My question is: can you hack the software for more range? Will the car actually refuse to move with another 20% of range just sitting in wait, stranding you essentially for the ransom of the upgrade price?

Actually, renewables are probably the most innovative and affordable option out there. *Dubai* is building a solar plant that produces 800 MW for $0.0299/KWh (three cents). That’s a 3X cheaper than a new coal plant.

I was once going a bit hot into a sweeper. More power just pushed the A3 (q) wider. Not always true. Clarksonian, in fact.

This is so wonderfully Canadian. Simultaneously proud and exceptional, while reminding you that they’re doing so well considering they’re Canadian.

Whatever gets you to sixty in eight or nine seconds. Much slower and you start to become a freeway liability

The problem is if you twitch or sneeze or whatever and move the steering wheel an inch the car doesn’t move very far, but on a knob that’s like 30-50% of full lock. You either have such a slow Highway ratio you will never avoid an obstacle, or sensitive enough that formerly inane driver error becomes fatal. The error…

Imagine how quickly you’d crash if there were something making an emergency lane change necessary and how much MORE quickly you’d crash if you had to sneeze...

This is a MUCH bigger problem than EVs. Ever-rising MPG averages (thanks Obama...) mean ever diminishing gas tax revenues. I’m a planner and it’s a large, looming issue in my field. Oregon is trying a per mile system (you can do by odometer or by gps for potential savings). That doesn’t actually help if your city,…

Actually, the tailgate was the primo option for those in the know. Much better for sitting, visibility, and functional wipers :b

Nope. Clearance and legit 4wd is really really useful if you get off the highways in temperate climes. I admit that having a family ranch in the mountains isn’t a typical use case but we would have been stuck an obscene number of times w/o our Suburban. My cousins even got a plow hooked up to their Fords for a while.

Your definition of ‘decent’ might be a bit generous...

On the flipside, there are literally millions of Explorers that never towed a single thing and drug all the metal around to be able to for their entire life span. Maybe some got a ski rack or a yakimarack!

I grew up on a 96 Suburban 2500 The 4wd & low transfer was a nightmare, but the thing was a utilitarian beast. And, for whatever reason, it felt way roomier than any modern Tahoe or what have you.

I’d love to see a site that shows generational bloat among pickups, Subarus, Audi/BMW cars, etc.

Congrats on minting my new favorite way to describe whales

A rec, despite the use of ‘gaytarded’ ...

The 90s Suburbans were really something. Every switch and lever felt flimsy, vague, and like they were copy-pasted into place from unrelated projects. There was carpet and bulbous plastic everywhere. So many random useless cubbies, most of which were loud and prone to only temporarily holding whatever you put in…

I love how the plastic has to be all puffy and ‘refined’ but then old-ass shit like the straight rod on the shifter completely clash with the whole design language... Very 90s GM (and others, to be fair) IMO.

Jeez, were you the lead engineer on the OG iDrive? I’ve never seen such an ‘impassioned’ or ‘snarky’ defense of it.

Jesus, hands that big would even make Lana Kane uncomfortable...