Car Chat

[cawimmer430]

German intro of Knight Rider. WHY SO DAMN SERIOUS!? 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZxdnVioC3s

[giant_mtb]

Detailing a friend's Touareg today.  So interesting (but not terribly surprising) how it makes all the same sounds as my A4 did. The door lock chirp, the fuel pump priming, the door locks themselves sound the same, engine starter (though this is a V6), to whatever little solenoid thing clicks behind the gauges when you shut it off.

Brings back memories. Would be a great day for a drive in that A4. 60s, sunny, stick shift...ahhh.

[dazzleman]

Detailing a friend's Touareg today.  So interesting (but not terribly surprising) how it makes all the same sounds as my A4 did. The door lock chirp, the fuel pump priming, the door locks themselves sound the same, engine starter (though this is a V6), to whatever little solenoid thing clicks behind the gauges when you shut it off.

Brings back memories. Would be a great day for a drive in that A4. 60s, sunny, stick shift...ahhh.

You should have kept that car!

[giant_mtb]

You should have kept that car!

I needed to sell it to buy the Taco. I needed/wanted a truck and hardly ever look back on the decision. Just once in a while I get the pang for a drive in it on nice days.

[Morris Minor]

The roads in north Georgia are wonderful. Today I had a 15-mile run on a two-lane state highway. I was at the back of a convoy of four strangers: a 4th-gen CR-V in the lead, a guy on a motorcycle with his blonde bit of crumpet on the back, then an Escape, and me in the G37.  The CR-V was driven refreshingly briskly (up to 80 on a 55 road) and everyone else stayed with him: maintaining distance. keeping up, getting the sight lines right, anticipating hazards, nothing silly, no-one feeling any compulsion to overtake. It was just one of those weird happy pieces of luck with a disparate & unlikely group of vehicles. I wished we could have all pulled over and had a beer.

I never appreciated the G when I was living in town, but, away from the stoplights and queues of traffic, it's great, and loves to stretch its legs.

One niggle though, I'm noticing a tiny bit of waywardness and tramlining in the steering just either side of on-centre. Need to look at the tyres (20,000-miles-old) & geometry. It's difficult to describe but it does not feel quite planted.

[Laconian]

The G does feel great when driven quickly, but at regular speeds they feel a bit on the porcine side.

[AutobahnSHO]

Very nice!! This last week traffic here went up 100% more congested. It was so nice driving to work without many other cars.

[CaminoRacer]

The G does feel great when driven quickly, but at regular speeds they feel a bit on the porcine side.

What cars do you have now? Miata and a G? Did you get rid of that TSX wagon? I saw one today and was reminded that you had one at some point

[Eye of the Tiger]

I want a TSX wagon.

[Eye of the Tiger]

The G does feel great when driven quickly, but at regular speeds they feel a bit on the porcine side.

The steering is too heavy at low speeds.

[Laconian]

What cars do you have now? Miata and a G? Did you get rid of that TSX wagon? I saw one today and was reminded that you had one at some point

Outback + Miata. TSX wagon was a lease. It was a really nice car, but in order to be a keeper, it needed a stickshift or V6+AWD. Outback is slow, but it's also big and useful.

[CaminoRacer]

Outback + Miata. TSX wagon was a lease. It was a really nice car, but in order to be a keeper, it needed a stickshift or V6+AWD. Outback is slow, but it's also big and useful.

Upgrade to the 2020 XT turbo model!

[Laconian]

Upgrade to the 2020 XT turbo model!

Maybe. They'd have to tune up the rest of the car to match. The steering and chassis don't make you want to go fast. It wants you to take it easy, drive safely.

[Eye of the Tiger]

The only Soobaru Legacy to get is the 3.6L H6 with the 5-speed automagic.

[Laconian]

I've never been a big fan of the H6. Seems to be worst of all the Japanese six cyls no matter how you cut it.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I've never been a big fan of the H6. Seems to be worst of all the Japanese six cyls no matter how you cut it.

But isn't it the best Subaru engine?

[AutobahnSHO]

But isn't it the best Subaru engine?

Most powerful without terbow but they didn't even put it into the Ascent. Subaru has never been about power except the WRX/ STI...

[FoMoJo]

For the car crazy environmentalist who loves off-roading...400-HP Electric Ford Bronco Is up for Grabs in Charity Raffle

[AutobahnSHO]

For the car crazy environmentalist who loves off-roading...400-HP Electric Ford Bronco Is up for Grabs in Charity Raffle

I'm intrigued by the drivetrain!   Electric but with a 5speed? Is there a clutch? I wonder if it matters for range which gear you cruise in? or is it more efficient to just leave it in one gear?....   

[Soup DeVille]

I'm intrigued by the drivetrain!   Electric but with a 5speed? Is there a clutch? I wonder if it matters for range which gear you cruise in? or is it more efficient to just leave it in one gear?....   

I actually entered to win this.

Its an electric motor/inverter unit that's setup to bolt to standard SBS motor mounts and transmissions.

In most cases, its going to be fine just left in 3rd gear all the time.

[AutobahnSHO]

I actually entered to win this.

Its an electric motor/inverter unit that's setup to bolt to standard SBS motor mounts and transmissions.

In most cases, its going to be fine just left in 3rd gear all the time.

But do you push in a clutch to change gears??...   Too cool.

[Soup DeVille]

But do you push in a clutch to change gears??...   Too cool.

You do. Its a standard manual gearbox. You don't however, have to clutch to stop.

[SJ_GTI]

You do. Its a standard manual gearbox. You don't however, have to clutch to stop.

Interesting, so you can leave it in gear even stopped?

[FoMoJo]

Interesting, so you can leave it in gear even stopped?

It's an electric motor.  The car stops and the motor stops, I assume.

[Soup DeVille]

Interesting, so you can leave it in gear even stopped?

No need to keep an electric motor idling. 

[SJ_GTI]

That is pretty cool. Gives me hope that we can someday get electric cars with manual transmissions. 

[FoMoJo]

Interesting...John Goodenough Made the Modern EV Possible

In 1980, at the University of Oxford, John B. Goodenough developed the lithium-cobalt-oxide cathode that enabled the widespread use of lithium-ion (LI) batteries. Today, LI batteries power products ranging from the MacBook Pro to the Tesla Model 3. If it weren't for Goodenough's insight, the electrification of the automobile as we know it may not have happened. And Elon Musk might be only vaguely known as that guy who had something or other to do with processing eBay payments.

The lithium-cobalt-oxide cathode is the positive side of the LI battery. Its use stabilizes the battery so it can withstand discharging and recharging with low risk of developing surface fractures, which can result in short circuits or, worse, fires. Goodenough's cathode essentially turned the LI battery into a viable commercial product. It's an idea worth billions, but Oxford didn't patent it, and Goodenough signed the rights over to the U.K.'s Atomic Energy Research Establishment.

Last year, explaining why he undertook the research, Goodenough told the University of Chicago Magazine, "I just knew it was something I should do." Since then, Goodenough has further refined his ideas and developed lithium-manganese-oxide and lithium-iron-phosphate cathodes. The former are found in many electric cars, whereas the latter are widely used in power tools.

In 2019, Goodenough, Japan's Akira Yoshino, and Britain's M. Stanley Whittingham were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work developing the LI battery. Whittingham invented the first rechargeable LI battery while Yoshino added a carbon-based anode (the negative side) to further increase the LI battery's stability.

----->

[Laconian]

You'd need logic in the motor which would limit torque output when the clutch is disengaged. Otherwise you'd nuke the clutch every time.

[FoMoJo]

You'd need logic in the motor which would limit torque output when the clutch is disengaged. Otherwise you'd nuke the clutch every time.

Isn't there something like an accelerator pedal that you back off on when you disengaged the clutch.

[MrH]

I wonder if you could do the whole thing without a clutch at all.  Just logic to rev match the electric motors to the gear for each shift so it goes right into gear.

It would be like playing Cruis'n USA or something.  WOAAAH WOAH