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In Michigan, car hackers could face life imprisonment

Car hackers may not want to mess with vehicles in and around the Motor City. A pair of Michigan lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday that would punish anyone who infiltrates a vehicle's electronic systems with penalties as harsh as life imprisonment. Senate bill 927 says that "a person shall not intentionally access or cause access to be made to an electronic system of a motor vehicle to willfully destroy, damage, impair, alter or gain unauthorized control of the motor vehicle." Offenders will be deemed guilty of a felony, and may be imprisoned for any number of years up to life in prison. The proposed legislation is one of the first attempts nationally to address the consequences for car hacking, which has become a top concern throughout the auto industry. Critics have accused executives of being slow to respond to the threats, which were first known as long as six years ago but gained attention last July when a pair of researchers remotely controlled a Jeep Cherokee. In January, the industry established an Information Sharing and Analysis Center to collectively evaluate security measures and counter breaches. But the Michigan bill isn't noteworthy only because of the life penalty prescribed; it's noteworthy for what's missing in its details. Language in the bill doesn't delineate between independent cyber-security researchers and criminals who intend to inflict harm or havoc. Under its provisions, it's possible Charlie Miller, pictured below, and Chris Valasek, the researchers who demonstrated last summer that the Cherokee could be remotely commandeered and controlled, could face life behind bars. Provisions of the legislation that prevent a person from "altering" the motor vehicle could ensnare car enthusiasts or gearheads who tinker with electronic systems to boost performance, increase fuel efficiency or add aftermarket features. In that context, Senate Bill 927 seems like the latest measure in a running feud between independent researchers, gearheads and big automakers. Car companies don't like third parties poking around their electronic systems and would prefer the researchers not reveal security weaknesses. Researchers, on the other hand, say many carmakers are either slow to fix or unwilling to repair security holes unless they're able to publish their findings.

Jeep Wrangler pickup's rear suspension is inspired by Ram

Although we've learned about all there is to know about the new Jeep Wrangler, there is still more to discover about its upcoming truck sibling, such as the rear suspension. We knew it would be coil-sprung, but these new spy shots also indicate that the suspension is more similar to what's under a Ram 1500 than the Wrangler SUV. In the gallery above, the first two images compare the rear suspension of a new-generation 2018 Wrangler (left) and the Wrangler pickup (right). Immediately obvious is that the shocks on the Wrangler SUV are mounted at the back of the axle, while the truck's shocks are mounted at the front. It's also possible to see that the anti-roll bar on the SUV is mounted quite high up, while the truck's bar sits much lower, near the base of the rear axle. The third image shows a Ram 1500 on the left and the Wrangler pickup on the right. Here we can see that the Ram shares the same sort of low-mounted anti-roll bars and forward-mounted shocks, along with a Panhard rod. The two aren't quite the same, though. For one thing, the Wrangler pickup's rear axle looks more like the Wrangler SUV's than the one on the Ram. It's possible that these suspension changes were made in an effort to boost the Wrangler truck's payload capabilities. It's also possible that there are some handling quirks to the long truck body style for which a Ram-style suspension was better suited. We'll look forward to learning more about the differences when the truck is revealed, likely in early 2019. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Off-roader plows through a deep bog like it was nothing

The Facebook page Jeeps With Attitude runs a weekly series called Too Deep Tuesday wherein they post videos of off-roaders running their rigs through bogs and mud holes of surprising depth and coming out the other side soggy but relatively unscathed. This week's video, in which a driver extracts a buried vehicle from the muddiest bog in the land, is the perfect mix of nutso bravery and off-road know-how. The video starts with the vehicle already sunk to its hood and listing to starboard in a deep, sticky bog. Slowly but surely, the vehicle creeps forward through the mud, pushing a heavy bow wave of muck and debris in front of it. Unlike other recent videos where jeep drivers lost their rides in the water and destroyed their expensive toys, this driver keeps his cool and with a steady foot on the accelerator and the help of a winch and a convenient tree, eventually emerges triumphant. What did he do right? Well, using the vehicle's winch to help pull the rig out of the mud was the big thing. Also, he kept his cool and, once committed, never hesitated or deviated from his chosen path. Gunning it blindly or backing up in that mess would have meant almost certain death for that vehicle, a lesson that the aforementioned Jeep drivers learned the hard way. Related Video: News Source: Facebook Weird Car News Jeep Driving Off-Road Vehicles Videos