If residents in several cities in Clark County, Washington want to get their cars clean, they could soon be forced to do it at retail car washes. According to an employee at the Washington state Department of Ecology, the state wants “people to make the connection of ‘what goes on the street goes into the creek.’” And soapy car wash residue is something they don’t want in the creek.

The state wants the cities to come up with a way to keep any water that isn’t rain water from getting into the environment without being treated. The cities, about a dozen in all, say that’s crazy, and have threatened to sue the state for trying to enact measures that exceed federal Clean Water Act.

The state suggests that if people still want to clean their cars, that they don’t use soap with phosphorus, and wash their cars on gravel or grass where the water will be filtered by the soil. That’s ironic, because part of the state’s measure also requires sprinkler water to be captured and treated. Residents could always try the state’s other option: don’t use soap at all.

A few weeks ago, the press made a big deal about the fact that John McCain had more houses than he could recall off the cuff. Newsweek has taken the next logical step towards providing the all-important TMI by finding out how many cars each candidate owns.

Barack Obama and his wife Michelle make do with just one vehicle; a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid that replaced the senator’s un-PC but much cooler HEMI-powered Chrysler 300. McCain takes a more, ahem, liberal approach to vehicle ownership, with 13 cars and trucks to fill his seven garages. If we were wealthy and influential, we too would own a lot of cars. That would give us a tangible link to the Republican nominee, except for the fact that our collection of cars would be a hell of a lot cooler. McCain owns a 2004 Cadillac CTS as his daily driver, and it gets less interesting from there. Rounding out the Maverick’s sizable stable is a 2005 VW convertible, a 2001 Honda sedan, a 2007 Ford pickup, a 2008 Wrangler, a 2000 Lincoln, a 2001 GMC SUV, three 2000 NEV Gem electric cars, and a vintage 1960 Willys Jeep. McCain’s wife Cindy, who uses drifting as a form of therapy and sits atop a family fortune from her beer distribution company, drives a Lexus with “MS BUD” vanity plates.

Nothing in that crop of rides screams “I’m rich and powerful,” but if you have seven houses, it makes sense to have at least one vehicle at each residence. What doesn’t make sense is that all of those vehicles are about as exciting as sugar free tapioca pudding.

The Tata Nano, which will be the world’s least expensive car, has already exacted enormous sums of money and time. A dispute over the location of a new factory has cost Tata close to a year of court wrangling and might end up spoiling a £200 million investment. Now the efforts to build the Nano have cost a life.

Unhappy workers were invited to a meeting with Indian and Italian executives of Cerlikon-Graziano Transmissions, which makes auto parts, to discuss reinstatement. Only a few workers were in the meeting, but more than a hundred were waiting outside. When those outside heard someone inside call for help, they rushed in, and in a mob fog anger, bludgeoned the company’s operations head, Lalit Kishore Choudhary, to death.

It was later reported that some of the folks involved in the melee weren’t even employees of the company. What Tata will need to urgently figure out is where it needs to go — inside or outside of India — to build the Nano without backlash. In the mean time, our condolences go to the Choudhary family. Thanks to all who tipped in.

Head to Maserati’s website and you’re greeted with a tantalizingly coy poll, asking users to guess what event will take place on October 2nd, the first day of the Paris Motor Show. The overwhelming popular opinion is that a new car will be debuted, possibly the smaller Maser that’s supposed to take aim at Porsche. A test mule was spied a while back, though that car didn’t have the folding hardtop the new mini-Maserati, based on a hacked-down GranTurismo, is whispered to be carrying. We’ll all just have to wait, each day feeling longer than the next. What else could it be, other than a car? The idea of generating such buzz over a new website, logo, or advertising campaign (all three are choices) is ludicrous, but the rest, including a new production facility could seem plausible. Even more intriguing, it could be all of the above. We want a smaller Maserati, and we’re going to hold our breath until we turn as blue as the website’s banner image to get one.

Last year, many people got their first glimpse of Hyundai’s new Genesis luxury sedan as the Giants beat the stuffing out of the Patriots during Superbowl XLII. Pleased with the results of that effort, Hyundai is coming back to the big game, this time with the Genesis Coupe. Outgoing creative agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is handling two 30-second commercials featuring Hyundai’s sporty new rear-drive two door. While the agency change has raised some eyebrows, Hyundai insists that it will continue to work with Goodby for quite some time, even as it transitions creative duties to World Marketing Group, already handling media buys for the automaker. We’ll have to tune in for all four quarters to see if the jilted ad folks mailed it in, but judging from the quality of Goodby’s work on the Genesis Sedan - and the target-meeting 8,000 units sold - the pigskin-centric effort will likely meet with success.

Somebody’s got to beat back the ugly afflicting the four-door Porsche Panamera when it arrives. 9ff, the Dortmund, Germany-based firm, is actively recruiting orders for its tuned version of the highly anticipated curve-ball from Porsche. There are no details or pictures on the 9ff website, though there is a rendering showing a slightly abstract version of how a warmed up Zuffenhausen sedan may look. While we’re sure the car will be an awesome performer, 9ff will push the envelope even further. It’s a brilliant bit of marketing — basically selling shares in the tuner’s Panamera program before the car has arrived. If enough orders come in, the company will be flush with cash to develop the fastest, most hideously nasty looking car to ever wear the Porsche crest. Yes, even worse than the Cayenne and its nostril fetish.

Since the GTI got its groove back with the MkV, fans of the original couple generations rejoiced. We’re on the edge of our collective seats waiting for the official release of the MkVI version, and some images have found their way onto the internet tonight. Taking some inspiration from the awesome GTI W12 that attended Wörthersee, the front airdam echoes that car’s wide maw. Foglamps are pushed out to the far corners to emphasize width, and out back the tailpipes follow suit. The look is fantastic in the refrigerator white the photo car is wearing; special but understated. Inside, the de rigeur plaid upholstery is in place, and things are spiffed up by metal accents and a flat-bottomed steering wheel.

Underhood is a 207-hp TFSI engine, and the car comes with an electronic limited-slip differential called XDS and the Scirocco’s adaptive chassis. Of course, DSG is available for snapping off quick gearchanges with no fuss. When you’ve got a good thing, why mess with success? We dig, and it’ll be available in Spring, at which point we’ll certainly bring you our driving impressions.

Tucked away in a green, waterfall-riven valley between Akureyri and Husavik, Iceland is the hamlet of Ystafell (who-stuh-fel is the closest we can get to proper pronunciation). Akureyri has some of the best nightlife in Iceland, while Husavik has whales and a museum dedicated to things unmentionable on a family site. That leaves the Transport Museum at Ystafell practically unnoticed, which is a shame, because features two barns full of unlikely vehicles, each with an authentic Icelandic story.

In a move that might frost your cupcakes, General Motors has dropped the heated windshield washer fluid option on all models. The feature was a big part of Buick advertising in the recent past, but GM has either not had enough takers, or there are issues with the OEM for the system components. Either way, you’re going to have to chip the ice off the windshield of your brand new Traverse the same way we’ve done it since the invention of the wheel: cold, freezing, wet, and swearing.

In all honesty, heated washer fluid is better in theory than in practice. It may help a little bit, but the windshield has a lot of “thermal inertia” and the glass is what really needs to be warmed up. Those of us who thought we were smart wrapping the washer fluid line around a radiator hose back in the day discovered this, and now it seems GM has found out the same thing. Maybe Tata could hook The General up with Range Rover’s windshield supplier, and we could all rock Lucernes with defroster grids in the front glass. Obviously, cars already built with the system will hit dealerships so equipped, but any vehicles that are pending will have the option deleted and a price adjustment made. Hit the jump to see which vehicles are stricken.

Professional football players have been victims of gun violence on several occasions over the past year and a half, and investigators in the latest incident involving Carolina’s Richard Collier say the offensive tackle was targeted. The NFL and some top athletes have had enough and contacted the Texas Armoring Corporation for help. The TAC creates custom bullet-proof vehicles for movie stars and public figures, and the company is a self-proclaimed expert at converting luxury vehicles into a blingtastic Brinks-mobile. The TAC says that 80-90% of attacks happen in the car, making armored vehicles a good option for those in the public eye. Professional athletes buying an armored car from the TAC can also get a professional threat assessment from two former CIA operatives.

A quick glance at the TAC website shows that you can get a Cadillac Escalade with 8,000 miles and the ability to stop an AK47 or M-16 for $147,000. That’s a bit over blue book for a used SUV, but when considering that it has one-inch-thick glass and European B6 level protection, the six figure price tag isn’t all that shocking. It’s just sad that we’re at the point athletes need a 9,000 lb, overstuffed SUV to get to the game in one piece.