P & M session
 

OK its time to piss & moan..........
Got an '18 Silverado a month ago. Today while doing errands the
touch screen gave me a message. WARNING !
I tried to read it but couldnt so I fumbled around for reading glasses
& tried again while weaving around at 65 MPH on an uncontrolled
road. I still cant quite read it so I pulled into an ice cream joint.
Message was ( dont remember exact wording ).

WARNING !
Reading & using the touch screen while driving is dangerous !............

WTF ????, Anyone else see the pure stupidity in this ?

BTW I had to call the dealer just to play a CD & still havnt figured out
how to get into AM radio without doing it by accident in 5 mn of poking.
I bet if they sold cars without this CRAP many would pay extra NOT to
have it. At least I would have spent another kilobuck to have normal controls.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Priceless!

An 84 year old friend of mine asked me to come and pick up a new car he had bought. It took us 15 minutes in the parking lot of the dealer to make the damn SHUT UP! It was insisting on giving us a "tour". Awful. And as you said, using the radio involves a lot of screen pressing and cussing. I'd pay extra to get rid of that crap for sure.

These are the stories that make me glad my vehicles are 16 and 40 years old.... with some of the crap I've heard about driver assist it makes me think that if I ever get a new car I'm going to have some fuse pulling to do to make it acceptable... Maybe I should add aftermarket stereo to the list.

About 2 years ago at the place I worked then I was at a training course and the youngest guy in the room and the person speaking goes you all have smartphones right show of hands...(I'm the only one without one) you all have seen how cars integrate with smartphones and have computers built in to the dash... nope newest car I'd ridden in was a 2011 Honda... y'all R talking about sci-fi majicks.

Infotainment systems is one of the many reasons I hate new cars. Not to mention chop-top windows, massive a, b and c pillars for """"""""safety"""""""", generally terrible styling (subjective), enormous rims and low pro tires on EVERYTHING, Pickup trucks that you have to lift the cab off the frame to change the spark plugs (I'm looking at you Ford), lasers for headlights, drive by wire...........

The entertainment/nav on my 2013 Mustang is nicely intutive; don't know what the current ones are like; but I've had some rental cars (other makes) that drove me crazy just trying to tune the radio.

I mean... you could just learn how to operate the radio.

In front of me is a Yeasu FT1000D transeiver.
https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamhf/0275.html
It has 56 buttons & 22 knobs. There are more on the back, mic, SPKR,
& through a door on top I didnt count.
It is easy to learn run. A car radio should be too. Why not a AM-FM-CD
switch ?

OMG don't get me started on that... there's nothing worse than flashing a passing car that you think has very bright high beams on only to find out that those were the LOW beams by getting flashed back with total blindness inducing High beams....those damn over bright head lamps should be illeagal.... it has gotten so bad that part of me feels like getting a .22 and aiming for the light.:uzi:

I see I'm not the only one bothered by this. It's almost ruined night driving for me. Only solution is if you can't beat them, join them... Big tall SUV with auto dimming mirrors. I can't speak for you but for me that's not ever happening, so P&M is where it's at.

Yeah night time driving is awful because the headlights, I dd a miata so I'm low to the ground, but even in my big 4x4 Dodge truck I still find the headlights annoying.

that's one of the things I miss about my prizm is it had (illegal) window tint all around.

I might grab me some of those Hunter S. Thompson night time driving shades next time I'm at Wally world, before I do limo tint in all my cars

My winter car/fuel saver/ Tv getter is a 02 suburban with auto dimming mirror, and I still occasionally get bothered by drivers behind me (thought about installing a rear firing spot lamp for that)... at least you can ignore your mirrors and or haull ass away from folks behind you.... but oncoming traffic especially on the winding roads here is harder to deal with unless you like stairing out the passenger window and steering by feeling for the gravel shoulder or the front of the car blinding you...:thumbsdn:

I saw a video fairly recently on the pitfalls of new cars, the "infotainment" system being one of them. One may as well be learning a whole new operating system when dealing with those things, I don't think anything about them is standardized.

I recall riding in someone's late-model piece of crap and wondering "where's the bloody ignition key?" The owner uses a USB stick with the stereo and brags about how many songs it can hold. Mom seemed impressed by it but I was thinking something like "Yeah, so?"

I just modded an AM-FM-8 track car stereo for use as my computer's sound system, sounds pretty good too. ;) I didn't want to permanently modify the stereo's case so I gutted and cut down a bad VHF tuner; I thought it ideal as it already had RCA jacks and the hole in the back fit perfectly over the volume control shaft. A micro-mini DPDT switch fit nicely between the stereo's case and the attachment. As for power I just tapped the 12V rail in my computer.

Luckily, my '10 Focus radio is fairly easy to use. It has USB/CD/FM/AM/Sirius.
The car at this point has less than 10k on it....so I intend to keep it for awhile. :)

I've never owned anything new enough to have such a "stereo" though we've rented some. The good thing is I never had the notion to listen to the radio while I had them. One of my daily annoyances at work is that I have to obtain, if at all possible, the odometer readings from all the vehicles I look at. Some electronic odometers are great (most Chrysler products & many newer models from everyone else are automatic when you open the door). On some GM models I have no idea whatsoever how to access it. Earlier this week I was trying to extract this simple bit of information from a 3 year old Explorer. The only thing I accomplished was to have the radio suddenly turn on full blast. Phooey!

As for me, I like knobs...something I can grab. Um...I mean, on the radio :)

Chrysler has always been good about that. That feature dates back to the late 80s, with any of their cars that had the digital instruments - open the driver's door, and the odometer wakes up. So far as I can tell, they've kept that nice feature. Most other cars with digital odometer readings aren't as thoughtfully designed, sadly.

When I took out my new-to-me 2017 Jeep Compass, naturally I tried the radio. When I brought it back, I shut off the engine and pulled to key, the radio didn't shut off, so I shut it off before I left the car. As it turns out, the radio shuts off when the driver's door is open.

GM has been doing that for a while Both my burban and its envoy predecessor have that. Also after a few minutes with the engine off, it will shut off the radio to avoid draining your battery.

I'm really spoiled with the keyless entry and the keyless ignition. My old Prius and the newer one has it.
All you have to do is keep the fob in your pocket, touch the driver's door handle and it unlocks. Push button on dash, put it in drive or reverse and go. The engine starts itself. The engine shuts down when waiting for one of the painfully long traffic lights.

I agree with night driving. I wont anymore unless I HAVE to. Bring back
the round sealed beams ! No $500 plastic lens to fog up & I could
see at nite ! Require 4 per car & you will always know if you are getting
hi-beamed.

Radio stuck on ? Happend to me. I sold a wood lot & bought my Squaw
a 16 Caravan. Drove me nuts. Silverado the same. Just F'n turn off PLS !

I got a few more bitches I may start a thread on. Dont take this as a slam
to GM, its across the board. I looked at the big 3 trucks & there arnt many
differences. Good points & bad for all.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

I assume the engine shutdown feature is exclusive to hybrids. I like things mechanically, electronically and even aesthetically simple so stuff like that doesn't appeal to me, and may even make me feel rather uneasy. I'm the type who would not only insist on a manual transmission, I would probably back it with a four-speed auxiliary given the opportunity. I reckon double low gear would make traffic jams a lot easier to handle. :smoke:

The only newer technology I've been spoiled by is DVD players and LCD monitors. When I got a laptop in '05 and saw how clear the display was compared to my 17" ViewSonic CRT I was like, whoa. I was reluctant to give up my first-gen Mac G3 but it barely ran and Win XP grew on me anyway. I still used CRTs on desktops for some time after that but gradually gave that up.

My 2006 Jeep Wrangler has a six speed manual transmission that seems to have a real low first gear. When driving it, I also shift through all the gears, instead of starting out in a higher gear, which is harder on the clutch.
Regarding the engine cut-off feature, there's is some gasoline-only cars out there that have it. I believe it's not a good system.
The Prius' design doesn't use an alternator or a starter. Everything is done by the traction motor and the invertor system.
There's a theory of operation found on the internet. :thmbsp:

That sounds like the old granny gear, it's probably related to the off-road nature of the Jeep. I think it would come in handy if you were off-roading and needed to crawl over some really ugly terrain. Old Ford farm trucks with the 4 speed always had that, it's great for starting an overloaded trailer moving without burning your clutch, not so great for city commuting.

I think you might actually put less wear and tear on the clutch by shifting frequently with the engine putting out very little torque, than by starting in a high gear and dumping the clutch into a situation where it has to close under a big load - like say starting rolling in 3rd gear.

Out of curiosity, what would be a typical top speed in these very low “granny gears”? I once had an old Peugeot that would red line at 20 mph in first... seemed like a real “stump puller” gear, but I always used it to start out, rather than slip the clutch excessively.

jr

Not sure, but 20 sounds low, I'd imagine you'd be shifting that one before 10 mph. It sounds like half what it would normally be. Out of curiosity what year was the Peugeot? Don't see many of those around.

1960 model 403... I was just a kid so I usually went to red line in first. :D That was a whopping 5100 RPM, as I recall.

jr

How cool is that.. what a neat car.

I knew one guy who had a 1988 Ford F-150 with a 4-speed; He would always start out in second gear, probably not a good idea considering what I've read here. He also drove a fuel truck with a splitter switch so I couldn't tell what was going on there.

I'm not sure what a traction motor is; I've heard of traction elevators but I hadn't heard the term used elsewhere. :scratch2: There's another thing to look up.

I found this fairly recently, it's the result of someone who drove her VW Transporter everywhere in third gear because she didn't know how to operate a manual.

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php...1&d=1545076816

In an old F-150 it would probably be fine to start in second. Those were a true granny gear, and almost painfully slow to start in first.

The Prius 'transmission' is actually quite fascinating. As a transmission mechanic, I had the opportunity once to open one up. Everyone always kept telling me it was a CVT transmission.

In a manner of speaking, I suppose. But no, it was a lie! There's next to nothing inside of them. There's 2 big ass electric motor/generators, the final drive (differential), and then a little planetary gear that is the armature of the 1st motor. There are no clutches, no torque converter, no hydraulics, and no electronics. The engine is directly coupled to the planetary gear, and the way it's set up is that the planetary just freewheels there. Unless the motor is energized, then it sort of holds it, and the engine is 'directly' coupled to the wheels, the amount of 'slip' varying by how much electricity is sent to the motor. Reverse is accomplished electrically.

Fun fact, if you have a Prius, you can use pretty much any oil as a trans fluid. They say it has to be Toyota's basic trans fluid, but really, any old trans fluid is fine, because no hydraulics, and no clutches.

The main reason I'm driving one as a daily driver is because of the high degree of engineering that went into it, plus the 45+MPG.
This ones a 2011 bought used with 89K miles. The older one I had was a 2006 bought with 87K. The Prius models are all built in Japan.
My other three vehicles are US built Mopars.
Regarding the Transmission fluid, certain 60's era Mopars with the Power-flite transmissions used the engine oil as the transmission fluid. :scratch2:

Auto stop/start is big with Ford. I wouldnt have it. Always defaults on
unless you mod it or buy a kit. Ford says they have a better starter &
battery so no extra wear. Begs the question why not put the better
stuff in ALL the cars ?

With manuals I almost always started in 2nd. Only time for 1st was
when you were doing comparative driving or a smoke show. Another
feature lost on automatics is the D2 that skips 1st. In snow both my
Crown Vic & Roadmaster would just spin the tires in 1st the second
you let off the brakes.

Interesting thing on gearing. The Mt. Washington Auto Road uses
GMC vans as limos.
https://mtwashingtonautoroad.com/guided-tours
They are geared so you have to accelerate to go DOWN hill. Let off the gas
& you come to a stop.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Kinda late here, But I have a 1990 Dodge w250 with an NP435 granny 4 (and likely 4:10 gears in the diffs) and I never take off out of first unless I'm ripping small trees out of the ground. 1st is like 6:1 or something ridiculous like that. It even says in the manual to take off out of second for normal driving.

I'm also not crazy about the old 4 speeds. my truck is at 3000rpm at 65mph in 4th.

Whatever floats your gears blokes.

There's a series of videos on YouTube of a school bus that was refitted with a 5-speed main and a 4-speed auxiliary. The two guys I saw drive it took off in second/low except for when demonstrating granny low and later on pulling out a badly stuck 4x4.

A car we used to have had a really wide gap between third and fourth, the latter only being used at highway speeds. I suppose one's level of satisfaction with 4-speeds depends on whether or not fourth is an overdrive.

Early on when I was practicing on a manual, that particular car was tricky to get into low so I accidentally ended up in third a couple of times. Once I actually succeeded in taking off in third which really bogged down the engine as I had pulled onto an incline. Once I realized what happened I made the mistake of downshifting all the way into low; the engine roared and when I shifted back in second the tires screeched a bit, prompting a chuckle from the guy who owned the car. Nevertheless, even then I was better at driving a manual than Captain Kirk.

I know! I actually had a 54 or 53 Chrysler New Yorker in the shop once. Was the first model year for Chrysler's first actual automatic transmission (not counting the manual with a torque converter [although ironically, this transmission WAS a manual with a torque converter, just automatically shifted by a coffee-can-sized solenoid]). The service manual was with the car and I read up on the transmission. You had to change the engine and transmission oil altogether, because they shared the oil. Must've been an expensive oil change.

My new to me 2017 Jeep Compass seems to act that way. The second you decelerate it seems to downshift, almost like you're braking. I guess it's easier on the brakes.
It also has what they refer to as "Autostick". You can go through the gears like a manual.

On the Auto Road you run 1st all the way up for cooling & all the way down for braking. There are some cars that cant stay in 1st & they wont let them up.
I was told once they used to do brakes every 2 weeks about 675 miles !
The new vans never need brakes, you only have to use them twice per trip.
Anyhows its abt 4000 feet up in 8 miles & really tests the cooling, brakes
& tranny. You can actually smell a car coming !

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !