The Absolute Worst Trend in Automotive Design Today

No matter the industry, trends come and go with the tide — some fizzle out and don’t catch on, some can really hit the mark and truly define an era, while others are just plain awful. The automotive industry is no different. In the ‘50s there was jet-age styling with turbine-inspired intakes and fins sprouting up everywhere. In the ’80s it was turbos and stylized graphics down the door panels.

A couple of years ago, seemingly damn near every sports car needed to have a vent of some size or shape behind the front wheels — a trend we’re still very much in the throes of. Which isn’t as bad as the fake intake vents designers seem to be using as a crutch to fill the massive amount of space on the front of cars. But the most recent and most egregious design quirk that has been quietly swelling in popularity is fake exhausts. Stainless steel pipe ends built into bumpers just for show.

There are even varying levels of this design lie. The first high-profile case was the first generation Lexus IS-F. A car that, at a glance, looked like it had a unique set up: two pipes vertically stacked on either side of the car. But if you took a closer look you’d see the bottom exhaust tip of each pair wasn’t actually connected to anything. And if you look at most luxury cars on the road today, you’ll see the “exhaust tips” aren’t connected to anything other than the bumper. They just masquerade as big, wide-mouthed sport exhausts with puny, seemingly unfinished pipes just sort of hanging out behind them and hidden under the car. Now that you know you won’t be able to unsee it — you’ll notice fake exhausts everywhere.

One of the most recent examples I’ve come across is the 2018 Audi SQ5. I reached out to Audi (and a few other manufacturers) to ask what the point of it was, but none responded. Maybe because there is no good answer. What Audi did (and what other brands are guilty of as well) was design the lower rear bumper to look like it has a chiseled, edgy, performance-orientated quad exhaust; in reality, it’s just black plastic.

Which, plainly speaking, is just a waste of perfectly good plastic. Why even bother? What’s the point? Are we that addicted to the connotation of performance that Audi would have felt ashamed had it not added fakes? At this point, Audi is no better than the guys who bolt on false hood scoops or the ones who buy BMW M and AMG badges and stick them on their Corollas.

Newsflash: guys, we know.

The Only Feature You Should Spend Extra Money On When Getting a New Car

Our cars are so laden with technology and creature comforts that luxury options are almost becoming burdens. Infotainment systems are the epicenters of that information overload, and gauge clusters are also now one of a handful of screens that cram every gigabyte of data they can get onto one of the even smaller screens in the car. Navigation, tire pressure, suspension height, ride settings, radio station, who’s calling you; in sportscars it’s track time and horsepower meters on top of the speedometer and tachometer stalwarts. And those are just a sliver of what some cars can come with. Option lists go on ad infinitum across the board.

At what point does a relaxing drive turn into a source of stress? We’re at a point where most of these options are a waste of money because you stop using them or never used them at all. But if you’re buying a new car, save time, money and stress — skip all the frivolous extras and focus on the seats. You won’t regret it.

According to J.D. Power rating report, at least 20 percent of new-vehicle owners have never used 16 of the 33 technology features measured. The five features owners most commonly report that they ‘never use’ are the in-vehicle concierge, mobile routers, automatic parking systems, head-up display, and built-in apps.” Not only that, but those are also among some of the features listed that drivers actively won’t get in their next car. But, as far as the interior goes, seats are most assuredly features you can’t forgo. Therefore, they should be as good as possible.

While pedals pretty much come as they are and steering wheels can be fitted with heaters and switches for ancillary options, think about how much of your body touches the wheel and, inversely, how big of a contact patch you have with your seat. Then consider that you’ll spend about 300 hours in that seat next year alone. All of a sudden, money spent on a better seat is incredibly more appealing than dropping an extra $3,000 just to have satellite navigation — something your smartphone can telegraph through the speaker system with a $10 cable.

Seats aren’t merely a common-sense expenditure anymore, with the best seat options you’re really getting your money’s worth. Manufacturers spend a massive amount of time developing seats, which makes sense since the driver’s seat is the most significant interface the driver has with the car. It’s also quite literally one of the largest objects in the vehicle, second only to the back seat if there is one (and probably the driver).

According to Jonathan Line, Lincoln’s Advanced Seat Innovation Supervisor, when it comes to their flagship captains chairs, for instance, Lincoln started development on them in 2011, debuted them in 2016 with the Continental and premiered a new-and-improved version in the 2018 Navigator. “We were really striving to achieve an experience, not so much to outdo the competition with features but we were going after the greatest human experience we could find in a seat to make them optimally comfortable,” Line admits. You don’t spend six years, as Lincoln did, just to come up with a porch swing. Lincoln dedicated a 15-20 person team to study materials, suspensions and structural composites, and went even further to study biometrics and pressure points to analyze where the body needs to be supported and how to increase blood flow for both comfort and alertness while driving. The result is a 30-way adjustable seat that’s both heated and air-conditioned, massages your back and legs and supports every square inch of you than rests on it — stopping just short of supporting you emotionally.

Now, I’m not saying any less research and development goes into a Sport mode, Apple Carplay, or whatever you can think of that can connect wirelessly to your car. Or, it should be said, any other manufacturer’s premium seats. But, much like “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound,” if a luxury option or creature comfort goes completely unused, is it any good? Is it worth it? There’s no practical circumstance wherein you’re in your car and not using the seat. It stands to reason that you’ll always appreciate the time and money you spend optioning it out to its fullest capacity. Get the best seats you can.

Camper Van Restoration Pros at Peace Vans Make Modern Magic of Retro VWs

Harley Sitner didn’t plan on owning an auto body repair shop. He’s a tech entrepreneur by trade with a long tenure at Microsoft on his resume, and he’d helped launch a few businesses throughout his career, including a skin care line and a nursery. Van repair wasn’t in his 10-year plan – that is until he bought his first VW camper van in 2008.

It’s hard to get older vans repaired, Sitner said, and he struggled to find a shop in the Pacific Northwest that could help him get the parts he needed for his new purchase. Then he found a small van repair shop in Seattle, WA called Peace Vans. The business was about to shut its doors, which gave Sitner an idea: What if he bought the place?

“I was like wow, I think I can do this. I’m passionate. I know what the market needs,” he remembered, laughing. “My wife was like ‘Really? This is what you want to do next?’ But I did it.”

When Sitner sets his mind to something, it’s clear there’s really no stopping him. It’s been six years since he purchased the shop and Peace Vans is now a small empire hidden behind a rather unremarkable storefront in Seattle’s Sodo neighborhood. Sitner has grown the business into one of the biggest camper van repair shops in the United States, with a staff of talented auto body repair folks in tow. He attributes the business’s quick growth to great customer service, deep expertise and a community vibe.

Peace Vans is made up of three parts. The first and largest is the repair shop, which boasts a month-long waitlist and offers fixes for all types of retro camper vans, especially Vanagon Westfalias. Most of the repairs are basic, focused on safety concerns like brakes and fuel. A few cases are more serious, requiring updates on motors or transmissions. Still fewer are bespoke projects, which Sitner only takes on when someone has a very clear and reasonable vision of what they want. In fact, Sitner says he was once offered his own television show about bespoke van repairs – but he turned it down. “They wanted me to put an aquarium in a van,” he said. “That’s ridiculous!”

When I visited the Peace Vans shop in the early fall months, camper vans were lined up end-to-end in the side yard, three deep. Sitner pointed out specific projects, like a van that a father-son pair had driven from the east coast to Seattle for a winter re-up. This is typical, Sitner said. Many of his clients come from far away because owning a Vanagon Westfalia is no small undertaking and finding a good repair shop is a big deal. Parts can be tough to find, although Sitner said VW recently sprung up a whole business dedicated to creating new parts for their older vehicles.

“It’s tough to work on these vans,” Sitner said. “Most of the ones we work on are children of the ’80s, and the ’80s were a weird period in automotive engineering. At this point, a lot of the vehicles we fix are 30 to 40 years old and they have deferred maintenance.”

Sitner also cultivates relationships with folks who make certain parts for older vans (some are even 3D printed) and Peace Vans sometimes strips older vans for parts, too. Still, he said, this is a hard business to move forward. Retro van repair is a dying art, something he’s all too aware of as he tries to keep his employees engaged. After all, the business depends on people with niche knowledge.

You can rent camper vans from Peace Vans, too, which is the second branch of Sitner’s business. For a not-so-low price, Sitner will hand you the keys to a retro VW van stocked with all the gear you need for a week or two out in the Pacific Northwest wilderness. The vans come with fridges, beds that fold down, pop tops, tables and other well-thought-out features. They’re typically reserved months in advance by out-of-town visitors who plan to explore the Pacific Northwest during the summer months.

The third part of the Peace Vans business is new. They’ve partnered with Mercedes-Benz to turn the newest fleet of 2019 Mercedes vans into camper vans. For people who are interested in a high-end camper van experience, this is the way to go, Sitner said. When I visited, he was coaching an older couple on their options for decking out their new Mercedes-Benz van, including a trailer for e-bikes and enough power to support other essentials.

Not to be forgotten in this business equation is Sitner’s ability to build a strong community, which is more than likely the secret to a deeply loyal clientele. He said that people often bring six-packs of beer into his office at the end of the day, asking for free bits of advice about the best updates they can make to their vans. He’s happy to share what he knows because he truly believes in this lifestyle – so much so that he lives it, too. Sitner recently returned from Burning Man, where he slept in his maroon VW camper van the whole time. “Van life is evocative of authenticity and nostalgia, of simpler times, of an escape and disconnection,” he said.

Sitner is also set on sharing the van love with his eight-year-old daughter. Recently, they went on a four-night father-daughter van trip to the Olympic Peninsula. They spent their time together making crafts, reading and cooking their own food. “There was never once a ‘Dad, can I use your phone?’ or ‘Dad I’m bored,’” he said. “That’s magic.”

Winter Car Prep and Snow Driving Tips from a Rally Pro

Though an affordable older car is a great way to spare your shiny performance car the pains of driving through winter, it can also make for fun and safe winter conveyance. Ironically, beaters make great winter cars because they lack many of today’s standard safety features. “ABS brakes can take twice as long to get a car stopped on snow than a halfway decent driver without them,” says Wyatt Knox, special projects director at Team O’Neil Rally School and Rally America 2WD National Champion. “Traction Control will cut your engine power or apply brakes when it senses spinning wheels, such as when you try to drive up a hill, meaning you might not make it and could potentially go sliding back down. Without these systems, you know what you’ve got. You know exactly what the car will do when you give it a specific input, you quickly learn what it can and can’t do, then just operate within those boundaries and you’re fine.”

Knox also notes that while four- and all-wheel drive are great advancements, they aren’t the be-all-end-all for winter driving. Proof positive is his personal choice of car, a 1996 Mazda Miata, which he uses year-round — yes, even in the winter, in New Hampshire. “I guess I’ve always just liked the challenge of getting around with only two-wheel-drive. It makes you think more, work harder, plan ahead, be smooth, and you really don’t get away with too many mistakes. It’s great training,” said Knox. “You also slide around more, which is always good entertainment.”

Should you decide to tackle winter in an older car, it’s best to be prepared. Understand the importance of knowing how your car reacts in the snow, and, equally importantly, be open to doing a little wrenching (or pay for someone to do the wrenching for you). Knox shared some tips for getting any old car ready for the imminent snowfall.

First and foremost: tires. “Number one will always be acquiring the best possible winter tires that you can find and afford, mounting them to all four wheels,” says Knox. Winter tires are thinner, taller sidewalls and rubber compounds that offer more grip in low temperatures — if you’re going to do one thing for winter, make it a tire upgrade. But Knox notes traction goes beyond just having the right tires. “Tire pressure changes about one psi per ten degrees, so if you set your tires at thirty-two psi on a sixty-degree day, you might be surprised to see that on a zero-degree morning they only have twenty-six psi in them. If you take a corner hard or get right up to highway speeds, that tire could easily have a catastrophic failure.”

Winterize your car. There are tons of little things you can do to make your car operate optimally in low temperatures. Knox suggests topping of the anti-freeze, swapping oil to a thinner viscosity, mounting winter windshield wiper blades and adding de-icing washer fluid. Knox also highly recommends making sure the car is caught up with regular maintenance before wintertime. “If your car breaks down at night on a back road, it can turn into a legitimate survival situation pretty quickly. ”

Pack a survival kit. In case you do get stranded, pack a duffle with some essentials: a first aid kit, blankets, extra winter clothes, matches, flashlight, tow straps, jumper cables, an extra phone charger, road salt and/or traction mats and water and snacks. “The peace of mind alone is worth the effort,” says Knox.

Change up your suspension. “If you’re going to be driving quickly in the snow and ice, there are a number of things you can do to have more fun and get around a little better. You really want more ground clearance and much slower, more exaggerated weight transfer in the winter,” said Knox. When turning and accelerating or decelerating the weight of the car can affect the amount of traction the wheels get. But with slower and smoother weight transfer, the risk of sudden added (or removed) traction from the wheels reduces the likelihood of spinning. To achieve this, Knox recommends adding a taller, softer suspension, and fitting lighter sway bars (or removing them completely).

Adjust your brake bias. Normally, your car’s braking power is biased towards the front on dry pavement because when you stop, the vehicle’s weight transfers towards the front, thus more braking power at the front means quicker stops. However, when on slippery surfaces like snow and ice, less weight transfers to the front in the absence of traction, which means less braking power. When setting up a car to perform better on slippery surfaces, a brake-proportioning valve can be used to send more brake fluid to the rear brakes than usual, increasing stopping power at the back. Knox notes this technique really only works properly on cars without antilock brakes. ABS, generally, is a great safety feature to have in inclement weather, but should you disable it or drive a car without it, be prepared to master threshold braking.

If you want to go the extra mile, install a limited-slip differential. When you execute a turn in a car, because the outside wheel is covering more distance, an open differential makes it turn at a faster rate, which in turn facilitates stable cornering. But on cars with open differentials, it allows all driven wheels to continue to spin in the absence of traction, while the other wheel with traction remains stationary. The fix here is a limited-slip differential, which will provide more power to the wheel with more traction. While it’s ideal to have a car already equipped with a limited-slip diff, according to Knox, “You can usually find limited-slip or other replacement differentials pretty easily and have them replaced.”

Be a better driver. Knox’s final point: if you really want to drive safely in the snow, take the time and effort to learn from professionals how to master driving in bad conditions. “If you do get into a skid and start to lose control, there’s always something you can do to either regain control or, at the very least, minimize the damage to your vehicle if you know it’s going to crash. Our specialty is training drivers to see these things ahead of time and to take action before a bad situation occurs, and also giving them the skills they need to get out of those bad situations when they are absolutely unavoidable.”