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• Biometrics: Fingerprint or facial recognition. Examples include Face ID, Touch ID, Android Fingerprint/Face Unlock, and Windows Hello.
• PIN/Pattern: This would use the same method you use to unlock your phone with a PIN code or a pattern.

                                               -Okta

Okta Threat Intelligence watched in real time as threat actors used the Vercel platform to host multiple phishing sites that pretended to be legitimate websites for well-known brands such as Microsoft 365 and some cryptocurrency firms. Using AI to create these bogus websites means that the old red flags, such as spelling and grammatical mistakes, can no longer be used to warn you of a phishing attack.

Content creator Wiktor Ivanovko stitches a shocking video of a burning car driving down the street. Ivanovko claims the flaming car overheated due to the Northstar V-8’s head gasket failing. 

The Facebook post went viral, generating 370,200 views as of this writing.

What Cars Had the Northstar V-8 Engine?

In the post, Ivanovko speculates that the cause of the engine fire was due to the head gasket failure in a vehicle with a Northstar V-8 engine.

“This is what happens when a Northstar V-8 engine head gasket fails. It overheats slightly,” Ivanovko says. “Slightly” is a sarcastic understatement, as the car was blazing down the road on fire. The question is, are these engines still in production, and which cars had the Northstar V-8?

The Northstar V-8 engine’s production began in 1993. It remained in production until 2011, according to CarBuzz. The Northstar V-8 engine was considered General Motors’ most complex engine at the time, featuring double overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, an aluminum engine block, and aluminum cylinder heads. During production, this V-8 engine was used for Cadillac, Pontiac, and Buick models, but mostly for Cadillac. 

The Cadillac models that featured the V-8 in the debut were the Seville, Eldorado, and Allante. The Northstar V-8 immediately exhibited world-class luxury car performance refinement that American automakers had lacked, Autoweb reports. 

While the buzz was real and exciting during the 90s, there was a slight issue that turned into a major one involving the head bolts. 

What Caused the Head Gasket Failures?

The Truth About Cars reports that the head gasket failures were primarily due to issues with the head bolts and their ability to maintain clamping force under heat. The head bolts were threaded too finely, leading to stretching and loss of tension over time under heat cycling and stress. 

This so-called “stretching” of the head bolts would cause them to strip the metal off the block as the threads pulled away. This resulted in a loss of cylinder pressure. When this happened, the coolant entered the cylinders, exhaust, and eventually engine oil, which led to overheating and cooking the head gasket. 

While issues within the cylinders or exhaust were not always visible, a ruined head gasket led to milkshake-like brownish oil under the engine’s oil filler cap.

The issues were then known generally as a head gasket failure, or the “Northstar Condition.”

So, when coolant is on the loose and ends up in the oil, it’s best to avoid driving entirely.  

What Are Signs of the Northstar Head Gasket Failure?

Northstar Performance reports these are the most common signs of head gasket failure on a Northstar engine:

• Overheating.
• High pressure build-up in the coolant surge (fill) tank that remains when the engine cools off.
• White smoke from the exhaust.
• Coolant smell from the exhaust.
• Engine temperature spikes during acceleration or climbing steep grades.
• Coolant in the oil, which makes oil milky white or light brown.
• Sudden severe oil leak coming from rear main seal area.

A few tests can be done to determine how things are looking. First, a combustion leak test kit can be picked up from your local auto shop. This will check for exhaust gasses being present in the cooling system. 

Another test that can be done is a quick acceleration run on the highway. Before doing this, be sure there is enough coolant. This test entails driving the car up to 70 miles per hour and dropping the speed to monitor coolant temperature. When doing this, the coolant should never go past the ⅝ mark or go over 240 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature keeps climbing up, pull over immediately to let the car cool down.

The last thing you want to do is let the engine overheat and catch fire like the Ghost Rider in the viral post. 

Many commenters couldn’t believe their eyes and chimed in with some humor. 

“He’s on his way to O’reilly’s Auto,” one Facebook commenter wrote.

“There’s a few things that would make a man keep driving in that condition. I’ll leave the list to your imagination,” another said.

“I thought it was Ghost Rider,” a third joked. 

Motor1 has contacted Wiktor Ivanovko via Facebook direct message. This story will be updated should he respond.

So after a quick break trawling Eurobike’s halls filled with 32in wheels and DJI’s clear e-MTB domination, we’re back with another five cool things. This week, we’re going to take a closer look at Garmin’s MTB-specific cycling computer, PNW’s shiny new (literally) dropper post, and Renthal’s refreshed handlebars. On top of that, we’ve got Time’s latest pedals and Sendhit’s third crack at handguards. But first, let’s take a look at what happened over the past couple of weeks.

As Eurobike has come and gone for another year, tonnes of brands brought new products to show off, including Hope and its revamped EVO brake range, as well as Fox’s inverted Podium fork and Commencal’s prototype DJI-equipped Meta SX. Shimano also brought Di2 to gravel with its GRX Di2 release, and Mondraker claims to have made ‘the most enduro’ bike of them all.

These bars are bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

As for gravel, Canyon has proven that it’s not quite finished with mental handlebars as the new Grizl features the brand’s Full Mounty bar. Tailfin also announced its latest event, but interestingly, it has opened up a limited number of cheaper tickets in a bid to make bikepacking accessible for all.

Moving on and we caught up with Tracy Moseley to discuss what happened to eMTB racing and whether or not it can be fixed. We also highlighted how proper training and nutrition prove that the best bike upgrade isn’t the bike, it’s the rider, and Steve discusses why he rides bikes and what motivates him to do it more.

Wrapping up with reviews, and we deliver our verdicts on Pivot’s Trailcat LT, NS Bikes’ Synonym, and Boardman’s budget-friendly TRVL 8.9 DB. Matt puts Hope’s Carbon Crankset through the wringer while Fox’s DHX2 coil shock gets the very same treatment.

Garmin Edge MTB

£340

Although mountain bikers have been using cycling computers regardless of what kind of riding they’re actually built for, Garmin reckons that there’s space and a desire for a mountain bike-specific unit. With that, the brand has leaned right into what it reckons mountain bikers want from their computers, so the Edge MTB is built to be super rugged with a Corning Gorilla Glass screen. 

It’s then loaded with loads of features that should appeal to MTBers, including specific downhill and enduro ride modes with the former only tracking descents and the latter allowing users to flick between ascend and descend modes at the press of a button. The computer is also hooked up to Trailforks, which should help users find new trails. That’s with a hand from 5Hz HPS recording in these profiles, for greater accuracy.

A feature we’re looking forward to playing with is the virtual timing gate feature, where riders can plot timing gates and automatically record split times on a chosen descent.  Garmin then says that the Edge MTB’s battery can last up to 14 hours or up to 26 hours in battery saver mode.

PNW Components Loam Dropper Gen 2

£229

PNW’s Gen 1 Loam Dropper made a name for itself in the market for being affordable but super reliable, but that wasn’t enough for the brand. Having brought its Loam Dropper back to the drawing board, the Gen 2 version brings a host of revisions that have resulted in a lower stack, more travel, and, according to PNW, even greater durability. But importantly, it now comes in silver, which is promised to be just as resilient as the black anodised version (which is still available).

Now available in up to 225mm of travel, the post is still adjustable, offering 25mm of adjustment in 5mm increments. Offering the rider to pack more drop into their bikes, PNW has shaved the chamfer off of the post’s collar, allowing it to be inserted deeper into the frame, and similarly to what we’ve seen on the OneUp Components V3 dropper, its saddle clamp is dropped slightly. There’s a whole bunch of stuff going on internally too, with the aim of upping durability, but we’ll dive right into that in the upcoming review.

Renthal Fatbar35

£85

Over the past year or so, the Renthal Fatbar has been going through a bit of change to keep up with current trends, so notably, it’s now available in a wider range of rises, with the Fatbar35 going up to a whopping 70mm. However, a notable change for the bar is that Renthal has updated its graphics. Now, the classic logos are simply black. They’re more subdued and far less flashy, which will certainly appeal to those who prefer a subtle look, myself included.

As for the bar itself, apart from the range of rises, it’s still the Fatbar we all know and love. It’s built from 7 Series aluminium with a shot-peened finish, which claims to increase the bar’s fatigue life. Then, the AluGold or Black colourways are anodised for abrasion resistance.

The geometry is the same, too, with its seven-degree backsweep, five-degree upsweep, and 800mm width.

Sendhit Nock V3 hand guards

£70

After seeing quite the rise in popularity amongst enduro riders, and notably seen on the bar of Sam Hill, the whole handguard subject has simmered down a little. That is, until recently, when Crankbrothers jumped onto the bandwagon and now, Sendhit has brought revisions to its Nock hand guards, which were a real favourite of ours to start with.

Now in their third iteration, the Nock V3 hand guards get a complete redesign, and they introduce a fresh clamp feature that allows the mounts to integrate with a grip’s locking collar for a more seamless look. Additionally, they’re cut with a new shape, but they still carry one feature that sets the Nock guards apart from any other – the foam pad placed inside the guard for a bit of protection for when the inevitable happens.

If you’re up for a bit of matchy-matchy bike bling, these can be picked up with either black or silver mounting brackets, which’ll make a perfect combination with PNW’s shiny dropper.

Time Xysto clipless pedals

£195

Time ATAC mechanism has been around for yonks now, and it’s loved by many and while the brand does have a platform pedal, the Speciale 12, the brand has brought a larger platform to the mix with the Xysto (pronounced ‘She-stoh’). Although the platform is certainly bigger and is designed for downhill and enduro riding, it carries all of the hallmarks expected of a Time pedal.

Those include the ATAC mechanism that provides five degrees of ‘angular freedom’ but also an array of adjustable pins. That mechanism is adjustable, and it sits within a 6106-T6 aluminium platform. As always, these pedals can provide a 10-degree release angle with the brand’s Easy cleats as well as a 13 or 17-degree release angle with the regular ATAC cleats.

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