• Right of the Dial: FCC May Open Automotive Safety Radio Frequency for Telecom Use

    The Federal Communications Commission has decided to review how the radio spectrum intended for wireless communications should be divided. While a seemingly normal part of its duties, the reassessment could open up a part of the spectrum that was previously reserved for automotive applications. The super-high 5.9 GHz frequency reserved for cars was deemed important because it […]
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  • 90 years special: The history of Autocar's road test procedures

    The Fifth Wheel fell out of favour, along with those trousers
    Our methodology has changed, but the goal has remained the same: to measure and record all of the data that mattersThe profile of a typical Autocar road tester has changed a great deal over nine decades – and in a way for which the current road test editor can only apologise.
    There are currently no Le Mans-winning drivers or ex-Formula 1 competitors among our number. And editor-at-large Matt Prior’s ability to design high-
  • 90 years special: McLaren Senna vs Austin Seven road test

    The Autocar’s first road test was in 1928
    Can the first car this magazine road tested have anything in common with the most recent? We find outPerhaps the single most remarkable thing about The Autocar (as it was then) conducting and publishing the world’s first road test back in 1928 is that neither we, nor anyone else, didn’t do it a hell of a lot sooner than that.
    By 1928, the car as we know it was more than 40 years old, for goodness’ sake.
    The first cars were 19th-ce