Random Thoughts Thread

[daves87rs]

4 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

People are rather sadly assholes.

Yeah, and it still burns me a bit this morning. If it can get just warm enough- might try to run it quick through an automated car wash. Otherwise it will not see a car wash for a little while.....

[G. David Felt]

11 hours ago, daves87rs said:

Annoyed....had the dealership take care of my Equinox , and clean it all up for me. (No more oil mess in engine) I literally have a few miles home, trying to avoid the salt mess in the other lane. I try very hard to keep salt off of it, as I use the Cobalt for that in the winter.

Dude sees that my Nox is all clean, speeds up in the other lane to hit a huge slush/salt pile in the next lane. Completely covers the Nox in salt!  Then threw a cup out the window towards my car laughing about it.....

Trying to stay chill about it, tough when your a car guy. I know that it doesn’t really hurt the car unless it is above freezing (not during the polar vortex!) but if the roads dry up nicely I’m running the poor car to the nearest automated car wash...might be the only day we still get above 20 degrees for almost a week....

Thank you for letting me vent.......

This is where a dash cam comes in helpful as you could have turned the video footage over to the police and they could ticket them for littering and for aggressive behavior possibly.

[trinacriabob]

Right now, my random yet persisting thought is this:

And, you can think about it all you want and never have to think of "Oc(ea)n Blu(e)" because it is not an ocean, but a gulf.

Pensacola Beach, FL for the win!

[G. David Felt]

Right now, my random thought is for this tomorrow at Stevens Pass, supposed to be a Pow Pow Day!

Back Side of Stevens Pass Ski Resort in the Bowl.

[balthazar]

Were that it were 70 tomm... and I was going here: 

[balthazar]

Hollyweird does this all the time, especially with cars, but check this out. From the Denzel Washington movie trailer The Littlest Things...
Voiceover states the perp's car 'probably has high miles', and they show a '68-70 Nova but they give it a 6-digit odometer. 'Movie magic'. 

 

[oldshurst442]

3 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Hollyweird does this all the time, especially with cars, but check this out. From the Denzel Washington movie trailer The Littlest Things...
Voiceover states the perp's car 'probably has high miles', and they show a '68-70 Nova but they give it a 6-digit odometer. 'Movie magic'. 

 

 

 To be honest, most movie goers  will not notice the odometer NOR the voice over stating the perp car probably has high mileage making that 'movie magic' change moot and/or useless.

If they do notice, I guess the movie director deemed it necessary to visually 'prove' the high mileage. But in doing so...pissing off true blue car guys that KNOW the Nova has a  5 digit odometer...

Which makes me question why even have a narration stating that a perp's old car "probably  has high mileage".  Dialogue like that brings nothing to the story telling table... 

And CGI-ing a stupid thing like that is just a waste of movie making time and money...

 

 

 

[ocnblu]

On 2/6/2021 at 3:10 PM, trinacriabob said:

And, you can think about it all you want and never have to think of "Oc(ea)n Blu(e)" because it is not an ocean, but a gulf.

aw  ?

[trinacriabob]

3 hours ago, balthazar said:

 

 

Not this movie, but another movie ...

It's amazing how powerful Hollyweird can be, though.  BBHC (Before Beverly Hills Cop), a Chevy Nova was a Chevy Nova.  ABHC, they were epic.  You would look to see who was driving one ... and why.

If they ever rebooted the Chevy Nova, they can run an "Axel Foley edition."  Two likely drawbacks to that:  1) it may not be politically correct, and 2) it is more and more conceivable that larger swaths of the vehicle buying public may not be familiar with, or get, the "once in a decade" movie that is "Beverly Hills Cop."

[daves87rs]

8 degrees and falling.....

[ykX]

Not surprising about German cars but I am surprised about few Lexus models

Cars and SUVs With Highest Repair Costs - Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports analyzed estimated repair cost data from RepairPal

AC Compressor Replacement

Alternator Replacement

 

Fuel Pump Replacement

Serpentine Belt Replacement

Starter Replacement

Suspension Shock or Strut Replacement

Timing Belt Replacement

Water Pump Replacement

 

[balthazar]

Those prices are INSANE.

[dwightlooi]

28 minutes ago, ykX said:

Not surprising about German cars but I am surprised about few Lexus models

Cars and SUVs With Highest Repair Costs - Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports analyzed estimated repair cost data from RepairPal

All if these failed to illustrate the most important factor -- whether or not those parts fail. Lexus parts are not any cheaper than German parts, but whether they fail is a different story.

--

In any case, all these prices are not all that bad.

7 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Those prices are INSANE.

Most of it has to do with Dealer Labor rates. Here in California, it has risen to $285 an hour, such that a simple 2 hour job is $570 not counting parts or taxes.

[surreal1272]

41 minutes ago, dwightlooi said:

All if these failed to illustrate the most important factor -- whether or not those parts fail. Lexus parts are not any cheaper than German parts, but whether they fail is a different story.

--

In any case, all these prices are not all that bad.

Most of it has to do with Dealer Labor rates. Here in California, it has risen to $285 an hour, such that a simple 2 hour job is $570 not counting parts or taxes.

It’s not even debatable that German autos have a worse reliability reputation (and with good reason) than Lexus.

 

And clearly the cost of a timing belt has gone down for the Audi A8. Back in 2005, I was selling cars on a small lot and they had a 2002 Audi A8 that needed one. A third party mechanic was $1500 while Audi wanted $2400!

[Drew Dowdell]

On 2/5/2021 at 7:33 PM, trinacriabob said:

More so than what kind of car to get next, I have been giving more and more ... and MORE ... thought to getting one of these:

I borrow my best friend's dog pretty often, but I might get a photocopy sometime in the summer.

 

Waiting for his Pup Cup at Starbucks...

[Drew Dowdell]

58 minutes ago, dwightlooi said:

All if these failed to illustrate the most important factor -- whether or not those parts fail. Lexus parts are not any cheaper than German parts, but whether they fail is a different story.

--

In any case, all these prices are not all that bad.

Most of it has to do with Dealer Labor rates. Here in California, it has risen to $285 an hour, such that a simple 2 hour job is $570 not counting parts or taxes.

Why is any serp belt replacement EVER $541??  If it takes you more than 20 minutes to replace the belt, it is a bad design. 

[daves87rs]

Well, this is where the EV part might be a good thing. Though I get the feeling even repairs on those are going to be all over..... ? 

[Drew Dowdell]

You don't notice it until it's gone....

I'm talking about the 8 horsepower I gain for running E-85.  By all accounts I should never notice that difference in power or the few lb-ft I also get.

But I use E-85 almost exclusively. This past week however, I had a big build up of fuel points from my local grocery chain and they don't offer E-85, so I just filled up with regular and got my $1.00 a gallon off. 

What I'm noticing is that while 0-60 is still irrelevant as before, the truck feels less lively and even a bit sluggish off the line.  I got another coupon for $10 off a $20 fill-up, but also that station doesn't have E-85... so I'll just live with it for now. 

[surreal1272]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Why is any serp belt replacement EVER $541??  If it takes you more than 20 minutes to replace the belt, it is a bad design. 

Lol! My old ‘89 MR2 required baby hands to get to a belt much less take it off but that was definitely the exception more than the rule. 

[balthazar]

It did take me a bit of time to replace the serpentine belt on the Duramax, but my labor rate is fantastic.

$285/hr is INSANE. I think my dealer is $140.

[Drew Dowdell]

23 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

Lol! My old ‘89 MR2 required baby hands to get to a belt much less take it off but that was definitely the exception more than the rule. 

 

3 minutes ago, balthazar said:

It did take me a bit of time to replace the serpentine belt on the Duramax, but my labor rate is fantastic.

$285/hr is INSANE. I think my dealer is $140.

They actually make special Serp belt wrenches. $15 at Harbor Freight and they work great so you don't need baby hands. 

[dwightlooi]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Why is any serp belt replacement EVER $541??  If it takes you more than 20 minutes to replace the belt, it is a bad design. 

LOL... $541 is dirt cheap. The Audi A8 (4.0T CEU engine) does not have a timing belt or an accessory belt. The timing chain is in the back between the transmission and the engine. In addition to the cams, it also drives the accessories gearbox via a bunch of reduction gears which are also in the back. These include the alternator, water pump and oil pump. The A/C compressor and water pump are actually in the front and driven by shafts from this accessory gearbox. The alternator is in the back where there is no airflow so it is liquid cooled. Theoretically, they are good for 300,000 miles or the life of the car. But if you need to replace ANY of these things or that pesky little chain tensioner...

• The front bumper comes off.
• The radiator and fan assembly comes off.
• The front aluminum cross beam comes off.
• The engine mounting and all harnesses are disconnected.
• The exhaust is unbolted.
• The front suspension sub-frame cross beam is removed.
• The entire engine is then removed from the front of the car.
• You can then get to the stuff with the engine on a stand.
• It's about 36 hours ($10,260 at dealer rates; labor only)

 

[Drew Dowdell]

32 minutes ago, dwightlooi said:

LOL... $541 is dirt cheap.

Not for a Serp belt on a BMW X1 it's not.  It's just a FWD 2.0 liter 4-cylinder. If it's taking you 2 hours of labor to install the Serp belt on such an engine (not timing or anything like that) just a regular old Serp belt... then it's a bad design.  Even on the old GM B-bodies equipped with the towing package, it required removing the first belt, removing the mechanical fan mount, and then removing the second belt, I can do that in under an hour.

If it takes more than one wrench to replace the belt, it was designed badly.  I can do all 4 V-belts on my Olds with a single adjustable wrench. 

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

Lol! My old ‘89 MR2 required baby hands to get to a belt much less take it off but that was definitely the exception more than the rule. 

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

They actually make special Serp belt wrenches. $15 at Harbor Freight and they work great so you don't need baby hands. 

Idlers aren't the problem, snaking the belt in & out was. 

[G. David Felt]

Interesting, guess I missed this concept Idea Dodge had to make AWD Off Road capable MiniVans.

Meet the ’90s Dodge Caravan Off-Road Minivan That Almost Made It to Production (thedrive.com)

[G. David Felt]

This is a Freakin Cool Car and I love the cars in this story.

6 full-size alternatives to muscle cars | Hagerty Media

[G. David Felt]

Toyota Dealers who were shown the upcoming New From Frame up Toyota Tundra says they will have a World leader full size truck to over take Ford, GM and RAM.

Toyota Dealers Confident 2022 Tundra Will Be A ‘World Beater’ (motor1.com)

From a Tundra TDR that will beat the Raptor and RAM TRX to just a base model that will compete ala-cart with the big 3 Americans.

The question is can they as Toyota has not delivered yet.

 

Lots of stories on various sits about the Return of the Nissan Xterra and what seems to be a full size and mid size version. Interesting photoshop versions since Nissan released the first of the teasers.

Here's What A New Nissan Xterra Might Look Like (motor1.com)

Nissan Released Teaser

 

[Drew Dowdell]

11 minutes ago, David said:

Toyota Dealers who were shown the upcoming New From Frame up Toyota Tundra says they will have a World leader full size truck to over take Ford, GM and RAM.

Toyota Dealers Confident 2022 Tundra Will Be A ‘World Beater’ (motor1.com)

From a Tundra TDR that will beat the Raptor and RAM TRX to just a base model that will compete ala-cart with the big 3 Americans.

The question is can they as Toyota has not delivered yet.

Motor1's clickbait headline aside... no the Tundra will not be a world beater no matter how good it is. No it won't take over Ford, GM, and Ram.

Toyota simply doesn't have the manufacturing capacity to do so. They'll remain the distance 5 place brand.  They can make 100,000 Tundras a year... that's all the the plant can handle. 

Ford can build over 900,000 F-150s. 

[dwightlooi]

5 hours ago, balthazar said:

It did take me a bit of time to replace the serpentine belt on the Duramax, but my labor rate is fantastic.

$285/hr is INSANE. I think my dealer is $140.

Insane is relative. It is after all California where a 1240 sq-ft home built 45 years ago with no air conditioning and a retired high school teacher next door is $1.7 million. Not to mention... private middle school tuition is $52,200 a year and an oil change with inspection at the dealership runs you $1249.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/2611-ponce-ave,-belmont,-ca_rb/15548669_zpid/

https://www.csus.org/admission/affording-crystal

https://www.sanjoseaudi.com/audi-care-plan.htm

[daves87rs]

6 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

You don't notice it until it's gone....

I'm talking about the 8 horsepower I gain for running E-85.  By all accounts I should never notice that difference in power or the few lb-ft I also get.

But I use E-85 almost exclusively. This past week however, I had a big build up of fuel points from my local grocery chain and they don't offer E-85, so I just filled up with regular and got my $1.00 a gallon off. 

What I'm noticing is that while 0-60 is still irrelevant as before, the truck feels less lively and even a bit sluggish off the line.  I got another coupon for $10 off a $20 fill-up, but also that station doesn't have E-85... so I'll just live with it for now. 

For the Av?

[Drew Dowdell]

3 minutes ago, daves87rs said:

For the Av?

Yeah.  It gets 320hp on regular gas, 328hp on E85

[daves87rs]

30 minutes ago, dwightlooi said:

Insane is relative. It is after all California where a 1240 sq-ft home built 45 years ago with no air conditioning and a retired high school teacher next door is $1.7 million. Not to mention... private middle school tuition is $52,200 a year and an oil change with inspection at the dealership runs you $1249.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/2611-ponce-ave,-belmont,-ca_rb/15548669_zpid/

https://www.csus.org/admission/affording-crystal

https://www.sanjoseaudi.com/audi-care-plan.htm

 

While true-

That house is right by San Francisco, which is already crazy priced. (Like the house though!)

Why not public school?

And while that Audi plan is pricey, it look to cover a decent amount of stuff. I’ve seen plans for Fords similar to that for 600-800 easy.....

5 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Yeah.  It gets 320hp on regular gas, 328hp on E85

I had to think about that for a second.. then I realized that cars/trucks burn that E85 faster.

I should check to see if the Cobalt could do E85...I thought it could-but now I need to check.....

[dwightlooi]

1 hour ago, daves87rs said:

While true-

That house is right by San Francisco, which is already crazy priced. (Like the house though!)

Why not public school?

It's not atypical of most silicon valley neighborhoods... I know... it's my abode. Public school is fine if you don't mind woke socialist indoctrination or boys in your girl's shower room because they "identify" as female. Otherwise it's $52K per year per kid.

Edited February 9, 2021 by dwightlooi

[dwightlooi]

1 hour ago, daves87rs said:

Think about that for a second.. then I realized that cars/trucks burn that E85 faster.

I should check to see if the Cobalt could do E85...I thought it could-but now I need to check.....

E85 is roughly 109 Octane. On the otherhand it has about 76% the energy value.

While you can run higher boosts or compression and gain a little bit of power, you are only getting 76% of the power of an equivalent amount of gasoline burned. You you need to burn about 31% more of it.

Why run E85 when you can run 110 Octane Unleaded Race Gas?

[daves87rs]

1 hour ago, dwightlooi said:

It's not atypical of most silicon valley neighborhoods... I know... it's my abode. Public school is fine if you don't mind woke socialist indoctrination or boys in your girl's shower room because they "identify" as female. Otherwise it's $52K per year per kid.

I forgot for a moment it was Cali....

That said I make no further comment there....as it gets quite messy.......

1 hour ago, dwightlooi said:

E85 is roughly 109 Octane. On the otherhand it has about 76% the energy value.

While you can run higher boosts or compression and gain a little bit of power, you are only getting 76% of the power of an equivalent amount of gasoline burned. You you need to burn about 31% more of it.

Why run E85 when you can run 110 Octane Unleaded Race Gas?

While I agree.....there is quite the cost difference.

But, that would be quite an interesting ride in the Cobalt.... ? 

[balthazar]

Nashville TN ~ 

[balthazar]

[dwightlooi]

2 hours ago, daves87rs said:

I forgot for a moment it was Cali....

That said I make no further comment there....as it gets quite messy.......

While I agree.....there is quite the cost difference.

But, that would be quite an interesting ride in the Cobalt.... ? 

I am assuming that you have the 2.0T SS... be very careful when you up the boost with E85. Unless you plan on new injectors and a new fuel pump along with an Ethanol specific ECU program, you are probably better off running Premium Gasoline. While a 109 effective Octane rating will allow you to run more boost, more boost also necessarily require more fuel. The very fact that you need to pump 30~35% more E85 to get the same calorific value further compounds the issue. The stock 2.0T (LNF) injectors run out of dwell time at about 300 bhp / 350 lb-ft with gasoline. With E85 it'll run out of dwell time around 230 hp / 270 lb-ft. Why? Because that is how much fuel the injectors will flow if they stay open as long as they can. Enough gasoline for about 300 bhp or enough E85 for about 230 hp. You may lose power running E85 simply because at the maximum duty cycle you are not even flowing enough E85 to match the stock power ratings of the engine. Worse yet, if your tune is not E85 specific or sufficiently adaptive, you will run lean. Running lean on a turbocharged mill is a good recipe for blowing stuff up!

--

Dicked with the Solstice GXP back in the day... same engine albeit in a different orientation.

 

[A Horse With No Name]

On 2/6/2021 at 12:55 PM, daves87rs said:

Yeah, and it still burns me a bit this morning. If it can get just warm enough- might try to run it quick through an automated car wash. Otherwise it will not see a car wash for a little while.....

Massive slush and snow here in Columbus, Ranger will not see a wash for a bit either. 

5 hours ago, dwightlooi said:

I am assuming that you have the 2.0T SS... be very careful when you up the boost with E85. Unless you plan on new injectors and a new fuel pump along with an Ethanol specific ECU program, you are probably better off running Premium Gasoline. While a 109 effective Octane rating will allow you to run more boost, more boost also necessarily require more fuel. The very fact that you need to pump 30~35% more E85 to get the same calorific value further compounds the issue. The stock 2.0T (LNF) injectors run out of dwell time at about 300 bhp / 350 lb-ft with gasoline. With E85 it'll run out of dwell time around 230 hp / 270 lb-ft. Why? Because that is how much fuel the injectors will flow if they stay open as long as they can. Enough gasoline for about 300 bhp or enough E85 for about 230 hp. You may lose power running E85 simply because at the maximum duty cycle you are not even flowing enough E85 to match the stock power ratings of the engine. Worse yet, if your tune is not E85 specific or sufficiently adaptive, you will run lean. Running lean on a turbocharged mill is a good recipe for blowing stuff up!

--

Dicked with the Solstice GXP back in the day... same engine albeit in a different orientation.

 

Solstice was a wicked cool car, sorry I never owned one. 

 

8 hours ago, balthazar said:

My grandfather used to run the stuff back in the depression. Interesting times...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

12 hours ago, dwightlooi said:

Insane is relative. It is after all California where a 1240 sq-ft home built 45 years ago with no air conditioning and a retired high school teacher next door is $1.7 million. Not to mention... private middle school tuition is $52,200 a year and an oil change with inspection at the dealership runs you $1249.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/2611-ponce-ave,-belmont,-ca_rb/15548669_zpid/

https://www.csus.org/admission/affording-crystal

https://www.sanjoseaudi.com/audi-care-plan.htm

You couldn't pay me to live there. Actually, I want to move to like the upper peninsula of Michigan.  I would prefer someplace more remote, say rural Patagonia or the wilds of Canada or Scotland, but those  have their own issues. 

Either very creative or very poor choice of words when the order got dropped off for my friend Kim...she was very amused...

[ykX]

25 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

You couldn't pay me to live there

Like my colleague said when a company offered him a job in CA some years ago, the salary was almost 1.5 times he was getting in PA but he would need at least 2 times bigger salary just to maintain same living standard as here.

[riviera74]

Sky high costs to do almost anything? Wow, no wonder thousands have moved out of CA to multiple other states in the last ten years.

[dwightlooi]

50 minutes ago, ykX said:

Like my colleague said when a company offered him a job in CA some years ago, the salary was almost 1.5 times he was getting in PA but he would need at least 2 times bigger salary just to maintain same living standard as here.

Weather's great and that counts for a lot. It's in the low 60s (F) in the day, about high 40s at night right now (or most of winter) and it never snows. Other than that, the woke politics is nuts, you need to be finger printed to buy ammo, you need solar panels to get a roof, plastic bags are illegal at the supermarket, state income taxes are 9.3~12.3%, sales tax is 9.5%, gas is $4 a gallon, they are trying to pass an "exit tax" that penalize you for 10 years if you ever move out of the state and even the Big Mac is more expensive here than in the rest of the USA ($4.99).

30 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

Sky high costs to do almost anything? Wow, no wonder thousands have moved out of CA to multiple other states in the last ten years.

LOL... Hewlett Packard just left and so did Elon Musk.

[A Horse With No Name]

47 minutes ago, dwightlooi said:

Weather's great and that counts for a lot. It's in the low 60s (F) in the day, about high 40s at night right now (or most of winter) and it never snows. Other than that, the woke politics is nuts, you need to be finger printed to buy ammo, you need solar panels to get a roof, plastic bags are illegal at the supermarket, state income taxes are 9.3~12.3%, sales tax is 9.5%, gas is $4 a gallon, they are trying to pass an "exit tax" that penalize you for 10 years if you ever move out of the state and even the Big Mac is more expensive here than in the rest of the USA ($4.99).

LOL... Hewlett Packard just left and so did Elon Musk.

Riding a motorcycle across the state is about as much into California as I ever want to get...

 

This never gets old, ever. 

 

 

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, dwightlooi said:

Weather's great and that counts for a lot.

Truly a personal choice as I think that sunny weather sucks, would rather live year round in rain and green forests!

Wait, I already do!  

[Drew Dowdell]

13 hours ago, dwightlooi said:

E85 is roughly 109 Octane. On the otherhand it has about 76% the energy value.

While you can run higher boosts or compression and gain a little bit of power, you are only getting 76% of the power of an equivalent amount of gasoline burned. You you need to burn about 31% more of it.

Why run E85 when you can run 110 Octane Unleaded Race Gas?

I can't get 110 Octane race gas conveniently near me.  I can get E85 at a 50c+ discount on 87. ($2.15 v. $2.65 locally). I get miserable MPGs no matter what I put into it because max speed on my ~8.5 mile 45 minute commute is about 45mph. So, do I get 13mpg or 9.5 MPG....? it doesn't really matter. At least the truck feels a bit more spritely when I put the E-85.

I did the spreadsheet when I first bought it and I figured out that as long as I have about a 40c/gallons savings, the reduced fuel economy is a wash.

[A Horse With No Name]

25 minutes ago, David said:

Truly a person choice as I think that sunny weather sucks, would rather live year round in rain and green forests!

Wait, I already do!  

I will take a blizzard over most of CA.

Cadillac pic...

 

 

[Drew Dowdell]

Feel so sick and gross today.  I got my second dose of the covid vaccine last night and it's hitting me bad. 

[G. David Felt]

18 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Feel so sick and gross today.  I got my second dose of the covid vaccine last night and it's hitting me bad. 

Rest, that is a normal part for your second dose. Wishing you for a speedy recovery Drew.