12 SEPTEMBER 2019 FOUR WHEELER fourwheeler.comRPM
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Is It True?
->Ford built “mindful mode” into
the new Explorer for when drivers
want to zone out, er, Zen out while
driving, causing the head-up dis-
play to pare down to the bare es-
sentials of information stimulation?
->Ford and Mahindra are hatching
a plan to work together in India?
->Is Apple focusing on ways to
reinvent traction control and other
safety systems for self-driving use?
->“The increasing popularity of
performance imports is one of the
hottest trends in collecting,” said
Craig Jackson, Chairman and CEO
of Barrett-Jackson?
->Is the Bob Bondurant School of
High Performance Driving back in
business?
->Remember how we told you GM
and Amazon were both chatting up
Rivian, the maker of an all-electric
pickup? But might they have
zipped their lips and walked away?
->Hang on, Rivian...What’s that
now, Ford? And you’re investing
$500 million in Rivian to build you
a new electric pickup?->On topic: Volkswagen and Ford
are inching closer to building a
pickup together?->Is the need for speed killing us?
As in, has the increase in speed
limits over the past 25 years re-
sulted in almost 37,000 deaths,
based on a study (bit.ly/2FPUGdw)
by the Insurance Institute for High-
way Safety?->GM’s Duramax 3.0L redo will be
worth 277 horses and 460 lb-ft of
torque?->Suspension spoiler: Will the
electric Ford F-150 have IRS?->Suspension spoiler: Solid rear
with coils for the new Ford Bronco?->Frontier spoiler: It’s coming in
2020 with a new engine but an old
platform?->And is Mitsubishi building it?->Another platform spoiler: The
Toyota Tacoma and Tundra will
share a platform next redesign?->Is Uber spending more than
a billion bucks on self-driving
vehicle tech?You Hate These Vehicles?
Online automotive search engine and research website
iseecars.com studied your buying habits—but, more importantly,
your selling habits—to sort out which new vehicles were being sold
after the first year of ownership. It wasn’t good news for the Land
Rovers—the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque made that
list. Brands that get dumped after the first year included Porsche,
Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Audi, and Nissan. Those two Land
Rovers topped the list for the SUVs most given up, as did the
Porsche Cayenne and Mercedes-Benz G-Class. On the truck side, it
was pretty much all of them: Nissan’s Titan, Titan XD, and Frontier;
GMC Canyon; Chevy Colorado; Toyota Tacoma and Tundra; GMC
Sierra 1500; and Ram 1500. A lot of it seemed to do with towing/
hauling-capacity needs.✓RANDOM QUOTE:
“RIGHT NOW, THERE’S NOTHING ELSE LIKE THIS IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN, SO THIS IS
REALLY GOING TO SET METRO DETROIT APART. WE’RE THE MOTOR CITY, THE NEW JEEP
IS GOING TO BE BUILT HERE, AND THIS IS ALL POSITIVE FOR OUR REGION. IT MAKES
US MORE COMPETITIVE TO ATTRACT A WORKFORCE.”
—OAKLAND COUNTY COMMISSIONER PHIL WEIPERT, TO THE DETROIT FREE PRESS ABOUT AN OFF-ROAD PARK THAT’S LIKELY TO BE BUILT IN MICHIGAN
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What’s Happening
In The Industry
->The 4 Wheel Parts Down & Dirty
Show Off-Road Edition Powered by
Polaris RZR has a title so long that
it might take up the entire broad-
cast to say. The new radio show/
podcast will be up your alley if you
like rockcrawling, overlanding, off-
road racing, and UTVs.->New acquisition: Daystar of Tuff
Country. Tuff Country was founded
in 1988. Daystar was founded in
1 9 7 7.->Since 1983, Goodyear has been
all about the Highway Hero Award,
which it established to honor truck
drivers who jumped in feet/head/
hands first to do a good deed on
our highways and byways and
streets, often putting their own
lives at risk. Paul Mathias is a U.S.
military vet who was there when an
SUV containing a mother and her
two children was hit. According to
Goodyear, he assisted in CPR and
with comforting the other child.
Unfortunately, one of them passed
away. For his bravery, he was
named a Highway Hero.->Icahn Automotive Group—
you know it for owning Pep Boys,
Precision Tune Auto Care, and
AAMCO—has started the Race
to 2026 initiative to boost the
number of trained auto techs.
According to a press release from
the company, “Icahn Automotive
is encouraging more men and
women to pursue viable careers
in the skilled trades by rolling out
partnerships with technical train-
ing schools; offering scholarships,
tuition reimbursement, and ap-
prentice programs; and creating
internship programs, job place-
ment, and continuing education
opportunities.”->Yokohama won a Red Dot
award for product design for the
Geolandar X-MT tire.