This sounds like something similar that happened to my brother’s 94 Dakota. The tab on the ignition cylinder that actuates the start switch sheared off. It takes quite a bit of force to turn the key normally, and that stress over the years was just too much for it. Put a new cylinder in it and it broke again a while…

Does yours go the extra step of having the first copy of any new design go straight to the customer instead of through testing? I designed a whole new suspension for the trucks I work on and had parts ready to go on a test truck so they could be in the field for several months before we sold one to a customer so we…

I just hope this doesn’t keep them from building these in the future.  It’s always novel to think there’s a life sized Gundam somewhere in the world.

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.

But, why does it even pop out to begin with if they are going to leave the cutout there under it?  That seems like it defeats the purpose of sitting flush.

While I would agree that electric vehicles in general have this capability, one with dual 48 volt motors most certainly does not.  I have a feeling these would feel much more like an appliance and less like performance.  No need to have all that extra performance potential if you are always going to be operating…

As strange and as hot of a take as this might be, I think technology and “connectedness” might have a fair amount to do with this. When anyone can talk to anyone else with the push of a button or swipe of a keyboard, there’s less need for transportation anymore. Even shopping doesn’t require transportation anymore…

There are even separate climate control systems for the passenger and driver.

I’m sure it’s much different if you’re the person doing it, but kinda looks like a pretty leisurely stroll with only a little heavy pedaling.  I find it no less impressive, just figured it would look more...intense.

So they’ll be shopping for tips with the diesel bros now?  Pipe diameter is what I care about, not tip diameter.  That always makes me laugh when you see a big diesel rig with a basketball sized tip and you can see the 3" pipe right behind it.  You’re not fooling anyone.

I got to see the original Cummins Ram at one of Cummins office’s when I was visiting.  Didn’t get to see it up close as we were walking past to meeting rooms, but it was cool nonetheless.

This just reminds me of the award for “initial quality”.  That’s such a BS metric.  “Yeah, my car is awesome for the first year, then everything falls apart or disintegrates, but that’s better than having to replace something in that first year”.  I imagine that doesn’t help resale value if everyone knows they fall…

So legit question since I don’t have the stats in front of me: how close are races and how much overtaking occurs on brand new tracks?  How about Baku as that’s one of the newer ones I can think of?  Just wondering if Vietnam goes well and has a fair amount of scrapping for positions if it’s really going to be down to…

...and prohibits a muffler or exhaust system from being equipped with a cutout, bypass, or similar device.

I honestly don’t really think it would ever happen either, though I think it could have some limited applications. I had thought of planes as well and had the same thoughts as you in that despite the sky being wide open, it’s actually pretty well controlled. Being wide open also allows for far less obstacles to dodge.

Lol, I know I wouldn’t, but that’s because I like driving.  I’d rather rent a car or drive my own somewhere to use it in another city.

Yeah, I see what you mean.  I guess the thought I had was more that you could set up a lot of infrastructure in the city itself to help the vehicles vs the vehicles having to do everything themselves.  If you have sensors all over traffic lights and pedestrian walkways and such that tell the cars what is going on it…

Yeah, dedicated lanes probably makes the most sense, at least for highway driving if nothing else. Though the chance of every state getting together to do that seems slim. I guess maybe all major interstates could have it, but even then it feels like it would never happen.

True, that is a pretty major shift.  Though then it gets into a big fight between the infrastructure people and the manufacturers if I had to guess.

The issue pretty much boils down to the environment from my perspective. There is plenty of autonomous equipment out there running today that isn’t cars. Ports for instances are quite automated. Huge industrial equipment that could easily hurt people or do some serious damage. The difference is they are in controlled…