Yep. As a gin drinker, there isn’t a brand out there that is worth more than $30ish/bottle. Even if you like the way a certain pricier brand tastes, chances are you can find a lower cost brand that has cloned that flavor profile.

Filters do make a big difference, but the unfortunate truth is that all automotive filters are pretty much crap when comparing them to filters used in industrial applications. Auto filters usually state their performance as an efficiency number which is the percent of particles above a certain size that are captured…

You’d think, but traffic laws always lean towards siding with the officer. Cops can ticket you for almost anything, and it is up to you to convince the judge why the cop is wrong. I’m sure a cop could say that that lot is a semi-public place and that another driver or pedestrian could have come onto the lot at…

Funny that you mention that. I finally saw one in the wild on Saturday. It caught my eye because it was a convertable, and then when I looked at the badge I had a similar, “Oh yeah...” moment. Of course that’s probably because the only new Buick’s that I see on the road anymore are the Encore. 

The 01-04 models are nuts. There was a local dealer here that was advertising an 03 double cab with 200,000 miles on facebook a couple weeks ago. Their asking price was $10k. They probably won’t get that, but even at $7500, that’s a lot of cash for a truck that is pretty long in the tooth.

You’re right that I wouldn’t notice a difference, because I’m a novice and wouldn’t know what I’m feeling. Put a pro driver in those three cars and let him push them right to the limits and he probably could tell you the difference. But from a physics standpoint, it does affect the vehicle’s dynamics.

I lived a little south of Pittsburgh for almost 5 years and had a FWD car during that time. I can think of maybe 2 or 3 snow storms that kept me off the road for all day or more. There would be a handful of times each winter where I’d have to wait an hour or two for the plow trucks to make their first pass on the…

I disagree. By that reasoning it wouldn’t matter if a car is front/mid/read engined at all as long as the the weight distribution is is 50:50. Although that has a lot to do with it, when you look at the dynamics of a turning car, the weight distribution relative to the center of rotation plays a big role in how the…

I would say that the price difference would have to be higher than that. Permitting for a landfill alone takes years, not to mention for something that is full of heavy metals. Add to the material handling and space requirements, natural gas is pretty attractive just because it is less of a headache.

Vendetta against coal? They’re just trying to make coal power as clean as everyone says that it can be.

A co-worker of who was a die hard trans am/Camero guy since the late seventies bought a challenger for that reason. He has family several states away that he visits frequent. He wanted something sporty that would work well on road trips too. This fit the bill for him and he couldn’t be happier with it.

My problem with the brick and mortar stores is that they’ve never had the parts I need in stock. The last couple times I’ve tried to get something from them (starter, ABS wheel sensor, and CV joint) I’ve been told, “We don’t have it, but I can get it here in a day or two.” Hell, I can order it online and get it here…

Yeah, it does suck. They guy will probably never be caught, because like you said the cops are stretched thin and prioritize other crimes. But nothing stops the guy from claiming an injury whether he truly was or not. A lawyer to defend you is atleast $5k to start. So they would have had to steal something very…

It sorta follows the shop keepers rule. If they steal from you, you can purse them, catch them, and detain them. But since you are not a cop and therefore not an agent of the state, you can still be held liable for their injuries which is why most stores don’t purse shoplifters anymore. My dad has worked for a grocery…

“Old age and treachery always overcomes youth and skill.” -Willie Nelson

I test my cars with different grades too to see if there is a difference with mpg. I had a pickup for awhile that would get better mpg on 89 than 87 (no boost from 89 to 93 tho). I did the math and the improved mpg was offset by the price difference so it cost the same per mile. So I would run 87 around town but fill…

I agree with you. I do blame the banks. The way they have set systems up with dealerships that make it so easy to just walk into a dealer and get a new car on a whim. To compare, I’m in the process of buying a piece of land right now that is about what a well equipped 3 series would cost. The process of securing…

Like Bucket Brigade said, it had to do cylinder temps. Usually the heads themselves more than the cylinders though. In the early 80's the focus was on reducing CO and unburnt hydrocarbon emissions. This meant focusing on more efficient combustion and reducing the amount excess fuel in the mix (read leaning out the the…

These are white collar jobs that were let go though. They are purely overhead. Both the white and blue collar workers that actually make the product that brings in money are still working just as they were before. Most companies that go through a boom cycle like the automakers did find later that they over hired…

I can attest to that. I dropped my bike last fall. I got up, picked the bike up, and got it off the road. Then, when I went to take my backpack off and realized my collar bone was broken. It still didn’t start hurting until a couple more minutes went by and I began to calm down.