The new “Built Wild” Bronco brand will make its official debut at the upcoming 2021 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, starting on November 2nd. To mark the occasion, Ford will be showcasing six Bronco custom builds from some of the best minds in the off-road industry. Earlier this year, we had a blast going up Bronco Mountain during MotorBella at the M1 Concourse (and Ford plans to set up Bronco Mountain at SEMA too). So there is no doubt that what Ford […] Original ...
“Big Chevy Engine!!!” said the press release in so many words. That’s odd, I thought; Chevy’s kind of a buttoned-down company, what on Earth could make them crow like this? Then I read the figures. After I regained consciousness (I think I struck my head on the edge of the desk before hitting the floor), all I could mutter was, “Big Chevy Engine!!!” Chevrolet Performance ZZ632 Crate Engine There are two big numbers here. The first is 632. That’s ...
We got excited when Honda unveiled its new 11th generation Honda Civic a few months back, and we were drooling like lunatics when Honda presented its Civic Hatchback, complete with its bespoke performance-oriented underpinnings. Imagine our anxiety (in a good way) when they lifted the curtains on the 2022 Honda Civic Si, the sportiest and most performance-oriented Civic to date, barring the imminent arrival of the all-new Civic Type R, of course. Suddenly, all those generic-looking ...
The year 2021 has been challenging for AAA, particularly the fate of two AAA tow providers who were struck and killed while assisting stranded motorists. Glenn Ewing, 32, was killed last July 4th near Cincinnati, Ohio, while lifting a disabled vehicle on the back of his flatbed truck on the roadside. Three weeks later, David Meyer, 30, was struck and killed while assisting a driver on the left-hand shoulder in Castle Rock, Colorado. The Grim Reality Alarmingly, the numbers are ...
We're going back to the beginning of Car Talk—we hope you'll join us! Starting today, Car Talk will release two episodes a week. Double the laughs, double the lousy car advice, and double the puzzlers! Subscribe to our podcastand never miss an episode.
What's That Smell?
It's time for the new puzzler. And as I promised this wasn't going to be as lousy as the last one.
Here it is. There is a smell that comes from modern cars that people associate with the catalytic converter. And I'm going to ask about another smell that comes from modern cars, cars with catalytic converters. So you often get this smell from cars that are equipped with catalytic converters.
But this smell is not coming from inside the converter. It has nothing to do with what's going on inside the converter.
I will give a hint. If cars of fifty years ago had catalytic converters, they would not have made the smell. The smell would not come from these cars. And it has nothing to do with the gasoline. What is the smell and what causes it?
Now here's a puzzler that we have used before. And, as is often the case, we've given the incorrect answer before. So we're counting this as new because it'll be the first time people have an opportunity to hear the right answer. Here's the puzzler.
You go off to start your cars a cold wintery morning. You turn the key and the thing roars to life. It starts. The first sound you hear is YiYiYiYiYiYiYiYi! Now you know, from listening to our show that that is the unmistakable sound of a loose, noisy belt.
Now we have asked the question before which belt is it and why is it making the noise?
And when we used this puzzler the last three or four times we gave an answer, but it was an incomplete answer.
Okay, we admit used a puzzler to which we didn't know the entirety of the answer. Now we know the rest of the story! Paul Harvey himself wrote to us.
So here it is. Which belt is it? Why is it making the noise? And why does it stop? That's the tricky part.
Even within a few minutes of turning on the car, the noise disappears. Why?
