OT - Talking Cars Tuesday is BACK
Well, it's not quite full OT season, so we won't (I won't) be starting threads every week yet, but while we wait for the Northwestern game, here's some #content.
So - who has car questions? Who needs (probably, maybe accurate) advice? Who went to auto shows and saw awesome things? Is anyone else as excited for New New Top Gear? I think Reid, Harris and LeBlanc could be pretty great. Grand tour?
Who's hitting a milestone birthday and convincing their spouse that a midlife crisis on 4 wheels makes more sense than one on two legs?
As for me, I'm just sad that every car Porsche brought to the Chicago Auto Show was black, white or gray (as are 93% of new car sales. People are boring.) Give me a Miami Blue 911 Targa GTS and I'll be happy forever
February 28th, 2017 at 1:17 PM ^
I hope it's not tl;dr but if it is I apologize:
I have quadruplet 8 year olds and thre are boys. The boys have loved cars since birth and i have tried to cultivate that. A couple of saturdays ago I was in my garage working on one of their 4 wheelers that wasn't running quite right and while I was doing so the boys kept running in and out of the garage. I wasn't paying too much attention until I realized that they weren't paying any attention to me working on the wheeler because that is something they would usually be stuck looking over my shoulder for.
The next time they came in I heard whispers and they quietly snuck out with my wheelbarrow. I decided to follow them to see what they were up to. I snuck far enough behind so they wouldn't see me and off they went down into the woods behind our house. They walked a while then crossed over the stone wall onto our neighbors land and there I see them head for an old car the neighbor had drug back and left in the woods (i later found out it was a 1990 tercell).
They reach the car and one jumps in and pops the hood. The other two open it up, reach down into their tool box that they must have brought earlier and the next thing I know they are pulling the battery out and putting it in the wheelbarrow.
I hurry home so they don't see me and pretend I'm still working on the wheeler when the sneak back in the garage, head over to my battery charger and hook the battery up and set it to charge (I didn't even know they knew how to do that as it isn't a simple charger) and sneak back out.
After about an hour or so back they come, sneaking in to get the battery, put it in the wheelbarrow and off they go. I follow again and watch as they hook up the battery and proceed to try and start the car. To my surprise it doesn't turn over. They try for about a half hour, tinkering here and there and then give up disgusted and head home. That night after I tucked them in bed I stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened to them talking about the car. One said he was pretty sure he knew what was wrong and they'd get back at it tomorrow.
The next day as I'm back in my garage puttering around I see the three of them sneak in and grab the wheelbarrow and an empty jerry can. We have a gas station next door and I watch as the three of them take the jerry can over in the wheelbarrow and one of them grabs the hose and starts filling up the jerry can. They other goes in and pays for the gas (at least Iwas hoping that is what he did) and then off they go with 10 dollars of gas in the wheelbarrow.
They get to the car, put the gas in the tank and start trying to get it going again. To my relief it doesn't start. They keep tinkering with it and head home. This time when they got home they went straight in the house. I follow them in and what are they doing? Sitting in front of the computer searching the internet trying to diagnose the problem they are having with the 1990 toyota tercell. As I quietly watch from a distance i see them go to you tube and check "how to change a starter on a 1990 toyota tercell".
At the supper table that night one of them asks me "Dad, how much do you think it would cost to buy a starter for a 1990 toyota tercell." I honestly couldn't believe what I had witnessed from those boys. They systematically trouble shot the issue with this car and came to the correct problem...at 8 years of age. I was pretty proud of those little monkies.
Anyway, sorry for it being so long but I thought some car lovers might get a kick out of the story.
February 28th, 2017 at 1:26 PM ^
That's awesome. Wish I could get that kind of focus out of my 10 year old. Wouldn't necessarily have to be about cars, about anything at all!
February 28th, 2017 at 3:24 PM ^
(sister apparently in abstentia) playing very determined mechanics. maybe they should run the next 'car question' thread.
February 28th, 2017 at 2:45 PM ^
February 28th, 2017 at 6:58 PM ^
I know it's going to be RWD biased, essentially an SUV version of the new Ranger. Today, Ford makes an SUV version of the global Ranger - the Ford Everest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Everest
Today's Everest looks like an oversized Escape. There's lots of rumors about what they'll do design wise, but it's going to have a solid rear axle and be 4 doors. It'll probably be somewhere between an awesome retro-mobile and today's Everest. If you're hoping for a Late 60's 2-door convertible Bronco, you'll probably be disappointed. If you're looking for a true XTerra/4 Runner competitor? That's what you'll probably get
the vehicle looks pretty ho-hum, but maybe that engine is bomb.
If it's in the US it's more likely to have the 3.2L diesel currently on offer in the Transit.
A couple bits of further detail:
- It's actually got little to do with the Everest. That would cut into Explorer sales (even though the Explorer really isn't an off-roader.)
- It's smaller than an Xterra or 4Runner.
- The doors assertation.....may not be 100% strictly true.
So the Wrangler sales are now about 80% 4 doors, 20% 2 doors. Ford's going to chase that 20%?? I figured the accountants would have stopped that.
Not to out ourselves, but when I visit you guys I visit ATNPC - you're not there, are you?
No, I work at the PDC.
As regards the doors on the Bronco, all I really know is that they're still looking at what makes sense. Too early to say whether two doors are in or out. When that decision is made, of course, I'll still act like it isn't :) But it isn't definitively 4-doors only. Yet.
Anyway, I think it's probably not all that crazy considering how many different door options you can have on the F-150.
Yeah, the volumes I'm seeing though are going to make it tougher to justify multiple body styles. Although if there are 2 and 4 door Rangers...
I'm at a supplier. I'll just say we like EcoBoost and from my side I had a hand in the 10R development...
February 28th, 2017 at 3:02 PM ^
February 28th, 2017 at 4:57 PM ^
February 28th, 2017 at 11:23 PM ^
Why do Ford engineers hate parking brakes?