[Toshi]

On that topic, despite my acquisition of public-charging-network cards/memberships, I foresee 99% of charging for our future Leaf to be done at home.

We're not so cheap as to hunt out exclusively free L3 chargers (for some reason the L3s are free now, while L2s are pay-by-the-hour), and L2 charging in the field is stupid/expensive/slow/potentially unreliable if you have enough range to get home, and the 84 EPA rated miles at 100% SOC of the 2013 Leaf should be enough for nearly all days.

 

[dan-o]

Funny you mention that as my wife spoke with a contractor yesterday re: the mitsubishi system mentioned in post #3 of your link. We're getting an energy audit scheduled and will go from there.

 

[DaveW]

heh if you ever get bored Toshi, here's a geek project for you.

http://tesladownunder.com/WorldsBrightestBike.htm#BikeLights

 

[Toshi]

heh if you ever get bored Toshi, here's a geek project for you.

http://tesladownunder.com/WorldsBrightestBike.htm#BikeLights

Heh. 10 minute run time! Plus this caption is fantastic:

Our cat and it's[sic] WTF expression on first ride of the new bike.

 

[Toshi]

Two chinks in the armor of our Nissan LEAF-once-in-Seattle plans have appeared:

1) Our compact stroller takes up damn near the whole rear storage on the Prius. The LEAF probably wouldn't be appreciably worse in storage but certainly wouldn't be more capacious, even the slightly improved-packaging 2013 model.

2) Jessica noted that she felt more secure in the car while I was driving, during which time she was in the back seat hanging out with the baby. When she drove the baby (in her rear-facing car seat in the rear seat, of course) herself she felt more insecure. "The baby's so small…"

 

[Toshi]

Mariko at one month (G+ gallery link)

The baby actually tolerated all the bright lights (a sheet draped over the mattress and headboard of our bed + all the lights in the house ) really well. She doesn't follow commands to smile, etc. too well, though… heh.

 

[Toshi]

This is when it'd be nice to be an oil sheik:

Four hundred fifty thousand frickin' dollars for that awesomeness. I do spy me some portal axles in addition to the obvious 6x6 modification, confirmed on this photo:

 

[Toshi]

Two chinks in the armor of our Nissan LEAF-once-in-Seattle plans have appeared:

1) Our compact stroller takes up damn near the whole rear storage on the Prius. The LEAF probably wouldn't be appreciably worse in storage but certainly wouldn't be more capacious, even the slightly improved-packaging 2013 model.

2) Jessica noted that she felt more secure in the car while I was driving, during which time she was in the back seat hanging out with the baby. When she drove the baby (in her rear-facing car seat in the rear seat, of course) herself she felt more insecure. "The baby's so small…"

I may yet come full-circle yet again and (re-)consider the RAV4 EV, if Jessica indeed comes to the conclusion that a LEAF/Prius-sized vehicle is too small given baby-junk and insecurity. Others have exported them out of California: http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=197 . This includes a guy in Vancouver, WA, and another in Seattle, even.

The incentives on the RAV4 EV are pretty good, too: whatever price one can negotiate (so let's say invoice: $48k iirc) - $7-10k in Toyota incentive cash - $7,500 Federal tax credit, all financed through Toyota at 0% APR. Hmm. It just might be worth risking the out-of-state service issues for that kind of money...

Update: Here's why the RAV4 EV incentives are so high. See Jan 2013 sales of 25, rocketing up to a sky-high 54 in December 2012:

To think that at one point I was worried that none would be available for sale as eager Californians would have snapped them all up by the time I was in the market…

 

[Toshi]

Oddities spotted on today's commute:

- Aston Martin Rapide
- S10 Blazer, slightly lifted, with safari lights, air horns, and clearance lights on the roof
- sky-high lifted Bronco II with its brake lights out, classy
- usual array of NY jerks texting, etc.

 

[Toshi]

Question for the peanut gallery: Given these two choices, which would you pick?

Choice A) Risk life and limb on eBay, bid and win a used Fox 36 Float in unknown condition for $450-600 shipped.

Choice B) Get a brand spanking new X-Fusion Vengeance HLA from bikewagon.com for $767 shipped.

I'm inclined to go with the new option. No potential seal replacement, scratched stanchions, or dealing with dirty oil, plus a warranty sound well worth the $150-300, and I'm already hemorrhaging money with utilities and fuel oil.

Note that neither of these options are travel adjustable, although Fox 36 TALAS forks do pop up on eBay now and then. I read that the non-travel adjustable versions of each are a bit smoother plus a touch lighter, and I'm not sure that I'd use such a feature often. On the other hand, a 170 mm fork like the X-Fusion will be pretty tall already… I might go to flat bars to get as low of a front end as possible.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

Question for the peanut gallery: Given these two choices, which would you pick?



I'm inclined to go with the new option. No potential seal replacement, scratched stanchions, or dealing with dirty oil, plus a warranty sound well worth the $150-300, and I'm already hemorrhaging money with utilities and fuel oil.

Note that neither of these options are travel adjustable, although Fox 36 TALAS forks do pop up on eBay now and then. I read that the non-travel adjustable versions of each are a bit smoother plus a touch lighter, and I'm not sure that I'd use such a feature often. On the other hand, a 170 mm fork like the X-Fusion will be pretty tall already… I might go to flat bars to get as low of a front end as possible.

i´d go with the new one.
you´d have to add the cost of a refresh for the used 36, making both virtually the same price.

 

[Toshi]

The incentives on the RAV4 EV are pretty good, too: whatever price one can negotiate (so let's say invoice: $48k iirc) - $7-10k in Toyota incentive cash - $7,500 Federal tax credit, all financed through Toyota at 0% APR. Hmm. It just might be worth risking the out-of-state service issues for that kind of money...

Update: Here's why the RAV4 EV incentives are so high. See Jan 2013 sales of 25, rocketing up to a sky-high 54 in December 2012:

Current incentives for SoCal:

This, along with the release of the new-gen regular RAV4, means that I should update my back of napkin calculations below. Updated assumptions:

- Average gas price of $4/gallon, average electricity price of $0.10/kWh, 12k miles/year
- Both vehicles financed for 60 months via Toyota Financial, @ 0% via the incentive above for the EV, @ 1.9% for the gas model
- Feature-matched comparison vehicle of an AWD RAV4 Limited with Softex, navi, and Entune, but no JBL or blind spot monitor. I'd pick FWD but it's not released yet and wouldn't materially change the analysis. It gets 25 mpg combined and costs $29.4k before destination as described.
- EV model with an MSRP of $49.8k before destination but with all manner of incentives as above, which uses 0.44 kWh/mile per fueleconomy.gov
- An EV buyer with an adjusted gross income sufficient to qualify for the full $7,500 Federal tax credit, and who lives in Seattle, where EVs are exempt from the 9.1% (iirc) sales/use tax on new vehicles
- EVSE cost pegged at $1,500 installed since The EV Project is ramping down and no longer offering free EVSE to Seattleites. Note that there's an EVSE tax credit that I'll ignore for these purposes since $1,500 is a nice, round number.
- Charger efficiency of 85%

Gas price formula per year: 12,000 miles * $X/gal / 25 mpg, which works out to $1,920 per year for X = 4.00.
Electricity price formula: 12,000 miles * $Y/kWh * 0.44 kWh/mile / 85% charging efficiency, which works out to $621 for Y = 0.10.
Therefore, the net running cost savings per year are $1,299 in favor of the EV, ignoring oil changes.

Net purchase price difference = ($49.8k MSRP + $0 sales/use tax and interest + $1,500 EVSE cost - $10,000 incentive cash - $7,500 tax credit) - ($29.4k MSRP * 1.091 sales/use tax + $2,793 interest over 60 months @ 1.9%) = - $1,068. That's right: After accounting for interest the EV is cheaper outright without accounting for running costs.

If we divide the interest evenly (which isn't quite true, as it's paid up front, iirc) over 5 years and factor in running costs, then we find the breakeven point comes at about 6 months, if I did the arithmetic correctly. In reality, it wouldn't be until the end of the year when one would file with the tax credit, but then again one could account for this and decrease withholdings appropriately, etc.

In any case, payoff is now within a year with the gasser @ 1.9%, and before 3 years if one landed 0% financing for the gas model.



(What's missing from the above is the gamble involved in "exporting" a serviceable-in-California-only car to Washington. Still might be worth it!)

 

[Toshi]

i´d go with the new one.
you´d have to add the cost of a refresh for the used 36, making both virtually the same price.

I think I'm going to go with the new one in a few weeks, along with a 0-rise 800+ mm bar and 40 mm stem. Gotta try out all these new fads at once (in addition to the tubeless, my first setup).

 

[Toshi]

Unless I get the late spring-weather itch, I'm going to stop bicycle commuting until my move back to Seattle in June.

Exhibits A and B from today's commute, the first after this long winter, demonstrating why I'm "retiring":

The clueless grandma in the Cadillac pulling the U-turn from the right-hand lane almost gets a pass in my book, since I could and did anticipate her incompetence from afar. On the other hand, I expected more courtesy from the soccer mom in the Sienna Limited AWD with a freakin' Coexist bumper sticker… until I saw her texting at the next light. (She zoomed by me at 50 mph or so with perhaps 2 feet to spare between her mirror and my shoulder.)

Selfish assholes, the lot of them. At this point, I'd much rather deal with them on their own terms in the car, where the damage they could inflict on me at surface street commuting speeds is measured in terms of my insurance policy's deductible.

 

[Toshi]

Bath time with baby-kins. Jessica held the baby as she squirmed about, my mother actually bathed her, and I stood at a distance and shot these:

 

[stevew]

my younger brother was rumored to have hit one or two cars with a D cell battery when he commuted in denver to get a drivers *attention*....

 

[Toshi]

That's a 3/4 ton Yukon XL 2500 [… for which] there exists an EPA certified CNG bi-fuel conversion

Update: Ah, crap. I just looked at the NG conversions list again and Greenkraft only has dedicated CNG conversions for the K2500 Yukon XL. No one lists the K2500 Yukon XL for bi-fuel conversions, and if I'm going to go CNG I'm absolutely going to go bi-fuel. Scratch that idea.

Update 2: Auto Gas America may have a certification for a bi-fuel conversion. Maybe. http://autogasamerica.com/2013-certifications/ . I've contacted them.

 

[dan-o]

If you want a conversion Suburban look no further.

 

[Toshi]

Diesel just doesn't do it for me, somehow. Too common? I need a rare bird. If the factory diesel offerings would run happily on B80 or the like then I'd sing a different tune, but iirc none are allowed more than B10 or even B5.

CNG, while still unclean, is domestic. Somehow that makes it better in my twisted mind. Perhaps I've been listening too much to T. Boone Pickens.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

i wish you could try a CNG-burning car. it would destroy all your idealizations.

there is a very noticeable power loss when you swtich from gasoline to CNG. and re-fueling (at least around here) is a pain in the ass. a whole tank wont last more than a couple days... and then you have to go to the station, get out of the car, while they take a good 4-6 minutes re-fueling. usually CNG stations have lines of cars... since it takes some time to fill each tank.

 

[Toshi]

Pickuptrucks.com dynoed the bi-fuel Ram 2500 and Westport-converted F-250. Power loss was between 10-15% for each, iirc, so if it started out adequate it should remain adequate.

Are the vehicles you've driven "real" OEM/established company conversions? I have no doubt that a slapdash eBay-style conversion would run like crap…

I wouldn't be worried about lines of cars at CNG stations here, heh. Indeed, I'd be worried that they'd shut down for lack of use besides the odd municipal or fleet vehicle here or there.

The real draw is like EVs, in the ability to refuel at home with something like this, the Fuelmaker FMQ2-36:

It refills at 0.9 gge/hr, so a normal day's driving would just need to have the vehicle plugged in overnight.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

Pickuptrucks.com dynoed the bi-fuel Ram 2500 and Westport-converted F-250. Power loss was between 10-15% for each, iirc, so if it started out adequate it should remain adequate.

Are the vehicles you've driven "real" OEM/established company conversions? I have no doubt that a slapdash eBay-style conversion would run like crap…

there is a huge move around here to switch from gasoline/diesel, to LPG/CNG. cng is much cheaper, usually 60% cheaper than gasoline, plus cng comes from local sources.
the ghetto-rigged instalations obviously suck (improper fuel mix, improper idle, etc, etc); but am talking OEM or dealer-installed options.

there are some commercially available 18 wheelers sold with factory installed cng engines. they a slooooow....

I wouldn't be worried about lines of cars at CNG stations here, heh. Indeed, I'd be worried that they'd shut down for lack of use besides the odd municipal or fleet vehicle here or there.

The real draw is like EVs, in the ability to refuel at home with something like this, the Fuelmaker FMQ2-36:

It refills at 0.9 gge/hr, so a normal day's driving would just need to have the vehicle plugged in overnight.

thats some very interesting device.
but i´d be a bit worried about the composition of domestic CNG, and its suitability for an engine designed for gasoline.
there is an issue with premature wear on the valve seats.

a few years ago (when CNG was in its infancy in Peru), i was part of a local study made by toyota in which we rigged a few company cars (yaris, corolla, rav4 and a hilux) with CNG, in order to test long-term reliability.
we would take out the cylinder head for evaluation every 10k miles (almost once every 2 months) for over a year.
we noticed, after 80k miles half of the engines had signs of wear around the valve seats, a wear which is usually seen in cars with much more mileage.

we had this program, because we thought about selling brand new cars with dealer-installed CNG, covered by a 100k miles/5 year warranty.

i understand chrysler did a similar exercise, but they had more serious troubles with the heads in a few cherokee/liberty and WK jeeps. a few of them needed to be replaced, because they developed pinholes.

in the end, we (Toyota), scrapped the program after a few months, because we were not sure CNG would not affect long term reliability, and did not want to risk the brand reputation.

i´d suspect some cylinder heads are more likely to suffer from premature wear from CNG than other, but in any case; CNG will likely shorten the cylinder head lifespan at least a bit.

 

[Toshi]

That's an excellent point about the valve seats, and that's why there's a CNG prep option for at least Fords… that consists of hardened valve seats.

Here's a screenshot from the Transit Connect configurator just now to illustrate this cheap, available option:

I'd imagine and hope that the big name company (e.g. Impco, BAF) conversions for other marques include similar hardened valve seats for non-Fords. At least in some applications it looks like exactly that is done:

The [Impco converted] vans have 6.0-liter GM Vortec V-8 engines with hardened exhaust valves, and intake and exhaust valve seats.

With regard to the quality of domestic-use NG that's then compressed vs. CNG from a commercial pump: Some areas have "wet" NG, but there are filters and dryers that can be installed to clean things up.

The worst in terms of impurities is apparently raw natural gas right from the wellhead, which is offset by the fact that it's essentially free to the companies that run the well. Unless we strike black gold in our future back yard, however, this won't be an issue for me.

 

[Toshi]

It's nice having assistants (my mother, visiting/helping out for the past two weeks) + a photogenic baby + a nice, long lens:

 

[Toshi]

If I lived by a glacier I'd rock this:

(Excursion on 49.5" tires, but with an actual purpose and not stupidly raised.)

In its element:

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

That's an excellent point about the valve seats, and that's why there's a CNG prep option for at least Fords… that consists of hardened valve seats.

Here's a screenshot from the Transit Connect configurator just now to illustrate this cheap, available option:

I'd imagine and hope that the big name company (e.g. Impco, BAF) conversions for other marques include similar hardened valve seats for non-Fords. At least in some applications it looks like exactly that is done:



With regard to the quality of domestic-use NG that's then compressed vs. CNG from a commercial pump: Some areas have "wet" NG, but there are filters and dryers that can be installed to clean things up.

The worst in terms of impurities is apparently raw natural gas right from the wellhead, which is offset by the fact that it's essentially free to the companies that run the well. Unless we strike black gold in our future back yard, however, this won't be an issue for me.

sneaky americans... you have thought of everything!
in our case, the cost for hardened valve seats was significant; since it would be a special order not subject to the volume discounts we get for the regular cars.

whats the ROI on the whole CNG thing? at what mileage you expect to break even???
btw, i forgot about the "lag". there is a slight delay in throttle response with CNG (not to be confused with power loss), specially when you put the pedal to the metal.
this is because there is a significant drop in pressure in the fuel "rail" when you open wide the injector vs the drop in pressure with liquid fuels.

 

[Toshi]

whats the ROI on the whole CNG thing? at what mileage you expect to break even???
btw, i forgot about the "lag". there is a slight delay in throttle response with CNG (not to be confused with power loss), specially when you put the pedal to the metal.
this is because there is a significant drop in pressure in the fuel "rail" when you open wide the injector vs the drop in pressure with liquid fuels.

Interesting about the lag.

With regard to the ROI: I roughed out cost per mile in this old post, but a more complete answer would depend on unknown future resale value as well as how much one values several intangibles.

How much is it worth to have solo driver HOV lane access? How much does one value the externality of reduced-albeit-still-non-negligible environmental impact? What's it worth to have the ability to divorce oneself from gasoline and the gasoline distribution network in a crisis, plus have the EV-like convenience of fueling up one's vehicle at home every night?

If one disregarded the above factors then my estimation for the Ram 2500 CNG is that the breakeven point is reached at around 64,000 miles (see below post for a slightly more nuanced answer).

I do value these above intangible factors highly, though, thus to me it could be "worth it" even sooner than that 60k point… (HOV lane access won't be relevant to me if I end up in Washington state. Alt fuel vehicles get no free carpool lane pass in congested Seattle.) Indeed, per the below post one can see that valuing those "other factors" at just over $100/month would lead to the system having broken even in 3 years flat.

 

[Toshi]

With regard to the ROI: I roughed out cost per mile in this old post, but a more complete answer would depend on unknown future resale value as well as how much one values several intangibles.

I do value these above intangible factors highly[…]

Estimation time.

The goal is to find out how much said intangible factors will need to be worth in order to make the accounts balance, so to speak. To address the resale value question I'm going to assume that at 3 years the CNG hardware will retain-as-added-resale-value 25% of its added cost, and at 5 years, 10%. Vehicles to compare will be the CNG and non-CNG versions of the Ram 2500 CNG. (I could do the Civic Natural Gas but won't bother.)

The initial price differential for the CNG Ram is $12,000, give or take. Thus these numbers will be relevant for aftermarket conversions of similar-MPG vehicles, which are all in the same ballpark. At 3 years the system will "cost" $9k net, and at 5 years net cost will be $10.8k. We're also going to price in a home vehicle refueling appliance, bought used and installed for $6k, and worth a more or less constant $4k resale after that.

Let's be generous and assume 14 MPG combined on gasoline, and 14 miles per GGE on CNG. From my prior post I calculated that home refueling of a 14 MPGGE vehicle at Seattle residential NG and electricity prices would cost 8.6 cents/mile. In contrast, $4/gallon gasoline operation would cost 28.6 cents/mile, for a net savings of 20 cents/mile.

At 3 years we're assuming the net cost increase of the CNG vehicle is $11k ($9k for initial system cost, $2k for VRA). Unless a fleet user one is unlikely to have driven the 55,000 miles required to break even at this point.

At 5 years, on the other hand, we're assuming net CNG cost increase of $12.8k ($10.8k for initial, $2k for VRA). By 5 years it's very reasonable even for a regular driver to have hit the 64,000 miles required to break even.

So the answer is that the breakeven point lies somewhere around 64,000 miles and 5 years, assuming the "other factors" don't have a value. That's a hell of a lot better than I thought going into this, actually.



Rereading this I realize I didn't answer my initial question, of setting my price/value for the "other factors." Let's arbitrarily say that I want the system to have paid for itself in 3 years and 36,000 miles. Net CNG purchase cost increase is $11k at this point per the above, and net running cost savings are $7.2k (36k miles * $0.20/mi). Therefore the "other factors" would have to be worth $1,267/year to make things kosher at 3 yrs/36k miles.

I'd pay that much to absolve part of my environmental guilt and have something cool and different, but I'm an odd ball in those regards.

 

[Toshi]

I'd pay [$1300 per year] to absolve part of my environmental guilt and have something cool and different, but I'm an odd ball in those regards.

Hmm. So I looked up the magnitude of the environmental improvement of CNG vehicles, and the findings are kind of disappointing. In particular, CNG vehicles offer (only) "an 18%-19% reduction in the overall life cycle environmental impact" relative to gasoline.

Given that this is comparing like size to like size vehicles then it's doubly disappointing, as it implies that a gasoline vehicle with perhaps 25% better fuel economy would be equally as "green" as a CNG Tahoe/Ram/Super Duty. (It's not 18% precisely because more or less of a vehicle's emissions may occur during the use part of the life cycle vs. production depending on its underlying fuel/technology. It could be 12% for all I know, but rounding up is a safer bet.)

Needless to say, it's pretty damn easy to find something that gets 25% better than 12 or 14 MPG combined, whatever it is, plus a reduction of such a small magnitude would be easy to obtain with carbon offsets, to boot.



Scratch this CNG business in that case. If there were bi-fuel OEM options from imported marques in sizes smaller than 260" length long bed crew cab heavy duty pickups then I'd reconsider it. For instance, the Volvo S60 is sold as a bi-fuel CNG/gas vehicle in Europe… The smaller options available here, e.g. Transit Connect and Impala, just aren't palatable.

Perhaps I'll learn to live with the gasoline distribution grid after all, Sandy unreliability and price volatility be damned, or maybe I'll go diesel and park a 500 gallon tank full of that relatively stable fuel in the back yard, as it were.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

looking back at my 12 years of car ownership, i´d have to say my 2006 yaris was the best "frugal" car i had.
mileage was astonishingly good, price/depreciation/ownership costs were really low (over the 4 years I had, it was cheaper to run than the high end bicycles I had at the time) and thats not even counting depreciation, which made it an even better deal.
it was bulletproof too. over its 50k mile stint with me, it saw at least 3-4000 miles of dirtroads at 30+mph (with a roof rack, it was my shuttle rig). never broke anything, and never needed anything other than a clutch. (i ate the clutch well before the brake pads needed replacement)
its gas mileage was so good, it made the much more expensive prius pointless.

seriously, it was so good, an looking at buying a yaris (or its slightly upscale cousin, the Auris) again.... but you like unicorns, so it might not be the car for you.

2nd, would be a 2.5 common-rail turbodiesel mitsubishi l200. but you dont get that in the US.

 

[Toshi]

I already have that Yaris-in-spirit in the 2006 Prius that my wife drives. Frugal in fuel and lack of repair costs, gets me where I need to go… just not the stuff of dreams.

You're right: I am searching for a unicorn. Too rare a beast or too common are equal sins.

Note that in all of this virtual hand-wringing the plans for the wife's vehicle remain constant: a Leaf this fall/winter, or more likely a RAV4 EV in January.

 

[Toshi]

Hmm. So I looked up the magnitude of the environmental improvement of CNG vehicles, and the findings are kind of disappointing. In particular, CNG vehicles offer (only) "an 18%-19% reduction in the overall life cycle environmental impact" relative to gasoline.

More evidence, and it's even worse than the above, via a National Geographic article on LNG truck refilling stations:

Measuring the environmental benefit of the switch to natural gas is complicated, even though it's clear that burning of natural gas produces about 30 percent less carbon dioxide than diesel fuel. One of the primary issues is leakage of methane, the main component of natural gas, which is 25 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas over 100 years. The U.S. government says when methane leakage in the production process is accounted for, a switch from gasoline to natural gas as a vehicle fuel still cuts greenhouse gas emissions, but only 6 to 11 percent.

The issue is even more complex, however, because methane's global warming potential is far worse when examined over a shorter time frame; it is 72 times more potent than CO2 as a heat-trapping gas over 20 years. Many scientists say it is vital to consider this short-term impact. A study published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science concluded that based on estimated leak rates, the atmosphere would be worse off for 80 years before any climate benefit would be realized from a switch to natural gas for gasoline-powered cars. It could take even longer to see a benefit from a switch for heavy-duty trucks, the study said.

So the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund, working with partners in industry, has begun a deeper study of methane leak rates when natural gas is used as a fuel for heavy-duty vehicles. Chief scientist Steve Hamberg said the group will gather data on methane leakage from incomplete combustion in trucks, leaks from fittings in the system for delivering and storing natural gas, and from the filling stations themselves. "If you are switching fuels in the transportation sector, you need to be especially careful about methane losses through the supply chain if you want to be sure you are not increasing climate effects," he said. "This is not to say it can't be done." But because the energy content of diesel and natural gas are relatively close, "it doesn't take a lot of leakage of methane to result in higher net emissions from methane," he said.

A 6-11% benefit is definitely too small to convince me that switching to CNG is a good idea, not to mention the whole bit about being worse off for the first 80 years.

I will now cease my proselytizing for the fuel. CNG is off my radar.

 

[Toshi]

I am searching for a unicorn.

I'd love to do something like this guy has done/is writing about: http://forum.ih8mud.com/200-series-cruisers/695739-transafrica-land-cruiser-200-diesel.html . It's quite the read, quite the adventure.

He did it in a series 200 LC, of course (although I still favor the LX):

I'd exhaust exploring opportunities in the US and Canada before heading to Central/South America or Africa due to the fear of being kidnapped and held for ransom, though.

An excerpt, in the author's translated-from-Swiss English:

We was on the 2nd sundowner at night - inside of this beautiful desert scenery with near fullmoon - as we suddenly saw headlights on the big road.
This happens from time to time - but now - we saw that the lightbeam turns in our direction. Quickly we turn the camplight off - and wonders if we got detected.
The lightbeam gets closer to us - and we starts to hear too the engine. We were not surprised when we heard that this vehicle also gets stuck in the sand. The engine turns off - later too the light. But after 10 minutes - the engine starts again - the light was turned on - and the car comes closer. Again he seems to get stuck - we hear the engine on high revs - and the light who don't move anymore.
We recognize that this car will come closer - and - maybe because of us. We was there for 3 hours without any traffic. That this is a "normal" road where also the locals have to dig- we cant really believe.
If the car will keep on the track - he maybe dont see us - because we are out of the light beam - but - this night was very bright - we can see our own shadow because of the moon.
To make an emergency start - and leave back some of the camping equipment -was also not a good option. Too we know - that we will probably dig in soon again. So we decide to hide us behind the car.
The car passed the deep sand area - and hold maybe 50m before he would see our fresh made track. Then he moves again - and stops as we was there where we left the track. We moves behind the next side of the car and try to hide us. Now they're light don't blind us - we saw a pickup with 3 guys behind - saw silhouettes with turban and guns..

I think we dont have to tell you how we feel. Pure adrenaline ...

 

[Toshi]

I ordered the parts just now to finish off the Turner 6 Pack/RFX build, namely a X-Fusion Vengeance HLR (170 mm, non-adjustable travel, air sprung), a 40 mm stem, 800 mm Syntace flat bars, and Gore sealed derailleur cables.



I also ordered a bunch of other **** to play with, adding yet more to the "pay off in Seattle" pile *:

- GS1000 dashcam so that I can pretend I'm Russian ($90, not too bad, noting that it's an "authentic" version with the GPS and G-sensor, as opposed to eBay knockoffs/clones that lack these distinguishing features)
- license plate bolt-mounted backup camera, a little 3.5" LCD, and an RCA cable so that I can theoretically add backup camera functionality to the Acura (less than $50 all in!)
- Mobil 1 "Advanced Fuel Economy" 0W-30 and PureOne filters for both cars, plus a Fumoto valve for the Acura to match the one I already popped on the Prius



* More on the "pay off in Seattle" bit mentioned above:

This past November I opened up a Chase Slate credit card solely for the purpose of using it for a balance transfer, since it offered 0% APR x 15 months, 0 fee terms for the same. I figured I'd transfer some expenses from now (high rent and utilities) to our time in Seattle (living with mother in law, no state income tax, no rent, low utilities). I ended up getting a $10,500 credit line from Chase for that particular card, and transferred up to that limit.

Yesterday I transferred some more balances, sending $7,500 to my pre-existing Capital One account. (Note that these are prospective transfers, pre-paying the Amex, so to speak: I don't run interest-bearing balances month to month.) This one also has 0% APR x 12 months but unfortunately has a 2% fee.

The net result is that I've spent $150 in fees in order to defer expenses for essentially a year. Deferral of said expenses in turn allows me to keep my rainy day savings account stocked with a decent balance for true emergencies, and also has let me build this Turner sooner rather than later. Paying off these transferred balances before their respective 0% APR offers expire shouldn't be an issue per my estimation, but now with $18,000 racked up the stakes have been raised… yikes.

A final note is that paying off these transferred 0% credit card balances, contributing the $5k limit towards my Roth IRA, and paying down our student loans up to the $2,500 Federal tax deduction limit are all in the plans prior to the still-planned purchase of a RAV4 EV in early 2014. Got to get my financial house in order before extending myself more.

 

[Toshi]

Score.

I just found out from the service writer at the local-to-my-parents Honda dealer that the Acura had its notoriously-fragile 5-speed automatic transmission replaced under extended warranty back in 2005, at 75k miles!



This is quite awesome, as the transmission otherwise would be a ticking time bomb from all I've read.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to confirm from either the helpful local Honda dealer or the Acura dealer in Eugene that actually replaced the transmission whether the timing belt was replaced while the car was cracked open. This is no big deal, since the belt should technically be replaced every 7 years or 60-105k miles anyway. I'll have an independent repair shop in Seattle replace the either soon-to-be-due or very-long-overdue timing belt, flush the transmission's surely nasty fluid, and pop in a new water pump while at it as prophylaxis.

With regard to the 75k @ 2005 data point above: It indicates that my parents racked up nearly 20k miles per year over their first 4 years with the car, as opposed to the mere 5k and change per year it accrued over the next 7… Not coincidentally, they bought their 2006 model year Prius some time in 2005 or 2006. They just shifted all their driving to it, apparently.

 

[Toshi]

Question for the peanut gallery:

I have four personal days/vacation days to use up this year. What should I do with them, given the constraint of the kid? Add them to a weekend and see relatives in Montreal? Do the same for relatives in DC (and friends in Norfolk, VA)? Go to Acadia National Park again and do ??? with the baby outdoors? Do something else entirely?

 

[Toshi]

In case anyone besides dump cares about the resolution to the above, we're going down to Norfolk and DC in May.

Two interesting cars I spotted today: a mildly stretched MKZ Hybrid, probably this company's handiwork, in livery garb, of course; and a non-P85 Tesla Model S.

Day later update: Other spottings of note include a Honda Fit EV (1 of 1000-something? here in Long Island!) and a Tahoe Hybrid (! wtf).

 

[Toshi]

I test drove a Nissan NV today, and have been thoroughly cured of any desire for one. That's the short version. The longer take is as follows.

Today I wasted an hour of a salesman's time–at the largest-by-volume Nissan NA dealer, no less–and test drove the NV Passenger Van. (I would have driven the high roof food truck depicted below, but, alas, none were available.) The dealer experience itself left much to be desired, probably secondary to that sales figure mentioned above. (55xx? 56xx? units sold in 2012.) All 25 sales guys (!) were forced to wear tacky red T shirts emblazoned with their cumulative March sales goal of 700 units moved, and everyone was hurried and harried.

The test drive experience was also suboptimal, or perhaps perfect, depending on your perspective, as the dealership's area of town is both run-down and frenetic at the same time. Cars, cars, everywhere, and not a traffic law to be followed… Actually, I have to admit that blocking 3 lanes of (stopped) traffic as I cut across in order to turn left was kind of fun.

Anyway, onto the vehicle itself. Pros:

- Much more palatable overall than an Econoline, but that's damning it with faint praise. Not having the engine binnacle inside the cabin alone was a huge improvement
- Standard towing mirrors (at least on the one I drove and the ones I ogled), which made finding the side of the vehicle easy. The corners of the hood are similarly well demarcated, and the height of the vehicle made for the most commanding of views out to the front
- The drivetrain seemed smooth and powerful enough even on the 4L V6 model in which I tooled about
- Plenty of headroom for my long-ass torso, even sans high roof in the passenger model, in all but the center-rear positions where the HVAC tunnel in the roof intrudes just a bit
- Well controlled ride, albeit a bit jouncy. Not Home Depot F-350-level crashing, mind you, just a bit European, if you will
- Price isn't half bad, with a "loaded" SL model in the high-mid $30s

Cons:

- Way too big to drive about town without damn good reason (e.g., hauling 10 people or a tremendous amount of junk). I didn't fully appreciate this until driving the beast, although the fact that there's a step up to simply get in the rear of the thing should have been an indicator of the same. I had no sense of the length of the rear of the vehicle, and it was a bit unnerving to tower over even the shuttle service drivers in their mere E Series. I didn't swap any paint or hop any curbs, at least
- Dashboard and interior plastics in general are strictly commercial-duty grade items, as is the plasticky quality of the leather and pixelated graphics of the Garmin-esque navi system. Extras on the SL such as seat heaters and dual zone climate control seem out of place
- The rear seats, while removable without tools, are heavy sons of bitches; the seatbacks don't recline in the 2nd-4th rows; and the pitch between the rear rows is coach class-tight when they're not spread apart in "limo mode"
- Very slow steering ratio, although the turning circle itself wasn't half bad given it's length

I had thought that I'd find the NV amusing since I'd come away from my Land Cruiser test drive smiling. Instead I felt very out of place in both it and the dealer, and won't be revisiting this idea any time soon.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

latest cool-ish new car i´ve come across.
Mazda 5
Good car for the price, and surprisingly roomy, specially considering the fact minivans are a very rare beast this side of the world.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

Question for the peanut gallery:

I have four personal days/vacation days to use up this year. What should I do with them, given the constraint of the kid? Add them to a weekend and see relatives in Montreal? Do the same for relatives in DC (and friends in Norfolk, VA)? Go to Acadia National Park again and do ??? with the baby outdoors? Do something else entirely?

visit the family
i have this week off (between job switches); had plans to spend my week riding my bike, visiting bike shops while drooling about my next purchase; spending the afternoons at a sauna + steak and malbec for lunch + massage (the decent kind) + nap.... but i had to pickup my nephew from school today, feed him and baysit him for the day.

kids are frighteningly fragile. yours is probably not heavy duty enough to be taken on trips yet.