I had a moment of self-realization recently. When I’m on a long trip - say, 300 miles - the difference between driving 65mph and driving 75 is meaningful. You can save almost an hour on a trip of that length.

the result is a car about half as light as your traditional one

The 914 5-speed uses a solid shift linkage, not a cable system. Worn-out first gear slider is a common issue and a few hundred bucks to replace.

So, pretty much a Tesla Model Y?

This is an excellent answer.

Isn’t everything forward of the C-pillar a standard-issue Altima of the time? (except the drivetrain, obviously)

Very glad I saw this. Wife loves her iPhone SE but it’s constantly out of memory and occasionally glitchy. She hates the larger form factors. New 128GB on the way!

$50,000 will buy a pretty nice used Tesla Model S. Get the rear-facing third row; your kids will fit in it for quite a few more years (my kids are aging out of it).

This is misleading. They don’t lose battery capacity — the “tank” holds the same amount in cold as in moderate temperatures. The range is significantly lower because the car is using electric power to heat the cabin and heat the battery, and in many cases Regen is limited until the battery reaches an operating range.…

It’s also pretty common to replace the Fuel Injection with Carburetors (not necessarily a good idea) and rebuild with larger pistons and cylinders for greater displacement/torque/power (always a good idea). Mine started out as a 2.0 (1970cc) and is now 2056cc with dual carbs and aftermarket exhaust. Probably making…

It’s interesting to me that as we’re entering into the era of full-EVs from mainline manufacturers, there are still new designs coming to market that can accommodate either full-EV or Hybrid/ICE drivetrains. The flexible architecture probably requires some compromises, no? Like, you can’t get the packaging efficiency…

The want is so, sooooo strong

This is what happens when you leave Romance Mode on, unsupervised.

Ballaban is wrong; Mr. Two First Names is correct.

Saab night panel is brilliant. Not only was it implemented on the simple, legible “pumpkin patch” Saab gauges, but it had the intelligence to light up anything that required attention. Low on fuel? Gauge illuminates. Rev close to redline? Tach illuminates. Even the…

I’ll go contrarian on this one. Perhaps the best-handling sports car from the last era of manual transmission, analog driving? If I could sock away a Boxster Spyder as an investment for the next 20+ years, hell yes I would.

Musk has said all along that the primary goal of Tesla is to move the transportation sector away from fossil fuels and toward electric propulsion. Now that Chevy has a mainstream model in the Bolt, and other models (like the Leaf) are achieving useful battery capacity/range, there’s little incentive for Tesla to rush…

Same system is in the Porsche 914, although some owners later upgraded with an electric pump.

I’m alarmed by how much I want this. 10/10 would rock this. Tomorrow, too.

Argh!!! This car is stalking me from the dead, again!!

Dad’s a pretty cool car guy, in general. He ordered a Saab 9000 Turbo 5-speed before the first 9000 had yet arrived in North America. Drove it for a few years and replaced it with a new one. After driving that one for several years, he decided to “try American again” and bought this abomination: