Kelly Taylor: Road Noise – Winnipeg Free Press

Ethanol, without the corny problems

Kelly Taylor 5 minute read Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015

No corn was harmed in the production of this ethanol, but an unfathomable number of specially developed microbes were horribly inconvenienced.

So sorry.

Using food for fuel was certainly one of the most ridiculous notions ever floated in the quest for energy independence. While it was an interesting experiment, it's a notion that suffers from several fatal flaws, not the least of which is a waste of agricultural land.

An acre of corn, according to a study by Cornell University, produces merely 1,241 litres of ethanol. The same acre uses about half that in fossil fuels to farm and costs about US$347, which works out to about $0.27 per litre of ethanol produced. That the corn is usually a non-food, industrial variety doesn't change the fact the land is taken out of food production.

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Close call highlights need to focus

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Close call highlights need to focus

Kelly Taylor 5 minute read Monday, Aug. 17, 2015

Something told me to slam on my brakes. Hard.

I had just picked up the BMW 228i Cabrio and was heading back to the paper when I stopped for a red light at Sherbrook Street and Broadway. After a moment, the light changed to green and, as has become normal, I paused ever so briefly to let what proved to be a straggler scoot through the red light.

Having let him go, I started to proceed. I think I may have just entered the first lane of the cross street when, before I even realized it, I slammed on the brakes. Sure enough, some eastbound bozo in a minivan blew right through the red light. He was in the second lane, going from my left to right.

He can't even claim he was just trying to beat the yellow (not that such would have made it all right), because the red had been up for at least two seconds.

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Monday, Aug. 17, 2015

A t-bone crash can be fatal for the driver, as this one was in Orange County, Calif.

Vision is the key to driving crash-free

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Vision is the key to driving crash-free

Kelly Taylor 5 minute read Wednesday, Jul. 29, 2015

Philippe Létourneau never stops being amazed.

He's the high-speed driving expert for Canada's Worst Driver and the chief instructor for the BMW Driving Experience. And, as bad as the drivers on CWD appear, he insists it's all real.

"We do use humour to keep the show interesting, but everything they say, everything they do is real," Létourneau said. "Nothing is staged and there is no acting."

He's amazed, but also frustrated. It doesn't have to be like this.

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Wednesday, Jul. 29, 2015

Kelly takes the BMW 435i through the short autocross course at BMW Driving Experience.

A suit for the ages

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A suit for the ages

Kelly Taylor 2 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2015

If you’ve ever wondered how you’re going to feel in about 30 years, I can tell you: not that great.

You feel heavy, your joints don't move very well and your vision is blotchy and discoloured.

Ford brought its Third Age Suit to Winnipeg Wednesday and I got a chance to try it on.

The suit covers almost all the bases of aging, from a set of goggles that emulate both a detached retina and glaucoma to braces and neck wraps that greatly restrict joint movement. There’s even a glove with a built-in motor to simulate a neurological disorder such as Parkinson’s disease.

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Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2015

Porsche panache that’s not completely out of reach

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Porsche panache that’s not completely out of reach

Kelly Taylor 5 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 3, 2015

For those who really dig SUVs with ungodly amounts of horsepower, Porsche will gladly sell you the Cayenne Turbo S, with a turbocharged V-8 so powerful it can create a rift in the space-time continuum.

OK, not really. But it is to the Cayenne what the 911 Turbo S is to mere 911s.

For us mortal souls, however, Porsche makes the Cayenne V-6. Almost a third the price of the Turbo S, the Cayenne V-6 does such a credible job the only time you'll miss the turbo V-8 is when you're next to one at a stoplight.

The V-6 won't affect the Earth's rotational speed, but it will give you a nice bit of seatback compression on acceleration, all for a relatively reasonable fuel consumption, observed, of about 13.2 to 14 litres per 100 km combined.

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Wednesday, Jun. 3, 2015

The Cayenne V-6 is a third the price of a Cayenne Turbo S and is still a thrill.

Is this the breakthrough electric cars have needed?

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Is this the breakthrough electric cars have needed?

Kelly Taylor 4 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 3, 2015

Two of the leading objections to electric and hybrid vehicles revolve around the battery.

"It takes me how long to recharge?" and "That's great, but what are you left with when the battery dies? How much is that to replace?"

There's a bit of truth to both: the fastest charging time for a full electric, with all the right equipment, is about 20 minutes, but only to about half capacity (the mondo-expensive Tesla S with a supercharger (not the blower kind)).

And while it's true the replacement of a hybrid battery has been pegged at about $5,000 or more, it's also worth noting that Toyota, which launched the original Prius 16 years ago, reports 99% of Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles still on the road - even that 1999 original - still have their original batteries.

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Wednesday, Jun. 3, 2015

Prof. Chen Xiaodong (from left) supervises research fellow Tang Yuxin and PhD student Deng Jiyang in the making of a rechargeable battery.

Lexus NX200t, premium, compact, fuel-efficient CUV

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Lexus NX200t, premium, compact, fuel-efficient CUV

Kelly Taylor 5 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 3, 2015

Lexus, where have you been all my life?

The origins of Toyota's luxury brand date back to 1983, but most of the cars turned out over those 32 years -- including the first, the LS in 1989 - focused primarily on providing the Toyota mantra of ultimate reliability, if not necessarily driving fun, in a leather-wrapped, wood-endowed, impeccably painted luxury package.

So with few exceptions, most of the Lexus vehicles I've driven have been very nice, very luxurious and very well-built. Only a few I'd say were really fun to drive.

Every variation of the IS are the exceptions to that rule. I particularly enjoyed the first model, with the boxy edges and chronograph-watch instrument panel. Especially when it later came out with a stick.

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Wednesday, Jun. 3, 2015

The NX200t sets a new benchmark in premium compact crossovers.

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BMW 4-Series Gran Coupé: a four-door two door

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BMW 4-Series Gran Coupé: a four-door two door

Kelly Taylor 7 minute read Friday, Apr. 17, 2015

So, you really dig the look of the BMW 4 Series, which is actually a two-door 3 Series, but need an extra pair of doors?

Then you might want to know about the 4 Series GranCoupé.

See, where the 3 Series is just a bit too sedan-like to truly be cool, the 4 Series GranCoupé combines the coupe's rakish roofline and stubby trunk lid with a pair of doors for the rear seat.

At this point, many of you are thinking "So it's a sedan. What's the big deal?"

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Friday, Apr. 17, 2015

The BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé combines the rakish look of a coupe with the practicality of a sedan.

Do you hate to drive? Here’s what you can do

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Do you hate to drive? Here’s what you can do

Kelly Taylor 6 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2015

I once had an assignment that asked me, among other things, to recommend cars to people who hate to drive.

Naturally, as someone who loves to drive, it was hard to put on the hat of someone from the polar opposite of the same emotion. What defines hatred of driving? And as Top Gear once pointed out, if you hate to drive, you're probably pretty bad at doing it.

I think Top Gear's former host Jeremy Clarkson almost nailed it without even knowing. These people probably hate to drive because they're bad at it. I mean, how often have you been stuck behind some slowpoke only to, eventually, pull beside the car and realize the driver has got the steering wheel in a death grip, a really nervous look on the face and droplets of blood forming on a vein-popping forehead? (Note: none of these things is good!)

Your anger almost turned to pity, didn't it?

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Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2015

The Ford Escape is one of several vehicles that will parallel park itself, with just a bit of help from you.

Keeping your child safe in the car

Kelly Taylor 1 minute read Wednesday, Mar. 25, 2015

Drive better to save at the pump

Kelly Taylor 5 minute read Saturday, Mar. 7, 2015

Better fuel economy starts with better driving.

It really is that simple.

If you take any fuel-efficient driving course, you might be surprised to find it's a lot like taking any high-speed, advanced-driving course.

High speed? Advanced driving? To save fuel? Really?

There snow way you can see…

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There snow way you can see…

Kelly Taylor 6 minute read Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015

Have you ever seen a weird warning on some product and wondered why it was there?

"Do not place vacuum nozzle over eye," or "Hot liquid — do not hold between thighs."

The best was on a commercial for a video game, where the two adolescents are chasing bad guys on animated all-terrain vehicles that morph into flying motorcycles not unlike those in the movie Star Wars: Return of the Jedi as the duo instantly travels through a rift in space-time to a distant planet.

"Professional drivers. Do not attempt." As if.

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Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015

Extreme? Perhaps, but it's not uncommon to see cars on the road still covered in snow.

If you could change automotive history…

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If you could change automotive history…

Kelly Taylor 5 minute read Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015

My favourite episode of the original Star Trek series was called City on the Edge of Forever.

You might remember it: a deranged Dr. McCoy escapes Capt. Kirk and Spock through a time portal (the Guardian of Forever) to 1930s New York City. Everything that Kirk and Spock knew — the Enterprise, the crew, Starfleet — vanished as soon as McCoy disappeared.

McCoy had altered the timeline back in the Big Apple. He saved the life of a peace activist who, now having lived long enough, went on to successfully lobby the United States’ to delay its entry into the Second World War. The reprieve was enough for Hitler to develop the atomic bomb first, win the war and conquer the world.

For history as Kirk and crew knew it to be saved, the pacifist had to die.

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Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015

What bit of automotive history would you rewrite if you found yourself at the Guardian of Forever?

The pull of magnetic ride: how to transform an SUV

Kelly Taylor 6 minute read Preview

The pull of magnetic ride: how to transform an SUV

Kelly Taylor 6 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015

The GMC Yukon began life as, essentially, a warmed-over Sierra, which was essentially a warmed-over Chevy Silverado, with an SUV body.

If you drove the Sierra in those days, you knew exactly how the Yukon would feel. Your hands would fall to the exact same spaces on the dash to manipulate the exact same controls and the Yukon’s ride and handling was also a near carbon copy of the truck.

In other words, if the truck kicked out over washboard, the Yukon would, too. If a bump sent a shiver through the body of the Sierra, the same shiver would appear in Yukon.

Much of that has changed over the years, and it’s perhaps most evident in the all-new 2015 Yukon.

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Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015

Kelly Taylor / Winnipeg Free Press
Available magnetic ride control transforms the ride and handling of the 2015 GMC Yukon.

Plug-ins the future of green driving?

Kelly Taylor 5 minute read Preview

Plug-ins the future of green driving?

Kelly Taylor 5 minute read Monday, Jan. 26, 2015

You don't want to be stuck in an electric car when your battery dies. I mean, who would?

While carmakers have made strides in improving the range of electric vehicles, the fear, and in some cases the reality, of running out of juice with no way to recharge remains a hurdle in selling electric cars.

The Tesla S, for instance, has a range approaching 370 kilometres, which remains the high-water mark for electrics. Even that is a hurdle, however. Do you want to plan trips around 370-km intervals? Even the fastest recharge takes longer than filling a gas tank.

So, first we saw the hybrid: That was a gas engine supplemented by electricity to cut fuel use. Good first step, but hardly a long way down the road to electrification. You got better fuel economy, but those first hybrids ran both gas and electric. Then, someone came out with the idea of a parallel hybrid, which created the EV button you see on the dash of certain hybrids now. Parallel hybrids move the yardsticks a fair way, since they can operate on gas, gas-electric or just electric.

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Monday, Jan. 26, 2015

2015 Hyundai Sonata long-term test: Part II

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2015 Hyundai Sonata long-term test: Part II

Kelly Taylor 4 minute read Monday, Jan. 19, 2015

For one week, I had both the long-term Hyundai Sonata and an Acura TLX.

Now, I don't want to come off discrediting the TLX. It's a great car and if you're in that snack bracket and looking for a sport sedan, I'd heartily recommend it.

But if you're in that segment we like to call the middle class, have some scratch to spend on a new car but aren't sure about the price jump to the TLX, I'd have a hard time convincing you to jump from, say, this Hyundai.

Sure, some of the details on the Hyundai - steering wheel, razor-sharp handling and leather, to name a few - might not quite be at the level of a luxury brand. But they're close. Darn close.

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Monday, Jan. 19, 2015

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