Welcome to our weekly round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.Here’s what you missed while you were away.EV regulations prompt Tesla to release fart noise featureU.S. authorities recently implemented regulations stating all electric vehicles travelling under 30 km/h must make some sort of noise to help pedestrians identify there’s a massive chunk of metal moving nearby. Now, over in Europe, that “noise” is by law supposed to sound basically like a traditional car. Boring! In America, however, automakers were allowed to get a little more creative, and Elon Musk seemed to take that as a challenge. He recently Tweet-announced that Teslas will soon come with the ability to emit all sorts of clever sounds, from a cute little goat’s bleat to the clip-clop of coconuts to one of the all-time greatest sound effects: the fart. Winter tire deadline change prompts CAA-Quebec’s Winter Tire Appointment Week pushAfter the legal deadline for winter tires was bumped up to December 1 this year, the Quebec division of CAA took it upon itself to remind residents what that means. You’ve got to, um, change your tires to winters. OK?Winter Tire Appointment Week is indeed a real thing, and probably a good thing, too, even if incredibly dull-sounding. Because with 5.2 million passenger vehicles on Quebec’s roads and less than two months to go before the big day, there’s no time like the present to call your tire shop. Besides, how else are you going to celebrate Winter Tire Appointment Week?Striking U.S. auto union calls for end to imports, including Canada’sThe United Automobile Workers has been on strike against General Motors for almost a month and are now calling for the company to put a stop to the import of all cars from foreign assembly plants, including those in Canada and Mexico. Union reps also apparently expressing qualms about the move toward automation and electric power. Negotiation talks are ongoing, but this recent argument isn’t great news for GM’s Oshawa plant, which was recently made the beneficiary of a $170-million injection from GM.2020 Subaru Crosstrek’s $100 price bump earns it a stack of perks The most capable crossover in its segment is getting an extra dose of convenience, with the 2020 Crosstrek offering new standard and available features at a competitive price. (CNW Group/Subaru Canada Inc.) Subaru It’ll cost a bit more to get into Subaru’s Crosstrek this year than it did last year, but if you’re someone who needs to pile a little bit of everything on their buffet plate – not the Jello, for the love of God, not the Jello – then you might want to consider it. The base 2020 Crosstrek starts at $23,795 and comes standard with a six-speed manual and all-wheel-drive, an Apple CarPlay/Android Auto-ready infotainment system, plus the brand’s EyeSight driver-assist system and X-Mode’s torque-splitting features in the CVT models. Now you can spend that $100 on something important, like that diet coach you obviously need. Canadian drivers sue Kia over alleged service schedule hoodwinkEveryone knows there’s no better way to care for a car than to follow exactly what it says in the owner’s manual. Right? Apparently not if you drive a Kia and live in Canada. A class-action suit alleges Canadian drivers are being misled by Kia in terms of how often they’re told to seek routine service. The book says 12,000 km, but if you live in Canada – most of it, anyway – the brand recommends a visit to the shop every 6,000 km. It’s just too bad you can’t sue
Origin: News Roundup: Tesla’s flatulent update, Quebec’s winter tire celebration and Kia’s alleged muck-up
tire
This new tire concept captures electricity as it rolls
Tire company Sumitomo hasn’t reinvented the wheel, quite, but it has come up with a pretty brilliant way for your car’s tires to recuperate a bit of energy as they roll along. Developers at Sumitomo Rubber Industries got a hand from researchers at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan to develop a tire concept that uses a device called an “Energy Harvester” to gather small bits of static electricity (a.k.a. “frictional charging”) generated within the tires. Inside the tire are two layers of rubber with an electrode for each, and a negatively and positively charged film that interfaces the two and rubs together when the tire rolls down the road and repeatedly deforms. Now, these tires aren’t going to add range to the next-gen Tesla or anything, but Sumitomo suggests the Energy Harvester could eventually replace batteries as a power source for small things like tire pressure monitors or “other automotive devices.” The Japan Science and Technology Agency, a national research and development agency, has recently signed on to help support the project, so it may not be too long before they roll out some sort of
Origin: This new tire concept captures electricity as it rolls
Your Corner Wrench: Don’t be overwhelmed by tire choices and prices
2018 Dodge Challenger HellcatNick Tragianis / Driving When shopping for a new (or new-to-you) ride, we know the last things to grab your attention are those black rubber rounds on which it sits. It’s understandable. Compared to the rest of the package, with all its modern styling, shiny paint, and loads of high-tech gizmos, tires are just dull and boring. But missing a few points on a vehicle’s boots can cost you dearly down the road. No matter how well you take care of a car, and no matter how carefully you drive, you will have to replace tires every 50,000 to 75,000 kilometres, on average. It’s inevitable, but whether or not this becomes a wallet-busting nightmare or an easy routine depends on your shopping skills. Years ago, automakers learned dressing up tires can greatly increase their desirability. Execs demand a lot from tire manufacturers in terms of performance specs on tires, but unfortunately, at the bottom of the list was tread longevity, purchase price, and sometimes even availability. After all, automakers want tires to run quiet, smooth, and provide acceptable grip — not last forever. The move that ends up costing us the most is low-profile tires. But before we go any further, this is a good time for a brief refresher on tire sizing. On every tire’s sidewall is size depicted in letter and numbers — for example, P225/65R17. P stands for passenger vehicle (as opposed to LT, which means light truck). The number 225 is the tire’s tread width in millimeters, and 65 indicates that the tire’s side wall height is 65 per cent of the tread’s width. Finally, 17 refers to the wheel size in inches, just because tire sizing shouldn’t make complete sense. When it comes to pricing, once you go past the 17-inch wheel size and/or below the 65-series sidewall height — also referred to as the aspect ratio — costs go up dramatically. Grab a ride with 50-series fitted on 20-inch wheels, and you can be entering the stratosphere of rubber prices. Take Canada’s most popular car, for example — the Honda Civic. The entrly-level Civic DX comes with P215/55R6 tires, which run about $145 before installation and taxes, for a set of Goodyear Assurance tires. But if you step up the Sport Touring level, those P235/40R18 boots will set you back $215 on average for the same tire. That’s a whopping 48 per cent increase. Some driving enthusiasts will tell you it’s money well spent, as those wider tires have better grip during aggressive cornering, and their shorter stance combined with lightweight alloy wheels provide better steering and suspension response. In reality, you’ve got to be pushing it past legal limits to appreciate the difference. So, how can you protect your wallet? First, consider models with a more affordable tire size from the start. If the particular vehicle on the dealer lot you’re considering is shod with platinum-level shoes, ask if a downsize is possible. If a retailer can simply swap a set of wheels and tires between another lesser-trim model already in stock, they’ll usually be more than happy to be stuck’ with the more expensive set, while you drive off on something you (and your wallet) can live
Origin: Your Corner Wrench: Don’t be overwhelmed by tire choices and prices
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