How about the myth that Electric Cars can pay for themselves.

My Bank says I'm 3 payments down and they want to pull the plug on my loan.

How about a set of white wall tires?

And Flex Fuel vehicles will run on flex fuel forever.

How about the "don't run your tank low or it will suck the crap from the bottom of the tank" myth? Umm... the fuel pickup tube is already at the bottom of the tank.

Now there are other reasons not to run your tank low - like the in-tank fuel pumps which use the fuel to cool them. But "sucking crap from the bottom" is not one of them.

Broktun: How about a set of white wall tires?

Are you gonna cruise the Miracle Mile?

What? No "graphics and rear wing spoilers make my front-wheel drive economy car go faster?"

11) Gasoline cars good; anything else evil.

/a myth Jalopnik constantly pushes.

How about the "Once you use synthetic oil, you shouldn't go back to using regular"?

and "Our gasoline has additives to clean your engine as you drive"?

and "No talking, we're near a falling rock zone"?

Jet Fuel Makes Cars Go Faster


Picture/Text association FAIL
/has Crown Vic, author speaks the truth

#100 Sheet metal shaped like a bloated insect is a car.

Is the common claim that four-door sedans are cheaper to insure than are two-door coupes valid?

I loved my first car. The radio sat sideways in the dash (well, it actually had no radio; I had to buy one and install it myself- and the speakers). A lovely orange color, too. No computer so everything was insanely cheap to fix and/or replace. Sadly, it was (financially-speaking, still drove) totaled in an accident and a vengeful "boyfriend" had it impounded before I got the money together to fix it.

Lionel Mandrake: Next you're going to tell me there's no such thing as blinker fluid or a piston return spring.

If that's true, why does they keep showing up on my bill when I change my oil every 300 miles?

And High Speed Wax. Don't forget the High Speed Wax.

/good for +5 mpg! Cuts 0-60 by 0.5 seconds!!

cgraves67: What? No "graphics and rear wing spoilers make my front-wheel drive economy car go faster?"

That's a huge spoiler.

playing the radio wastes gas
passengers lifting their feet off the floor weigh less

Nothing To See Here: How about the myth that Electric Cars can pay for themselves.

My Bank says I'm 3 payments down and they want to pull the plug on my loan.

Here's a tip for you: PAY YOUR FARKING BILLS!

#2 reminded me of the Blues Mobile:
"It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas"

Porsches get you laid. Turned out I also needed to have lots of money, which I had none because I used it all on maintaining my Porsche

10. Isn't the main reason for that the Ford quote? Something like, 'You can get one in any color, as long as it's black.' Or is that quote a myth too?

9. Well you aren't using overdrive to start from a stop, are you? Isn't overdrive basically the highest gear? It doesn't necessarily make you go faster, but you are going faster when you use it, right?

8. This is an understandable mistake, since bigger wheels will make you go faster than you think you're going. (The accuracy of the speedometer depends upon your having the same size wheels as the car was calibrated for.)

7. No, but I have heard that red cars get more tickets than others. Evidently, this is untrue.

6. This one I did not know about.

5. Quiktrip was letting the cat out of this bag in the early 90's.

4. Duh.

3. For the pic, they show an SUV spun off on a snowy road. They may not be safer in all situations, but I'd much rather be in a wreck in an SUV than in a Porsche Boxster.

2. Super powerful? I don't think anyone believes that.

1. Wow. So premium fuel is #5, but JET FUEL is #1. I don't even know how to respond to that.

"Big SUVs = Safe, Small Cars = Dangerous"

"Big SUVs, Safer than Small Cars in Many Crashes" is the real issue.

You see that giant SUV with a four star rating? In a head on crash, it's better than the tiny car with a five star rating. You see, they don't compare cars across weight classes in the NHTSA ratings. They break them up in 250 pound increments, and the head on crash is done with a static wall, not another vehicle heading the other way. An SUV with four stars is definitely safer than that "five star" 2000 pound microcar when involved in a head on collision.

Many of the tiny cars aren't any better for rollovers than those huge SUVs - cheaper, smaller tires, less money spent on making them handle worth a damn, and less material to protect you when they DO roll over on you...

The only comparison you can make between size classes is the "side pole impact," and that tends to be a lower rating on smaller vehicles anyway.

It's the bad drivers that think SUVs make them invincible in the snow, and it's the manufacturers that have a teeny tiny slice of the blame by pushing selling points that their SUVs "can tackle the worst weather ever" or some other bullshiat. The truth is that SUVs might help you get going a bit easier, but stopping/handling is an entirely different issue and only experience and smarts will help you then.

/well, maybe chains or spikes.

HulkHands: Really, you don't know anyone that believes they need an oil change every 3k?

The Dodge dealership from which I purchased my Sprinter van is a firm believer in 3000 mile oil changes. "We don't pay any attention to the computer." The computer that is connected to viscosity and conductivity sensors and says I can go 15-16,000 between changes.

This photo shows what every winter in Wisconsin was like, 1998-2004. By then, SUV drivers pretty much figured out that their vehicles didn't confer magical frictiony superpowers and they stopped driving like idiots when the roads got slippery.

Every snowfall, one of those dorks would tailgate me on the freeway when it was snowy and I'd think to myself "Didn't you see those 4 SUVs in the ditch the last two miles, you moron??"

Uzzah: Nothing To See Here: How about the myth that Electric Cars can pay for themselves.

My Bank says I'm 3 payments down and they want to pull the plug on my loan.

Here's a tip for you: PAY YOUR FARKING BILLS!


Hmmm, never made the connection.

I had a VW Beetle back in the day, with an oil cooled engine. THAT needed a lot of tending. The P1 I had - well, let's just say I forgot about the oil for. oh, three years. Never had a problem, but felt silly when the service guy reminded me that I had not had the car checked for three years.

Did they mention speed holes in the hood?

azxj: How about the "don't run your tank low or it will suck the crap from the bottom of the tank" myth? Umm... the fuel pickup tube is already at the bottom of the tank.

Now there are other reasons not to run your tank low - like the in-tank fuel pumps which use the fuel to cool them. But "sucking crap from the bottom" is not one of them.

No, but you *will* put added strain on the fuel pump and will make it more likely to fail, as I learned the hard way.

Contents Under Pressure: I had a VW Beetle back in the day, with an oil cooled engine. THAT needed a lot of tending. The P1 I had - well, let's just say I forgot about the oil for. oh, three years. Never had a problem, but felt silly when the service guy reminded me that I had not had the car checked for three years.

I did that with my first car, an '82 Honda Accord. I changed the oil when the filter got so clogged that the oil pressure light would come on when I accelerated. The oil was lumpy when we drained it.

Fish in a Barrel: Contents Under Pressure: I had a VW Beetle back in the day, with an oil cooled engine. THAT needed a lot of tending. The P1 I had - well, let's just say I forgot about the oil for. oh, three years. Never had a problem, but felt silly when the service guy reminded me that I had not had the car checked for three years.

I did that with my first car, an '82 Honda Accord. I changed the oil when the filter got so clogged that the oil pressure light would come on when I accelerated. The oil was lumpy when we drained it.

I did that too, with my 84 Nissan, except instead of getting a warning light, I threw every rod.

Lionel Mandrake: Next you're going to tell me there's no such thing as blinker fluid or a piston return spring.

If that's true, why does they keep showing up on my bill when I change my oil every 300 miles?

The spring is only needed because you wait so long to change your oil. The friction builds up after about 150 miles, so you need the extra mechanical assist to overcome resistance (as high as 40 ohms in some engines) as the oil degrades. Just change your oil every 150 miles and you'll see that charge disappear. Oh, and the first time you do that they'll need to flush the engine to wash the old oil out of the fallopian tubes. Don't worry-- it's a one-time thing.

treesloth: Lionel Mandrake: Next you're going to tell me there's no such thing as blinker fluid or a piston return spring.

If that's true, why does they keep showing up on my bill when I change my oil every 300 miles?

The spring is only needed because you wait so long to change your oil. The friction builds up after about 150 miles, so you need the extra mechanical assist to overcome resistance (as high as 40 ohms in some engines) as the oil degrades. Just change your oil every 150 miles and you'll see that charge disappear. Oh, and the first time you do that they'll need to flush the engine to wash the old oil out of the fallopian tubes. Don't worry-- it's a one-time thing.

All good advice, but don't let them upsell you on the platinum Johnson rods. The OEM ones are just fine.

impaler: Really, overdrive just puts the car into a higher gear, basically.

Really, it means your drive shaft is overdriven, i.e., it turns at a higher RPM than the crankshaft.

You're both right! Now kiss