Car Chat

[giant_mtb]

It looks scrunched up like it needs to sneeze and is just a giant slab of body panel with an ever-decreasing window size.

[giant_mtb]

Anybody ever ship off a used engine oil sample for lab testing? Kinda wanna try it at 5k miles on the new Taco.

Lots of websites for it out there...what's a good lab?

[Rich]

yep, I've used blackstone a few times.  well worth the money to see what's going on in the engine.  But yours is new, so I don't see why you'd want to until 70k miles from now.

[giant_mtb]

yep, I've used blackstone a few times.  well worth the money to see what's going on in the engine.  But yours is new, so I don't see why you'd want to until 70k miles from now.

Mostly out of curiosity. 

[AutobahnSHO]

It would be good to get a baseline early on.

[Morris Minor]

Anybody ever ship off a used engine oil sample for lab testing? Kinda wanna try it at 5k miles on the new Taco.

Lots of websites for it out there...what's a good lab?

Another vote for Blackstone here. I used them when I had the CR-V with the oil dilution thing going on.

[Morris Minor]

Keeping the love going for the slightly elderly battery... had not driven the G37 for two or so weeks until today.  This thing works like a champ - recommended.

[Laconian]

What's the parade of lights for? Different charging profiles?

[Morris Minor]

What's the parade of lights for? Different charging profiles?

From the manual.

STEP 1 DESULPHATION
Detects sulphated batteries. Pulsing current and voltage, removes sulphate from the lead
plates of the battery restoring the battery capacity.
STEP 2 SOFT START
Tests if the battery can accept charge. This step prevents that charging proceeds with a
defect battery.
STEP 3 BULK
Charging with maximum current until approximately 80% battery capacity.
STEP 4 ABSORPTION
Charging with declining current to maximize up to 100% battery capacity.
STEP 5 ANALYSE
Tests if the battery can hold charge. Batteries that can not hold charge may need to be
replaced.
STEP 6 RECOND
Choose the Recond program to add the Recond step to the charging process. During the
Recond step voltage increases to create controlled gassing in the battery. Gasing mixes the
battery acid and gives back energy to the battery.
STEP 7 FLOAT
Maintaining the battery voltage at maximum level by providing a constant voltage charge.
STEP 8 PULSE
Maintaining the battery at 95–100% capacity. The charger monitors the battery voltage
and gives a pulse when necessary to keep the battery fully charged.


(https://smartercharger.com/)

[cawimmer430]

I love this group on Facebook and the pics and memes they post in there. 

[Rich]

Thanks for warning me that other forum members have vags wimmer

[cawimmer430]

Thanks for warning me that other forum members have vags wimmer

I just thought it was funny. 

[giant_mtb]

Wow. Those sure are hilarious. Peak humor.

[Rich]

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42096801/corvette-brand-2025/

Corvette to Launch as a Brand in 2025 with a Four-Door and an SUV

Well this is Depressing

[giant_mtb]

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42096801/corvette-brand-2025/

Corvette to Launch as a Brand in 2025 with a Four-Door and an SUV

Well this is Depressing

Gross.

[Soup DeVille]

On one hand, they've been threatening to do that for years- hell the first Motorama Corvette display included a Corvette Nomad Wagon.

On the other: what the fuck is wrong with GM (yet again)?

On the third, radiologically mutated hand, I'd sure enjoy going to a Corvette meet in my brand new Corvette PHEV CUV.

[veeman]

It's what saved Porsche (diluting the brand by building and selling boatloads of the Cayenne).

Do it right and it won't dilute the brand.  The presence of the Cayenne and Macan do not dilute the brand image of the 911. 

[Soup DeVille]

It's what saved Porsche (diluting the brand by building and selling boatloads of the Cayenne).

Do it right and it won't dilute the brand.  The presence of the Cayenne and Macan do not dilute the brand image of the 911. 

Yeah, they do.

[r0tor]

Sounds like they are getting ready to spin it off... and if modern history is correct means selling it to the Chinese

[dazzleman]

https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/12/23204950/bmw-subscriptions-microtransactions-heated-seats-feature

What do you guys think of this?  BMW wants to charge $18/month for heated seats.  What the fuck is that about?  This seems to be becoming a trend in the industry, started by Tesla, to charge monthly fees for options that were once paid for up front.  It seems outrageous to me.  Why should we keep paying them every month for something that they only supplied once?

[Laconian]

Total garbage. I am opposed to letting random things other than computers connect to the Internet, and this is why - it just invites monitoring and exploitation. And it's not just Tesla, it's not just BMW, business shits of all stripes are all about that recurring subscription revenue..

https://bgr.com/tech/bose-might-charge-you-extra-to-access-certain-features-in-its-headphones/
https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/1/23434305/adobe-pantone-subscription-announcement-photoshop-illustrator
Also medical equipment like CPAP machines.

[Eye of the Tiger]

If you don't pay the monthly fee, maybe you can just watch a 30 second advertisement to activate the cruise control.

[veeman]

We've been doing it for a while now (yearly or monthly subscription fee).  Word, PowerPoint, Excel used to come in a disk or CD that you would install on your home computer.  It's been a yearly subscription based model for a while now (Microsoft 365 family plan bullshit etc).  There's also the Cloud which stores all your photos and videos which is a subscription. I hate it but I think it's a losing battle. 

Regarding subscription heated seats etc.  This might be where aftermarket outfitters might make out well and the consumer could bypass the subscription.     

[Soup DeVille]

Its also inviting 3rd party software systems to be marketed that wipe out the stock OS and install their own.

We'll have linux-hacked cars before long.

[RomanChariot]

We've been doing it for a while now (yearly or monthly subscription fee).  Word, PowerPoint, Excel used to come in a disk or CD that you would install on your home computer.  It's been a yearly subscription based model for a while now (Microsoft 365 family plan bullshit etc).  There's also the Cloud which stores all your photos and videos which is a subscription. I hate it but I think it's a losing battle. 

Regarding subscription heated seats etc.  This might be where aftermarket outfitters might make out well and the consumer could bypass the subscription.     

At least with the cloud you don't have to pay for a hard drive and then pay again to store your information on it.

[giant_mtb]

We've been doing it for a while now (yearly or monthly subscription fee).  Word, PowerPoint, Excel used to come in a disk or CD that you would install on your home computer.  It's been a yearly subscription based model for a while now (Microsoft 365 family plan bullshit etc).  There's also the Cloud which stores all your photos and videos which is a subscription. I hate it but I think it's a losing battle. 

Regarding subscription heated seats etc.  This might be where aftermarket outfitters might make out well and the consumer could bypass the subscription.   

I think for stuff like software, it can make sense. Especially since disc drives are far less common on computers than they used to be ever since high speed internet made downloading large files (games, software, updates, etc) more convenient.

However, in the case of something like Word...I wouldn't want to pay every year. I'd rather just buy/download it once and be done with it. They can offer me the *option* every year to pay again if I want the latest version or whatever, but no thank you, otherwise.

[Laconian]

Its also inviting 3rd party software systems to be marketed that wipe out the stock OS and install their own.

We'll have linux-hacked cars before long.

The mods aren't complete until the dash LCD screen plays DOOM.

[Soup DeVille]

The mods aren't complete until the dash LCD screen plays DOOM.

What about playing Doom and syncing the external lighting to the muzzle flashes?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5mmiPT2avrY

[FoMoJo]

Another "Better Idea?"  Here's How Ford Just Reinvented The Steering Wheel Better Than Tesla



In an age where automakers are trying to shrink the steering wheel and even get rid of them, Ford has gone the opposite way to create something very interesting. The Blue Oval Company has made the good old steering wheel cooler. While Tesla tries to improve on something that has been perfected over a century with the Yoke, which is largely cosmetic in nature, Ford seems to have changed it to offer more utility

Reserved for the new Ford Tourneo and Transit vans across the pond, the modified steering wheels can tilt to form a flat surface. With the use of a plastic cover, it transforms into a nifty table that can be used to comfortably place a laptop and even have a healthy meal on the road.

[Soup DeVille]

ls that an article from The Onion?