Drew Dowdell
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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell
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I’m in favor of traffic circles because they actually improve traffic flow and you can get through them faster. I’m talking about aggressive “smart traffic lights”, speed humps on major neighborhood arteries, and artificially slow speed limits that don’t get enforced so you end up having a mismatch of people who obey the speed limit and people who drive the natural traffic flow speed limit. For example, there’s a road near me that is 50 miles an hour for most of its length but then it drops down to 35 miles an hour even though the road itself doesn’t change. The speed limit was dropped because people in town complained. But the speed limit isn’t enforced so now you have some people who do the speed limit of 35 and other people still trying to do 50. This is a fairly large road and 50 is entirely appropriate for it. With smart lights, they are able to detect how quickly the traffic gets from one light to the next, and if the traffic light feels the traffic is moving too fast, they start turning red more often to slow the traffic down. All that does is aggravate people, and then people speed more than if they could just pass through a few green lights. At their worst, the lights will only let three or four cars through even if a bunch of cars are backed up behind and then change very quickly back to red again
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I think many of the “traffic calming “ techniques that civil engineers are using today end up having the opposite effect. I think they end up angering drivers, and while it might slow the driver down at that exact point, they end up speeding up in between the traffic calming devices. Further, it just makes traffic worse and angers drivers even more.
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There are two 3500s with some years of overlap. The earlier one called the LX9, you are correct, is built on the 3400 block and was offered from 2004 - 2007. This one traces it history to the 3.1 from 1994, and even earlier to the 2.8 from 1980. This one made about 200 hp and between 215 - 220 lb-ft of torque depending on application. The later one started production in 2006 and ran through 2010 as the LZ4 and is entirely unrelated to the earlier one aside from name. It was all new. It is a 3900 with a sightly shorter stroke. This one came with Variable Valve Timing. The blocks of the 3500 VVT and 3900 are basically identical. Horsepower rating changed almost yearly, starting at 211, jumping to 224, then back down to 219 or 217. There is a variant of this (LZE) for flex fuel rated at 211 horsepower and only available in the Impala and Monte Carlo. To make things simple</s>, GM named ALL of these engines the 3500 High-Value engine, though the LZ4 and LZE are also sometimes referred to as 3.5 liter with VVT. The 3900 has all of that plus roller rocker arms (smoother) and a variable length intake manifold. While horsepower maxed out at 240, it has a nearly turbocharged-like torque curve with at least 90% of max torque (240 lb-ft) available from 1500 - 5500 rpm. It had active fuel management and could run on 3 cylinders in certain years, only in the Impala
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The 3500 and 3900 were significantly smoother than their respective predecessors. I've told the story here before, but I was in a rental Lucerne driving across Ohio and I didn't realize I was driving in 3rd gear at highway speeds for a good many miles before I noticed.
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Oh, I get it, I think you misunderstood me. I'm saying make a Maverick Raptor with that engine. For a Lobo version, they'd need something like Lobo Max.
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Based on earlier responses, I updated the Generative AI Usage Policy and added the Integra pictures above as examples. Check it out. I can't think of a British actress who would fill that role well. Emily Blunt maybe, but I'm iffy on that.
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1000% I think we should have a woman 007 also, these days, she can still get all the Bond-Girls. You straight guys can't argue against that!
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I have always felt that 007 was the designation and not the person, much like The Doctor. When a 007 gets killed off or retired, a new 007 is recruited/hired to replace him. Same for M, same for Q. I mean, Judi Dench was an amazing M and Ralph Fiennes, the current M, is amazing at anything he does. So why can't the same be said for 007? I think we've transcended the age when Bond has to be a white male. If anything, the next movie could and should be one where part of the story is how a 007 gets recruited.
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Anything at the Raptor level is specialty and people don't expect fuel economy for those trucks.
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Raptors don't care about fuel efficiency.
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I have to say that this is the most attractive front end treatment of all the trims. Each Maverick trim gets unique styling and this is by far the best. I suppose, theoretically, the 2.3 Ecoboost should fit
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From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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2025 Ford Maverick Lobo - showing infotainment screen tilt
Drew Dowdell posted a gallery image in Gallery
From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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2025 Ford Maverick Lobo - infotainment screen and HVAC controls
Drew Dowdell posted a gallery image in Gallery
From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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2025 Ford Maverick Lobo - center console and gear selector
Drew Dowdell posted a gallery image in Gallery
From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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2025 Ford Maverick Lobo - on a foggy mountain, overhead view
Drew Dowdell posted a gallery image in Gallery
From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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2025 Ford Maverick Lobo - on a gravel road - front side
Drew Dowdell posted a gallery image in Gallery
From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
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From the album: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo
