Why Are Thieves Stealing Steering Wheels in My Neighborhood?

by Gabrielle DeSantis

From hubcaps to car stereos and catalytic converters, cars have been big targets for thieves over the decades. And car theft is up these days due to the pandemic. But now they’re after something else; steering wheels. It makes no sense until you remember that steering wheels have airbags in them.

Have you priced an airbag lately?

An airbag igniter is built into a steering wheel | Photo by Jens Wolf/picture alliance via Getty Images

Have you priced an airbag lately? They sell for anywhere from $250 to over $700-and that’s before installation. It is easily a $1,000-plus hit. But that’s not all.

With factory shutdowns and other pandemic-related nonsense, there is a shortage of replacement airbags. So you could say that COVID-19 is the reason airbags are being stolen. But it gets weirder. 

Thieves aren’t after just any airbag

Airbag in steering wheel
Airbag installed in a steering wheel | Photo by NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Thieves aren’t after just any airbag. They’re mostly after airbags in Chevy Malibus and Equinoxes. At least that’s what is being reported by Fox News 2 out of the Detroit area. We know that over the years Hondas are a ripe target for airbag thefts. But really, any newer car with an airbag is a target. 

In Eastpointe, Michigan, the police report they got 11 calls about steering wheel thefts in just a couple of days. So certain shady repair shops are looking for airbags; any airbags. They’ll pay cash on the spot-no questions asked. They are even selling the steering wheel assemblies with the airbags inside to victims of steering wheel thefts. 

Airbag thefts amount to over $50 million a year

Honda airbag
An airbag of a Honda vehicle | Photo credit should read YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP via Getty Images

RELATED: Why Are Thieves Stealing Catalytic Converters In My Town?

It’s estimated by the National Insurance Crime Bureau that airbag thefts amount to over $50 million a year. But our friends at the NICB have suggestions for how to keep your steering wheel with your car. First off, choose where you park your car carefully. 

Next, go out and buy one of those Club theft-protection devices. They attach to your steering wheel which makes it far less tempting. Usually, if a thief sees any type of extra hassle he or she will move on to an easier mark. They usually sell for around 50 bucks. 

Never buy an airbag online

An airbag in a steering wheel
An employee assembles an airbag with the VW logo in the steering wheel of a Volkswagen | Photo by Christophe Gateau/picture alliance via Getty Images

Also, never buy an airbag online. Instead, have your deployed or stolen airbag replaced at a dealer or certified shop. If demand from less than upright shops goes away then the cycle of theft does also. They also might file a fraudulent insurance claim. 

And the simplest deterrent might be making sure your car is locked. Without an easy entry, thieves will probably move on to the next unlocked vehicle they find.

The post Why Are Thieves Stealing Steering Wheels in My Neighborhood? appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

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Can the Tesla Model S Plaid Really Get to 60 MPH in Less Than 2 Seconds?

by Gabrielle DeSantis

If you’re familiar with Tesla, then you’re well aware that nearly all of its cars have performance numbers that rival most supercars. Take the Model S, for example, in its base form, it can get from 0 to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds according to the Tesla website. And stepping up to the Tesla Model S Plaid + will get you a 0-60 mph time of fewer than 2 seconds, but is that really true?

Engineering Explained explains the Tesla Model S Plaid + times

The Tesla Model S | Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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At first glance, that 0-60 mph time Tesla posted for the Models S Plaid + adds a lot of wow factor. After all, the thought of going from a standstill up to 60 mph in just three seconds sounds insane. Anything less than that seems almost impossible.

But of course, when gadgets and cars are spawned from the brain of Elon Musk, anything is possible. Unless you read the fine print. Fortunately, Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained did just that and he also noticed that there was an asterisk next to the acceleration times for the Model S Plaid and Plaid + when you click on the “feature details” button on the Model S pricing page.

That asterisk clearly denotes that the “first foot of rollout is subtracted,” which as Fenske notes changes things a bit.

What is “rollout?”

An image showing the rollout distance
An image showing the rollout distance | Car and Driver

RELATED: Which Tesla Model Has the Longest Range?

The rollout is the distance that a vehicle can move before triggering the timing lights at a drag strip, according to Car and Driver. To be a little more specific, when you take a car to a drag strip and stage at the start of the strip, there are two laser beams that wheels trigger in order to line it up at the starting line.

The first laser beam is for the “pre-stage” light and the second is for the “staging” light. When the car’s front wheel triggers the staging light, it’s properly set for the drag race. However, Car and Driver notes that the car’s position when blocking that staging beam can vary by as much as a foot.

Since the timer doesn’t start until that second stage beam is uncovered, that distance between where the tire starts from to when the timer starts is known as the “rollout.” As you can guess, when you’re taking a 0-60 mph measurement from a standstill, and you subtract the rollout distance, it can change the total amount of time by a good amount.

“The timing starts once you break that beam, so that means you get one foot of free acceleration,” Fenske said.  

Tesla subtracting the rollout changes things

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Fenske then goes on to explain what happens in the one foot of rollout. As an example, he uses Motortrend’s testing of the Tesla Model S P100D, which was able to get up to 5.9 mph in that rollout distance, which would shave 0.26 seconds off its 0-60 mph time.

“This is not a case of 0-60, in the case of the Tesla it’s more like a 6 to 60 (mph),” Fenske noted. “We can all agree that 6 to 60 and 0 to 60 are very different measurements.”

Ultimately, if you add that 0.26 seconds back onto Tesla’s proposed 0-60 mph time for the Model S Plaid +, then it’s more like a 2.19-second time in reality.

Why would Tesla make this claim and is it possible?

According to Fenske, Tesla most likely posted that the Model S Plaid + could get from 0-60 mph in less than two seconds for marketing purposes and it hid the fine print accordingly. However, it’s technically not misleading as the automaker did include the caveat, and honestly, most buyers probably won’t care or even notice.

A 0-60 mph time that fast is insane, but according to Fenske, it’s not impossible. According to his calculations, it’s possible for a production car to hit that time in theory, but it technically hasn’t been done yet. Maybe Tesla can still beat everyone else to the punch.

The post Can the Tesla Model S Plaid Really Get to 60 MPH in Less Than 2 Seconds? appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

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Mazda3 Hatchback Has ‘Rare’ Features for a Compact Car, MotorTrend Finds

by Gabrielle DeSantis

The Mazda3 is no new kid on the block. It’s been in production in the States since 2004, and it’s still going strong. Over the years, Mazda has made over a million of these compact cars and has worked hard to improve the model with each generation. MotorTrend tested a 2020 Mazda3 hatchback for a full year, and it performed well during that time. The reviewers also found a couple of high-end features that are unusual for this segment.

The 2020 Mazda3’s bells and whistles

MotorTrend’s tester Mazda3 had a polymetal gray metallic paint job. Though that feature might not impress everyone, the publication’s editorial team thought it lent a lot of style to the hatchback’s exterior. Enough to draw attention away from some big guns known for luxurious design, like the Mercedes-Benz CLA. 

The next feature to turn heads was the 12-speaker Bose audio system. Passengers in the Mazda3 hatchback can enjoy premium sound that fills the cabin. The system offers various ways to play music, whether through satellite radio, CDs, digital files, or your AM/FM radio. 

Informational tech features are also impressive on the 2020 Mazda3 hatchback. The most beneficial is the physical controls you can access on the center console and the steering wheel. This helps you avoid letting your eyes wander from the road too long, MotorTrend reports.

The Mazda3 hatchback’s rare features

The Mazda3 comes with two luxury features that might surprise you. MotorTrend says, “Memory seats and a head-up display, for example, are rare features in the segment, and the latter is quite good, rivaling ones found in Lexus and Acura.” These come from the Premium package MotorTrend added to its test vehicle. 

Memory seats are great when more than one person drives the vehicle. When you get into a car, you spend time adjusting the seat the way you like it, from the way it tilts to how high you like it to how far back you like to be when you drive. 

When someone who’s shaped differently gets in, they move the seat to suit their preferences. While that’s fine, it can be annoying to get back into your car and find your seat doesn’t fit you as before. Memory settings allow you to push a button so that the seat returns to your preferred position.  

The other rare feature is the head-up display. This is another way you can avoid taking your eyes off the road for too long. A head-up display projects some of the car’s most important information onto the windshield, like current speed and navigation instructions. 

How the 2021 model compares

RELATED: The 2021 Mazda3 Just Sent a Message to Competitors in Its Class

The 2021 Mazda3’s interior offers even more luxuriousness than last year’s model. This goes for both the seating and tech features. You’ll find at least a small number of luxury touches with each trim level, even the base model. 

According to Mazda, the 2021 Mazda3 comes with the iActiv AWD system. This intuitive feature senses how the weight is distributed from the tires and sends the right amount of torque for proper grip. You can drive confidently — even on wet surfaces, in snow, or on dirt — without worrying about losing control.  

The new Mazda3 still offers a plethora of physical buttons to control most of its tech features. They include a rotary button mounted on the console unit between the seats. This model also offers plenty of standard driver assists, like automatic emergency braking and automated high beams. 

A 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine comes standard on the Turbo version. Using 93-octane fuel, you can expect the motor to produce 250 hp. 

The Mazda3 is impressive enough on its own. But when you add the two rare features you don’t find in many other models, especially in this class, it rises to a whole new level of luxury. 

The post Mazda3 Hatchback Has ‘Rare’ Features for a Compact Car, MotorTrend Finds appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

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Feds are Stealing Your SmartPhone Info Through Cars

by Gabrielle DeSantis

US Customs and Border Protection has found a way to scarf info from your smartphone; through our car. Cars have always been an easy mark when it comes to protecting data. But this is a new wrinkle in the clever ways to get your phone hacked. The feds and police can use some simple hardware and then they’re right into your phone. 

Your car processes a lot of data

A teen driver using her cell phone | BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Your car processes a lot of data. Especially when it is syncing with your phone there is a lot of exposure. And all of that data gets stored in your car’s infotainment console or other CPUs that are used by all modern cars. 

The feds are using simple hardware from a Swedish company called MSAB. Its “vehicle forensic kits” help cops extract data from phones. Hacking a car is so easy because most lack protection from data extraction. 

Nobody thinks of cars as troves of data. You rarely even think about it. Only ever think about it if a “check engine” light comes on or other diagnostic info is needed. But the data in our phones flows back and forth between the phone and car. 

“This technology can be applied like warrantless phone searches”

car searches
Arizona Highway Patrol officers look for drugs in a mini-van | Photo by David McNew/Getty Images

Juanita Gonzales with the advocacy group Mijente told the Intercept, “It would appear that this technology can be applied like warrantless phone searches on anybody that CBP pleases, which has been a problem for journalists, activists, and lawyers, as well as anyone else CBP decides to surveil, without providing any reasonable justification. With this capability, it seems very likely CBP would conduct searches based on intelligence about family/social connection, etc.”

Last year the CBP spent almost $500,000 for MSAB kits. Data like “recent destinations, favorite locations, call logs, contact lists, SMS messages, emails, pictures, videos, social media feeds, and nav history wherever the vehicle has traveled.” But there is more.

They can “identify known associates and establish communication patterns between them”

car searches at the border
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent searches an automobile | Photo by SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP via Getty Images

RELATED: Is Android Auto Invading Your Privacy?

MSAB claims it can determine “future plans,” and “identify known associates and establish communication patterns between them.” In other words, info even we aren’t trying to access with our own phones. Just as concerning is that this data can be shared within law enforcement. So your local police might eventually get it, too. 

But while the local grocery store has more concern for your data, the car manufacturers seem not to. They have known about this issue for years. But car companies have done very little has been done to protect smartphone info bouncing between your phone and car. 

But if nothing else let this be a warning. Without you even considering it, your “protected” smartphone data is a trove of info outside authorities can Hoover up anytime they please. And the expense for retrieval is very small. Plus, it is perfectly legal and easy to get. 

The post Feds are Stealing Your SmartPhone Info Through Cars appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

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