Cars, motorcycles, and other things that move

[Pilgrim]

I will say that the hybrid Rav4 my daughter bought is nearly as quick 0-60 as the CooperS, thanks to the additional HP of the electric motor driving the rear wheels. It has the additional advantage for her of being AWD. She does a lot of mountain driving and camping, and it has been a good fit. I wouldn't consider it a boring car, and perhaps that's one reason they're popular.

Before the Mini CooperS, she had a Saab 9.3 Aero, a turbo V6 sedan that was a freakin' rocket!! Unfortunately an idiot in an F150 decided to pull a U-turn in the middle of a wide street about 30 feet in front of her and she t-boned him. Totally his fault. She LOVED that Saab, and I was very impressed by it. GM deserves lashes for driving Saab into the ground.

 

[4strings]

Those Saab Aero models were really cool cars.

 

[Jim C]

Time to change the erl.

View attachment 18165

Any pointers for changing oil in a car without a drain plug?
My Q5 is coming up on an oil change and for the last 50 years I've changed oil only with drain plugs.
What brand/model of oil sucker do you like?

 

[4strings]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N7XC7DM?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[4strings]

Works perfectly.

 

[bonin in the boneyard]

Ur mom is a fluid extractor.

 

[Pilgrim]

That Saab had trick cup holders. The dash one was especially cool, as it rotated to open. She used to show it off to her friends on their first ride in the car.

 

[ponchonlefty]

That Saab had trick cup holders. The dash one was especially cool, as it rotated to open. She used to show it off to her friends on their first ride in the car.

very nice design. simple and effective.

 

[Andyman]

That Saab had trick cup holders. The dash one was especially cool, as it rotated to open. She used to show it off to her friends on their first ride in the car.

Now I have to go out and look at mine.

And I've always wondered if the headlight wipers work.

 

[armyadarkness]

Any pointers for changing oil in a car without a drain plug?
My Q5 is coming up on an oil change and for the last 50 years I've changed oil only with drain plugs.
What brand/model of oil sucker do you like?

Funny that this comes up... Im still skeptical about extractors/ fillers.

How do you know that the extraction tube bottoms out in the pan, vs curling up in the air?

 

[4strings]

Funny that this comes up... Im still skeptical about extractors/ fillers.

How do you know that the extraction tube bottoms out in the pan, vs curling up in the air?

You can feel it bottom out solidly (at least in my past two cars). When I first started using the extractor I would pull the drain plug after to convince myself that the extractor was doing the job. I got nothing out of the drain other than a few drops.

 

[4strings]

On a subaru 2.0 flat for the "bottoming out" is a lot more vague.

 

[armyadarkness]

You can feel it bottom out solidly (at least in my past two cars). When I first started using the extractor I would pull the drain plug after to convince myself that the extractor was doing the job. I got nothing out of the drain other than a few drops.

Now that the GTO has a remote filter, there's a valley in the lines... so old oil can potentially lay there and not come out... Im considering various ways to address it... one of which is to cut a filter apart and connect an air chuck to it, so that I can blow the oil through the lines

 

[mktrat]

Any pointers for changing oil in a car without a drain plug?
My Q5 is coming up on an oil change and for the last 50 years I've changed oil only with drain plugs.
What brand/model of oil sucker do you like?

Really? no drain? Hmmm.....weird.

 

[Jared]

Now that the GTO has a remote filter, there's a valley in the lines... so old oil can potentially lay there and not come out... Im considering various ways to address it... one of which is to cut a filter apart and connect an air chuck to it, so that I can blow the oil through the lines

I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Figure you never get 100% of the old out in a change. The oil pump and oil passages will hold onto a bit.

 

[mktrat]

 

[bonin in the boneyard]

For someone who's profession should make me a technologist, I sure am good at chasing dying trends:

Subaru Legacy discontinued after the 2025 model year - Autoblog

The 2025 Subaru Legacy will arrive at dealerships this spring and start at $24,895. There's no indication that the popular Outback will also be discontinued.

www.autoblog.com

 

[ponchonlefty]

For someone who's profession should make me a technologist, I sure am good at chasing dying trends:

Subaru Legacy discontinued after the 2025 model year - Autoblog

The 2025 Subaru Legacy will arrive at dealerships this spring and start at $24,895. There's no indication that the popular Outback will also be discontinued.

www.autoblog.com

i tend to do the same or have at least. i bought some wheels that just came out. they were discontinued not long after. most cars i had were one year only models. i buy something at the grocery store and they quit stocking it. i understand what you mean.

 

[Pilgrim]

I've seen some GREAT ideas disappear.

About four years before I retired from Colorado State U., I started equipping classrooms with touch-screen computer monitors made by Sharp. They had an excellent, simple software operating system that most faculty could use with just a few minutes' practice. I planned to equip all of our 150 general-use classrooms with them.

Just as I got a base of about one-third of the classrooms equipped, Smart (maker of Smartboards) bought that division of Sharp, and decided to stop making the monitors I liked. Unfortunately they didn't build a replacement or carry them over and re-brand them. I had time to buy a small supply of them so we could at least keep those rooms operating for a few more years, but although I looked all over the market, I couldn't find a replacement that was as user-friendly anywhere.

I never did solve that problem before retiring.

 

[bonin in the boneyard]

Now that the snow is gone, I swapped out the flat pedal on my fatbike for some nice clipless ones I found on clearance:



(The orange doesn't go with this bike but will look good on the other.)

Two things I noticed right away: all the efficiency I thought I was losing to the fat tires probably had more to do with the pedals, and I have so much more confidence over rough terrain. Per my sensors:



That's not as big as it sounds, but it's still pretty big for me!

Also, this was my 25th ride on this bike since getting it in January. Getting my money's worth so far...