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: