Author: staff@jalopnik.com (Marko Mikulic)

Automakers have been quietly burying the clutch pedal for years, and BMW — one among its last serious defenders — has not exactly been shy in regards to the prognosis. Based on the Drive, M division boss Frank van Meel told reporters as recently as February that, from a pure engineering standpoint, the manual “doesn’t really make sense,” and that keeping it alive into the following decade can be “quite difficult.” In order that’s it, right? The three-pedal BMW is finished? Not so fast. Just days ago, BMW M’s Vice President of Customer, Brand, and Sales, Sylvia Neubauer, told German…

Choja/Getty Images The necessity to measure mechanical power is older than the automotive itself. Back within the 18th century, mine owners measured how hard a horse could pull. Throughout the Industrial Revolution, engineers expanded on this idea, coming up with ways to exactly quantify the output of steam engines and other industrial machinery. Fast-forward to the fashionable era, and the challenge is not much different.  A automotive enthusiast bolts on a brand new turbo, remaps the engine control unit, and installs a freer-flowing exhaust — but how do they really know if any of it worked? Relating to a automotive’s…