It’s been a minute since we’ve looked at the pile of news feed items in the corner of the desk and pawed through them, hasn’t it? I guess that means that 2020 isn’t a complete hash after all, with events and shows happening and BangShift bringing you the action as safely as we can. And if you missed the big news yesterday, there will be a second Rocky Mountain Race Week run this year, which we are psyched for. Then there was the big Ford Bronco reveal, and that’s dominated the airwaves all week long. So here’s a couple of bits that you might not have heard about, slightly roasted and served up hot. It’s Scrapple…enjoy!
1. No pressure. (Get it? No pressure? Ugh…tough crowd.)
While I’ve spent all week trying to get a glimpse of Comet NEOWISE in the night sky, NASA has been busy looking at rover designs that are destined to go to somewhere a little less pretty and a lot more hellscape. Venus is beyond unforgiving. For a planet named after the goddess of love and beauty, she’s a royal bitch: sulfuric acid clouds, temperatures in the range of about 860 degrees Fahrenheit, and an atmospheric pressure that would be like being 3,000 feet underwater. Forget humans, space machines don’t do well here…the longest-lasting one to date, the USSR’s Venera 13, lasted 127 minutes before it was killed off by the conditions. The goal for NASA’s new heroX design contest was to design sensors that would help the AREE rover poke it’s way around without getting bogged down by terrain. Oh, and it’s supposed to last months. Yeah. Months.
2. C’mon, the paint hasn’t even dried yet!
In a Jeremy Clarkson voice: “…it ISN’T the new Ford Bronco! But it is the Bronco’s Chinese knockoff!” That’s right, meet the Wey P01, a highly themed off-roader from Great Wall’s premium brand. It’s due to break cover in full in a couple of weeks.
3. Isn’t that the dance group that wrote, “Peanut Butter Jelly”?
With the merger of FCA and Groupe PSA, we now have a new name in the catalog: Stellantis. It means “to brighten with stars”. Does this mean that the Pentastar could make a comeback? Please?
4. Dead: Honda Civic Coupe, Fit, and manual-trans Accord
Oh, don’t be sad. CR-V Si has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it? Actually, no…this really bites. And I’m not even a Honda fan. But when they are low-take models, something has to change.
5. Ooooh…that’s awkward.
Rolling stock on the new Ford Bronco is impressive…factory 35″ tires on the Sasquatch package, 33″ meats elsewhere. Ford did good…except there was one small, embarrassing hitch. The tires chosen were BFGoodrich units, but one particular model of tire proved to be troublesome. You see, it’s bad form for the new Bronco to have a tire that has the word “Wrangler” right on the side, ain’t it? At least, Ford thought so and requested that BFGoodrich remove the name off of the outboard side of the tires that will be OEM equipment on the Wildtrak and any Bronco fitted with the Sasquatch package.
Wrangler is a Goodyear tire not BFG. I belive different packages come with one or the other
“Wrangler” tires are made by Goodyear…..
I trully hope psa dont have anything to do with mopar design or power plants. They are terrible designed for fleet or leased vehicles. The last decent cars they made were in the late 90s. You really dont want them to have anything to do with the computers either, they put them where they get destroyed quickly. The garage i work in will only do minor servicing on them cos they have so many problems.