It’s absolutely a piety test, and I’m ok with it.

I guess that depends on what niche Nissan is aiming for. What would you compare it to?

It seemed to vary. It didn’t do well in instrumented tests, but when put out on the track, it apparently could hustle pretty decently.

Genuinely curious, what’s the resale value on BMW M cars like?

What happened to that really nice sapphire blue they once offered? Now it’s some kind of sky-blue, which is categorically less-good (fight me). Like this one:

U-238 would be good at stopping gamma, as you suggest. The downside would be that if the radioactive decay of whatever you’re shielding against produces neutrons, they have the ability to transmute U-238 into Pu-239, which would be bad news if you get enough of it. I believe it’s the concept that breeder reactors are…

The rule of thumb is mass stops gamma, but lead is significantly better at stopping gamma than its mass would normally suggest. Still more than you’d want to be carrying around.

We use nylon and polyethylene as radiation shielding. You wouldn’t think so, but hydrogen-rich plastics are exceptionally good at capturing neutrons compared to their weight. They’re shit against gamma though.

I remember reading something from Tyler Rogoway about how they weren’t sure how aggressive to be with the retrofit. The big gains would come from replacing the 8 small low-bypass TF33's with 4 larger high-bypass turbofans, like the CF6 or GEnX, but would also require the most modification to the airframe. Whereas…

I maintain the 3.6 H6 was an underappreciated gem of an engine. Much quicker, quieter, and more refined than the 4-banger, with a minor realistic fuel economy penalty, no oil consumption issues, and a reputation for reliability.

All these comments, and no jokes about recreating Mad Macks? I feel like it is my duty to do so.

Probably trying to remake Mad Macks.

Since it’s based on the same platform as the Ascent, is there any indication it might receive the same 2.4L turbo engine to replace the discontinued 3.6L H6? A modern take on the Legacy GT/Outback XT would be a welcome addition to their lineup.

I sold my 2013 STI hatchback to a man who intended to give it to his 17 year old son as a birthday present. I have purposefully not investigated to see whether it still lives, because I gain nothing from the knowledge that it still runs, yet would be upset by the knowledge that it met an untimely death.

Scaling down a reactor small enough to fit inside a Globemaster is likely feasible, but my prediction is that the weight involved is probably going to be what sinks this. Shielding, armoring, transport requirements, the weight adds up extremely quickly, especially if they have to be able to survive anything close to…

Thermocouples are most often used for measuring temperature, but the mechanism by which that is possible is due to the voltage they generate. Thermoelectric generators utilize this effect to produce useful energy.

I was going to suggest a 1st gen Ford GT, as they were originally sold for around his budget, but then I checked prices.......dear god have those things appreciated. Most listings are more than double the original MSRP.

Can’t say I have that exact issue, as other than simple fit-up testing, our products go straight to the customer. Actually, testing our products in realistic conditions other than actual use is damn near impossible. Quantities are not high, designs are mostly validated by metric ass-tons of analysis and reports…

No no no, you’ve got it wrong. Sales says “we can do that”, then goes back and tells engineering “we can do that right?” after they’ve already promised it.

I don’t know if Subaru could have justified a new engine for use in only one model (2 if you wanted to try sticking it in the Ascent as a higher-trim engine), but the EZ36 they already have was a fairly reliable and stout engine, as far as I’m aware, and already had many of the improvements from the FA series of…