleague Thane Peterson's review. But, hey, we don't have to agree, not even at the same magazine.The radio controls are confusing and over-engineered. I'm sure if I owned the car, I'd get used to it, but I'd never really be happy. There was one cup-holder in the front, and it's in a bad spot, way back in the center console, and too small.The 1.8 liter, 140 hp engine is a bit punky. There are two trim levels: the XE, which starts at $15,995, and the XR, which starts at $17,545. The base model comes with options you don't expect on low-priced GM vehicles: power locks, rain-sensitive wipers, six airbags, a tilting and telescoping steering wheel and a trip computer. The XR buys alloy wheels, AC and premium audio.I also want a Saturn small car to have good fuel economy. The Astra is rated at 24/30. I'm not impressed. Not in 2008. rss.businessweek.com |
Hamlin adds to Richmond haul with Nationwide win Now Denny Hamlin can finally lay claim to being a winner in his own backyard. Hamlin, with the benefit of fresher tires, stormed ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |