Why Don't New Cars Have Spare Tires? Why are automakers ditching spare tires? Here's what replaced them and what you're supposed to do when you get a flat. By Dan Mihalascu Oct 2 -
You Don't Need A Mechanic For These Simple Car Maintenance Jobs These simple car maintenance jobs can save you money and help catch problems before they become expensive repairs. By Dan Mihalascu Oct 2 -
Why Does Your Car Door Have A Tiny Hole At The Bottom? That tiny hole at the bottom of your car door has an important job so don't ignore it if you don't like unpleasant surprises. By Dan Mihalascu Oct 1 -
Cars Used To Have Huge Rubber Bumpers. Why Did They Disappear? Those chunky black bumper strips weren't just retro styling. They were built for a very different era of crash protection. By Dan Mihalascu Oct 1 -
Those Old Ribbed Mercedes Taillights Weren’t Just For Looks Those strange grooves weren't just classic Mercedes styling; they were a clever trick to keep the taillights visible. By Dan Mihalascu Oct 1 -
How Does Your Car Know The Weather? Your car is not checking the weather app, but it can measure the temperature, detect rain, and even learn about road conditions from other vehicles. By Dan Mihalascu Oct 1 -
Your Car Has Another Way To Slow Down. What Is Engine Braking? Engine braking can save your brakes from unnecessary abuse, but there's a right—and wrong—way to do it. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 30 -
Why Does Your Car's A/C Get Colder When You Start Driving? Your car's A/C is not necessarily broken. There's a simple reason it can feel noticeably colder once you're moving. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 30 -
What's The Worst Car Of All Time? It's Complicated From the Yugo to the Pontiac Aztek, these infamous cars have earned some truly brutal reputations. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 30 -
How Does Google Maps Know There's Traffic When You Can't See It? Your car is not looking down the road; it's using millions of tiny clues from other drivers to figure out where traffic is building. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 30 -
Why More Horsepower Doesn't Always Make A Car Faster A car with more horsepower is not always faster. Here's why weight, gearing, traction, and torque can completely change the outcome. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 29 -
What Are Those Lines On Your Rear Window? Here’s What They Actually Do Those thin lines aren't scratches or decoration—they're doing an important job every time you hit the rear defroster. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 29 -
Your Car's VIN Isn't Random. Here's What Those 17 Characters Really Mean That seemingly random 17-character string can reveal where your car came from, when it was built, and much more. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 29 -
Why Do The Lines On Your Backup Camera Curve? Here’s What They Show Those mysterious lines on your backup-camera screen aren’t just decoration—they’re showing you where your car is headed. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 28 -
What Are Those Plastic Flaps Behind Your Car's Wheels? Here's What They Actually Do That tiny piece of plastic behind your tire has a surprisingly important job—and it isn't just there to catch mud. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 28 -
Back To The Future Almost Used A Refrigerator Instead Of A DeLorean The DeLorean wasn't the first choice for Doc Brown's time machine. Here's why filmmakers picked the strangest car they could find. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 28 -
Why AWD Doesn't Actually Mean Four-Wheel Drive AWD and 4WD can both power all four wheels, but they work very differently. Here's why the names aren't interchangeable. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 27 -
What Really Happens When You Return A Car To Carvana Carvana gives buyers seven days to change their minds. Here's how the return window really works and what you need to know. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 27 -
Will Dodge Build A New Viper? Probably Not Anytime Soon Dodge says the Viper era is over, but its next performance car could keep the legendary snake's spirit alive. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 27 -
These Useful Car Features Are Hiding In Your Owner’s Manual Your car may be hiding useful features in plain sight. Here's why the owner's manual could be the most overlooked part of your car. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 26 -
There's No Camera Above Your Car. So How Does Bird's-Eye View Work? There is no camera hovering over your car. Here's how several tiny cameras create that seemingly impossible bird's-eye view. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 26 -
Why Your EV Charges So Fast—Then Suddenly Slows Down Your EV charges fast until it doesn't: the final 20 percent can take surprisingly long, but that's completely normal. Here's why. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 26 -
Why The Ford Explorer Is America's Go-To Police SUV Ever wonder why so many police SUVs are Ford Explorers? There's a practical reason departments across the country keep choosing them. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 25 -
Your Odometer Is Lying To You About How Far You've Actually Driven Your odometer doesn't measure the road—it calculates distance from wheel rotation, tire size, and vehicle calibration. By Dan Mihalascu Sep 25 -
