The cars and bikes thread!

[geoffbot]

I always drive for pleasure, so EVs don’t work for me 100% of the time.

I think they'll be fine, and good fun. I'll drive em when I have to. I'll enjoy burning fuel whilst I'm allowed though.

[Raza]

I'll always own things that are fun to drive, hopefully EVs will get better with driving dynamics, too.

BUT... as someone who owns and personally services 5 cars, a motorcycle, a tractor, ATV, generator, along with various blowers, trimmers, and such, I welcome zero maintenance basic transport. Especially for my wife's car.

I think they'll be fine, and good fun. I'll drive em when I have to. I'll enjoy burning fuel whilst I'm allowed though.

For me, the sounds of the engine, working the gears to stay in the power band, shifting, etc, are all part of the enjoyment. I don’t care how fast EVs are, they’ll all be big fat golf carts to me. Silent, self-driving coffins.

[geoffbot]

I mean I agree, I even shun automatic ice cars. Ah well, enjoy whilst we can!

[happyscrappyheropup]

For me, the sounds of the engine, working the gears to stay in the power band, shifting, etc, are all part of the enjoyment. I don’t care how fast EVs are, they’ll all be big fat golf carts to me. Silent, self-driving coffins.

I told my wife I need an electric car with a manual transmission

[Samanator]

I've seriously considered a F150 Lightning (Ford Electric Pickup)and have not completely ruled it out. My day to day is just a short trips if any driving at all to the point that I could go a few weeks on a charge. My issue is, and I see this continuing, I have several day road trips to and from home that exceed the range of an EV. i would not make these trips if I need to include a 1-2 hour charging cycle since they are already consuming over 12 hours in a day. As an example I need to in a few weeks trailer my boat to the dealer for the first service. This will exceed the range of the longest range Lightning by 60 miles round trip assuming zero safety margin which I would never do. Service will take less than an hour so there is really no time to go charge the truck while the service is being done. Additionally I've never seen a charging station that can accommodate a truck with a trailer on the back (let alone a 33' trailer). So the trailer would need to be left somewhere and reconnected after that. If the Lightning had the standard battery and four wheel drive you can add 60-80 miles to that range deficit and about an hour to the charge needed to safely complete the round trip. This also does not account for the vehicle not getting the same range while towing a trailer, or the milage used to get to a charging station. Two other factor that are impossible to account for now is the affects of colder temps on the batteries (yes it can be a factor even in central Florida) and that batteries have a loss of range over time. By my calculation doing this with a electric vehicle would take 2-4 hours longer and require me to un-hitch and then rehitch the trailer at some point to charge the truck. Why would I want a vehicle that makes these trips 33%-38% longer? I have several other examples like this that have occurred in the past few months that would require a charging session adding time to my trips since the round trip exceeds the 300 mile range most electric vehicles may be capable of. If the Lightning would make 450-500 miles on a charge and at least 400 miles pulling a trailer this would be an easier choice. I don't need it hit 60 in under 4 seconds, but I do need the range. For me range is a real issue.

For reference my neighbors Ram 1500 with the Turbo Diesel V6 has a range of 580 miles towing a trailer and about 640 with no trailer. We did make a 370mile round trip two Sundays ago towing a trailer with plenty of fuel in the tank when we got home(about 40% full). To be fare we did stop for breakfast (20 minutes) and lunch (about 40 minutes) along the way. Checking the maps the closest public charger was 129 miles from either of these stopping points and the timing for the meals would not have worked to do them where there was a charger (and it would have added 30-40 miles to the trip). Florida has one of the larger charging stations networks and ranks third in the US. So if this is the situation in a really good network and could not see this is a lesser one. I site the Diesel Ram since it or a Ford Kings Ranch turbo diesel are what I'm shopping the Lightning against. I do appreciate the reduced maintenance point, but at the moment I have no way to know the cost of the Lightning since all I can do is reserve one and then wait to find out the price. This makes it a unicorn at this point in time. Seems to me that you should be able to fit a much larger battery in a truck so I'm a bit disappointed in the range. I'll also note the most common selected option of full sized trucks is the extra capacity fuel tank. Since standard tanks generally give about 400 miles range why would 300 mile be acceptable for long range? For 26 days in a month the range is fine, but for the primary reason I'm wanting to buy a truck this is seems severely handicapped even looking at the maintenance advantage. Or am I missing something? I have several friends with Teslas that have taken road trips with them and after the initial cool-aid wears off they are not certain they want another or have ditched the Tesla for a normal car. Seems the industry is running to a vehicle type that most do not want.

[geoffbot]

Yeah I'll buy an electric car, happily enough I suspect, when I am forced to, or if I accidentally end up with another long commute again every day from my home charger to my a work charger, which I highly, highly doubt.

[Raza]

Anyone have any experience with either the current generation (2014+) Mini Cooper S or the last few years of the prior generation (like 2012-13)? Been thinking about possibly picking one up and doing the two car thing instead of getting rid of my Z4 and going to one do-it-all car. Cooper S seems like a great little city car that gets very good gas mileage. Only thing I’m losing out that I’d like to have, really, is AWD, but it’s not like I haven’t had FWD in winter before and I still have access to my brother’s Audi should things get really bad. It just seems like any kind of performance car has a crazy price tag next to it these days and even going down market to something like an STI isn’t saving a lot of money. I could get a Cooper S and then eventually replace the Z4 with some other sports car down the line, maybe a 968 convertible, I’ve always liked those. Or maybe an AP2, prices seem to have cooled on those a bit since purists prefer the AP1.

[geoffbot]

I took a 2 hour passenger ride in a Cooper s a month or two ago, killed my back. Couldn't adjust the seat to make it comfy. That's all.

[chuckmiller]

Mini Cooper:

A close friend of mine had one about 8-10 years ago he bought pre-owned as a fun weekend car. Roomy, peppy, great "road track" country backwoods road handling. Within 2 years he sold it due to excessive repair cost. When it needed a clutch the shop bill was $1,500. Soon after that the cooling fan for the steering system was another $1,500. The BMW dealership where they were sold new was the only shop in town that would work on that car and their shop rate was quite a bit higher than most. That soured his ownership experience.

5 years later: (his words)
He got a Range Rover Evoque for his wife to drive. Another lovely vehicle. When it came time for an oil change he discovered Rover adds a dye or something to the engine oil and if they don't see the dye when you come in it voids the warranty. For the dealership to change the oil was something like $500-$750.

Now she drives some top end Acura sport model.

[geoffbot]

d if they don't see the dye when you come in it voids the warranty. For the dealership to change the oil was something like $500-$750.

.

That's illegal in the uk https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice...epair-campaign