Piston Slap: Focusing on Turbo 93 Octane Tunes?

Mark writes:

Sajeev,

Thanks for the recent advice on winter tires & wheels for my new Focus ST. I took delivery of the car two weeks ago and I’m having a blast. The first thing I did when I got it home was take Bark M’s advice and sign up for the Octane Academy.

So here’s another question: What’s your take on fuel octane and the ST?

Read more
Piston Slap: Gently Tapping, Tapping at My Ranger's Door?

Dave writes:

Hi Sajeev,

This is the second question I’ve asked on here, and while I didn’t even follow the advice I received last time and here I am again! Last time I was asking about a sporty car, and I ended up getting a 2007 Ford Ranger, 2.3L, 5 speed, with all of 35,000 miles on it. It is a regular cab with nothing extra on it, a real throw back, manual windows, no AC, a nice basic truck with nothing to go wrong right?

Wrong.

Read more
Piston Slap: The Lambda V6 Half Life?

Dennis writes:

Dear Sajeev,

I own an 06 Sonata with the 3.3. It is paid off and has 79,000 miles on it. I love this car.

Read more
  • Lorenzo Yes, they can recover from the Ghosn-led corporate types who cheapened vehicles in the worst ways, including quality control. In the early to mid-1990s Nissan had efficient engines, and reliable drivetrains in well-assembled, fairly durable vehicles. They can do it again, but the Japanese government will have to help Nissan extricate itself from the "Alliance". It's too bad Japan didn't have a George Washington to warn about entangling alliances!
  • Slavuta Nissan + profitability = cheap crap
  • ToolGuy Why would they change the grille?
  • Oberkanone Nissan proved it can skillfully put new frosting on an old cake with Frontier and Z. Yet, Nissan dealers are so broken they are not good at selling the Frontier. Z production is so minimal I've yet to see one. Could Nissan boost sales? Sure. I've heard Nissan plans to regain share at the low end of the market. Kicks, Versa and lower priced trims of their mainstream SUV's. I just don't see dealerships being motivated to support this effort. Nissan is just about as exciting and compelling as a CVT.
  • ToolGuy Anyone who knows, is this the (preliminary) work of the Ford Skunk Works?