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Car Talk (Page 23)
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Bikes are supposed to travel on roads though.
I love bike paths, a great way to repurpose all the train tracks we're not using any longer, and the right of way has already been secured.
They do feel safe, but they also feel recreational, not commuter-worthy. Usually the bike path is crowded with strollers, rollerbladers, powerwalkers, etc. Good for a jaunt so little suzy can learn to ride without training wheels, while rover can get his walkies on.
Still, since it would take a lot to widen roads to add a bike lane, they are better than most.
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I don’t think we’ve widened any roads, but most of our two-lane arteries are already wide enough to fit bike lanes. The four lane ones are too tight, though.
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Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton
I mean, I’m an avid/rabid mountain biker who has a nice used car’s worth of bikes in the garage, …
To quote my wife “At least you are not into cars!”
I’m going to treat myself next year for a new bike as I turn 40, and I know exactly what I want.
Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton
… hits the trails five days a week and has mountain biked on four continents.
Same here, although I have had to switch to road biking — there aren’t enough trails around here. And if there are, they are only known to locals, which is a bit of a bummer.
So far my two of my three most epic rides were in Chile on mountain bikes: I did one in the Atacama desert, which was just surreal. The bike was pure junk, but it didn’t matter too much. And another in the Andes, where I learnt about anti-grip first-hand.
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Last edited by OreoCookie; Aug 25, 2020 at 09:18 PM.
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Originally Posted by subego
Here, the biggest danger seems to be getting doored.
Yes, that’s a major one. The other two are being turned at a traffic light and weaving in- and out-of the car lane due to parked cars (on bike lanes or the left-most lane). In Toronto those were usually delivery trucks or film trucks for some move/TV show or another. For folks like me who are faster, one really dangerous aspect is that drivers sometimes vastly underestimate our speeds. Here in Japan the inner city speed limit is 40 km/h, and on a road bike and a flat piece of road I can easily do or exceed that.
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Just got back from a 16 mile ride a few minutes ago, supper hilly around here. No paths, all country roads. Came home in the dark with a dying headlight. Yayyyyy
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Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
Came home in the dark with a dying headlight. Yayyyyy
That's just a matter of having the right equipment and taking care of it. You wouldn't forget about gassing up your car either, would you. Usually I have a “be seen” light and a “for me to see” light in the front. In a pinch, I can crank up the “be seen” light. Being seen is your first line of defense as a cyclist. Smart lights help a lot, not least because they display their battery status on your phone. My front lights have a removable battery. Usually I have an Anker battery in my backpack and its charging cable also charges my bike computer and my front light.
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Yeah, I just haven't biked at night in a while. I have a planet bike HL that does both, usually leave it on the flashy mode 'to be seen' and it's been working fine all season. Just didn't realize how dim it was until the sun went down. Not to derail too much, but I'm close to hitting 2000 miles on my trusty 88 peugeot triathlon. Love this bike!
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Ooooh... like that Waze finally tells me what lane to take for exits.
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Is that new?? Hasn't Google Maps been doing that for years?
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45/47
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It wasn’t there a month ago.
Pretty pathetic. The 2K5 satnav in my old car had it.
Waze would tell you by voice at some places, but now it has an overlay, and info at a bunch of places it didn’t last time I drove.
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Originally Posted by OreoCookie
To quote my wife “At least you are not into cars!”
I’m going to treat myself next year for a new bike as I turn 40, and I know exactly what I want.
Hah. Well unfortunately we have a couple of those too. Gets me to the trails faster...it’s a struggle to balance kids with a daily trail ride.
But I’ll bite, since we’re the same age and I need some ideas. What are you looking at?
I picked up a nice Yeti trail bike a few years ago. It’s an awesome dream bike and I absolutely love it, but there have been a lot of geometry changes in mountain bikes over the past two years or so, and I’m curious to ride some of these new 29” animals with super long and slack fronts and steep seat angles.
Same here, although I have had to switch to road biking — there aren’t enough trails around here. And if there are, they are only known to locals, which is a bit of a bummer.
Are you still in Japan? Guess it depends where. I was supposed to spend a couple days riding near Matsumoto this spring—there are some great lift and pedal-access trails nearish there, and I found a local guide who is a Canadian racer ex-pat and now does MTB tours. CV19 obviously destroyed the whole trip so I’ll do it another time.
You may want to poke around on the Trail Forks app if you haven’t already. Not sure if it’s as popular in Japan as elsewhere, but I think there were trails marked when I was planning my trip.
Did you do any mountain biking while in Toronto? It’s a low-key secret but Toronto has some pretty top-notch renegade trails in the Don Valley, right in the middle of the city. They make good use of the small elevation by running up and down the sides of the ravine. Not many major cities in the world where you can pedal right from your downtown condo and be shredding 50+ kms of solid-to-excellent singletrack within minutes.
So far my two of my three most epic rides were in Chile on mountain bikes: I did one in the Atacama desert, which was just surreal. The bike was pure junk, but it didn’t matter too much. And another in the Andes, where I learnt about anti-grip first-hand.
Sounds awesome. Would love to go to Chile. Argentina as well has some epic biking I’m told. I’ve always enjoyed renting bikes if only to try something new (and appreciate my own more!), but it can be pretty hit or miss. Right now I just travel with my shoes, knee pads and my light fullface helmet.
I may just be a wimp, but I do have some strong personal misgivings about flying down singletrack in the middle of a jungle. There are lots of nasty things in jungles, haha. I went to Costa Rica years ago and the likelihood that a simple misstep could send one into a poisonous snake or spider at very high speeds affected me greatly.
Although on that note, I spent a couple days biking in Bali a while back and it was really awesome, golden orb spiders notwithstanding. Did an epic day ride down the side of an old volcano and it was pretty sweet, but they also have a local bike park that is a ton of fun.
I’ve had some great days biking in Spain and Italy (biking straight down onto a Mediterranean beach is possibly the greatest thing ever), but personally the very best days so far have been at various locations in Canada. Way too spread out and hard to visit regularly, but I’ve mountain biked from the western to the eastern edges of North America up here, and boy do we have some great terrain. ![Smilie](http://forums.macnn.com/images/smilies/oldschool/smile.gif) Hoping to hit Utah/Arizona/etc in the near future for some winter riding, but we’ll see how it goes....
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So I sold a snowmobile a few weeks ago, had a (small)pile of cash sitting around, and impulsively purchased a non-running 1970s Jaguar.
Randomly checked FB marketplace.... huh... just listed... 1970s jag... hm... low miles.. eh... california car.... interesting... manual transmission... 5 minutes from my house!
Went to look at it 2 hours after the guy listed it, was kind of geeked about it, it's all there, no rust, still has cali plates from 1989, complete, just... sort of neglected looking. Guy had owned it for 20 years, drove it from Cali to Wi back in 2000 or so, drove it on nice days here and there, and parked it in a storage unit 3 years ago.
What really got me interested in it was after looking at it and digging it, I started reading about them. Engine is same as an E type, a DOHC inline 6. Transmission was originally an auto (yuck) but someone swapped it to a 5spd from an E type. Rear suspension with inboard mounted brakes? Same as an E type. And it has triple SU carbs instead of twins, so the carbs and intake were... yup. Pulled from an E type.
Given that E types are unobtanium now, this is probably the closest I'll ever get.
Cannot wait to mess with it, but focusing on the 911 for now. I'm thinking.... air ride?
![](https://i.imgur.com/jlm6ZwK.jpg)
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that looks like you'll have fun.
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That’s one classy ride. I’m not a fan of the color. Perhaps British racing green would suit it better? That’d fit like a pin-striped suit.
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This would be awesome if it was being towed by a station wagon.
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Definitely change the color. Pale butter yellow has to be the worst color ever for cars. Houses, too.
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Originally Posted by OreoCookie
That’s one classy ride.
I'm a classy mother****er, mother****er.
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Originally Posted by Thorzdad
Definitely change the color. Pale butter yellow has to be the worst color ever for cars. Houses, too.
That's pale primrose yellow to you, unwashed filth!
Idk. Kind of growing on me.
BRG would be awesome, but then I'd have to do weatherstripping, rechrome things, and if you wanna do a color change the right way, the glass has to come out, the trim has to come off, the engine has to come out, the door jambs need to be sprayed... at that point you're taking it all the way down.
Right now I'm thinking get her movin, do a tuneup/cleanup under the hood, yank all the suspension and do bushings and wear items, lower it, and put wheels on it. Maybe air ride. Idk yet. I already ordered the euro 7" headlight buckets and the 68-72 front bumper overriders.
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This space for Hire! Reasonable rates. Reach an audience of literally dozens!
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That looks like so much fun! Props to Swindon Mac for the support. I think that’s only the second race car I ever saw flying the Apple logo.
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Originally Posted by Thorzdad
That looks like so much fun! Props to Swindon Mac for the support. I think that’s only the second race car I ever saw flying the Apple logo.
Well if you can't sponsor your own race car... who will.
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Originally Posted by Doc HM
Well if you can't sponsor your own race car... who will.
LOL! ![thumbs up](http://forums.macnn.com/images/smilies/up.gif)
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FWIW, this is the only other race car I ever saw with an Apple logo.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/ArieLuyendyk1996recordcar.jpg/1024px-ArieLuyendyk1996recordcar.jpg)
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Originally Posted by Doc HM
That looks like tons of fun. How did you modify your car to cope? I assume you put in a protector for the underbody, a roll cage and upgraded the brakes, correct?
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Yes. It’s been modified. The surface on a couple of stages were quite potholed. Nothing fell off.
Stripped out with 6 point safety devices cage. Spar o rally seats and harnesses
Fire safety. Bilstein tarmac group N shocks. Uprated brakes with EBC Yellowstuff pads. Standard rear brakes. Alloy sump and tank guards
Standard 1.9 GTi engine and gearbox.
It’s not completely hard core and I even drive it so clients if it’s nice out.
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Originally Posted by Thorzdad
FWIW, this is the only other race car I ever saw with an Apple logo.
Here's a famous one:
![](https://9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/04/apple-porsche-race-car-for-sale.jpg)
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Originally Posted by Doc HM
Yes. It’s been modified. The surface on a couple of stages were quite potholed. Nothing fell off.
Stripped out with 6 point safety devices cage. Spar o rally seats and harnesses
Fire safety. Bilstein tarmac group N shocks. Uprated brakes with EBC Yellowstuff pads. Standard rear brakes. Alloy sump and tank guards
Standard 1.9 GTi engine and gearbox.
It’s not completely hard core and I even drive it so clients if it’s nice out.
Nice! That looks like a very rewarding hobby.
Honestly, I think driving something like this is much more fun than a modern fast car. They have become so fast that us normal humans can't really put the pedal to the metal. Even a fast hatch from the Golf R class can have 400 bhp these days.
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Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
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So the new hummer came out....
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My knee-jerk reaction is “ew”.
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Originally Posted by Laminar
I hate doing those cone laid out events. I can never keep the course straight in my head.
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Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
So I sold a snowmobile a few weeks ago, had a (small)pile of cash sitting around, and impulsively purchased a non-running 1970s Jaguar.
Randomly checked FB marketplace.... huh... just listed... 1970s jag... hm... low miles.. eh... california car.... interesting... manual transmission... 5 minutes from my house!
Went to look at it 2 hours after the guy listed it, was kind of geeked about it, it's all there, no rust, still has cali plates from 1989, complete, just... sort of neglected looking. Guy had owned it for 20 years, drove it from Cali to Wi back in 2000 or so, drove it on nice days here and there, and parked it in a storage unit 3 years ago.
What really got me interested in it was after looking at it and digging it, I started reading about them. Engine is same as an E type, a DOHC inline 6. Transmission was originally an auto (yuck) but someone swapped it to a 5spd from an E type. Rear suspension with inboard mounted brakes? Same as an E type. And it has triple SU carbs instead of twins, so the carbs and intake were... yup. Pulled from an E type.
Given that E types are unobtanium now, this is probably the closest I'll ever get.
Cannot wait to mess with it, but focusing on the 911 for now. I'm thinking.... air ride?
Nice. Is this the salve for the empty gaping hole of your mid-life crisis? Not bad.
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Nah, still having that, idk what I want to do when I grow up. That just happened to be 5 min from my place, affordable, rust free, and I had just sold a sled so I had a tiny stack of money without a home.
Imma post random pics of my cars just cuz, in no particular order:
Back when I had a warehouse/apartment:
![](https://i.imgur.com/85hH5np.jpg)
long term fleet:
![](https://i.imgur.com/0AjRV8o.jpg)
If Laminar wants to dig through 15-20 year old threads, yeah, this is the 911 I was on the fence about buying a few times in the early 2000s.
This thing was so awesome, but such a piece of shit. Ever panel was half bondo. Only 38 hp.... I adored driving this thing, probably the most fun vehicle I've ever had. I want another one.
![](https://i.imgur.com/gGarkZV.jpg)
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Bought a Prius for a bit....
It was having electrical issues, so I picked it up cheap, fixed them, then had the whole car repainted/new tires/headlights, few other things to make it nicer. Why? So this was it's original owner, lmao:
![](https://i.imgur.com/tO5ApqX.png)
I believe the car was actually used in seasons 1-2 or so. Wound up selling it and making zero dollars because I kept it for a year as a spare car, and the values dropped out from under prii.
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I rented a Prius once, and the only thing I remember is hating the split rear window.
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That man cave warehouse was epic. You moved on?
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Originally Posted by subego
I rented a Prius once, and the only thing I remember is hating the split rear window.
I rented a Prius once, and I freakin' hated the thing. It sure was economical, but it was horrendous to drive. The CVT was just weird, making the engine howl just because I was going up a moderate hill at very moderate speeds (think about 50 km/h). It sounded as if I electroshocked an asthmatic hamster to run really quickly in a tiny wheel. To my passengers it must have sounded as if I was a rowdy idiot, but the thing was on cruise control. Ride comfort was harsh and unpleasant. And the boot wasn't as big as it looked from the outside. I'd rather get a Polo, a Corsa or something like that than a Prius.
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Originally Posted by OreoCookie
I rented a Prius once, and I freakin' hated the thing. It sure was economical, but it was horrendous to drive. The CVT was just weird, making the engine howl just because I was going up a moderate hill at very moderate speeds (think about 50 km/h). It sounded as if I electroshocked an asthmatic hamster to run really quickly in a tiny wheel. To my passengers it must have sounded as if I was a rowdy idiot, but the thing was on cruise control. Ride comfort was harsh and unpleasant. And the boot wasn't as big as it looked from the outside. I'd rather get a Polo, a Corsa or something like that than a Prius.
What gen? Like the one I posted?
I was... kind of impressed with it. It was pretty quiet, stereo was pretty awesome for a stock car (JBL package), and honestly the most impressive thing was the space inside. It would just SWALLOW mountain bikes and gear, pockets everywhere, storage everywhere, and I actually liked the CVT more than I thought I would.
I hate automatic transmissions, I cannot ever control when the shift point is happening since the only input I have is throttle position, which means sometimes it does stuff when I don't want it to, or shifts early/late, etc. With the cvt.... no fake shifting at times I didn't want it to; just modulate throttle and it just sort of rubberbands itself into whatever is the most efficient. For an appliance...... yeah. It was fine.
Honestly, if they made a stickshift prius, I'd probably think about getting one..... I didn't hate the CVT like I hate autos, but I didn't really enjoy it.
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Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
What gen? Like the one I posted?
I think so, but I’m not 100 % sure.
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
I was... kind of impressed with it. It was pretty quiet, stereo was pretty awesome for a stock car (JBL package),
This was a rental, so it was pretty bare bones. The stereo was fine. Not spectacular, but perfectly usable.
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
[…] and honestly the most impressive thing was the space inside. It would just SWALLOW mountain bikes and gear, pockets everywhere, storage everywhere, and I actually liked the CVT more than I thought I would.
The trunk is long, agreed, just not very deep. We were 4 adults in the car with luggage for a weekend, and the trunk was crammed. I can see that a bike would fit in nicely, but I’m German, I’d rather get a proper station wagon than a hatchback.
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
I hate automatic transmissions, I cannot ever control when the shift point is happening since the only input I have is throttle position, which means sometimes it does stuff when I don't want it to, or shifts early/late, etc. With the cvt.... no fake shifting at times I didn't want it to; just modulate throttle and it just sort of rubberbands itself into whatever is the most efficient. For an appliance...... yeah. It was fine.
To me the CVT was a big step down from an automatic, which I also don’t really like. I changed the throttle position a smidgeon, and I really mean just a tad to accelerate from, say 48 km/h to 52 km/h and after a second or two the engines makes noises as if it is going to die any second. I found there was little rhyme and reason between throttle position, speed and engine rpm. On the highway that thing was slooooow, I think I did 110 km/h max and it didn’t want to go much faster. My first car was a 75 horsepower VW Golf 2, and that felt faster.
Overall, I think this is a fine car for people who don’t care about cars. (And I don’t mean that as an insult.) The one thing that gave me a bit of enjoyment was trying to save as much gas as possible. It had a nice animation that told me when my battery was being charged and when I was draining it. Not surprisingly, Japan has tons of Priuses floating around. My most important hobby is cycling, so if I were to get another car, it’d be a proper station wagon.
If I wanted to get a small, economical car, I really like the looks of the Honda e either in yellow & black or black & white.
I know range isn’t great, but this looks like a great car and really does have a unique look. I wish they would have kept the rear rear lights from the concept car, though.
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Last edited by OreoCookie; Nov 4, 2020 at 07:30 PM.
Reason: Fixed a tag.)
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When you say trunk... do you mean first gen prius?
![](https://cnet2.cbsistatic.com/img/GvjLkaaQwVYEqBGrQLxyNg3wTD4=/1200x675/2016/04/30/25df087e-ec5d-49d3-9b46-3124aaef8f0a/0042003prius.jpg)
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Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
When you say trunk... do you mean first gen prius?
No, I do mean the hatchback. I think it was the same model you initially posted. It definitely wasn’t the current-gen Prius with its more futuristic lines, but it also wasn’t the updated plug-in hybrid version of the previous-gen Prius.
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Huh. Yeah I mean, that's what impressed me about it. It was an EXCELLENT appliance. I still say CVT instead of auto; if it's going to be a toaster it needs to be sure it's a toaster, not some segmented fake shifting for someone who can't handle stickshift nonsense.
Also love the model 3.... it will be my next car at some point. Though.
K, so is anybody else here working from home? I've barely put ANY miles on any of my cars this year. My insight barely gets driven anymore without commuting. Thought about selling it, but it's worth nothing... so... meh.
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Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
Huh. Yeah I mean, that's what impressed me about it. It was an EXCELLENT appliance.
I think I'd agree with that: it is an excellent car for people who don't care much about cars. But even a Golf 6's ride quality is on another level.
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
I still say CVT instead of auto; if it's going to be a toaster it needs to be sure it's a toaster, not some segmented fake shifting for someone who can't handle stickshift nonsense.
I don't have much experience with CVTs and no experience with high-end automatic gearboxes (like ZF's acclaimed 8-speed box that's in everything from BMWs to Jags). Here in Japan they still sell cheap cars with 3-speed autos, and these are abysmal. Then there are double-clutch transmissions, that I haven't driven myself. As a passenger, double-clutch transmissions seemed great, the shifts were quick and hardly noticeable. AFAIK some manufacturers felt the need to make CVTs worse by giving them imaginary gears (and hence, negating some of their inherent advantages).
Honestly, I'd prefer a manual on a car that runs on dinosaur juice, but I'm already eyeing ahead to electric where in most electric cars you don't have a gearbox (technically they do to get a reverse and yes, there are some like the Porsche Taycan that have a 2-speed gearbox).
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
Also love the model 3.... it will be my next car at some point. Though.
If money were no object and they made a proper station wagon, yeah, that'd be nice. It's really a pity Tesla is so US-centric and station wagons seem despised for some reason (most Americans seem to want a station wagon with a steroid problem on stilts, aka an SUV). The more I look into Tesla, the more I am impressed with their egineering — despite some of their quality control problems. The German car industry should be careful, otherwise it'll get steamrolled.
The only competitor would be VW's ID3. It seems a tad smaller from the outside, but otherwise has all the right ingredients. The Honda e is nice, but probably too small for my taste.
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
K, so is anybody else here working from home? I've barely put ANY miles on any of my cars this year. My insight barely gets driven anymore without commuting. Thought about selling it, but it's worth nothing... so... meh.
Yup. I'm mostly working from home.
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I think I've gassed up 4 times since March. My battery died in March after not being driven for 2 weeks.
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Originally Posted by OreoCookie
If money were no object and they made a proper station wagon, yeah, that'd be nice. It's really a pity Tesla is so US-centric and station wagons seem despised for some reason (most Americans seem to want a station wagon with a steroid problem on stilts, aka an SUV). The more I look into Tesla, the more I am impressed with their egineering — despite some of their quality control problems. The German car industry should be careful, otherwise it'll get steamrolled.
Yeah I was banned from the Tesla subreddit for bitching about the lack of station wagons too many times, lmao. I don't get it. Tesla buyers are younger than industry average, and typically affluent with hobbies, so .... active. I want a model 3 wagon so bad. Y is ... just... tall, for no reason. Looks dumb.
And yeah, germany is already getting steamrolled. I've met some of the higher ups at BMW and they're... trying to stay positive, but Tesla sells more model 3s/month than the A4/3 series/benz small sedan combined. They're ****ing them up big time, which is good since I've been a TSLA investor since 2013 or so.
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Originally Posted by OreoCookie
... where in most electric cars you don't have a gearbox (technically they do to get a reverse and yes, there are some like the Porsche Taycan that have a 2-speed gearbox).
Electrics obtain reverse by electrically reversing the motor(s). There is no reverse gear in any Tesla, and it seems doubtful in other OEM vehicles. You should only see them in conversions that keep the transmission.
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Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
Yeah I was banned from the Tesla subreddit for bitching about the lack of station wagons too many times, lmao. I don't get it. Tesla buyers are younger than industry average, and typically affluent with hobbies, so .... active. I want a model 3 wagon so bad. Y is ... just... tall, for no reason. Looks dumb.
If Tesla wants to appeal to the international market, having a station wagon is a must. I don't have stats, but I think the ratio between sedans and station wagons is at least 50:50. Right now they remind me of the Japanese car manufacturers entering the German markets in the 1980s. The cars and trunks were too small. For example, there are several standardized plastic crates for beverages (one for beer, one for non-alcoholic drinks of one size, etc.) — and they wouldn't fit back then. But they adapted.
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous
And yeah, germany is already getting steamrolled. I've met some of the higher ups at BMW and they're... trying to stay positive, but Tesla sells more model 3s/month than the A4/3 series/benz small sedan combined. They're ****ing them up big time, which is good since I've been a TSLA investor since 2013 or so.
Yup, and they are losing the Chinese market, too. The husband of a good friend of mine works for Audi and I once asked him years ago what would happen to Audi if they lost access to the Chinese market. In his country-side candor his reply was curt: “They'd be effed.”
Tesla is thinking big: they are thinking about manufacturing processes, they rev their car designs and manufacturing processes much more often than traditional car manufacturers, they are extremely innovative where they think it counts, e. g. electronics, their cooling solutions are just bananas (with the Superbottle and the Octovalve), their battery technology and software.
A few years ago, many of the European manufacturers were still outsourcing the entertainment systems to third parties. (My best friend worked on that.) So yeah, they have quality control problems, but they get better much quicker than the Germans (and everyone else) thought they would. Plus, I think there are people who don't care as much about panel gaps and care more about the touchscreen being responsive and having a sensible UI.
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