Yesterday, we explored what happens when people ask you for automotive advice. Today, I'm asking you to self-audit. In other words, you can dish it out, but can you take it? I'll start with myself. I drive a 2006 Subaru WRX Wagon. It's electric blue. OK fine. Subaru Rally Blue. But not because I entertain high-flying rally day dreams; the car's so ugly to begin with, what's the difference? I chose the Subie because it gives me fairly serious performance for just $25K. And even though I'm childless and unmarried (as far as I know on both fronts), the WRX five-door has the utility I need. I play bass and have a big amp (or so I've been told). I also brew beer; I often find myself needing to haul gallons and gallons of beer around (externally). The WRX's beer-hauling record: five 15.5 gallon kegs, a two-tap jockey box, a five lbs. CO2 tank and my best friend's wife. Uh, forget that last bit. Anyway, am I thinking about the new 5-door STI? Almost daily. And now, can you justify driving what you drive?

Saying that TTAC readers have opinions about cars is like stating that water is wet. We'll therefore make the assumption that your friends, families and loved ones know what you think about cars. Assuming that, we will also bet that you get hit up for car advice more often than not. Us too. But do those who ask listen? A year ago my own sister was in the market for a new car; her '01 Sentra was just about dead. Her next car had to be good on gas and reliable while not looking dorktastic. I recommended the Mazda3, Subaru Impreza and MINI Cooper. She drove them all and reported back. They were "too sporty." She then bought a two-door Honda Civic. And loves it. On the other end of the spectrum, a friend of mine had a pair of Datsun 280Zs that were done playing parts car for each other. He wanted something reliable, fun to drive and cheap. I told him to try a Honda Fit. He not only bought it, he's decided to trade his current Fit for the 2009 model as soon as they hit our shores. That's 50/50, not too bad. Do I have to talk about my brother-in-law's RAV4? I do? Man… Anyhow, you?

A bit of a philosophical one for you today. With the (not quite) shocking revelation that whoops London's congestion charge will in fact increase CO2 emissions, and that Mayor Ken Livingstone's administration buried the report, I've been thinking. Who the hell put the politicians in charge? As Woody Allen said, they're just one wrung above child molesters. And he would know. Another example of political grandstanding trumping logic is Bremen enacting a speed limit on a formerly derestriced prt of the Autobahn to (maybe) reduce CO2 emissions by fiver percent. In both examples, motorists' rights were thrown under the [slowly moving] bus for the sake of political expediency. And just to be my own Devil's advocate, during a recent conversation with my London cousin about "Red Ken's" congestion charge, he said he loved it. True, he decided to sell his dirty old Saab, but he says the streets are much calmer and that the city is better off because of the charge. So the question is: can any politician be trusted to get anything car-related right?

I was chatting today with my teammate Murilee Martin about what we're going to do after our Black Metal V8olvo wins the $1,800 in nickels at the upcoming LeMons race. Man oh man, do we have some brilliant ideas. Brilliant in the same way mixing cocaine with heroin is brilliant. However, I can't talk about them as they are of course top secret. Well, except for one — imagine an El Camino'd first generation Infiniti Q45. Can I get a hell yeah? Then Murilee showed me this two ice cubes beyond cool wine rack made from a Jaguar V12 block and crank. That got me thinking. I drink wine, the local junkyards here in LA are (nearly) overflowing with dead XJ12s and I can lift heavy things (that crank alone has to weigh 150 pounds). Still, getting that oil leaking hunk of aluminum clean would require tremendous effort. And since it's a malaise era Jag, it would find a way to poison the wine while simultaneously going on strike. No, my dream project is a Se7en. Specifically one from AutoPro Motorsport. You supply the Miata (which accounts for 85 percent of the finished Se7en), they supply everything else. That said, I have the mechanical inclination of thumbless chimp and a budget to match. Still, one day. You?

The reaction to my musings on BMW's X6 has been fast and spurious. TTAC readers do not want. Pulling out a random gripe from the comments gives us Pete_S4's take, "I still don't get this vehicle. It's absurdly heavy, very thirsty, and has little space for such a big vehicle. Like many recent German vehicles it's all justified by a pile of electronics. Briefly I can feel the seduction of such vehicles. But it only takes a weekend at the track to remind why we like to turn off all of these electronics." And while he's right, I would argue 99 percent of the time 90 percent of an SUV's utility is totally and utterly wasted. No one tows anything, the third row has a duffel bag on it and they (almost) universally suck eggs to drive. At least the X6 is honest in its dishonesty. Anyhow, gas prices have continued to increase, rising five cents in the last two weeks. So I ask you, are SUVs dead?

According to Police Chief Magazine, the Los Angeles County (CA) Sheriff’s office is launching the Advanced Surveillance and Protection (ASAP) program, ASAP. It’s a combination of technologies: high-resolution night vision video surveillance, acoustic gunshot detection (for that grassy knoll moment), automated license plate recognition (ALPR), “and other advanced components.” If a suspect vehicle drives through an intersection equipped with surveillance cameras (ALPR cameras are also mounted on the roofs of patrol cars), the system will alert the sheriff’s command center. Live images of the fleeing vehicle are transmitted to patrol cars, which can then go into pursuit. Finally, the command center can take control of the local traffic signals to reduce the potential for collisions involving innocent drivers. So here’s the question: is all this electronic policing a good investment, or should we just put more boots on the ground (cops in cars)? And should there be additional limits to police electronic surveillance?

There's an interesting discussion taking place below the 2011 Audi A3 post from earlier today. I mentioned that for the money (figure right near $40K), I'd take a Subaru STI as opposed to an up-kitted A3 even with the V6, the AWD and the DSG. One of the main reasons is that when you boil the small Audi down, you're left with a VW Golf. Er, Rabbit. However, many of you argue, "so what?" And, as there are no stupid questions, so what indeed? Who cares what underpins the car. The A3 is (somehow) more than a Golf with a nice interior. By that logic, what was wrong with the Cadillac Cimarron? I'm being serious. GM took their basic economy car (Chevy Cavalier), added some leather and slapped some gold badges on the back. Pretty much what Audi does when turning a Rabbit into an A3. Yet one works, and one doesn't. I wonder why? You?

Everyone has their dream car and usually it's not very practical to use as a daily driver. Mine is an Audi RS4 Cabriolet. However, since my left leg would probably fall off from driving it in Atlanta's bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go rush-hour traffic, I'd also need an A4 Cab with an automatic for everyday use. However, if someone told me I was limited to having only one car that would be my only way of getting around and schlepping things for the next 10 years, I'd probably pick something a bit more versatile… like, say, an A4 Avant so I could have a bit more cargo capacity. (What can I say… I like A4s!) So what about you? If you were stuck with one vehicle as your only transportation for the next ten years, what would it be and why?

Earlier today I told you that the Mitsuoka Orochi will be leaving Japan in search of oil-rich markets. I also mentioned that pig is ugly. Seriously, heinously, irredeemably butt-faced ugly. Surprisingly — and I really am surprised here — you folks, our readers, think differently. So here I am, trying my hardest to think of an uglier vehicle and… I simply can't. Nothing, nada, zilch, zip is popping into my head. If you're talking almost as ugly then I guess the misshapen Buick Rendezvous. But really, only from behind. Truthfully, even that larded hippopotamus of a Buick can't compete with the scorched-retina styling of the (barf) Orochi. Can it?

The New York Times Wheels blog has a post up today about how the Porsche Cayenne might be the car of the decade. Author Christian Edstrom argues that the fugly off-roader dumped buckets of duckets into Porsche's coffers, saving the independent automaker from takeover. Moreover, ignoring CAFE-type reasons and sordid family history, Edstrom perpetuates the party line: Porsche bought VW to maintain a steady flow of parts for their SUV cash cow. Nice theory, but car of the decade? I don't think so. To my mind, the car of the Oughts (Naughts?) is the Subaru WRX. Hear me out. The WRX is the democratization of performance. For just $25k, the Subie could run with Porsches (and on certain roads, outrun them) and haul the kids. Moreover, everyone paid attention. Sure, M and AMG predate the Rex, but those are rich people toys. Nowadays? EVO, Redline, GXP, Volkswagen's R, MazdaSpeed, SS, SRT not only exist, but are more than just superfluous badging (typically meaning AWD, turbocharging or sometimes both) thanks to the Rex. Besides, as much as I like the (turbocharged) Cayenne, I just ain't buying it. Even if I could. You?

Us car-journo types spill a lot of ink writing about interiors. Interiors? Yeah. You could have an otherwise perfectly fine vehicle let down by crap plastics and more crap plastics. Ford's Mustang comes to mind. In fact, I have zero interest in the new Challenger because of the sub-bargain-basement innards. Looking at the photos reminds me of Chrysler's Sebring, the most miserable modern vehicle I've ever experienced. My point? Interiors matter. In fact, some are so good that I want to spend eternity in them. But which one? Audis always get tossed around when kick-ass insides are discussed. No thank you. Too dark, too much metal and too engineered. That basically rules out anything from Germany. No one wants to be wrapped in a computer forever. What about jolly old England. Nice, indeed, but British cars pose two problems. One, they're too stuffy. Even though you're dead, you still want to breathe. Two, they're too German. If you've ever found yourself in a Bentley GT you were no doubt aghast at the Passat gear lever. This leaves only one country — Italy. And currently, only one car. Bury me in the Maserati Quattroporte Executive GT. You?

Yesterday's gasoline discussion proved quite fruitful and I'd like to stick with it, albeit it with a turn from the political to the pocketbook. And what could be more political? Mom's birthday is right around the corner and my girlfriend picked out some beautiful flowers for her. I bought them. Glancing over the bill, I noticed this nugget: "Courier Fuel Surcharge: $1.93." Say what? More galling, this hidden surcharge wasn't mentioned at any point in the flower purchasing process. So, is this ripoff an outlier, or is this just the way it's going to be?

Captain Farago opened up a can of angry worms earlier today when he reported that the New York Times hates Bush and wants to increase the gas tax. After lots of healthy debate, Robert interjected, "Can someone remind me again why we want to reduce gas consumption?" Excellent question. Well, aside from the obvious (life-threatening global warming, billions and billions of dollars– or is that trillions?– being pumped into questionable Middle Eastern regimes) there is the fact that the IRS thinks I owe them $3k. And since I've been paying $3.89 a gallon for the last few weeks, I don't have so many extra pennies to ship off to Washington. But hey, it's not all about me. Why are you concerned about gas consumption, gas prices, alternative propulsion and oil? Patriotism, environmentalism, cheap bastardism? How and when did the realization occur that something must be done?

We could also ask, "Can you ever go home again?" Lots and lots of retrofitted metal is coming our way. Dodge is rolling out the fatty Challenger, Chevrolet is (maybe one day) offering up the Camaro and it looks like Pontiac is (gulp) actually bringing back the El Camino, although who knows what they're actually calling it (Pontiac Davey G8 if they're being honest). Don't get me wrong, truck-cars have always been cool, but this one? I was stuck at a red light over the weekend, staring at a Honda Element and I realized it, in fact, has suicide doors. Back in the day, suicide doors were the very definition of cool. I mean, a big old Lincoln Continental? Fuhgedaboutit. But an Element? I'll forget all about it, but for very different reasons. When I was in high school El Caminos and muscle cars were cool because you just knew the driver had an STD. A cool one. But this new Pontiac? What sorta disease you going to get from that? Gingivitis? So is there anything positive to say about all the retro shit they're giving us now?

My first car was a 1985 Pontiac Parisienne Safari Station Wagon with a tow package and when I got it, 173,000 miles. It was brown with a brown interior. The 5.0-liter V8 cranked out (maybe) 140 horses and it didn't even have a tape deck. It's a wonder I like cars at all. Of course here in LA you see lots and lots of high school children driving 'round in a shiny new BMW 3-series. Lexus IS's and new Mustangs are popular choices, too. On the other hand, there are the parents out there who feel safety is priority one, and arm their spawn with heavy metal in the form of Expeditions and Denalis. Then of course there is the little turd who cut me off this morning in a Yellow H2. Man, would I like to smack his father. Yeah, so, what should kids drive?