1. Home
  2. Our Show
  3. #1404: Great Balls of Fire

#1404: Great Balls of Fire

Jan 25, 2014
This week on Car Talk, Barry's holiday road trip through South Carolina got more exciting when his wife noticed the road behind them was on fire. Was it coincidence, or was Barry's truck an unwitting arsonist? Farther South, things are a little less exciting for Rick in Florida. His PT Cruiser's explosions are only taking place under the hood. Also, have you ever heard of a Himalayan Exhaust Transfusion? Neither have we, but it might be a great way to start a dead car on a cold day. Or, it could just be a wacko theory. And, our on-call Physics Professor Wolfgang checks in on the great drafting debate. All this and lots more, this week on Car Talk.

Show Open Topic

Meet Tommy Rae--the latest member of the Car Talk family. (Well, sort of.)

This Week's Puzzler

Two Bedouins and a Broken Car: How do the Bedouins tow the broken down vehicle?

Last Week's Puzzler

Two Bedouins and a Dead Man: Two Bedouins find a dead man and his belongings scattered around the desert. What happened?

As Read on Car Talk

Listen to another episode

Show archives

4 Comments

Drafting info

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA-5Oe2bYPc
Favorite Moment: 
Rating: 

Wolfgang is exactly right on drag

NASCAR is the perfect example. If you watch a race you see that after a few minutes the cars divide out into packs and their is usually a two or three car pack at the front that starts to pull away from the rest. It's rare that a single car leads for any length of time. You should ask Tony Stewart to explain.
Favorite Moment: 
Rating: 

Physic and the real word.

Segment 9. Does drafting hurt car in front mileage? Have you ever heard of Nascar? Google it. Not a fan but I know 2 cars working together can go faster. I road race bicycles and drafting saves 35% effort. And if you ever see geese in a v they are using same concept. You know why 1 side of v of geese is longer??? There's more geese in that side! Great show guys.
Favorite Moment: 
Great balls of fire and snow tires on Miata. People don't get the importance of tires.
Rating: 

Great ball of fire

I'm new to the community and unable to find this topic to make a comment. The guys told diane ( who said her gas petal needs to be pressed harder when full tank of gas. The guys said "blindfold and a parking lot" . My suggestion is for diane to place a piece of paper/tape/cardboard over the fuel gauge and then drive wherever she wants.
Favorite Moment: 
It's all good
Rating: 

Get the Car Talk Newsletter

Recent Articles

Pros and Cons of Diesel Engines Have Changed over Time
Blogs

Pros and Cons of Diesel Engines Have Changed over Time

Is High Octane Gas Really Needed?
Blogs

Is High Octane Gas Really Needed?

Mind the Gap When Changing Out Spark Plugs
Blogs

Mind the Gap When Changing Out Spark Plugs