Cars & Bikes, Driving & Riding

[dodint]

Sent the Delorean to Akron to get the clutch replaced (jah, mikey) and now I'm replacing the whole AC system as well.

Classic car ownership for the lulz.

Does Vintage Air make a system that would fit the Delorean? I've seen Jay Leno repeatedly laud that company and say that their AC stuff is better than the factory originals.

Nope. They mostly do domestic street rod stuff, the DMC is not on their radar and already has quality off the shelf upgrades and replacements.

Delorean Performance Industries in Akron is doing the work. An upgraded Sanden compressor, upgraded lines, and the rest of the components swapped out including a new switch that is optimal for R134 systems. DPI specializes in engineering upgraded aftermarket components, basically higher quality stock parts. Very fortunate to have them so close.

[mac5155]

Went to get Mazda inspected today. Could not find the stupid registration credential. Gave it to them to work a recall and meanwhile logged in to Penndot to order a duplicate.

Uhhhhhh..... dumbass your registration has been expired since October. Did not get pulled over fortunately.

Lol
Same problem here. Did get pulled over.

[dodint]

I renewed my registration on the 20th of May. Expired on April 30th. Oh well. The registration was issued in March so I don't feel terrible for not noticing it expired five weeks later.

[AuthorTony]

http://www.thedrive.com/news/21056/dist ... rd-model-a

[dodint]

That blows.

[iamjs]

I renewed my registration on the 20th of May. Expired on April 30th. Oh well. The registration was issued in March so I don't feel terrible for not noticing it expired five weeks later.

same here. Mine expired on March 30th but I didn't renew until the first week of May. I thought it expired on the last week of June. Turns out that was the card to renew my license that's been sitting on my dresser for the last two months.

That was the one perk of the stickers: for better or worse, you knew when you registration was expired.

[NTP66]

PennDOT is slowly expanding the TP to three lanes before Sideling Hill, and it can’t happen soon enough; that third lane really frees up traffic.

I cruised to Irwin most of the way until some jagoff in a Prius decided to sit on cruise control in the left lane going 65 (speed limit is 70), and we couldn’t get around them until a third lane opened up. The one time I would have liked to see a cop on the road with me.

In other news, I heard that they’re looking at repairing the bridge on the parkway just before the squirrel hill tunnel, and that it would be down for about a year. If so, all I can say is thoughts and prayers.

[tifosi77]

I just saw a Nissan Leaf commercial that was saying the car has one (1) pedal for both acceleration and deceleration as if that was a good thing.

[NTP66]

Like a golf cart? That would confirm my expectations of a Leaf in terms of performance.

[Shyster]

I bought a replacement rear-wiper blade for my Kia Forte hatchback back in February when I was getting the car inspected. All I could find online were "universal" replacements that had poor reviews, so I decide to get the right part from the dealer, and I was there anyway. Go to put in on this weekend, and it doesn't fit. FFS.

[dodint]

I just saw a Nissan Leaf commercial that was saying the car has one (1) pedal for both acceleration and deceleration as if that was a good thing.

"No, the new 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car isn't going to have only a single pedal—despite at least one headline late yesterday claiming that."

From an article from last June.

It has a one pedal mode.

[iamjs]

I test drove an i3 a few years ago and it seemed like it drove like that. I don't know if that is typical of the electric cars, but when you back off of the gas it slows down almost as if you are riding the brakes.

Did not like, would not buy.

[Shyster]

Virtually all electric cars and hybrids recover energy when you lift off the accelerator. The car bleeds off its forward momentum in order to recharge the battery. IIRC, I remember reading that a lot of the electric cars let you set the aggressiveness of the regenerative braking. If you set it to be very aggressive, you can pretty much drive the car with the accelerator alone. If you set it to minimal, the car will coast much more freely, but that will come at the expense of reduced range.

[NTP66]

And being passed by virtually every other car on the road.

[dodint]

The mechanic working on my DMC ended up having to take the interior interior apart to replace the HVAC system. The heater core and evaporator were 'modified' by a prior owner; the vacuum tubing was removed (disabling the ability to defrost) and the box was held together with chicken wire.

That broken box added 11 hours of labor to the project, but now every single HVAC component on the car will be brand new when I get it back Friday. Combine that with the ceramic tint going on it Saturday and I should be able to hang sides of beef in there.

[AuthorTony]

the ceramic tint

Stay out of Westmoreland County.
http://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/ ... crack-down

[dodint]

That continues to be a bullshit law. You can't have dark tint on the side and rear windows of cars, but good ole boys in SUVs and pickups can have blackout tint in the side and rear windows of their vehicles. If the public policy argument is safety what exempts those vehicles?

I've had 35% tint on the MINI since I moved to PA and haven't had an issue. It's one of those deals where if you're behaving well in traffic the chances of getting pulled for it are slim.

With the DMC it might prove difficult for them to use a tint meter, anyway. Not that it would get me out of a ticket but it would be fun to watch as most of the window doesn't roll down and the rear windows are fixed.

[NTP66]

That continues to be a bullshit law. You can't have dark tint on the side and rear windows of cars, but good ole boys in SUVs and pickups can have blackout tint in the side and rear windows of their vehicles. If the public policy argument is safety what exempts those vehicles?

I've had 35% tint on the MINI since I moved to PA and haven't had an issue. It's one of those deals where if you're behaving well in traffic the chances of getting pulled for it are slim.

With the DMC it might prove difficult for them to use a tint meter, anyway. Not that it would get me out of a ticket but it would be fun to watch as most of the window doesn't roll down and the rear windows are fixed.

So much this. I have 35% tint on my TL, as well. It goes a hell of a long way in keeping the car cool during spring and summer, and unless I was forced to remove it on-site, it’s staying.

Want to fine for tint? Do it for anyone who doesn’t have their window rolled down entirely after approaching the vehicle, and make it a secondary offense.

I’d also love to know why municipal vehicles are allowed to have 5-10% tint, as well. Pretty sure the law is meant to be obeyed by everyone.

[iamjs]

as I was driving back from DC to Johnstown two weeks ago, I got a nice alert for a "drivetrain malfunction" coming around the horseshoe turn up Pleasantville mountain. When I went to gas it around a minivan that swerving and going about 15-20 mph, it went sputter-sputter-sputter-ALERT!! and drove like it was missing a cylinder. Long story short, it was caused by a leak to my AC condenser. Giving it gas and not having the necessary air to give the engine ended up causing the fault. Even the service rep made a comment about "with all of that engineering, you'd never think that was the cause of it." In the meantime, they ended up replacing plugs/coils on my first visit and the condenser on my 2nd. Luckily, all of it was covered by warranty.

With six months left on the warranty and about 2ish years left to pay, I think it might be time to shop. Doesn't have as much to do with what just happened as it does the warranty. Bimmer parts aren't cheap and I'm mechanically stupid, so that's not really a good combo. I'm around the breakeven point if I were to trade in right now, give or take a $k depending on the dealer and if there are any promotions available.

So I guess where I'm going with this is:
a) any new Subaru owners on here?
b) what do you have?
c) what do you like/hate about it?
d) would you recommend?

[dodint]

Do you love your children more than anyone else loves theirs?

@MalkinIsMyHomeboy

[Morkle]

The window tint thing is ridiculous. I took my doors off of my Jeep again this summer, and have been told by one officer in passing that it's illegal to do that. Wasn't pulled over, was told in a parking lot at a gas station. First time that's happened in the 6 years I've owned it.

I don't care, guy, give me the ticket. It's not going to change my mind.

[Shyster]

Not new and not me, but my mother has owned two Subarus. She had a mid-2000s Forester and currently has an Outback, which I think is around 2012 vintage. She's liked both cars, although the Forester was incredibly susceptible to rusting. It rusted on the bottom to the point where we think it might have been defectively treated or painted by the factory. The Outback has been much better, and she likes it a lot. With a set of snow tires, it's darn near like driving a tank in the snow. Cons for Subarus are that unless you're buying a WRX, they don't exactly have abundance of horsepower, and the fuel economy is often worse than alternatives due to the extra weight and friction of the AWD systems.

[iamjs]

I've had a few, but none within the last six or seven years.

My first was a 1st gen forester (99, although might have even been a 98) and that thing would rust if the humidity changed. It was really bad around the wheel wells, but then it got to be a problem around the doors and the hatch. It too was an absolute tank in the snow though, even with all-seasons on it. Started to nickel-dime me to death over the last year. Wheel bearings, brake line, and... was it a head gasket, all within six months.

I did take a look at the new Outbacks, and they look much bigger than the originals. I wouldn't mind the extra room, but I'm wondering if it would comfortably fit in my garage. The horsepower might take some getting used to, especially going backwards from ~250 to 170.

[Willie Kool]

I did take a look at the new Outbacks, and they look much bigger than the originals. I wouldn't mind the extra room, but I'm wondering if it would comfortably fit in my garage. The horsepower might take some getting used to, especially going backwards from ~250 to 170.

Might want to also check out the Opel Insignia Country Tourer, I mean the Buick Regal TourX - German built 250 hp + AWD.

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/buick/re ... -alltrack/

[NTP66]

That VW is even uglier than the average VW. Impressive.