The car thread ...

[O Really]

Well, just stomp on that Corvette and think about having that sort of performance in the Mercury and playing Chris Isaak's "Kings of the Highway."

Yeah, if you flip the "valet key" it stomps with about 405 hp. Or at least that's what it started with. SIL has likely beefed it up a bit. Anyway, the beast hauls ass.

[neoplacebo]

Well, just stomp on that Corvette and think about having that sort of performance in the Mercury and playing Chris Isaak's "Kings of the Highway."

Yeah, if you flip the "valet key" it stomps with about 405 hp. Or at least that's what it started with. SIL has likely beefed it up a bit. Anyway, the beast hauls ass.

Enjoy!

[Vrede too]

What did I just witness?


Car Catapults Off Highway 99 In Yuba City, Crashes Into Road Below

Article

"The driver, who was a woman, survived . . . walked out of hospital with minor injuries."

[neoplacebo]

Must have been a rental car. Those things will go anywhere.

[Ulysses]

Nothing stomps like a sport bike.

[Vrede too]

Must have been a rental car. Those things will go anywhere.

I wonder if she got the insurance.

[Vrede too]

Japan, especially Toyota, won the war.

Top 10 vehicles that owners keep the longest

10: Toyota Sequoia
9: Toyota 4Runner
8: Subaru Forester
7: Honda Pilot
6: Honda CR-V
5: Toyota Tundra
4: Toyota Sienna
3: Toyota Tacoma
2: Toyota Highlander
1: Toyota Prius
Percent kept by original owner for at least 15 years: 13.7%
How much longer than average: 2.2 times

Both of my brothers love their Priuses and I nearly/should have bought a Highlander at one point. Idk the Subaru Forester that well, but I’ve known lots of people that loved their Outbacks.

[neoplacebo]

My Camaro was 22 years old in January. I've had it for 16 years and 130,000 miles. It had 62,000 when I got it. Over 194,000 now. I am the 3rd owner.

[Vrede too]

Husband ‘yanked’ wheel from his wife — causing crash that killed him, Texas cops say

If the wife is telling the truth, opps.

[billy.pilgrim]

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/08/05/u- ... -ev-event/

I guess Pete doesn't like made in the USA, or maybe it's his love for the big car makers and their made elsewhere electric cars and trucks, because his excuse for cutting Tesla from his WH event is either a lie or comes from ignorance.

They all sound so good until they get where they're going and then they turn.

[neoplacebo]

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/08/05/u- ... -ev-event/

I guess Pete doesn't like made in the USA, or maybe it's his love for the big car makers and their made elsewhere electric cars and trucks, because his excuse for cutting Tesla from his WH event is either a lie or comes from ignorance.

They all sound so good until they get where they're going and then they turn.

I don't know anything about cleantechnica......whether they're Tesla fanboys or whatever, but yesterday I read a story about this and that story said the reason Tesla was not invited was because the only manufacturers who were invited were the ones with the largest number of UAW workers. By that metric, Tesla didn't make it. The person whining about Tesla's absence in the story I read lamented that Asian and European car makers "are not unionized." Try telling that to someone who works for Porsche or Mercedes or BMW, all heavily unionized companies.

[Ulysses]

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/08/05/u- ... -ev-event/

I guess Pete doesn't like made in the USA, or maybe it's his love for the big car makers and their made elsewhere electric cars and trucks, because his excuse for cutting Tesla from his WH event is either a lie or comes from ignorance.

They all sound so good until they get where they're going and then they turn.

Well, the article author, Johnna Crider, apparently has a vested interest in boosting Tesla (she's a confessed Tesla shareholder). So naturally she'd be a bit vexed that Tesla was not invited to that thing.

What I have noticed is that new companies getting involved in this electric car movement tend to try to appeal to the luxury side first - both to appease big buck investors and help draw in big ticket sales. Wasn't the luxury model S Tesla their first offering? And there is another self-confessed luxury electric car entering the fray - Lucid Motors. They probably were not invited either. I'm not trying to tear down Tesla or Lucid - they did and/or are doing what they had to do to break into the market. And I take Pete at his word when he says he doesn't know why Tesla wasn't invited.

Also don't know about the union thing being a criterion. Pretty sure Tesla isn't unionized, though.

As for pickup trucks etc. I've seen drawings/photos of the Tesla pickup. It's absurd. All sharp angles and flat surfaces. I mean, pickup trucks are not the most aerodynamic vehicles to begin with, but that design is ridiculous. Like an early stealth fighter plane. To evade police radar, maybe? If so, why? Let's just say I wouldn't buy something that ugly.

Lately been seeing a lot of TV ads for the new Volvo EV. Looks OK. Don't know if I've seen any on the road. Have seen a number of Model 3's around here. When they are not bursting into flame, LOL. Which brings up a potential problem: making those EV batteries safer. Seems to be a problem when the responding fire truck decides the best course is to just let it burn to cinders. Saw an article recently where cheaper, lower capacity EV batteries are being considered. I guess also less likely to self-immolate. Like the Chevy Bolts are prone to do.

Of course gas tanks can explode too, so there is that.

[neoplacebo]

Current battery and electric motor technology is such that the price of the drive system pretty much automatically sends the vehicle price into the realm of "luxury" cars. Even the most basic EV is quite a bit more expensive than the same vehicle with a gas engine. Within two years I will put them all out of business once my electric horse is perfected.

[Ulysses]

Current battery and electric motor technology is such that the price of the drive system pretty much automatically sends the vehicle price into the realm of "luxury" cars. Even the most basic EV is quite a bit more expensive than the same vehicle with a gas engine. Within two years I will put them all out of business once my electric horse is perfected.

OK, I forget the details, but there IS a lower cost battery technology that can drop the price of entry level EV's. It has less capacity than the current tech, like maybe 225 miles per charge vs. 350, but that likely would be enough for most people anyway. Both contain lithium. I *think* the lower cost version is Lithium hydride, vs. Lithium ion for the higher cost higher capacity version.

IMHO the thing that will kill EV's going forward is the fire danger. Yeah, I know, gas tanks can be dangerous too, but there are enough reports of lithium ion battery packs just catching fire for no fucking reason. And when they do go up, they tend to take the whole car with them. As I recall, this is a problem with a run of Bolts, and the company is advising owners not to park their Bolts inside garages or other flammable structures. Excuse me?

[neoplacebo]

Current battery and electric motor technology is such that the price of the drive system pretty much automatically sends the vehicle price into the realm of "luxury" cars. Even the most basic EV is quite a bit more expensive than the same vehicle with a gas engine. Within two years I will put them all out of business once my electric horse is perfected.

OK, I forget the details, but there IS a lower cost battery technology that can drop the price of entry level EV's. It has less capacity than the current tech, like maybe 225 miles per charge vs. 350, but that likely would be enough for most people anyway. Both contain lithium. I *think* the lower cost version is Lithium hydride, vs. Lithium ion for the higher cost higher capacity version.

IMHO the thing that will kill EV's going forward is the fire danger. Yeah, I know, gas tanks can be dangerous too, but there are enough reports of lithium ion battery packs just catching fire for no fucking reason. And when they do go up, they tend to take the whole car with them. As I recall, this is a problem with a run of Bolts, and the company is advising owners not to park their Bolts inside garages or other flammable structures. Excuse me?

I'm not versed in the details of lithium battery technology but am aware that replacing the battery in such a car will cost thousands of dollars. The cost of the battery and the electric motors (both are high dollar components) are a big part of the cost of an EV. The rest of the car is based on 125 year old technology and metalworking. Factor in the manufacturer's profit margin, and the electric motors and battery pack alone represent a good portion of the total price of the car. Nothing about a Tesla or any other EV is innovative other than the drive system. And perhaps the "autopilot" computer, which I would insist on being removed. That shit is for people who shouldn't be driving in the first place. And because they fancied themselves vanguards of the future, some of those autopilot drivers no longer drive....or breathe.

[O Really]

As a continuation of the "Good Lord, why?" line of thought, here's an extreme on the other end of the spectrum from the bling-heavy trucks.
Take a car that was plain ugly to start with, spend a bunch of money to bring it to a state of looking like a plain ugly Barney-car.

[Ulysses]

Looks like a stripped down '52 Ford.

Close?

[O Really]

Looks like a stripped down '52 Ford.

Close?

Yup. '54 Mainline. '52 would have looked the same from the side.
Windshield wipers and rear seat optional.

Every car show you go to has 2-3 of these things. Spend the same in money or time as you would for a good-looking car. Wha-tever. Everybody to their own, I guess.

[Ulysses]

As I recall, my dad got a '57 Ford sedan. Light blue with cool waffle aluminum trim on the doors. It was the neighborhood sensation. Eventually, though, he totalled it when drunk ;-(. Maybe he had it two-three years. After that he got an old 49 Chevy. Which actually ran pretty good. I think it had a V8 in it. Black. Manual tranny.

Me, I have a '50 Plymouth sedan. 218 flathead six. It has some good history. Used to drive it a lot. Her name is Bubbles (had to keep that name, condition of sale).

[neoplacebo]

Looks like a stripped down '52 Ford.

Close?

Yup. '54 Mainline. '52 would have looked the same from the side.
Windshield wipers and rear seat optional.

Every car show you go to has 2-3 of these things. Spend the same in money or time as you would for a good-looking car. Wha-tever. Everybody to their own, I guess.

Ha. I got it right; guessed a 54 Ford. When I was a kid I knew all the car brands for several years. But back then in the early and mid fifties on up until say 1970 every new year model was distinctive. My favorites were always the Thunderbirds. (Decades later a band appeared named The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Stevie Ray Vaughn's brother Jimmy was in it. Don't know if they're named after the cars, though).