Typically it’s the same. The auto has a lockup converter. Both can get 22 mpg if you hypermile it or only drive on country roads. Both will get around 18 mpg overall, around 12 in the city and around 7-9 mpg towing a very large 5th wheel RV.

This. My buddy’s 5500 Ram Cummins service truck sat at 25k without a trailer and often towed over 20k lbs. The crappy auto lost a gear at only 400k miles. Part of that was due to him not changing the transmission fluid(or engine oil lol) for over 100,000 miles.

The downside of a manual diesel is the turbo lag, you experience it on every shift unless if you ring it out.

Fortunately, the 68RFE is much better than the 727(all the transmissions were 727 based until after 2007, they improved over the years) in your grandpa’s truck. I’ve got a standard in my 12 valve and my father has a 68RFE in his newer Cummins. I’ve backed up trailers into my 30 percent grade driveway and took both…

The newer Cummins is a lot better at low RPM than the older Cummins. Despite that, my 12 valve can crawl up my 30 percent grade driveway in 2nd gear below 500 RPM without stalling. To give you an idea of how steep this driveway is, I can’t back up in 2wd on a hot and dry day without doing a burnout show.

The lift pump is also likely priming during that time. The ultimate goal for the ECU is to have the cleanest startup. It’s the reason the 6.7 takes a few cranks to start, whereas my 25 year old Cummins fires on the first crank. The ECU waits for the HPFP to reach a few thousand PSI when cranking before opening up the…

The engine on the MK7 will be slightly more reliable. But the MK5 and MK6(an upgraded MKV) platform itself is pretty well built. They feel pretty solid at 300,000 miles. 

You’re welcome, it’s a neat tool with a bunch of features that are constantly being added. 

I completely agree. I think low speed lane splitting(even if they aren’t passing, just sitting there) should be encouraged. My car can take a rear end collision from the person not looking at their phone better than the bike.

Play around with Google Photos and you’ll see the power that Google has. I use it for work, we created a Google Photos account for archive because it can search for objects in the photos, it also searches for text in the photos(and likely the reason it brings up license plates).

On iconic roads like that, never speed. There’ll be people walking around at all times of the day and night. It’s not surprising to find people setup at the guardrail of a corner enjoying the view and taking pictures. This is an example I took last night on the Blue Ridge(a road that’s similar to the one in the…

24 valve from ‘98.5-’02 is scary. But the 24 valve in 2006 and newer is dependable. Avoid the ‘07-`12, limp mode due to emissions issues would be a crappy way to die. 

Good choice and is what I have as the weekend chores vehicle. The engine actually only needs power to shutoff(unless if you send your clutch to hell by trying to stall it). If the starter fails, you just need to zip tie the shutoff solenoid in the up position and pray you have a steep enough slope near your parking…

Seems like a pretty darn good method to avoid giving people food poising. 

I like the cut of your jib. 

Did the flowers get destroyed? I was going to go to the race, but skipped out. However, I had a chance to do a few hot laps and they pointed out the pretty mums they were planting at the end of one of the corners. 

The only reason to replace it would be for wants, but not need. They handle very well, they’re cheap to fix. I didn’t find them to be the most comfortable, but that’s just a personal preference. 

A Hyundai Accent or Elantra from Hertz is hard to beat. Natually aspirated engine that can take all the abuse in the world and fleet maintenance. You can usually grab a two year old Accent with 40,000 miles for 7500-9000. 20,000 miles of warranty is still remaining(the 100,000 warranty turns into 60,000 for the second…

This. I mean, I had to replace a drive shaft and control arm bushings on it. People complain like a drive shaft is the end of the world, but they’re cheap to replace and the vehicle had 230k when it had to be replaced. Last I heard, my old Liberty is still chugging away for a construction contractor at the Panama…

Don't worry, I'm sure those wooden rocking chairs are comfy.