Electric Car Prediction - Whatdayathing???

[JoeP]

I have to admit having great fun with that car. Just two days ago at the stoplight at the two-lane entrance to CA Highway 17, a BMW M4 pulled up next to me and was making all sorts of noise revving his engine. "Looks like that guy needs a lesson." was what my lovely Admiral sail. (It's her car.) By the time we hit 60 MPH he was about 5 car lengths behind, by 80 MPH he was about 7 car lengths back making a cloud of smoke and starting to gain on us. Fun stuff, all done in complete silence. Of course, we get off 1.1 miles up the road, so we were down to 55 MPH in the slow lane once the guy caught us, he didn't have the balls to glance our way. I don't think I'll ever grow up, doing this sort of stuff at 69 is as much fun as it was at 16.

Reminds me of a Friday night as a young 20 something cruising with my friend in his GT 350. We were stopped at a light in the right lane when a 61 Impala sidled up in the left lane revving his engine and making like he wants to race so my friend revs it up and holds it like he''s ready to go. My friend and I smile and nod at each other. The light turns green and my friend let's the clutch out enough to squeal the tires a bit and then turns right and drives away from it at legal speed. The Chevy meanwhile is hurtling towards the patrol car a block down the street that we had passed earlier going the other way.

[avramd]

The Chevy meanwhile is hurtling towards the patrol car a block down the street that we had passed earlier going the other way.

Priceless... it could be a Visa add This is litteraly how I was hoping this story was going to end as I was reading it!

[avramd]

Both our Teslas were bought out of demo stock. My #1 son-in-law worked at Tesla and pointed out that unlike other demos, the car never goes anywhere without a Tesla employee aboard.

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I am living proof this is not always the case. I can't remember if I shared this here or not.

I had two different test-drive days, one with the Model 3 back in January, pre-COVID. Then I test-drove the Y in something like June maybe? In both cases, I was given the keycard and sent on my merry way solo. In January it was b/c they never recorded my appointment, and overbooked themselves. In June it might have been because of COVID, I don't recall.

Anyway, here's the embarrassing part: I actually drove three Model Y's that day, and I got a flat in one of them. I had to swerve to avoid a tanker truck cutting into my lane on a tight turn, and a wheel hit something on the edge of the road. These were 20" wheels, and sure enough, a few seconds later there was an alert, a diagram with a tire in red, and instructions to pull over immediately.

While I can point at the truck driver, the honest truth is I was driving at highly inappropriate speed b/c I was comparing wheels/tire size effect. I'm sure if I'd been going say only 15 over the limit, it wouldn't have caused a flat. I felt like such an ass.

I limped back to the dealer at 15mph, which was probably also a bad idea, but I couldn't bear to have them send a tow truck. I owned it as soon as I got there. She was really cool about it. She pointed out that I the rim had a chip. She even went so far as to say "We can't be sure that was you." I think she was being kind. They haven't sent a bill (yet).

Suffice it to say that if the car I'm buying was driven by an ass, then I'll have gotten what I deserve.

[TheOffice]

Don't feel bad. I was at my former BMW dealer one day when a new M3 came in on a flatbed. Customer took an exit ramp too fast, slid into the curb and rolled the car. The car was remarkably intact.

Joel

[kimbottles]

I am not going to bore you all with any of my many vehicle youthful indiscretions.......

[BeauV]

I am not going to bore you all with any of my many vehicle youthful indiscretions.......

Says the man who is on a first-name basis with the Booking Sargent.

[kimbottles]

I am not going to bore you all with any of my many vehicle youthful indiscretions.......

Says the man who is on a first-name basis with the Booking Sargent.

And was once a member of the Volkswagen Factory Rally Team for the SCCA PRO Rally Series.

[JoeP]

I am not going to bore you all with any of my many vehicle youthful indiscretions.......

Says the man who is on a first-name basis with the Booking Sargent.

And was once a member of the Volkswagen Factory Rally Team for the SCCA PRO Rally Series.

If you tell us a story I'll tell you how o pack a "66 Cadillac Sedan de Ville exhaust pipe with dirt...

[avramd]

I am not going to bore you all with any of my many vehicle youthful indiscretions.......

I was 50... 51 now...

[avramd]

So, they have you watch a series of videos when you're getting ready to take delivery of a Tesla. I'm really glad they didn't get me to watch these a while ago, b/c if they had, I'd probably have made the even more irresponsible decision to blow my safety net on this thing a long time ago... Needless to say, I'm basically salivating at this point.

Is anybody here interested in a good deal on a decent manual transmission 2008 Subaru Outback XT turbo with winter & summer wheels? It can do this...

[BeauV]

Avramd,

A friend took me for a ride in a full-chat Tesla-S. So..... about a month later was my Wife's 60th birthday. I told her we were going shopping for something and I didn't feel that I should spend this much without her having input. So off we went. While we were walking through the shops (she told me later) she was thinking "there is nothing in this shopping area I would ever want!" Then, I turned her into the Tesla shop and handed her an iPad to configure her car.

Knowing my wife, she picked exactly what I wanted: hi-perf wheels and tires, big brakes, massive batteries, highest performance, etc....

I still adore driving the car. (so does she.)

But, it is "her car"!!

[kimbottles]

I am not going to bore you all with any of my many vehicle youthful indiscretions.......

I was 50... 51 now...

I am 72, far too old now to again do some of the things I have done in the past.

[Jamie]

I am not going to bore you all with any of my many vehicle youthful indiscretions.......

Says the man who is on a first-name basis with the Booking Sargent.

And was once a member of the Volkswagen Factory Rally Team for the SCCA PRO Rally Series.

They just have had to fold you into those cars like Carlsson into those SAABs.

[Anomaly]

It can do this...

A fridge in the back of a wagon.... meh. We did this for 150 miles (don't think we'll be repeating it though):

FridgeOnRoof.jpg

[Jamie]

It can do this...

A fridge in the back of a wagon.... meh. We did this for 150 miles (don't think we'll be repeating it though):

FridgeOnRoof.jpg

If it's anything, I managed to fit 7 big merchant marine cadets in one of those and drove up the volcano from Santa Cruz to the city on the other side of Tenerife and back.

[H B]

I am only 375lbs overweight when hauling a ton of pellets with my Class I sport hitch. When they put it on top of the trailer axle, it actually tows just fine. With the 2nd rig, I still got 27 MPG into the mountains (east coast).
I know it ain't a Tesla...but she's holding up OK. Larry and his son always laugh when they see me go by with the trailer attached.

[avramd]

My first new car was a little Honda del sol VTEC (we've chatted about it here before). I got a trailer hitch installed on it so I could tow my Laser. The boat was bigger than the car, so it was an amusing site. But it was light, so it towed very well.

Well, in a surprise twist, last night Tesla texted me and said "Your car is here! We know you're scheduled to take your car on the 31st, but we'd really like to give it to you earlier, please click here..."

So, this happened:

[LarryHoward]

My first new car was a little Honda del sol VTEC (we've chatted about it here before). I got a trailer hitch installed on it so I could tow my Laser. The boat was bigger than the car, so it was an amusing site. But it was light, so it towed very well.

Well, in a surprise twist, last night Tesla texted me and said "Your car is here! We know you're scheduled to take your car on the 31st, but we'd really like to give it to you earlier, please click here..."

So, this happened:

Nice. I understand there is a huge delivery push as Elon wants to deliver 500K cars in 2020. Looking forward to your impressions on the car.

[BeauV]

Very cool! I do like the Model-3 and Model-Y in white. I don't like the other models in light colors. It looks great!!

[avramd]

Very cool! I do like the Model-3 and Model-Y in white. I don't like the other models in light colors. It looks great!!

Thanks for the nice words!

So far it is a joy to drive. The stability and crispness are amazing. The aft visibility in the Y is atrocious though.

The regen breaking is really fun to learn, predicting what's the latest I can let up, and not need to use the brakes. Discovering charging options is fun too. Turns out Newport has a couple of free ones, sponsored by our electric co.

I'm not as impressed by the quietness as I was expecting. The motors may be silent, but road noise is the same. All in I'd say it feels "half as loud" as a normal car.

Curbed a rim already today - stupid, parking perpendicular even. I was cutting it close to try to avoid getting a door ding... Parking to donate plasma no less, no good deed...

[BeauV]

Avramd,

A lot of folks use the back-up camera on the central screen all the time. The wide-angle lens makes it perfect for checking your blind spot and directly behind. I'm not sure about the Model-Y central screen controls, but on our Model-X one can set the screen to show both the review camera and the map 50:50.

[Panope]

The aft visibility in all modern vehicles is atrocious though.

Fixed that for you

Cool car. Congratulations.

Steve

[avramd]

The aft visibility in all modern vehicles is atrocious though.

Fixed that for you

Cute I guess my '08 Outback can't be considered a modern vehicle, and I'm spoiled b/c it's aft visibility is nearly perfect.

I guess it just irks me that they went to the trouble and expense of putting an all-glass roof (that doesn't open) in this car, which to me is lose-lose, and then didn't put a vertical pane of glass between the taillights like a CR-X.

If it was really important to them for me to be able to see what was above me, I would much rather they made me use a camera for that

I get that I can use the cameras, but I'd appreciate if that were a "in addition to," rather than "instead of." Perhaps I'll adapt with time, but it's definitely a margarine vs butter thing for me.

[Panope]

The aft visibility in all modern vehicles is atrocious though.

Fixed that for you

Cute I guess my '08 Outback can't be considered a modern vehicle, and I'm spoiled b/c it's aft visibility is nearly perfect.

I guess it just irks me that they went to the trouble and expense of putting an all-glass roof (that doesn't open) in this car, which to me is lose-lose, and then didn't put a vertical pane of glass between the taillights like a CR-X.

If it was really important to them for me to be able to see what was above me, I would much rather they made me use a camera for that

I get that I can use the cameras, but I'd appreciate if that were a "in addition to," rather than "instead of." Perhaps I'll adapt with time, but it's definitely a margarine vs butter thing for me.

Yes, the older Subaru wagons had great aft visibility because the "beltline" was nearly level (not rising to the rear) and was pretty much all glass (no sheet metal in the rear "pillars".

With the exception of large seat headrests (a safety item), I blame the destruction of aft visibility on modern exterior styling.

Not a fair trade, in my book.

Some might say that wide pillars are stronger and therefore safer in a roll over. I say that a narrow pillar can be just as strong by adding a few more pounds of material (like a spade rudder with a wide shaft compared to skeg hung).

Rant off.

Steve

[BeauV]

Given that cameras on the stern of cars are going to be mandatory soon, may have already happened, along with alarms. We're going to see side view mirrors disappear soon and either be replaced by cameras inside of the car with little screens inside the car, primarily motivated by a desire to reduce windage but camera and screen are also cheaper than an adjustable heated exterior heater.

I think we should all get using to using modern technology. I happen to strongly prefer exterior mirrors and feel they should be mounted on the front fenders, as they are on my Morgan, but quite literally no one listens to me or cares what I want.

The good news is that with all the cameras on the edges of the car it is trivial to provide a bird's eye view of the area around your car. You can also use those cameras as security cameras and get a picture of the bastard who bashed in your window or dented your door/fender. Our Model-X has "Sentry Mode", the Model-S is too old and has fewer cameras.

I remember when a friend at Ford explained to me that they were never going to build another manual window winder. He proved to me that it was less expensive to make them all-electric as the manufacturing cost was almost identical. The same thing is obviously happening with manual transmissions. Sigh. If one wants old-tech, one will have to maintain an old car.

[LarryHoward]

The aft visibility in all modern vehicles is atrocious though.

Fixed that for you

Cute I guess my '08 Outback can't be considered a modern vehicle, and I'm spoiled b/c it's aft visibility is nearly perfect.

I guess it just irks me that they went to the trouble and expense of putting an all-glass roof (that doesn't open) in this car, which to me is lose-lose, and then didn't put a vertical pane of glass between the taillights like a CR-X.

If it was really important to them for me to be able to see what was above me, I would much rather they made me use a camera for that

I get that I can use the cameras, but I'd appreciate if that were a "in addition to," rather than "instead of." Perhaps I'll adapt with time, but it's definitely a margarine vs butter thing for me.

Yes, the older Subaru wagons had great aft visibility because the "beltline" was nearly level (not rising to the rear) and was pretty much all glass (no sheet metal in the rear "pillars".

With the exception of large seat headrests (a safety item), I blame the destruction of aft visibility on modern exterior styling.

Not a fair trade, in my book.

Some might say that wide pillars are stronger and therefore safer in a roll over. I say that a narrow pillar can be just as strong by adding a few more pounds of material (like a spade rudder with a wide shaft compared to skeg hung).

Rant off.

Steve

Before I bought the Macan, I drove pretty much every mid size SUV available from the Edge and Explorer to the Acura MDX, Lexus RX, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot and the then newly released Subaru Ascent. The Ascent touring had a rear view camera display in the mirror as well as the standard backup camera. Reason given was if you filled the back with cargo, the camera gave you back the view you lost with the mirror blocked.

I liked it and I’d be fine with maintainable cameras around the car with a full field of view.

[Panope]

My recently acquired Leaf has a (much needed) back-up camera. I am now comfortable using it, but it could sure use a little windshield wiper because the image is hopelessly blurred by rain or heavy dew.

I suppose that when the window wipers and defrost systems are transferred to all the cameras, windows will be superfluous.

No matter, I'll be dead soon enough, and future generations will carry on with thier new normals.

[avramd]

I think we should all get using to using modern technology. [...]

The good news is that with all the cameras on the edges of the car it is trivial to provide a bird's eye view of the area around your car. You can also use those cameras as security cameras and get a picture of the bastard who bashed in your window or dented your door/fender.

I'm working on it. I think my real frustration is that I am very good at backing by looking out the rear windows. I'm extremely accurate, even when doing it quickly. With the wide-angle camera view, I'm extremely inaccurate, even when going very slowly. I'm sure this will improve over time, but I'm skeptical I'll ever be as good as the old fashioned way. Also, I'm afraid I'm going to have an insurance incident along the way. I literally just cleared my last incident from my record ironically the same day I picked up the Tesla.

I have an insanely tight garage parking situation. I have a one-car garage door, so I have to jog to the side to leave room for my motorcycle to get out. See photo (note, refrigerator and work-box, normally not present, are obscuring motorcycle).

It is really awful doing this in the Model Y, I need to get within 2-4" of the side and back walls. I've only tried it a couple times so far, and given up, and have been parking in the driveway b/c I don't want to scratch up my new car (cement walls). The Subaru was so easy. To make matters worse, the Y is bigger than the Outback in every dimension. The Suby could stand to be 6-8" away from the wall, although it was so easy for me to get closer, I did it anyway.

Admittedly, I'm not telling the whole story - I need to move the shelves back there about 6" before the Y will fit at all. But that doesn't change how uncomfortable I was even trying.

I have not experimented with the "Summon" feature yet. Supposedly, the car can park itself in tight spaces for you. It'll be a huge relief if that actually works with my garage, but I'm scared to try it

p.s. not related, but notice the Yakima cargo box hovering above the Suby on a kayak hoist... I just got that set up Xmas day!

[BeauV]

The "summons" feature is designed precisely to perform what you need. Note, when you don't have to get in and out of the car using the door, you can put the Model-Y in the middle of the space and get more clearance. Train the Model-Y and you'll get confident with it. I haven't used the "summons" in the last couple of years, but back when I could put the car into the garage, it worked really well, and the Model-S has far fewer cameras and sensors than your Model-Y.

One thing to look out for are narrow bars or the ends of a pipe. Just like humans, the car can't see them as well as it should.

[H B]

Given that cameras on the stern of cars are going to be mandatory soon, may have already happened, along with alarms.
The same thing is obviously happening with manual transmissions. Sigh. If one wants old-tech, one will have to maintain an old car.

Beau - yep. 2018 it happened (back up cameras required).
I am looking around for a 2020 Honda Accord 2.0T Sport MT. Honda quietly stopped making them in January last year. It might be the last chance to get a manual in an Accord. I've driven Civics forever, but I am almost 50 and think it might be time to grow up a little bit...however that particular model Accord has the de-tuned Civic Type-R motor in it.
That may be my last ICE.