Objective, rational, and reasoned is always a good idea.

Ford and Toyota are both taking a very measured approach to EVs. We haven’t been talking about there being lithium or other material shortages on the horizon that make the chip shortage look mild, but they’re there. Having ICE units to move without running afoul of optimistic projections is a great insurance policy.

Definitely do not put premium in the suburban. The vortec 7400 will make no use of it and it is throwing money away. Even with a 7 psi centrifugal supercharger on ours we would run 89 in the winter because it just didn’t need it. No pinging. In summer or under load it was 91 minimum for sure but again... Supercharger.…

What’s wrong with you? 

There should be an even lower octane button just labeled "Saturn".

European octane is measured differently and not directly comparable to US octane rating.

I should definitely be using premium in the Suburban because it’s an older, heavier car with a big engine.

Sorry Liz, but Chris is wrong. Engines are designed to run on the recommended octane rating, no more no less. Getting premium gas when the engine doesn’t call for it is simply a waste of money and yields little, if any, benefits.

Agreed, Tesla vehicles just don’t inspire. For me, it’s not the power train so much as the absolutely crap interiors focused on a shitty screen in the middle of the console.  Lets keep controls that can be used without looking and put the nasty screen in the bin.

We need a fully fledged market for EVs. Hard to argue Tesla isn’t the pinnacle of the EV heap right now, but I personally don’t like them.  I’d absolutely take their powertrain in an old car though...

This is because that group is the least educated and most ignorant one in this country. And when that ignorance and lack of education has been actively celebrated for the past 40 years, it’s going to take a large change in attitudes to flip the switch to intelligence and understanding. These morons actively elected…

Urban sprawl without any consideration of public transportation, instead focusing on only maximizing car speeds. It requires a complete rethink that the US is totally incapable of doing.

It seems like a natural evolution (though it does suck). This is all of Houston to a tee thanks to no zoning laws in Texas.

Definitely a big selling point for the F-150, too. $32k after tax credit for ~115 kWh of batteries?! And there’s a truck attached!

Have have a buddy with an off the grid cabin. He’s been shopping for a Chevy bolt, because the battery pack alone is is worth more than the car. So this plan was just to buy a new one, drive it up to his cabin, and then park it and set up a homebrew battery system - and probably never use the car again. Basically a…

Yeah. It’s not vibrations so much as the constant forward and backwards movement while in gear. It’s going to turn the motor over a little in both directions. Even with good straps, the cars move around a bit. 

I’m assuming they mean back and forth rocking, not the up-down type of vibration.

YES! It amazes me how much misinformation there is on the interwebs about helicoils. I design Autonomous Underwater Vehicles as my day job. Everything we do in Aluminum gets a helicoil from the get go. It is much, much stronger than a thread in straight aluminum. It also not just the larger diameter that makes it…

So why wasn’t it left in gear, with the parking brake on? Is that not standard practice when transporting a car on one of these?

For what it’s worth, I’ve got a buddy who is a mechanical engineer designing military robots. He mentioned to me one time that very often they will spec fasteners with helicoils right from the factory, as this is often stronger than just tapping the metal directly. The helicoil is effectively a bigger “bolt” than the…