mechanical steeds

The Prius myth that won’t go away.

August 29, 2011

This weekend, a friend of ours commented on the environmental impact of the Toyota Prius, in which the Prius compares unfavorably to the discontinued H2. We’ve heard this claim before, but didn’t know where those claims started, nor what they were really based on other than fingering the Prius’ larger battery as the culprit. It [...]

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iPhone motorcycle issues.

June 21, 2011

Last year, we talked about heat issues with the iPhone 3GS. That was before we got an iPhone 4, which may very well have better heat dissipation than the 3GS, but not by enough. One of the reasons we wanted a white iPhone 4 was because the surface would reflect more light and thus help, [...]

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Volkswagen designs are slightly off.

April 21, 2011

The announcement of the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle has a lot of people excited, though to be fair, most of those people are probably ex-hippies and the same folks who got excited when the “new” Beetle was offered in 1998. When that happened, it wasn’t long before the retro bug was deemed a girly car, which [...]

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The Prius EV speed limit.

February 25, 2011

Our 2010 Prius has an annoying problem, and it’s all about the EV. It’s nice to cruise around a parking lot without using gas, but the EV speed limit is inconsistent. Not only can you not cruise around at-will until the battery is depleted (the EV mode shuts off if you accelerate or move too [...]

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The 2010 Toyota Prius IV.

July 27, 2010

The 2010 Toyota Prius IV isn’t the type of automobile that car aficionados lust after. Rather, it’s the type of car that those who only want to get from Point A to Point B will love because it’s fuel efficient and reminiscent of a luxury sedan. That’s not to say that it is a luxury [...]

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Automobile audio done right.

July 19, 2010

When the mp3 was created, it didn’t take long before people wanted a way to play these digital music files in vehicles. Juggling cassettes and compact discs was cumbersome, and “skipping” discs were exceptionally annoying. The mp3 was a perfect solution for audible, mobile content, but the adoption of this format has hardly been seamless. [...]

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