Automatic stop-start has a peculiar talent for irritating drivers both when it works and when it does not. At one traffic light, the engine shuts down the moment the car stops. At the next, it keep
The engine is off. You push the brake pedal once, then again. Each push feels a little firmer than the last. After several presses, the pedal barely wants to move. That sensation can make it s
The fuel light comes on. The dashboard says 80 miles to empty. The next gas station is 35 miles away, so there should be no problem. Ten miles later, the display reads 54. Nothing has leaked out. N
They run around the edge of almost every modern windshield: a solid black border that gradually breaks into smaller and smaller dots before disappearing into clear glass. Most drivers have stared t
There was a time when checking automatic transmission fluid involved a dipstick, a rag, and five minutes under the hood. Now the dipstick has vanished. The filler may be buried beneath the car, the fl
Watch the back of two cars at the same intersection and you might notice something odd. The first car hits the brakes, then one of its red brake lights starts flashing. The second car does the
Park on a slope, move the shifter to P, take a foot off the brake, and most automatic cars will perform a small, familiar shuffle. The body rolls a fraction of an inch, stops with a muted clunk, then
The United States was already keeping right long before anyone had an engine, a steering wheel, or an argument about who had the right of way at a four-way stop. The habit began with horses
A self-driving car getting confused in a parking lot is annoying. A self-driving car getting confused near a fire truck, police cruiser, or ambulance is something else entirely. That is
There was a time when changing the temperature in a car took half a second. You reached down, turned a knob, and somehow civilization survived. Now, in some cars, the same job feels like openin