Your current car!

[Max Rockatansky]

The Challenger is about to take its biggest foray since US 66 from Ash Fork, AZ west to Barstow.  I'll be heading up to the Sierras this coming weekend with it to do a circuit of all the passes between Tioga Pass and Mount Rose.   I'll be doing a circuit of Lake Tahoe as well which is something that I've been really looking forward to.

How many miles you got on that rig now? Seems like you go on a lot of drives with it.

Actually only about 3,700 somehow.  Most of those miles have been pretty much on notable stuff with little to no commuting, the big trip with it this year was Kings Canyon/CA 180.  Once Pfieffer Canyon reopens in Big Sur I'll probably get it out to the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road and CA 1 up to Monterey. 

[jakeroot]

The Challenger is about to take its biggest foray since US 66 from Ash Fork, AZ west to Barstow.  I'll be heading up to the Sierras this coming weekend with it to do a circuit of all the passes between Tioga Pass and Mount Rose.   I'll be doing a circuit of Lake Tahoe as well which is something that I've been really looking forward to.

How many miles you got on that rig now? Seems like you go on a lot of drives with it.

Actually only about 3,700 somehow.  Most of those miles have been pretty much on notable stuff with little to no commuting, the big trip with it this year was Kings Canyon/CA 180.  Once Pfieffer Canyon reopens in Big Sur I'll probably get it out to the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road and CA 1 up to Monterey.

Holy cow, it's basically brand new! You must use the Sonic for most of your other trips? (or rental cars)

[Max Rockatansky]

The Challenger is about to take its biggest foray since US 66 from Ash Fork, AZ west to Barstow.  I'll be heading up to the Sierras this coming weekend with it to do a circuit of all the passes between Tioga Pass and Mount Rose.   I'll be doing a circuit of Lake Tahoe as well which is something that I've been really looking forward to.

How many miles you got on that rig now? Seems like you go on a lot of drives with it.

Actually only about 3,700 somehow.  Most of those miles have been pretty much on notable stuff with little to no commuting, the big trip with it this year was Kings Canyon/CA 180.  Once Pfieffer Canyon reopens in Big Sur I'll probably get it out to the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road and CA 1 up to Monterey.

Holy cow, it's basically brand new! You must use the Sonic for most of your other trips? (or rental cars)

Pretty much, but you might be surprised at how little I actually drive in terms of mileage annually given how close I am to all the good stuff in California.  Usually I rent cars for the two/three big trips a year I do out of region like I just did with the Southeast, I also have access to a work vehicle from time to time.  The problem with the Challenger is that a lot of the stuff I go do might require winter chains, is a dirt surface, or is narrow...the Challenger excels at none of those things.  Basically I have to idle even on the smoothest dirt road in the Challenger or it will start to dig in with all the torque.  The low gear also can probably get you pretty close to 60 MPH, so using the transmission as a brake assist really isn't an option.  The Sonic on the other hand is just a commuter car that can take a beating, have new parts installed, and keep on driving all while on the cheap.  For those super crazy high grade roads it has just enough power to get up handily and a nice gearing set to descend slowly at a reasonable speed.

[riiga]

A better view of the car, from last month.

[pumpkineater2]

I have a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500. Lots of memories with this vehicle and still going strong, though as you can imagine with its age, it is not without problems. It recently had $1,200 worth of transmission work done and a new driveshaft put in.

I plan on taking it to Albuquerque in the next month or so, and to Las Vegas after that.

[riiga]

I bought a new car today, a 2014 Mazda 3 with 35 000 km (21,750 mi) to replace my old Volvo (in the background). So far I like it a lot! (Though I would've picked red instead of black if I had the choice).

Over the past few weeks I've looked at the Volvo V40 and the Audi A3, but both were quite expensive and hard to find with petrol, it seems like 9 out of 10 were diesel. I also looked at the Seat Leon, but the seller at Seat seemed quite busy talking on the phone for 15 mins and overall quite uninterested. The Seat also didn't come with winter tyres, so that would be extra  . A friend suggested I'd look at Mazda when I said I hadn't considered any Japanese cars yet.

[Takumi]

I have a 2004 Acura TL and a 1988 Mazda RX-7 convertible. Picture was taken in May 2007 just after I'd detailed both of them, but I still have both cars. My wife has a 2003 Acura RSX Type-S. All three cars are manuals (well, DUH in the case of the RSX since the Type-S was six-speed only).

Ms1995hoo got a 2015 Acura TLX (the V-6 AWD model) over Memorial Day weekend. We kept the other three cars. When I drive the TLX it's a bit weird adjusting to the automatic shift, and I've used the shift paddles more often than I thought I might, mainly for things like going up hills when the automatic doesn't shift the way I expect.

No photo. While I've taken some, Photobucket blocked me from posting stuff here and I haven't yet set myself up on another site.

My main gripe about the TLX is the push-button shifter. I'm not necessarily asking for a manual (considering my six-years-older TSX is a unicorn already), but that just seems a bit...sketchy.

Quoting myself, but I got a TLX as a loaner the other day while the TSX got some routine maintenance done. It was a brand new FWD V6 model in a lovely white pearl. I love how it looks. But driving it, in a word, sucked. The push-button shifter isn't as bad as I expected, but it does not handle as well as the TSX (I realize it has more weight up front) and feels quite sluggish. In manual mode, the transmission took about half a second to actually change gear, and 9 gears felt a bit overkill. Sorry, Acura, I'd rather have a Lexus if I were in the market.

[jakeroot]

I have a 2004 Acura TL and a 1988 Mazda RX-7 convertible. Picture was taken in May 2007 just after I'd detailed both of them, but I still have both cars. My wife has a 2003 Acura RSX Type-S. All three cars are manuals (well, DUH in the case of the RSX since the Type-S was six-speed only).

Ms1995hoo got a 2015 Acura TLX (the V-6 AWD model) over Memorial Day weekend. We kept the other three cars. When I drive the TLX it's a bit weird adjusting to the automatic shift, and I've used the shift paddles more often than I thought I might, mainly for things like going up hills when the automatic doesn't shift the way I expect.

No photo. While I've taken some, Photobucket blocked me from posting stuff here and I haven't yet set myself up on another site.

My main gripe about the TLX is the push-button shifter. I'm not necessarily asking for a manual (considering my six-years-older TSX is a unicorn already), but that just seems a bit...sketchy.

Quoting myself, but I got a TLX as a loaner the other day while the TSX got some routine maintenance done. It was a brand new FWD V6 model in a lovely white pearl. I love how it looks. But driving it, in a word, sucked. The push-button shifter isn't as bad as I expected, but it does not handle as well as the TSX (I realize it has more weight up front) and feels quite sluggish. In manual mode, the transmission took about half a second to actually change gear, and 9 gears felt a bit overkill. Sorry, Acura, I'd rather have a Lexus if I were in the market.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/orueqtknnk4bpwvoi1zu.jpg

So would a lot of people. Acura is falling apart. The transmissions are proving to be very unreliable (tarnishing the brand's reputation as a reliable alternative to the Germans beyond Lexus), and their line up just isn't as engaging as they used to be. If I were in the market for fun-to-drive luxury sedan, I'd get the A4 2.0 with the 6-speed manual (while you still can). Consumer Reports ranks Audi near the top in their rankings for reliability too (a far cry from ten years ago).

Over the past few weeks I've looked at the Volvo V40 and the Audi A3, but both were quite expensive and hard to find with petrol, it seems like 9 out of 10 were diesel.

I gather diesel's attractiveness has been tarnished overseas more than I realise thanks to "dieselgate"? I'd be happy with a V40 or A3 diesel (especially the Sportback A3 -- luxury version of my Golf), assuming it met emissions standards without needing a defeat device to protect the engine.

Unrelated....

Diesels seem to be picking up steam again in the US market. The GMC Terrain and Chevy Equinox diesels are now on sale, and I've actually seen some on the road (at least the Chevy, since GMC doesn't advertise the engine type on the rear). The Ford Transit Connect (wagon and work van) will be available with a diesel soon (under Ford's new "EcoBlue" engine lineup -- a sign of things to come?), almost certainly the smallest van to offer a diesel in the US. It was previously gas-only. The half-ton trucks all now (or will soon) have diesels on offer, an improvement over none of them having the option five years ago. The Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe will be available with diesels within the year (the latter offering the three-row version only with a diesel -- a first AFAIK). BMW still sells many diesel vehicles (3, 3-wagon, 5, and X5), and Jaguar/Land Rover's entire lineup is available with diesel engines as the base offering. Most brands have no intent to bother with the engine type, at least for smaller vehicles (Toyota, Honda, Nissan, MB, Audi/VW (obviously)) but it's not all bad news for those of us who like a bit of clatter in the morning.

[Takumi]

I have a 2004 Acura TL and a 1988 Mazda RX-7 convertible. Picture was taken in May 2007 just after I'd detailed both of them, but I still have both cars. My wife has a 2003 Acura RSX Type-S. All three cars are manuals (well, DUH in the case of the RSX since the Type-S was six-speed only).

Ms1995hoo got a 2015 Acura TLX (the V-6 AWD model) over Memorial Day weekend. We kept the other three cars. When I drive the TLX it's a bit weird adjusting to the automatic shift, and I've used the shift paddles more often than I thought I might, mainly for things like going up hills when the automatic doesn't shift the way I expect.

No photo. While I've taken some, Photobucket blocked me from posting stuff here and I haven't yet set myself up on another site.

My main gripe about the TLX is the push-button shifter. I'm not necessarily asking for a manual (considering my six-years-older TSX is a unicorn already), but that just seems a bit...sketchy.

Quoting myself, but I got a TLX as a loaner the other day while the TSX got some routine maintenance done. It was a brand new FWD V6 model in a lovely white pearl. I love how it looks. But driving it, in a word, sucked. The push-button shifter isn't as bad as I expected, but it does not handle as well as the TSX (I realize it has more weight up front) and feels quite sluggish. In manual mode, the transmission took about half a second to actually change gear, and 9 gears felt a bit overkill. Sorry, Acura, I'd rather have a Lexus if I were in the market.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/orueqtknnk4bpwvoi1zu.jpg

So would a lot of people. Acura is falling apart. The transmissions are proving to be very unreliable (tarnishing the brand's reputation as a reliable alternative to the Germans beyond Lexus), and their line up just isn't as engaging as they used to be. If I were in the market for fun-to-drive luxury sedan, I'd get the A4 2.0 with the 6-speed manual (while you still can). Consumer Reports ranks Audi near the top in their rankings for reliability too (a far cry from ten years ago).
Yeah, the only current Acura I like aside from the NSX (which has only a remote chance of ever falling into anything resembling my price range) is the RDX, and I don't want an SUV. If I were in the market I would probably buy a Lexus IS350. Though my next car will likely be a JDM import from the late 80s or early-mid 90s.

[Eth]

I bought a new car today, a 2014 Mazda 3 with 35 000 km (21,750 mi) to replace my old Volvo (in the background). So far I like it a lot! (Though I would've picked red instead of black if I had the choice).

So you have my car, except four years newer (mine's a 2010). I knew as soon as I test-drove it (a month before I bought it) that it would be the car for me, and I still love it 8½ years and 64,000 miles later.

Incidentally, black was also my second color choice; I really wanted the bluish-gray one, but the dealer didn't have any in stock.

[jakeroot]

I still love it 8½ years and 64,000 miles later.

Somebody either has no commute, or a really short one! I'm nearing 50k on my 2.8 year old car.

[Eth]

I still love it 8½ years and 64,000 miles later.

Somebody either has no commute, or a really short one! I'm nearing 50k on my 2.8 year old car.

Yep, that would be no commute 3 days a week and one done by train (and a little walking) the other 2 days. Driving's much more enjoyable when it isn't something I have to do.

[riiga]

I gather diesel's attractiveness has been tarnished overseas more than I realise thanks to "dieselgate"? I'd be happy with a V40 or A3 diesel (especially the Sportback A3 -- luxury version of my Golf), assuming it met emissions standards without needing a defeat device to protect the engine.

It's a combination of several factors:
One of course is that thanks to "dieselgate" Sweden will give municipalities the ability to introduce low-emissions zones for cars and vehicles below 3.5 tonnes (currently only heavy vehicles can be regulated). This means most petrol cars will be allowed, but only the latest generation of diesel vehicles, as well as the possibility to allow only emission-free cars (electric, fuel cell, etc.) within a certain area.

Another is the fact that diesel cars are made for long-distance driving and I mostly do short trips (my commute is 5 km). Also my cars is parked outside in the winter, so a diesel would suffer a lot unless I got a fuel/engine heater. Petrol handles it a lot better.

And lastly diesel may be cheaper at the pump by 5 cents (per liter) or so, but owning a diesel is more expensive due to taxes (a diesel is usually twice a petrol car in road taxes), so if I'm not doing more than ~20 000 km per year, there's no savings to be made.

[J N Winkler]

Daily driver--1994 Saturn SL2, photographed near sunset in the Great Divide Basin in September 2014:



Roadtrip vehicle--2005 Toyota Camry XLE V6, photographed in a side street near I-94 in Minneapolis in May 2016:



Both vehicles are well equipped, though not "loaded" in the sense that they have every single option that was available in their respective trim lines.  Both have leather seats and leather-wrapped steering wheels, four-wheel disc brakes, ABS, VSC (just traction control for the Saturn), air conditioning, cruise control, and automatic transmission.  They have been extremely reliable, but both have issues that I am consciously living with instead of attempting to have resolved.  Since the Saturn is older, has higher mileage, sees rougher service, has history of being left ungaraged, and is much less valuable, it gets used as a guinea pig for detailing techniques and maintenance routines that are being considered for the Camry.

Key items on the Saturn's long list of problems:  oil consumption (1500 MPQ), peeling headliner, rips in driver's seat, transmission fluid leak (I'm 95% sure it's under the top cover and not critical since a top cover leak won't run the transmission dry of fluid), nonfunctional odometer, A/C still leaky after two repair attempts and now nonfunctional (I don't want to pay $70 to damage the environment with a recharge, I don't want to pay $150+ to buy the equipment it would take to do my own recharges, and I highly doubt either a professional or I can leakproof it for less than the car's scrap value).

Key items on the Camry's far shorter list of problems:  brittle single-stage paint (due to VOC reduction at the factory), headlamps that fog in UV like nobody's business, instrument panel glass fogged by overspray from an interior detailing chemical in 2013, front driver's floor mat hooks fallen through the carpet and now rattling between the carpet and the asphalt sound insulation.

Notwithstanding their problems, I say both cars are reliable since they have stayed clear of the shop for multiple years.  The Camry has never had an unscheduled failure other than one rear taillight.  The Saturn has had a more chequered history due to being assembled to lower reliability standards and a greater share of its components being close to end of life, but its last major shop visits were for a leaky water pump in 2014 (I didn't have time to study DIY replacement) and for catch-up repairs in 2012 that included a new radiator, A/C O-ring/gasket replacement and recharge, and new brake pads.

[1995hoo]

I have a 2004 Acura TL and a 1988 Mazda RX-7 convertible. Picture was taken in May 2007 just after I'd detailed both of them, but I still have both cars. My wife has a 2003 Acura RSX Type-S. All three cars are manuals (well, DUH in the case of the RSX since the Type-S was six-speed only).

Ms1995hoo got a 2015 Acura TLX (the V-6 AWD model) over Memorial Day weekend. We kept the other three cars. When I drive the TLX it's a bit weird adjusting to the automatic shift, and I've used the shift paddles more often than I thought I might, mainly for things like going up hills when the automatic doesn't shift the way I expect.

No photo. While I've taken some, Photobucket blocked me from posting stuff here and I haven't yet set myself up on another site.

My main gripe about the TLX is the push-button shifter. I'm not necessarily asking for a manual (considering my six-years-older TSX is a unicorn already), but that just seems a bit...sketchy.

Quoting myself, but I got a TLX as a loaner the other day while the TSX got some routine maintenance done. It was a brand new FWD V6 model in a lovely white pearl. I love how it looks. But driving it, in a word, sucked. The push-button shifter isn't as bad as I expected, but it does not handle as well as the TSX (I realize it has more weight up front) and feels quite sluggish. In manual mode, the transmission took about half a second to actually change gear, and 9 gears felt a bit overkill. Sorry, Acura, I'd rather have a Lexus if I were in the market.

It's definitely a car with a different target market, IMO. It's a fantastic car for driving long distances. I absolutely loved driving it on our trip to St. Louis last fall. Interstate cruising was terrific. On the twisties in West Virginia, somewhat less so, but I suspect anyone coming from a manual shift is going to have issues with most automatics on those roads. (Ours is the AWD model, BTW.)

Whatever. It's my wife's car and she remains very happy with it, so for me that's all that matters. 

[Jordanes]

2005 Ford Focus. 275K miles 

[Takumi]

I have a 2004 Acura TL and a 1988 Mazda RX-7 convertible. Picture was taken in May 2007 just after I'd detailed both of them, but I still have both cars. My wife has a 2003 Acura RSX Type-S. All three cars are manuals (well, DUH in the case of the RSX since the Type-S was six-speed only).

Ms1995hoo got a 2015 Acura TLX (the V-6 AWD model) over Memorial Day weekend. We kept the other three cars. When I drive the TLX it's a bit weird adjusting to the automatic shift, and I've used the shift paddles more often than I thought I might, mainly for things like going up hills when the automatic doesn't shift the way I expect.

No photo. While I've taken some, Photobucket blocked me from posting stuff here and I haven't yet set myself up on another site.

My main gripe about the TLX is the push-button shifter. I'm not necessarily asking for a manual (considering my six-years-older TSX is a unicorn already), but that just seems a bit...sketchy.

Quoting myself, but I got a TLX as a loaner the other day while the TSX got some routine maintenance done. It was a brand new FWD V6 model in a lovely white pearl. I love how it looks. But driving it, in a word, sucked. The push-button shifter isn't as bad as I expected, but it does not handle as well as the TSX (I realize it has more weight up front) and feels quite sluggish. In manual mode, the transmission took about half a second to actually change gear, and 9 gears felt a bit overkill. Sorry, Acura, I'd rather have a Lexus if I were in the market.

It's definitely a car with a different target market, IMO. It's a fantastic car for driving long distances. I absolutely loved driving it on our trip to St. Louis last fall. Interstate cruising was terrific. On the twisties in West Virginia, somewhat less so, but I suspect anyone coming from a manual shift is going to have issues with most automatics on those roads. (Ours is the AWD model, BTW.)

Whatever. It's my wife's car and she remains very happy with it, so for me that's all that matters. 

Yeah, it was nice to be turning as low RPMs at [redacted] MPH as it does, and it was pretty comfortable. And I have read that both the AWD version and the 4-cylinder version handle better. But the service guy at Acura told me multiple times that I should hold on to my TSX as long as I can, and I see why.

[02 Park Ave]

Can one perform engine braking (Jake's brake) with the Diesel engine in a motorcar or SUV or can that be accomplished only in one of the big rigs?

[wolfiefrick]

I know this thread is dead; let's revive it!





My main ride is a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta. It's small but very mighty. Deceptively fast. It's got a 2.5-liter straight-five in it and the VW standard narrow drivetrain makes it handle excellently. I've only had it for just over a month, but I've really grown attached to it! I'm hoping that once I've accumulated a bit more $$ I can try to go on some more exciting drives and maybe produce some video content of the freeways around St. Louis!





If I'm not driving my lovely VW, I'm driving this. It's my dad's 2018 BMW 340i. He goes on business trips rather frequently so I drive this beauty as much as I can when he lets me. It's got a turbocharged V6 which performs like a V8 and the classic 3-series handling makes the car feel as though it's on railroad tracks.

[tradephoric]

I know this thread is dead; let's revive it!





My main ride is a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta. It's small but very mighty. Deceptively fast. It's got a 2.5-liter straight-five in it and the VW standard narrow drivetrain makes it handle excellently. I've only had it for just over a month, but I've really grown attached to it! I'm hoping that once I've accumulated a bit more $$ I can try to go on some more exciting drives and maybe produce some video content of the freeways around St. Louis!

Clean ride.  I like the tints but do the cops hassle you in St. Louis with them?  It looks like some clear coat is flaking off the A-pillar... when did that start?

[wolfiefrick]

I know this thread is dead; let's revive it!





My main ride is a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta. It's small but very mighty. Deceptively fast. It's got a 2.5-liter straight-five in it and the VW standard narrow drivetrain makes it handle excellently. I've only had it for just over a month, but I've really grown attached to it! I'm hoping that once I've accumulated a bit more $$ I can try to go on some more exciting drives and maybe produce some video content of the freeways around St. Louis!

Clean ride.  I like the tints but do the cops hassle you in St. Louis with them?  It looks like some clear coat is flaking off the A-pillar... when did that start?

It's been that way since I got it. It's a single owner used car and we got it for around $5000 so there were some things that couldn't always be perfect, but I can imagine it's been that way for some time. Cops actually haven't been too coarse about the tint, either.

[J N Winkler]

Can one perform engine braking (Jake's brake) with the Diesel engine in a motorcar or SUV or can that be accomplished only in one of the big rigs?

Wikipedia says no:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_braking

I am not sure how owners of diesel-equipped cars avoid burning out the brakes on long downhill grades.

For gasoline engines I also want to add, since this misinformation comes up from time to time on this forum, that compression braking is both possible and easy with a traditional hydraulically actuated automatic transmission, and does not add undue wear to the hard parts within the transmission provided the downshift is timed to minimize the amount of torque transferred:  in other words, you should downshift at the top of the grade, just before the car bites into it.  It tends to be CVTs that have trouble providing drivers with usable compression braking on downhill grades.

[tradephoric]

Mine isn't this clean, this 1996 Impala SS supposedly had 35 miles on the odometer when it sold for $26,000 at Meecum in 2015, but this is the type of car i drive. I really need to take a good picture of mine after i get it detailed.  Also i just think these cars NEED black tints!



Here's another one that sold in Vegas in 2017.  I just love those wheels.

[Takumi]

If I'm not driving my lovely VW, I'm driving this. It's my dad's 2018 BMW 340i. He goes on business trips rather frequently so I drive this beauty as much as I can when he lets me. It's got a turbocharged V6 which performs like a V8 and the classic 3-series handling makes the car feel as though it's on railroad tracks.

BMW uses inline 6s, not V6s.

[wolfiefrick]

If I'm not driving my lovely VW, I'm driving this. It's my dad's 2018 BMW 340i. He goes on business trips rather frequently so I drive this beauty as much as I can when he lets me. It's got a turbocharged V6 which performs like a V8 and the classic 3-series handling makes the car feel as though it's on railroad tracks.

BMW uses inline 6s, not V6s.

Ah, really? I thought maybe that was the case; my dad always told me it was a V6 so I just assumed that was the truth.