A bright red car, a metallic blue car and a taxi painted the color of a highlighter will normally leave the factory with exactly the same footwear. Black tires. The color seems so inevitable
A concrete barrier beside a highway looks like one of the least forgiving objects a car could encounter. It is heavy, rigid and often positioned only a few feet from traffic moving at serious speed.
Turn into a side street, loosen the grip slightly and the steering wheel begins feeding itself back through the hands. The front wheels straighten, the car settles into its lane and the driver rarel
The emergency jack in a car’s trunk rarely inspires confidence. It is narrow, awkward and usually accompanied by a handle that looks as though it escaped from flat-pack furniture. Then ther
The car feels perfectly normal around town. At 35 mph, nothing rattles. At 50, there may be the faintest tremor. Reach highway speed and the steering wheel begins a steady dance between the driver&rsq
A small square or circular panel sits almost flush with the painted bumper. It has no button, light or obvious reason to exist. Once spotted, though, it becomes surprisingly difficult to ignore. Be
The tires are new, the wheels are back on and the invoice is folded into the glovebox. Before handing over the keys, the technician mentions one final detail: come back after a short period of driving
At the tire shop, the choice seems too obvious to question. The front tires on a front-wheel-drive car handle the steering, put the power down, and do most of the braking. They usually wear out first.
A tire can look almost offensively healthy for its age. The tread grooves are deep. There are no nails in sight. The sidewalls still turn glossy after a wash, and the car has covered so few miles th
Here is a mildly alarming experiment: open the trunk of your car and lift the floor. There may be a spare tire under there. There may also be a little black compressor, a bottle of sealant, and a