The Automobile Thread

Maybe, maybe not. Low mileage preowned examples have been trading for above their original MSRPs. Either way, I don't think that most of the people dropping $150K+ on 600hp station wagons are giving the depreciation too much thought.

 

Makes sense. Watching how most people drive also makes me wonder why energy prices matter.

 

Killing time on the Mother Road this morning.

 

I saw this at the auto show and wasn’t really impressed with it. It looks cool, but for off-roading, it’s too low and has low profile tires(45 series).

 

AWESOME ski car!

 

Yes, I think that's the proper use of these, and I too think they'd be awesome for snow fun.

Speaking of, for that same owner when he/she has to transport the family to the mountain as well, the RS6 Performance just got announced for 2024. Modest (perhaps even disappointing) power gains, and some mild lightweight treatment.

 

Well that looks fun!!!!

 

Looks more like Rally racers. They take out the big bumps for those events.

 

Tubeless but no sealant.

 

Tire shops don't like dealing with sealant anyway. I've had it take all the paint off the inside of a rim before.

My sorrow is having to replace the headlight housings, corner markers, turn signals, door handles, front and rear speakers, upper balljoints, lower balljoints, inner tie rods, outer tie rods, and do an alignment on my truck pretty much...tomorrow.

 

Since when did UPS start mounting low-pros on the delivery trucks?

 

Changing a tire takes about 15-20 min on the side of the road, no biggie. If you don't have them in the trunk now, be sure to add gloves for the next flat. Keeps the hands clean and will avoid any cuts or such. Unless of course it's a run flat ( which don't think yours is ) in which case a trip to the tire shop and a pretty long wait.

My 2005 is300 had a full size spare with matching aluminum rim. That was a nice touch for sure, and no longer included in vehicles

 

that's a new feature so the drivers can corner quicker and make more deliveries. Slalom in the Big Brown anyone?

 

I'd like to think I'm a trained professional. My ETA to go home was 6:53pm when I pulled over to change it. It was 7:05pm when I was done. It has your typical space saver spare and thankfully the flat was on the rear. Car didn't behave any different on my way home. I made an appointment at America's Tire to have it fixed this afternoon. Shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes and it's free.

 

Were you able to see on the tire what caused the flat?

 

I had one fixed at America's Tire in Fountain Valley once. They tried to tell me the nail was too far down the sidewall to patch and I would need a new tire (a not exactly cheap Bridgestone RE050). The nail was legit in one of the tread blocks, close to the edge but certainly not in the sidewall. I looked at the guy like he was an idiot and said "Do I look like a woman? Go get my car, I will take it somewhere else." After "checking with his manager" they fixed it for free.

 

Yeah. Drywall screw right in the center of the tread.

 

I learned a lesson on my way home last night. I've been averaging around 30mpg overall since I got the car. Freeway mpg was marginally better. Last night I set the cruise for 70mph and got 42mpg! Hard to believe 10mph makes that big of a difference. My FR-S easily got 40mpg at 80mph. Better aerodynamics? Engine not working as hard? Optimal conditions? Hard to say. I may or may not reduce my speed in the future.

 

Drag is proportional to the square of the velocity. 80^2/70^2=1.3

30mpg*1.3=39 mpg

 

Well that explains that!

 

Duh!!!

 

While I haven't experimented much, I have off hand noticed that MPH had very little effect on one of MPG in one of my bricks, the Jeep. I swear it just does low 20 MPG at 35 or 65 MPH

Only difference is stop and go.

After finding out that my GF needed new brakes after like 10,000 miles...again...I said hell no and we bought all the stuff to do it at home, with her doing the work. I walked her through it all. Now she knows what it is they were charging her to do and why it was BS.

Brakes seem to be lasting longer now too

Definitely one of the nice things about the Jeep

 

I do pretty much equal parts canyon, city, and highway and my Tacoma rarely wavers from 23mpg. That's pretty bad for a 2.4L minitruck, but it doesn't seem to matter how I drive it. I put bigger tires on it and the mileage didn't change(accounting for speedometer difference), so I guess that's not "bad."

 

What year? My 2004 5-speed manual gets 27 mpg, but I drive it like a big rig.

 

Maybe I should try that. Mine is also a 2004 5-speed. It's so consistent that I don't bother calculating mpg anymore. Instead I go off the trip to estimate how much it will take to fill up and usually get within ±0.25gal over ~250mi. I tried significant changes to my driving style when the truck was still new to me and I think the best result was 24mpg over a single tank.

 

Way to go GM........

https://www.thedrive.com/news/2023-...rranty-voided-after-owners-refinances-vehicle

 

So GM thinks they're Ferrari now?

 

Who do they think they are, Specialized?

 

Specialized should build a bike and call it the Big Mac and see what happens.

 

https://carbuzz.com/news/californias-latest-ban-will-hit-the-classic-car-community-hard