Tag: jalopnik.com

While today’s Nice Price or No Dice F-100 looks completely old-school, secretly it has a more modern five-speed behind its 292 Y-block V8. We’ll have to decide if we like its also-modern price tag. Eddie Harding was a pianist and singer best remembered as an on-again, off-again member of the British blues band the Spencer…

Honda’s premium division first dipped its corporate toes into the SUV pond in 1996, when Acura introduced the SLX as “the latest chapter in the company’s mission to build the most comprehensive luxury import line in the United States.” Unfortunately, that chapter was copied directly from the Isuzu playbook, since the SLX was essentially an…

The hot rod dates way back to the 1920s, but found its cultural footing in post-World War II America. Soldiers armed with mechanical training picked up cheap Ford Model Ts and found ways to make them go faster, with fenders and roofs were discarded and tossed in the scrap heap. A “traditional” rod is a time…

You’re driving down the road about to embarrass the kids by unironically rocking out to Smashmouth when suddenly, your Android Auto says it is disconnected. The moment is ruined. Our readers say Android Auto is one of the automotive features they use the most, but spotty connection is also one of their most perplexing car…

Motor oil does not freeze solid like water. Instead, it thickens, and this somewhat solidified state affects what’s called a motor oil’s pour point. In this regard, the pour point refers to the lowest temperature the oil can endure before it becomes thick enough to resist flowing. When oil becomes too thick or overly viscous…

The British are great at a few things, and one of them is building excellent lightweight sports cars. Another is cooking up fun nicknames for their cars. Enter the Austin-Healey “Frogeye” Sprite. A charming little sports car from the golden era of British car manufacturing, the humble little Sprite was the perfect solution for drop-top…

The Mazda CX-30 is a small crossover SUV that debuted for the 2020 model year. It runs on fourth-gen Mazda3 underpinnings and has inherited the shapely body style of its sedan- and hatchback-bodied stablemates. However, it also means visibility took a backseat, as the CX-30 and Mazda3 are among the newer cars with the worst…

Costco offers plenty of car-related perks to its members. From car repair discount packages to premium new tires that usually offer very competitive prices, Costco warehouses are a haven for car enthusiasts. Their tire offerings are quite enticing, particularly the tire installation package included in every purchase. The freebies cover the installation, valve stems, balancing, and nitrogen…

The best part of renting a car is the moment of relief that comes over you when you leave the keys with the rental car employee, having agreed that everything is good, and you’re finally free. That is, unless the rental car company reaches out a few days later saying you owe almost $10,000 for…

Billet and forged car parts have the same starting point: a processed piece of metal. But what happens to that metal afterward is different, and that gives their resulting components different traits, too. At the most basic, billet components — created by machining the metal — can be made to more precise specifications. Forged parts,…