[Toshi]

Grudging respect for this bit of engineering by Tata:

https://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/the-2017-land-rover-discoverys-air-intake-is-brilliant-1793607086

On the other hand, somehow Toyota managed to give my 100 series an equivalent wading depth without such undoubtedly amazingly expensive to replace bits:

http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/67350-Land-Rover-LR3-vs-100-series-LC-Lx470-vs-1st-generation-Sequoia

(I'd say this all doesn't matter except that I had water well up past the front bumper while on an optional puddle at Kingston Peak a few years back. Toyota's engineering saved me from a very long, expensive day.)

 

[Toshi]

Relevant to my whinging a few pages/months back about "I want a lighter/nicer laptop but don't want to pony up the cash for such a thing", I'm writing a grant proposal now. Part of the budget of this grant will be... for a lighter/nicer laptop for me to use. For MATLAB, of course. (And surfing the intertubes!)



Since it's not my money I'll put in for a top end MacBook Pro, assuming this budget passes muster by our own Office of Grants and Contracts. The chances of getting this grant awarded are slim but non-zero--my proposal already passed the first screening round, winnowing from 70 to 17.

Also part of this grant proposal's budget was getting a quote for a renewed MATLAB license/software maintenance contract, since I'd let that lapse... and when I requested said quote I was informed by MathWorks that my institution has purchased a Total Academic Headcount license in the interim.

Translation: I get updated MATLAB and ALL of the toolboxes, gratis.

(There are a few more toolboxes off the screen, even.)

 

[Toshi]

Florida. It's about the polar opposite of where I'd choose to live. Flat. Humid. Rains like the dickens periodically, like tonight.

The people are foreign to me. I definitely feel an outsider with my non-native Spanish abilities. I also feel an outsider in places where people wear "stylish" clothes (quotes for the flatbrimming idiots, but also some erstwhile models prancing around) instead of those from REI.

The cars reflect this, too. No Subarus. Fewer practical things. More flash, and undoubtedly a ton of leased near-luxury and luxury cars. I saw a BMW i8, for instance, with the dude picking up his presumed girlfriend from the taco place.

 

[jstuhlman]

Florida. It's about the polar opposite of where I'd choose to live. Flat. Humid. Rains like the dickens periodically, like tonight.

The people are foreign to me. I definitely feel an outsider with my non-native Spanish abilities. I also feel an outsider in places where people wear "stylish" clothes (quotes for the flatbrimming idiots, but also some erstwhile models prancing around) instead of those from REI.

The cars reflect this, too. No Subarus. Fewer practical things. More flash, and undoubtedly a ton of leased near-luxury and luxury cars. I saw a BMW i8, for instance, with the dude picking up his presumed girlfriend from the taco place.

which is why we got the fvck out of that flat, traffic-laden, materialistic sh1t hole as fast as humanly possible.

 

[Toshi]

If we do stay in Denver then I may convert to being a weekday-only skier.

http://www.5280.com/news/magazine/2017/02/can-i-70s-mountain-corridor-ever-be-fixed

CDOT estimates that westbound I-70 travel times will triple by 2035; eastbound drivers should expect their commutes to quadruple.

Is a fix underway?

There is no major construction currently under way on the mountain corridor, and no new projects are scheduled to break ground in at least the next half-decade.

“Everybody is always talking about, Why can’t we have nice things like Utah?—wider highways, light rail, and more transit options—but they don’t want to pay for any of those things,” Hickenlooper says. “To play with our competitors, we probably are going to have to raise our taxes a little bit. It’s political suicide to say so—but of course, I’m not running for re-election.”

 

[SkaredShtles]

We are going to solve this by getting/building something on the other side...

 

[Toshi]

We are going to solve this by getting/building something on the other side...

Unless you take weekdays to travel to/from then you still have Saturday morning and Sunday evening traffic, no? And if you take the weekday, why not just save the house cost and ski during the week instead?

 

[Toshi]

Meanwhile, China is committing massive state resources to build high speed rail such that 130 million people are within an hour's commute:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/jing-jin-ji-china-planning-megalopolis-size-new-england-n734736

An hour would get me to about Empire in normal weekend traffic. China has its own problems, for sure, but its structure sure lets a lot of rail get laid down.

 

[Toshi]

2017 Cadillac XTS. ~1250 miles on the odometer, rented from Alamo @ FLL.

Pros:

- good powertrain, with FWD not hindering it a bit in real life usage
- Cue is not as awful as I expected given how it's panned almost universally in reviews, and the navi has a cute 3-D building effect a la Audi
- ventilated seats and heated steering wheel, which I do not use simultaneously, of course
- in-car WiFi with a dedicated 4G LTE connection is a nice gimmick, and there's CarPlay as well
- big ol' trunk

Cons:

- powertrain feels exactly the same as in a current-gen Impala, which makes sense but is disappointing for the premium model
- bad outward visibility: steeply raked windshield with chunky A pillars, large B pillars right smack dab in head check area, and large C pillars making the over right shoulder check of limited utility
- visibility is compounded by lack of blind spot warning in this apparently unoptioned rental car
- seat base bolsters are too narrow for me, so I feel like I'm halfway sitting on them: never expected to have this complaint in a full-size Cadillac :lol:



Edit: Consumer Reports agrees with me, or I agree with them.

Thick windshield pillars, a high rear deck, and small glass area diminish visibility.

 

[Adventurous]

Grudging respect for this bit of engineering by Tata:

https://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/the-2017-land-rover-discoverys-air-intake-is-brilliant-1793607086

On the other hand, somehow Toyota managed to give my 100 series an equivalent wading depth without such undoubtedly amazingly expensive to replace bits:

http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/67350-Land-Rover-LR3-vs-100-series-LC-Lx470-vs-1st-generation-Sequoia

(I'd say this all doesn't matter except that I had water well up past the front bumper while on an optional puddle at Kingston Peak a few years back. Toyota's engineering saved me from a very long, expensive day.)

That air intake looks like an interesting exercise in engineering but for practicality purposes a snorkel is cheaper and all things being equal offers a deeper fording depth with the same cyclonic water separation opportunities. Of course the problem with fording water deep enough to submerge the intake on either that Land Rover or your 100 are all of the water sensitive little electronic bits, breathers, bearings, alternator, and the myriad of other goodies that are not intended for submersion.

 

[Toshi]

Your daily reminder that I have headroom issues in things, because reasons. This is the nominally 37.8" headroom rear seat of my rented Caddy. Can't sit up straight, as evident.

I wasn't back there just for the photoshoot: I practice trumpet in there, in the condo's parking lot.

 

[Toshi]

Back in 2012 I calculated that the CO2 emitted by running a 200 series Land Cruiser or LX would cost about $63/year in carbon offsets. Since then I've bought a 100 series (duh), built an efficient house, and had 2 kids. My current best estimate on carbonfund.org is about $180-200 depending on how much and where we fly each year.

Since my Land Cruiser appears to be going nowhere, I finally bit the bullet and signed up for a $15/mo recurring donation to carbonfund.org. They have a great rating on Charity Navigator (94.6% to programs!) and their projects are verified by 3rd parties.

 

[Toshi]

Florida:

 

[Toshi]

Since my Land Cruiser appears to be going nowhere

A not so original thought. (@dan-o what did you replace your wife's E Class wagon with again, post accident?)

Mercedes Benz E Class wagon. Specifically, the late W211 variant, the 2007-2009 E350 4Matic wagon. Why this very particular subset?

1) Reliability for these late W211s seems ok:

2) W211s have good front headroom (39.6"!) whereas W212s have less (37.9"--refer to me and the 37.8" photo a few posts up, although measurements between manufacturers seem very inconsistent). W213s are far too flashy and expensive for me to be considering.

3) 2007 saw a new engine, standard AWD, and is just new enough that CarMax may get one in that special range of 2007-2009 now and then. Thus I could get MaxCare for it, the CarMax extended warranty. I don't think it'd pay off like Doug DeMuro's policy on his 2006 Range Rover has thus far (~$15k in repairs for $3900 cost, iirc) but it'd be a hedge given that there was a failure-prone air suspension optional, etc.

It'd need a custom 2" receiver welded on the off the shelf 1 1/4" hitches out there, but wouldn't look stupid with a roof rack in the winter and would haul my bikes around just fine...

I should drive one. There's even one local to try out:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=448124375&zip=80238&referrer=/cars-for-sale/searchresults.xhtml?zip=80238&startYear=2009&sortBy=mileageASC&vehicleStyleCodes=AWD4WD&incremental=all&firstRecord=0&endYear=2009&makeCodeList=MB&searchRadius=25&startYear=2009&numRecords=25&vehicleStyleCodes=AWD4WD&firstRecord=0&endYear=2009&makeCodeList=MB&searchRadius=25&makeCode1=MB&modelCode1=E350

Something is seriously wrong with that one, of course: check out the wildly asymmetric hood gap!

Also appears to be poorly fixed back quarter damage:

Perhaps worth a look to see if I fit in it, how it drives in general, and whether I feel stupid in it or not.

 

[Toshi]

A few pages back I calculated the value per Chase Ultimate Rewards point for traveling, and concluded that the "standard" redemption to buy travel through the Chase portal at 1.25 cents/point was generally a good deal. Well, I got nearly 1.7 cents/point for transferring to Southwest and booking with points there today, so that's that.

(The downside is one must then travel Southwest. This is for Jessica going to Vegas with her friends to see the Backstreet Boys reunion.)

In related-as-a-nerdy-subject news, I spent some time today calculating something that I'd been curious about: How much benefit do I derive from Chase's price protection benefit? This is a benefit only on Freedom and Sapphire Preferred cards, as far as I can tell, which lets one price match purchases up to 90 days after the fact.

I like it quite much as a hyper-organized type who will gladly sit down once a week and click through past purchases to see if they've dropped, but how much has it actually saved me? Moreover, is this extra savings more than the 0.75% extra marginal benefit (relative to the standard 1.25 cents/point travel benefit as above) for, say, Citi Double Cash over the 1% default from Freedom? (Yes, there are 5% categories. Essentially it's still a 1% points-accruing card.)

Anyway, the long and short of it is that I've had just shy of 50 accepted price protection claims since roughly October 2016. I calculated out the denominator of Amazon + REI purchases - REI returns (neglecting Amazon returns since that's negligible and would only increase the percentage), plus $900 to account for the set of wheels I built at the LBS and then price-matched to random internet sites. The numerator is the price protection money I've received in sundry individual checks ranging from 10 cents to $186.84.

<cue drumroll>

The percentage benefit I've derived from price protection is 10.7%. This pretty much blew me away, and certainly beats the 0.75% that it's up against. I think in the long run it'll be lower as I had a few one-off high percentage items (such as that wheelset that was super overpriced at the LBS but which I didn't care about since I knew I could pricematch every last bit).

 

[Toshi]

Mercedes Benz E Class wagon.

Like oh so many others this idea has been relegated to the trash heap. Even just the thought of having a gaudy nameplate (notwithstanding 10 models year old potentially) makes me cringe a bit. It's also a unicorn, sold in the US at a rate of 1200-1300/year, so would be a rare catch indeed at CarMax. I'm not going to waste my time (or that of that shady dealer pawning the crash-damaged one with the laughably clean Carfax report).

Seattle also screws up the plan.

(The staying-in-Denver default plan is to stick to 2 kids, which would let Jessica keep her beloved RAV4 EV. I'd still probably get car-antsy at some point, but in all honesty a Forester XT or an Outback with the 3.6 liter H-6 would suit me well if I got over my need to be different. The third row on my Land Cruiser only gets installed and used a handful of times per year.)

Back to Seattle thoughts:

- 3 kids highly likely in this scenario despite your collective unheeded advice, which means Jessica would be in a minivan
- said minivan in turn would take care of the familial biking/skiing vehicle needs
- what I should be in will depend on whether I am solely downtown or need to commute to farther flung hospitals regularly

If I only had to be downtown I could bike commute +/- electric assist, and could go carless once again myself for huge cost savings. This would be very good for quality of life. Perhaps I should try to negotiate something like this into my hypothetical contract.

If stuck in a car regularly then I'd want good "fuel" economy: maybe the RAV4 EV itself would do! The farthest I could foresee myself having to go would be Everett, and that 35 miles or so each way would be easily within the fair-weather range of the RAV4 EV. Whether that drive would make me want to shoot myself would be another matter, but at least it'd be different problems than here, right? Right?

adpanda:

 

[Adventurous]

35 mile commute = kill me

I may have missed it, but what is the motivation to move on from the Land Cruiser? Boredom?

Also, this might be relevant to your interests: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/934648866/urbanx-convert-any-bike-to-an-electric-bike-in-60?ref=85hhes

 

[Toshi]

I don't think that commute would actually be part of the job regularly. The only reason I bring up that specific example is that my own father actually worked for one of the groups that merged to become the mega-group that I'm interviewing with. He had to do that drive 1 day out of 5, the other 4 being a easy shot from Capitol Hill where they lived to further up said hill.

Therefore I'm girding for the worst even though in the phone interview it sounded like there's a dedicated Everett-based crew now. I agree that it would be quite unpleasant.

>>>>>

That Kickstarter shows interest at least, I guess. I'm very leery of that particular product, though.

That's a tiny battery, the little C shaped clip on thing. Unless they've discovered some new magic high energy density battery before the rest of the world that's not going to provide much range. Indeed in the specs at the bottom of the page they admit it's 126 Wh. For context, most of the commercial e-bikes with similar power and thus speed and consumption requirements are set up with 300-500 Wh packs these days.

Other lol-worthy bits: listing 27.5"/650 and 29"/700 as different wheel sizes; having a picture of what's pretty clearly a 20" wheel BMX bike as one of the possible conversions (20" is not one of their offered sizes); the choice of radial spoke lacing for something that's applying substantial torque, quite unlike ye olde rim-braked front wheel on roadies; and a "Sinus Algorithm Controlling System" that sounds like an Engrish butchering of a sine-wave controller.

>>>>>

Why all this recent grousing about the Land Cruiser? Nothing's wrong with it, certainly, it's just the combination of an uneasy state of mind (too much shit happening!) and my ceaseless desire to optimize things that I can potentially control in my life. (Yuna waking up overnight doesn't bug me on the other hand even though it drives my wife insane, because I recognize I have no control over her baby-brain's decision to wake up and find us down the hall. )

I bought it to cart the family around in, to get to mountain activities, and to go off-roading. I've decided I'm not going off-roading any more: couldn't risk my kids' life for my own thrills on something like Black Bear Pass, and in general the trails around here are sized for a CJ and resulted in sundry trail pinstripes that I found more distressing than I thought. So if I'm not off-roading then why put up with the designed-in shortcomings that come naturally from that ability, namely the high floor from the body on frame construction and 33" meats, and the transient response characteristics of said tall tires and flexy suspension?

Mainly it's the desire to control something in my fluid life, though. Since I recognize this I haven't actually done anything. That's the key to my existence amidst my neuroses: self-recognition.

 

[Westy]

35 mile commute = kill me

35 miles and crossing two bodies of water plus the city center =nope


Light rail will eventually go all the way to Everette, however as it shares infrastructure with streets and busses it is likely to be slow as fuck.

 

[StiHacka]

Jessica going to Vegas with her friends to see the Backstreet Boys reunion

kill list

 

[Toshi]

kill list

They've been around for 25 years, so 35ish year old white women would be the audience now. Makes enough sense. I will gladly sit that whole thing out, though.

 

[Toshi]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/colorado-startup-bluematch-helps-you-sell-your-home-on-your-own

Seems up my alley. A tech company seeking to have a $3k flat fee for selling one's home, and refunds that fee if the next home is bought using an affiliated agent. They're in Colorado now with Washington soon...

 

[Toshi]

Mainly it's the desire to control something in my fluid life, though. Since I recognize this I haven't actually done anything. That's the key to my existence amidst my neuroses: self-recognition.

Relevant to both fluidity of life circumstances and doing something vs. just speculating at length:

My Seattle interview has been scheduled for months for May 8. They haven't booked my flight or rental car yet, so I bugged the coordinator lady about that just now via email. Two possible outcomes:

1) For some reason after talking to my references here and former colleagues at UW they rescind the interview. In that case we're sticking around Denver indefinitely and for that I'll keep my body on frame beast to plow through the odd 12" dump we get.

2) They schedule the flights and the interview's still on. At that point it's still not a lock that I'd want the job (or that they'd like me in person), but the probability is definitely not 0 as in case 1. In all of the Seattle-bound scenarios the common thread is not having the Land Cruiser.

Therefore if I get the interview travel plans booked I will go ahead and do something, namely to withdraw as much from (non-tax deferred/non-retirement!) investments as I'd need to pay off the Land Cruiser loan. I won't actually pay off that loan unless I sign a Seattle-bound contract in mid May but would be ready to roll, as it were. Worst case is I lose out on some market upside from being out of it for a month, but the market's pretty overheated as it is anyway...




Edit: Just got this, so it's presumably still on:

Thanks for checking in, Dr Clark.

I am working on your interview schedule, and will get back to you later today w/ more info regarding your travel.

Thanks again,

[elided]

[elided] | Physician Support | Executive Assistant

Edit 2: Flights and rental car booked. "Intermediate car" from Enterprise probably means a Versa. Thus it's time to move some money around.

 

[Toshi]

The residents like working with me. Affirmation is a nice thing. Evaluations from the last quarter:

>>>>>

Encyclopedic knowledge base.

A pleasure to work with, very efficient.

Toshi is great to work with and I really appreciated the extra effort he put forth for some additional 1 on 1 teaching sessions along with providing power points I've added to my references, it really helped!

A true wizard when it comes to radiology.

Love working with Toshi.

I love working with toshi. Super smart and welcoming. great teaching

Toshi Clark is a machine, a higher form of human being. Teaches all the time, has a relaxed positive demeanor and reads studies very quick and accurately.

 

[Toshi]

The current state of my GoPro Karma Grip:

Pretty terrible, eh? I'd posted a similar video a few days ago of the camera flopping around with the RC car and they said it was because that use was out of the design spec. Fine--I don't believe it since the pre-replacement unit handled turns ok (just had horizon tilt) but that's plausible enough.

Sedate bike commuting is certainly within the expected use case, and this video shows it's totally failing at that.

 

[Adventurous]

I take it no resolution on the whole saga huh? I was all set to buy a Karma until I saw your troubles; I have now sold my GoPro stock and am exploring other options.

 

[Toshi]

I take it no resolution on the whole saga huh? I was all set to buy a Karma until I saw your troubles; I have now sold my GoPro stock and am exploring other options.

This last video finally did it:

>>>>>

Hi Toshi,

If you would like a refund, when did you first get the Karma Grip? Do you have the proof of purchase?

Thank you,

[elided]
GoPro Support

 

[Toshi]

On the upside, the Karma Grip did decide to depict my best angle...

 

[Toshi]

For @6thElement and others interesting in ogling the tiny scratches in the Land Cruiser:

https://goo.gl/photos/VgBqLeg9Zudppm839

Photos from today. Should be self-explanatory. Tiny rock chips in windshield, tiny scratches, dented running board from the Alpine Loop, front right fender scratches from off-roading around Vail (said scratches which prompted this whole episode).

Timeline at this point:

1) Withdrawing funds to be able to pay off Land Cruiser loan by next month but not actually paying it off yet

2) Interviewing in Seattle May 8

3) If Seattle is a no-go that money goes back into the market and the Land Cruiser continues to live in my garage indefinitely

4) If Seattle is a go and somehow I swing a downtown-only gig then I'll be a car-less bike commuter once back in the rain. In this case I'd sell the Land Cruiser but more in the November time period since I still need a gas powered vehicle over the summer in one or another shape or form.

5) If Seattle is a go but I'll have to drive somewhere at least once a week then I'll put my thinking cap on (where did it go?), sell the Land Cruiser late May after getting its title in hand and go down a new route...


Edit: Didn't really think this one through too well for case 5... because potential kid #3 might screw it all up. In that case I'd be pretty well set with the RAV4 EV for even the worst case commute, it's fun enough since it's really zippy below 40 mph or so, it has enough headroom for my big noggin, and has clear enough sightlines to satisfy my visibility neuroses.

Edit 2: Limited range EV wouldn't make for a good biking vehicle, though, and I don't think Jessica would be too happy to always have to give up "her car" when I went riding...

So it's really case 5A) Seattle with car commute and two kids. In this case I'd sell the Land Cruiser in the near future. Jessica would continue with the 2 kid-max RAV4 EV.

and case 5B) Seattle with car commute and three kids. In this case I'd sell the Land Cruiser in the near future and get a biking-acceptable but non-offroad vehicle for me. The RAV4 EV would be replaced by a minivan later on.

This second edit's line of thought actually vindicates my half-baked plan to withdraw the funds, because in both of these cases selling the Land Cruiser earlier rather than later actually seems to make sense.

 

[Toshi]

case 5B) Seattle with car commute and three kids. In this case I'd sell the Land Cruiser and pick up a minivan sometime around the 2nd trimester, when the kid is more likely than not to actually pop out.

Idly looked at this today as it wasn't super busy. Since I disliked the Pacifica's ergonomics and we are used to Toyota control layout (and reliability--only one recommended by Consumer Reports) I stuck to that. Since pickings around Denver's zip code were slim I searched around Seattle, and found a dealer with one:

This just seemed off. It has 8,392 miles on it so it's clearly used (dealer shuttle vehicle?) yet they're comparing to MSRP. Moreover, that MSRP is bogus. Here's an identically speced new one:

Yeah... so $36k new MSRP including destination, probably $33k in real life. Add 8k miles and now they want $36k?

That's some gall.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Don't waste your time with the AWD version of the Sienna.

 

[Toshi]

Don't waste your time with the AWD version of the Sienna.

Because snow tires are sufficient? I'd do snows either way, of course... and snows + AWD (or 4WD as is currently the case for me) is pretty awesome.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Because snow tires are sufficient? I'd do snows either way, of course... and snows + AWD (or 4WD as is currently the case for me) is pretty awesome.

Because of the shitty gas mileage and the fact that you HAVE to go with run-flats since there is NO spare tire. Not even a donut. I suppose someone makes run-flat snow tires? I dunno... but if someone does, I bet they are VERY proud of them.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Because of the shitty gas mileage and the fact that you HAVE to go with run-bros since there is NO spare tire. Not even a donut. I suppose someone makes run-bro snow tires? I dunno... but if someone does, I bet they are VERY proud of them.

 

[Toshi]

Because of the shitty gas mileage and the fact that you HAVE to go with run-flats since there is NO spare tire. Not even a donut. I suppose someone makes run-flat snow tires? I dunno... but if someone does, I bet they are VERY proud of them.

Good points. I hadn't considered the run-flat + snow bit, but on poking around they exist:

$128 per tire, not too bad at all: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Blizzak+LM-50+RFT&partnum=26R7BZLM50RFT

The mileage, ride quality, and 8 vs 7 passenger setup considerations are all valid, though.

 

[Toshi]

Latest folly. This would be a Seattle complement to Jessica's theoretical Sienna.

That's the Prius Prime, the same one dogged on by Car and Driver vs the Volt a few posts back.

Pluses:

- ~$24k for the top end one after the state and Federal tax credits
- trailer hitch exists, and could be modified by a local welding shop to take a 2" receiver natively
- radar adaptive cruise control that works down to 0 mph: it would drive itself barring steering in stop and go traffic, in other words!
- also the other modern safety bits: autobrake with pedestrian detection, blind spot warning, lane departure warning, etc.
- I'm already well familiar with the ergonomic quirks of the Prius, as well as its slowness, and they are entertaining in their own, gamified way (recall that we had a 2nd gen and my parents had a 2nd gen and now 4th gen)
- 133 MPGe on its initial ~20 mile range, then 54 mpg as a hybrid after those electrons become exhausted
- lots of front row head room
- Seattle street cred

Cons:

- ugly as sin
- slow
- I hope the hitch rack wouldn't be too close to the ground
- strict 4 seater (likely due to GVWR constraints for the platform given the extra Li-ion battery weight), and that rear seat is headroom-impaired not that I'd be sitting there much

Oh, and this, too, a giant Tesla style center console screen:

The local Toyota dealer has one on their lot, supposedly, so I may take it for a spin tomorrow. If my future life is going to involve a lot of traffic, that fancy cruise could be invaluable...

 

[StiHacka]

That is a truly driverless car.

 

[Toshi]

The logical question if I'm considering a practical but boring (slushbox!) vehicle because it can creep along by itself in stop and go traffic is "Why not a Subaru with EyeSight?" (EyeSight only being available on automatics, of course.)

For the Legacy I'd need to have no moonroof for headroom. EyeSight is actually available in this form: 2.5i Premium with the EyeSight/high beam assist/blind spot monitor package. That'd be $26k. No navigation (paired with moonroof option, gah), no giant screen, and 25/34 mpg for what that's worth.

A Forester 2.5i Premium with EyeSight would be $27.6k as best as I can figure (broken configurator) and recall that I was underwhelmed by the overall experience when I test drove a stick shift current-gen a few years back. No navi there, either.

An Impreza 2.0i Premium 5 door with EyeSight would actually be a match at $24k but with no navigation, a plastic steering wheel, etc.

The WRX is out because one cannot get one with EyeSight and no moonroof, and thus that kills it for me. It's also $34.4k with EyeSight (paired with navigation), which seems awfully rich to me.


The Prius's $24k net price reflects the unique Colorado EV/PHEV tax credit. Thus the resale would probably track the value of the car with only the Federal credit. That is to say that the depreciation of that $24k Impreza would be much more than the Prius Prime. Since that Impreza would be pretty much poverty spec save for EyeSight and wouldn't be much more entertaining (IMO--both with the modern curse of swept-back A pillars and the like) Subaru really isn't on the radar.


Edit: Honda also now has Honda Sensing, which does the same thing. I sense a trend. (There are also many more expensive brands and models that have full speed dynamic cruise.) A Civic LX hatch with Honda Sensing would be only $21.5k but is as ugly as the Prius and then it's a Civic with a CVT. An Accord LX sedan with Honda Sensing would be $24k but no navi. This is more attractive to me. A CR-V EX in FWD guise has standard Honda Sensing, is $27k, and seems quite silly.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

I have an LX, and the CVT works just fine.

 

[Toshi]

I have an LX, and the CVT works just fine.

I guess in a low stress application they'd be fine. (Mrs. Stoney's CVT in her Infiniti makes me leery.)

I just don't see it being entertaining, though. As much as I try to channel Spock, ultimately I decide on stuff based on how it moves me. Our old Fit didn't move me so was discarded. Our old Prius actually was a much-loved car, and only departed from our company because we wanted to give a full electric a try.

The fun of the Prius clearly wasn't in its driving dynamics in the traditional sense, but rather in the game to keep it in its electric mode as much as possible and maximize its mileage. With a plug-in version then that'd be moot for the first 25 miles or so anyway, and the smug factor would be high once again (and that actually is fun! ).

Cue: