Checking your engine oil is the highest-value five minutes of car maintenance there is: it costs nothing, needs no tools, and catches expensive problems — low oil, a leak, a failing head gasket — long before a warning light or a tow truck does. Modern cars can go a long way between changes, but the … Read more
A dead battery is one of the most common roadside problems you’ll ever run into, and it always seems to happen at the worst time. The good news: here’s how to jump-start a car safely once you know the correct order of steps — it just takes a little care around the battery terminals and … Read more
Your first track day is one of the best ways to find out what your car — and you — are actually capable of, in an environment designed for exactly that. No oncoming traffic, no speed limits, runoff room when you get it wrong, and corner workers watching every inch of the circuit. But a … Read more
Every tire on the road carries its complete resume molded into the rubber — size, speed capability, load limits, age, even which direction it’s supposed to spin. Once you know how to read a tire sidewall, you can spot an unsafe tire in a parking lot, catch a shop installing the wrong spec, and decode … Read more
When we first wrote that manual transmissions were having a moment, the evidence was a handful of take rates creeping above 30% on enthusiast trims. Two years later, the moment has hardened into something more interesting — and more durable. The number of new cars offering a manual transmission keeps shrinking, but on the models … Read more
A wave of right-to-repair laws has quietly become one of the most consequential developments for car enthusiasts in years — and in 2026, the fight has moved from theory to scoreboard. Six states have enacted automotive repair-access laws, the federal REPAIR Act just survived (in weakened form) its biggest committee test yet, and Massachusetts is … Read more
When the FL5-generation Civic Type R launched, we called it the front-wheel-drive king. Two years and tens of thousands of owner-miles later, the crown hasn’t moved — but the story around the car has changed completely. The interesting question in 2026 isn’t whether the Type R is good. It’s whether a used Honda Civic Type … Read more
When the Dark Horse launched, we called it both a celebration and a eulogy for the naturally aspirated V8 pony car. Two years later the eulogy part came true faster than anyone expected: the Camaro is gone, the Challenger’s V8 went with it, and the Mustang now stands entirely alone as the last V8 pony … Read more
Every few years a car resets the bar for what a road-legal track car can be, and the 911 GT3 has been doing it, generation after generation, since 1999. Two years after we first called the 992 the benchmark, nothing has displaced it — and the market has noticed in a way that makes a … Read more
Buying a used performance car gets you into something that’s been driven harder than the average commuter — that’s the whole appeal, and also the entire risk. The same car that rewards enthusiasm punishes deferred maintenance, and the difference between a great buy and a five-figure mistake usually comes down to an hour of checking … Read more