Handled a lot better than Ford's last problem with fires, where you know, people's cars caught fire in their driveways and burned their houses down.

Also better than Honda and Takata running around like a chicken with a freshly severed head going "oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck."

However no one has actually been hurt by a Takata airbag to my knowledge as of yet.

Say what? Takata airbags are basically a claymore in your steering wheel pointed right at your face. You want to roll the dice with that?

"While Toyota says there have been no related injuries or deaths involving its vehicles, a New York Times report in September found a total of at least 139 reported injuries across all automakers. In particular, there have been at least two deaths and 30 injuries in Honda vehicles. According to the Times, Honda and Takata allegedly have known about the faulty inflators since 2004 but failed to notify NHTSA in previous recall filings (which began in 2008) that the affected airbags had actually ruptured or were linked to injuries and deaths."

"According to documents reviewed by Reuters, Takata says that rust, bad welds, and even chewing gum dropped into at least one inflator are also at fault. The same documents show that in 2002, Takata’s plant in Mexico allowed a defect rate that was “six to eight times above” acceptable limits, or roughly 60 to 80 defective parts for every 1 million airbag inflators shipped. The company’s study has yet to reach a final conclusion and report the findings to NHTSA."

"he New York Times has published a report suggesting that Takata knew about the airbag issues in 2004, conducting secret tests off work hours to verify the problem. The results confirmed major issues with the inflators, and engineers quickly began researching a solution. But instead of notifying federal safety regulators and moving forward with fixes, Takata executives ordered its engineers to destroy the data and dispose of the physical evidence. This occurred a full four years before Takata publicly acknowledged the problem."

Them boys is officially fucked.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/honda-expands-airbag-recall-nationwide-takata-tests-show-high-defect-rates/

The exact numbers seem to be unclear at this point, but there are at least several documented cases of people with serious lacerations on their bodies following airbag ruptures, so at the very least, some people have been hurt.

The Tesla article was admittedly weird, no question. Auto reporting shenanigans goes back a long way before that though, as Audi knows full well. They basically put a brick on the accelerator and then went "oh noes! unintended acceleration!"

Max!!  $19,999

VW GX3 reborn (rather than stillborn)!  God bless America.  I might have to pick one up eventually.

Looks like the KTM X-Bow minus one wheel. Personally, if I were in the market for this type of street/track-car and had a truckload of cash, I'd still take the BAC Mono (and switch the crap Korean tyres for a brand with actual racetrack heritage like Michelin or Bridgestone), or an Ariel Atom (because I like sexy scaffolding). If it were just a pure track-car, then probably a Radical of some sort, because neck-aches from actual downforce are great when dick-measuring at the pub. I'm more of a bike guy though, so what do I know.

This is mostly just an auto chat thread now. I'm still keeping my eyes open, but I'm not really in the market right now.