Pulling into a gas station should not require advance planning. Yet anyone driving an unfamiliar car knows the little moment of uncertainty that arrives before choosing a pump. Which side is the fu
Drivers spend hours holding the steering wheel without giving much thought to what lies behind it. Remove the trim, switches and wiring, and the basic arrangement appears simple. A shaft carries th
In a conventional car, the relationship between the brake pedal and the brake lights feels reassuringly simple. Press the pedal and the red lamps illuminate. Release it and they go dark. Drivers be
Starting a modern car requires so little effort that the action barely registers. Turn a key, press a button or let the vehicle recognize that its driver has climbed aboard. A second later, the engine
The usual history of the rearview mirror is wonderfully neat. Ray Harroun entered the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911 with a mirror attached to his Marmon Wasp. He drove alone while his competitors
Open the door of an American-market performance car from the early 1980s and something may appear terribly wrong. There is the dramatic driving position, a powerful engine and perhaps a body design
China’s big-SUV obsession is getting seriously out of hand, and BYD’s Fangchengbao has decided to join in with something enormous. The new Tai 9 is a three-row flagship that mixes luxury,
Neutral has a reassuring name. It sounds harmless, disconnected and mechanically impartial. Put the selector in N, release the parking brake and the car can roll. Surely that means it can also be towe
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
A used car can look completely fine and still be lying to you. That is the uncomfortable truth behind a lot of “great deals.” The paint shines. The interior smells normal enough. The s