Wired's "How To" Mag is Trying to Kill You

by Robert Farago

Published: October 31st, 2008

wired s how to mag is trying to kill you

Wired magazine has mailed its real world subs a “Wired How To” mini-magazine. Within its pages, they’ll discover a section entitled “Get 50 mpg in a Buick.” To achieve this remarkable gas-miserly feat, the mag recommends that hyper-mileage seeking missiles (that’s you) turn the key off when you’re coasting. There’s no warning that turning the key off will lock the steering and kill the power brakes. Admittedly, the eds suggest you “turn the key back a notch so the engine shuts down.” But I’m sure some naif will either accidentally or purposely turn the key all the way off. And even if they do it correctly, they’ll still lose power steering, which can come as a shock to a 100-pound woman (naif waif?). Wired also advises motorists looking for mythical mileage to “inch up behind an 18-wheeler and kill the engine as you enter its slipstream. You’re drafting now, getting pulled along by the truck’s gas instead of your own.” Yes, they admit it’s “dangerous.” Especially when the truck driver gets pissed and taps his brakes. And as your own binders have lost power assist with the engine off, that could be something of a problem. So, anyway, how do you change your own oil?

In the section on DIY oil changes, Wired advises the ignorami to hand-tighten the replacement oil filter “because if you strip the threads it’ll cost a mint in repairs.” The reason you don’t wrench-tighten a filter is not because you’ll strip the threads–you’d have to use truly brutal pressure and a breaker-bar type extension on the wrench to possibly do that–but because the rubber seal will quickly swell and create the necessary extra pressure. I could go on–like their claim that you should be able to remove the old filter by mere hand pressure “unless you’re a wuss,” which reveals that theyt’ve never actually done it, but why bother. I wouldn’t let a sharetree mechanic reprogram my hard drive and I wouldn’t let a computer geek tell me how to drive or change my oil. You know; in general.

Robert Farago

More by Robert Farago

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 18 comments

Stephan Wilkinson on Oct 31, 2008

"Not a lot of dead-tree mags have made the transition well, and many that have tried to have an on-line presence have suffered for it (the car mags, for example, have a uniformly sucktastic web presence). Most magazines make the mistake of trying to use the web as a source of revenue and/or a push for dead-tree subscriptions." You're absolutely right. I used to write steadily for Conde Nast Traveler's site, since I'm a CNT contributing editor, but I have completely stopped posting, it's so bad. All they want to do is sell subscriptions. One dead giveaway is that virtually none of the posts are interesting enough to get a single comment. "Comments: 0." I should think they'd be embarrassed. My daughter Brook contributes to it, but only because she's paid to, required to by her contract with the magazine.

Like Reply
TomAnderson on Oct 31, 2008

John B: Ah yes, the old "hyper-chlorinating the gene pool" trick...

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Lorenzo This car would have sold better if there was a kit to put fiberglass toast slices on the roof.
Lorenzo The Malibu is close to what the 1955 Bel Air was, but 6 inches shorter in height, and 3 inches shorter in wheelbase, the former making it much more difficult to get into or out of. Grandma has to sit in front (groan) and she'll still have trouble getting in and out.The '55s had long options lists, but didn't include a 91 cubic inch four with a turbo, or a continuously variable transmission. Metal and decent fabric were replaced by cheap plastic too. The 1955 price was $1765 base, or $20,600 adjusted for inflation, but could be optioned up to $3,000 +/-, or $36,000, so in the same ballpark.The fuel economy, handling, and reliability are improved, but that's about it. Other than the fact that it means one fewer sedan available, there's no reason to be sorry it's being discontinued. Put the 1955 body on it and it'll sell like hotcakes, though.
Calrson Fan We are already seeing multiple manufacturers steering away from EVs to Hybrids & PHEVs. Suspect the market will follow. Battery tech isn't anywhere close to where it needs to be for EV's to replace ICE's. Neither is the electrical grid or charging infrastructure. PHEV's still have the drawback that if you can't charge at home your not a potential customer. I've heard stories of people with Volts that never charge them but that's a unique kind of stupidity. If you can't or don't want to charge your PHEV then just get a hybrid.
AZFelix The last time I missed the Malibu was when one swerved into my lane and I had to brake hard to avoid a collision. 1 out of 5⭐️. Do not recommend.
2ACL I won't miss it; it was decent at launch, but in addition to the bad packaging, GM did little to keep it relevant in the segment. I'd prefer that another domestic automaker doesn't just give up on the mainstream sedan, but unlike some of Ford's swan songs, the Malibu made an indifferent case for why they should live.