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
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 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
A car can sit unused for several days without concern. Stretch that pause into several weeks, however, and the first signs of neglect may begin to appear. The battery loses charge, the tires remai
A flat tire has a special talent for ruining your mood instantly. It never happens when you are relaxed and free all afternoon. It happens when you are late, already annoyed, parked somewhere t
There's a specific kind of frustration that comes from walking out to your car in the morning and finding a tire that's low — again. Not flat, just soft. And soft again two days later af
There is a small test every driver has done at least once, even if they would never admit it. A straight road. No traffic. Good weather. Hands still close to the wheel, but the grip loosens f
You fill the tank, glance at the gas price, briefly consider selling all your possessions and moving somewhere walkable, then hit the road... only to notice your MPG suddenly looks terrible. An
Your car hates summer more than you think. You feel it the second you open the door after it’s been sitting in the sun. That little blast of oven air. The seatbelt buckle that wants to br