Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by nik-

I don't know? Because I've sat in those cars as well, and what you're saying makes no sense.

Originally Posted by Sliver

How could it not make sense? I know I'm not a Pulitzer Award-winning writer, but I also know I explained well enough that a picture of the issues was painted. It makes perfect sense because it's a crystal clear telling of basic reality.

Like, do you acknowledge that each of these cars had a different design team, use different seat frames; have different vehicle structures; have different pedal, steering column and arm rest placement; use different materials; have different-height roofs; have varying degrees of adjustment for the steering wheel, seat back, seat bottom, and arm rests; and have design in mind for a range of sizes that would disclude those who are very short and those who are very tall?

If you take all of the above as reasonable - which you'd have to or you'd have to be dishonest - then obviously what I'm saying at least can be true. Or maybe you're right and I'm making it all up because I'm known as being such a liar.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Back to the original question, I'm personally biased toward the smaller versions of everything (to a point... every manufacturer has a line where suddenly its more econobox than sports sedan/coupe).

I find smaller lighter cars always just inherently more fun to drive than their bigger counterparts, even if there is a bit of a power delta.

I'm also taller than you are, and stopped at the S4 instead of the S3. Part of that is size, and part is I prefer the dynamics you get with a the AWD systems that come with longitudinal setups rather than transverse. The Golf R/S3 always felt a little too much like FWD cars to me, but I suspect they've made massive strides there with the recent iterations of their AWD setups.

I look at the RS3 and really wonder if that's something I should be attempting to squeeze into one day, because that thing must be a blast.

As a fellow tall person, is what I'm saying off base or is it reasonable? I can't wrap my hear around how nik and AssSticks think I'm fabricating some weird "tall" tale.

[Fuzz]

Have you considered surgically shortening your legs?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Sliver

As a fellow tall person, is what I'm saying off base or is it reasonable? I can't wrap my hear around how nik and AssSticks think I'm fabricating some weird "tall" tale.

It makes total sense. There are so, so many aspects to vehicle fit. Some cars let the seat go lower, some cars you can take the ridiculous extreme tilting of the seat a lot further because of the steering wheel position/telescoping limit. Some cars throw the pedals really close to the driver and just force you to do all sorts of things to compensate that that put everything out of whack.

For me, personally, this was oddly enough one of the most friendly tall person vehicles that a friend of mine had way back:



Looking at that from the outside, it makes no sense.

At one point my mom had a first generation Cadillac CTS. The thing was completely un-driveable for me, just awful.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Have you considered surgically shortening your legs?

Where do you find Sliver with no legs?

Right where you left him!

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

It makes total sense. There are so, so many aspects to vehicle fit. Some cars let the seat go lower, some cars you can take the ridiculous extreme tilting of the seat a lot further because of the steering wheel position/telescoping limit. Some cars throw the pedals really close to the driver and just force you to do all sorts of things to compensate that that put everything out of whack.

For me, personally, this was oddly enough one of the most friendly tall person vehicles that a friend of mine had way back:



Looking at that from the outside, it makes no sense.

At one point my mom had a first generation Cadillac CTS. The thing was completely un-driveable for me, just awful.

Oh man, I had an '87 Celica GTS and it was pure bliss from a comfort perspective. Everything just clicked in that car and it was the best. Been chasing that dragon ever since.

[Ashasx]

I hate when people park perpendicular to the sidewalk in culdesacs

[Table 5]

Sweet Celica and Cressida combo. Only thing missing is a 2 door 4Runner and you have the ultimate 80s Toyota family fleet.

[Leondros]

Any suggestions on where to get a remote car starter put on a newish German car? Anything to be concerned about in terms of electronics?

[bigrangy]

Tall people problems are my life. I definitely don’t fit in the 911 but it makes me feel so good while driving it that I forget about it. My dilemma right now is what to fill out the garage with. I need it to carry my mountain bike and pull my snowmobile. I test drove a 2013 Ecoboost Ford Flex today expecting to fall in love, but i didn’t quite feel 100% about it. It was nice enough but it had pretty high km’s, minimal service history, and the power seat adjuster is broken in it so I couldn’t fully test out the seating position. It’s a lot of car for 10 grand but once I would clean up the cosmetic stuff and get another set of tires it might be getting to be too much sunk into a vehicle with only 50-70k kms left in it.

But I am having trouble figuring out what else to buy. I only have a Ford/GM/Dodge shop in my town so I’d try to stick with one of those makes since taking the 911 to the city every time it needs a service is already a pain in the butt. I was thinking maybe a Raptor but those are friggin pricy. Even just a standard F-150/1500 is still going for way too much imo.

On the topic of Cadillac, i really like my parent’s XTS. Comfy but also super quick in a straight line. I would imagine the newest CT6 would be a really good option for a big guy semi-sports sedan.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Leondros

Any suggestions on where to get a remote car starter put on a newish German car? Anything to be concerned about in terms of electronics?

I wouldn't. Way too many nightmare scenarios when they go wrong. Run the car for 30 seconds to get the oil moving, start driving and it'll warm up fast.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Sweet Celica and Cressida combo. Only thing missing is a 2 door 4Runner and you have the ultimate 80s Toyota family fleet.

I have a friend who had a Toyota Corona. She spent most of her life having it mansplained to her that she meant to say "Corolla".

[Qwerty]

I have a question / car issue I am hoping to pick the brains of anyone with before I end up taking my Jeep into the dealership.

Vehicle: 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited

Issue: Car won't start (boosts fine). The jeep won't start most of the time once it has been turned off and requires a boost.

The weird part though, last night I unhooked the battery/wires and let it sit for a few hours before re-connecting. Boosted the Battery and the Jeep ran fine. Let the jeep run for about an hour (while monitoring it at 14.4-14.5v while running). Turned it off and restarted it 10 times back to back and it worked.

Went to bed.

This morning started it at 7am and it started fine, read 14.4v again so I thought everything was fixed. Went and showered, tried to start again at 7:15am and no luck. Whenever it doesn't start the dashboard read 9.9v (Not sure if this is reliable - google says probably not). If boosted it will start which is odd.

The only difference from 7am and 7:15am that I could see is we moved the passenger seat back into position (battery is below it) which could be coincidence or something with the wiring?

My first assumption was a battery issue but reading online makes it sound like it should not boost or hold a charge if this was the case. The fact that it held up over night for 1 start then decided not to subsequent is odd.

My second hunch was alternator but again reading online makes it sound like the battery shouldn't 'recharge' while running if this was the case.

My last hunch is a loose wiring somewhere/starter, but would it still boost if this was the case and sometimes start?

Anyone have any last suggestions before I bite the bullet and take it to the shop and deal with that headache?

Thanks!

[Derek Sutton]

Being a 2020 do you still have full warranty coverage (3yr 60,000km)? I would 99% say it is a battery issue, dead cell. The 14.4 volts while running is showing that the alternator is functioning as it should. Really an alternator is a more of a maintainer then a charger, but running the Jeep for an hour then being able to restart it several times is a result of your alternator "out preforming" itself. The battery also drew enough charge to start again in the morning, yet basically "used it all" on the 7am start and could not draw enough charge (as it sounded like you simply fired it up, shut it off and went to shower) to turn the engine over again 15 minutes later. Bad Battery.

The start/ stop technology is killer on batteries and in the newer vehilces, 3-4 years is now the normal life. You may also be shocked at the price of the replacement as it will likely require an H7AGM.

[Qwerty]

Thank you for the quick response Derek, I kept leaning towards battery.

Unfortunately (like always) the 3year warranty ended a few months ago in November 2022.

Guess I should bite the bullet and try the battery replacement first this weekend before anything else.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Qwerty

Thank you for the quick response Derek, I kept leaning towards battery.

Unfortunately (like always) the 3year warranty ended a few months ago in November 2022.

Guess I should bite the bullet and try the battery replacement first this weekend before anything else.

A shop can do a load test on the battery for pretty cheap, and may wave the test cost if you end up needing a battery and buy it from them.

[bagofpucks]

Question about the “auto start/stop being hard on batteries” comment. It totally makes sense, but if I assume if I turn the “auto stop/start” off every time that it mitigates that issue?

[Nufy]

Sounds like a parasitic drain that pulls the battery down over a few hours.

Un-hooking it allows it to regenerate and to be able to start the vehicle again.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by bagofpucks

Question about the “auto start/stop being hard on batteries” comment. It totally makes sense, but if I assume if I turn the “auto stop/start” off every time that it mitigates that issue?

Oh that will certainly help. The problem is when the vehicle is "off" (not idling but running) for the 30 seconds, everything that is running is running directly off of the battery. What is happening is the battery is cycling during that time, think of it as operating like an RV battery. Your vehicle is equipped with a starting battery however, not a deep cycle (rv) battery. So when your lights are on, radio is running, heater is going all while the engine is shut off, the battery is just tearing through its plates. The design of a starting battery is quick plate shedding to create the higher Cranking Amps vs a cycling (rv) battery that has thicker plates designed to shed slower, for the purpose of a lower draw over a long period of time. One 30 second shut off is about the equivalent of 6-8 starts.

[bagofpucks]

Awesome, thank you. In a perfect world, my plan was to disable it, but I don’t think there is a way to do it without affecting warranty, so I’ll likely just wait until the warranty is up and just turn it off each time. It is super annoying though.