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The Car thread

Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,358
16,839
Riding the baggage carousel.
Sandwich said:
Roads are mellow for the most part, aside from pickup trucks.
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I used to commute quite a bit on the single speed, but this town has doubled in size since we first moved here. What used to be quiet little side streets are now crowded thoroughfares at rush hour. It doesn't help that the influx of people collided head on with the cities "infrastructure is a gay communist plot to abort guns" tax policy, which made cycle commuting just too dangerous in my mind to continue doing so. The greenways downtown always have a ton of people on them, and I'm of the opinion that my side of town would use them equally, if only they were available.
 
dump

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,234
4,492
Jm_ said:
When SUVs become normal and sedans are abnormal.
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Fwiw, this is coming from a sedan driver. The i4 felt really basic, but at a premium price.Like they weren’t even trying w/ the interior. IX they are definitely trying. Looking forward to more manufacturers getting into the electric game.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,480
20,284
Sleazattle
Been seeing unusually high numbers of Dodge Challengers on the road recently. I assume because they haven't faced supply chain issues like other cars as they are not modern enough to need computer chips. Those things are loud, but not a good loud, sounds more like someone converted an old air raid siren into an industrial flatulence machine.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,014
9,672
AK
Westy said:
Been seeing unusually high numbers of Dodge Challengers on the road recently. I assume because they haven't faced supply chain issues like other cars as they are not modern enough to need computer chips. Those things are loud, but not a good loud, sounds more like someone converted an old air raid siren into an industrial flatulence machine.
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They are going to have as many computer chips as anything else, ECU, traction management, transmission, entertainment, connectivity, other shit.

They are just cheap at the lower levels. The pizza-cutter wheels and tires are laughable. They are also available AWD, so chargers and challengers tend to make up a lot of AWD stuff where people don't want an SUV...apart from Subaru and much more expensive euro sedans.
 
dump

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,234
4,492
The iX is apparently made out of carbon fiber in no small way (and other materials). Visible when you open the doors.

6EC95119-9D21-44C3-B7D6-04311C8FB778.jpeg
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,088
6,024
borcester rhymes
dump said:
The iX is apparently made out of carbon fiber in no small way (and other materials). Visible when you open the doors.

View attachment 180587
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The i3 was like that. Pretty neat if it's strong enough. I wish the i3 was a bit more zippy- it's a neat car that could be a good "runabout" for errands and commuting. I test drove one but it didn't have much battery- when I went to try and find one to buy, 2021 prices had set in and f that noise.
 
Poops McDougal

Poops McDougal

moving to australia
May 30, 2007
1,179
1,241
Central California
So you guys were entirely right about the Highlander: not even close to big enough. The wife is entertaining mini-vans now.

On a related note: I'm thinking about trading my truck in for something more sensible. I'm commuting 98% of the time in the city, and I only *need* a truck about 3 or 4 times a year, so it doesn't sense any more. Thinking about a compact SUV so I can still fold down the rear seats to make runs to the hardware store, have room for the family (even if tight), etc. Fun to drive would be a plus, so I'm looking at maybe a CX-5 or something along those lines. The monkey is never short on opinions.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,014
9,672
AK
I rented one a few weeks ago and I was having problems with bog, where there was a gap in the traffic and I tried to use the gap to pull out, but despite pushing the gas pedal way down, it didn't go anywhere...From a stop any car should be able to get some initial acceleration, but it was scary a few times.
 
Poops McDougal

Poops McDougal

moving to australia
May 30, 2007
1,179
1,241
Central California
Pesqueeb said:
Similar situation. Big fan of our now 6 year old CX-5.

Edit to add; If memory serves, both @Adventurous and @SkaredShtles are also CX-5 owners.
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Jm_ said:
I rented one a few weeks ago and I was having problems with bog, where there was a gap in the traffic and I tried to use the gap to pull out, but despite pushing the gas pedal way down, it didn't go anywhere...From a stop any car should be able to get some initial acceleration, but it was scary a few times.
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Adventurous said:
Yep, we've got a 2016 that we've owned for 3 years and 25K miles now. It's been a good car and I have few complaints, none of which would have dissuaded us from buying the car had I known about them beforehand.
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Turbo or NA engines?
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
41,253
13,375
Portland, OR
Poops McDougal said:
On a related note: I'm thinking about trading my truck in for something more sensible. I'm commuting 98% of the time in the city, and I only *need* a truck about 3 or 4 times a year, so it doesn't sense any more. Thinking about a compact SUV so I can still fold down the rear seats to make runs to the hardware store, have room for the family (even if tight), etc. Fun to drive would be a plus, so I'm looking at maybe a CX-5 or something along those lines. The monkey is never short on opinions.
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This is why I bought the Vette. My Silverado got maybe 12 mpg on my 45 minute commute. The Vette got an average of 26 and I could take the "fun route". But it was just me, maybe the kid, maybe the wife, Abbey wasn't a huge fan, though. :rofl:

My "new" truck is getting more like 18mpg and why I'm looking at emotos for commuting.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,088
6,024
borcester rhymes
Poops McDougal said:
So you guys were entirely right about the Highlander: not even close to big enough. The wife is entertaining mini-vans now.

On a related note: I'm thinking about trading my truck in for something more sensible. I'm commuting 98% of the time in the city, and I only *need* a truck about 3 or 4 times a year, so it doesn't sense any more. Thinking about a compact SUV so I can still fold down the rear seats to make runs to the hardware store, have room for the family (even if tight), etc. Fun to drive would be a plus, so I'm looking at maybe a CX-5 or something along those lines. The monkey is never short on opinions.
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I considered a CX-5 when I bought my genesis. I was looking at the turbo signature model, so that may sway things in my review. I liked the car a lot, and it was really close when I made my decision to buy the genesis, which was primarily based around wanting a bigger car and NOT a CUV, even though that would have been a fine car too.

The CX5 had decent pep, a crisp transmission and was a pretty decent handler. I hated the BLOSE stereo and the used car I drove didn't have paddles while the new car did, but I liked the infotainment (touchscreen only when parked, scrolly wheel for most things). I would absolutely buy one of those if I settled for a CUV in the future. It's good that mazdas typically have good reliability, as the handling and acceleration were not that much better than the RAV4 that I owned, making the decision between the two a bit of a push. RAV4 owns MPG but CX5 is more fun.

Ended up in the genesis as the mileage is a push between the two but the interior space in the genesis is massive, and I really, really didn't want a CUV.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,088
6,024
borcester rhymes
Jm_ said:
I rented one a few weeks ago and I was having problems with bog, where there was a gap in the traffic and I tried to use the gap to pull out, but despite pushing the gas pedal way down, it didn't go anywhere...From a stop any car should be able to get some initial acceleration, but it was scary a few times.
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"bog"ging seems to be a relatively new thing. The alfa did it and it legitimately scared me a few times. The genesis does it as well, though not as bad. I think it's a traction control thing- if you have the wheel turned and stab the accelerator, the car says "are you sure"? before it starts going. It's not turbo lag, it's just some disconnect between the throttle and the going. I can't remember if the subaru my wife drives does it as well, but it's a feature I'd like killed.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,014
9,672
AK
Sandwich said:
"bog"ging seems to be a relatively new thing. The alfa did it and it legitimately scared me a few times. The genesis does it as well, though not as bad. I think it's a traction control thing- if you have the wheel turned and stab the accelerator, the car says "are you sure"? before it starts going. It's not turbo lag, it's just some disconnect between the throttle and the going. I can't remember if the subaru my wife drives does it as well, but it's a feature I'd like killed.
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I think it's an efficiency thing, they "force" it to start in 2nd gear all the time and it just doesn't "go" when you push the gas, first it tries to do it in 2nd, then after a while it figures out that's not working and it downshifts, but that all takes more time, which is an eternity in this situation. Sometimes going to "sport" modes helps with this, but I'm not trying to hang every shift at 4000rpm, I'm just trying to go from a damn stop in a reasonable manner or even in an emergency situation, where I really wany it to "go", not just hang there. Throttle mapping also plays into this.

And yeah, turbo lag isn't really a "thing" anymore, with turbos reaching full torque around 1400-1700 on most turbo cars these days (except Subaru, because they are assholes).
 
maxyedor

maxyedor

<b>TOOL PRO</b>
Oct 20, 2005
5,496
3,141
In the bathroom, fighting a battle
Poops McDougal said:
So you guys were entirely right about the Highlander: not even close to big enough. The wife is entertaining mini-vans now.

On a related note: I'm thinking about trading my truck in for something more sensible. I'm commuting 98% of the time in the city, and I only *need* a truck about 3 or 4 times a year, so it doesn't sense any more. Thinking about a compact SUV so I can still fold down the rear seats to make runs to the hardware store, have room for the family (even if tight), etc. Fun to drive would be a plus, so I'm looking at maybe a CX-5 or something along those lines. The monkey is never short on opinions.
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CX-5 is good, very good, tried to get the wife to go for one but alas it was a no.

That said, don't buy one, get yourself a wagon. A V60 has about the same room as a CX-6, but more fun to drive and gets better mileage. Unless your hardware store trips require many many small but tall items the extra volume of the CX-5 is on no benefit. The V60 has a lower roof so it'll be easier to load all those wide items that don't fit in the Mazda. Plus the V60 can be Polestar-ed and that thing is cool as hell.
 
StiHacka

StiHacka

Compensating for something
Jan 4, 2013
21,560
12,505
In hell. Welcome!
Poops McDougal said:
So you guys were entirely right about the Highlander: not even close to big enough. The wife is entertaining mini-vans now.

On a related note: I'm thinking about trading my truck in for something more sensible. I'm commuting 98% of the time in the city, and I only *need* a truck about 3 or 4 times a year, so it doesn't sense any more. Thinking about a compact SUV so I can still fold down the rear seats to make runs to the hardware store, have room for the family (even if tight), etc. Fun to drive would be a plus, so I'm looking at maybe a CX-5 or something along those lines. The monkey is never short on opinions.
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If you want something sporty, Acura RDX with Sh-AWD.
 
Poops McDougal

Poops McDougal

moving to australia
May 30, 2007
1,179
1,241
Central California
Thank for the input, all. Test drove an AWD CX-5 with the 2.5l on my lunch break. Responsive with enough pep - although compared to my truck, just about everything is responsive and peppy. The car seemed fun, the dealership seemed like a shitshow.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,014
9,672
AK
Oh yeah, I remember now my rental had warped brakes, so that wasn't the most pleasing driving experience. I wasn't quite understanding how to get favorites on the HD radio and switch between them and scanning, but I did like that there was the joy-stick knob thing. My BMW had that and it's superior for using while driving, although if all essential functions can be programmed on a steering wheel, even better. I remember mileage was decent.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,480
20,284
Sleazattle
StiHacka said:
View attachment 180594
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There needs to be some differential speed difference between lanes for multilane highways to work with any real density of traffic. If everyone is going the same speed the only way to change lanes is to slow down to find a space to move into. When everyone is slowing down to change lanes all lanes slow down, more and more and more. The slower traffic moves the distance between vehicles reduces making it more and more difficult to find a gap to move into until you hit a point where everything comes to a standstill.

If there are moderate speed differences between lanes you just have to wait a few seconds for a gap to open up to move into. Of course this is somewhat codified with pass on the right laws but they are rarely followed and never enforced. As a result we get traffic jams, lives spent sitting in traffic, increased fuel consumption and costly infrastructure to create more roads than are necessary if people could follow some basic fucking rules.
 
StiHacka

StiHacka

Compensating for something
Jan 4, 2013
21,560
12,505
In hell. Welcome!
Westy said:
There needs to be some differential speed difference between lanes for multilane highways to work with any real density of traffic. If everyone is going the same speed the only way to change lanes is to slow down to find a space to move into. When everyone is slowing down to change lanes all lanes slow down, more and more and more. The slower traffic moves the distance between vehicles reduces making it more and more difficult to find a gap to move into until you hit a point where everything comes to a standstill.

If there are moderate speed differences between lanes you just have to wait a few seconds for a gap to open up to move into. Of course this is somewhat codified with pass on the right laws but they are rarely followed and never enforced. As a result we get traffic jams, lives spent sitting in traffic, increased fuel consumption and costly infrastructure to create more roads than are necessary if people could follow some basic fucking rules.
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Ban and enforce passing on the right and you are 50% there. #yurprulesrule
 
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