I checked and, yeah, Texas Southern general parking permits are $250 or more, and I can totally sympathize with a broke college kid not wanting to pay that.

Yeah, and a real rear diff so the AWD actually does something useful. ;)

Yeah, something about a clunky long-throw truck transmission not liking 7000 rpm...

It’s sad that I know this off the top of my head, but the SHO 3.4 V8 shares a bellhousing pattern with the 2.5 and 3.0 Duretec V6s. It will bolt up to the MTX-75 from the Contour (FWD), the A65M-R transmission from the V6 Mazda6 (FWD), or the Getrag 221 from the V6 Lincoln LS (RWD).

Ok, I double checked. The early manual Aerostars had a TK5 transmission with a removable bellhousing that could be used to adapt a T5 to an SHO engine - that’s what everyone wants. The later ones like this had the Mazda transmission with the integrated bellhousing like the Rangers.

If everything is a Holy Grail, then really nothing is, right?

The real Holy Grail is that bellhousing - it lets you bolt up an SHO V6 to a RWD transmission. Back when the SHO’s 220hp was impressive, that was a nice bit of kit to have.

I mean, the Model 3 slaughtered everything else in SCCA B Street in 2019 - GT350, Evora, Focus RS, M2, Porsches, etc. They had to move it to SS where it competes with the GT-R, 911s, and the Cayman GT4. “Feel right” or not, it’s absolutely murderous.

What?

I’d say that it’s because the batteries...proved to be much heavier than first anticipated, and worked those leaf springs a bit harder than planned, spreading out the wheels.

This is fascinating - your household regularly takes two simultaneous and independent road trips of more than 250 miles a day??

I was wondering how ventilation would even work - I assume the compartment is normally sealed from the elements outside. So do you get fresh air down there through whatever cracks are in the floor hatch?

The technician had to resort to whaling on the old tires with a sledgehammer.

For those curious, this is all standard, easily debunked Facebook bullshit:

Ah, but what if the V8 isn’t “hi-pow,” and what if the auto is a FIVE speed!?

I get where you’re coming from, you can look at an individual vehicle and deem it “reliable.”

“Yeah the S52 is super reliable! You just have to crack the engine open and weld the oil pump nut on so it doesn’t go boom. Oh, and also replace the entire cooling system every 60,000 miles. Totes reliable though.”

Driving home from an autocross, I’ll stop at a Casey’s and grab a couple of cookies and an Arnold Palmer. After a hot day in the sun, the tea hits just right and with enough caffeine to keep me going all the way home, all for the low, low price of $0.99.

I’ll hold that a large component of reliability is tolerance for abuse, neglect, or mistreatment.

an ignorant, arrogant lost explorer