| Author | Message | ||
     Airbozo |
Pwnzor, Just got back from a month long trip, including Yellowstone. Glacier and Grand Tetons were much more interesting. Glad we camped and stayed in Yellowstone, but I probably wouldn't go back. Too many people. Many of them thought it was OK to stop in the middle of the wrong side of the road, blocking traffic and creating massive jams so their kids could get a selfie with Bambi's brother. | ||
| Hootowl |
I live about three miles from that Mall and work just down the street. If you’ve not been to The Woodlands in the last 15 years, you wouldn’t recognize it today. Massive growth. | ||
| 86129squids |
Just got in from mowing most of the yard, here in E. TN. At least 90, with 168% humidity. Tomorrow will be worse, heat index bumping 107. I'll be off tomorrow, gonna work indoors or just say F it and head to the river. FZzuk it's HOTTT. Chauly... Yeppers.   | ||
| 86129squids |
Just got in from mowing most of the yard, here in E. TN. At least 90, with 168% humidity. Tomorrow will be worse, heat index bumping 107. I'll be off tomorrow, gonna work indoors or just say F it and head to the river. FZzuk it's HOTTT. Chauly... Yeppers. | ||
| Zane |
I spent 2 years just south of Houston in Texas City, land of the oil refineries. Texas City is the arm pit of the world. Here in the Phoenix area it gets crazy stupid hot but 105 degrees with 5% humidity is more comfortable that 90 with 90% humidity. You can have my share of Houston. Blech!! | ||
| Ratbuell |
I won't talk about western Maryland...been lo-mid 80s for the last week or so, and the 10 day has some 70s in the forecast. Sorry! | ||
| Crusty |
Next January, when the high temp for the day is 17* F you'll be dreaming fondly of these temps. | ||
| Hootowl |
Summer is something I just get through. The rest of the year it’s perfect. Except for the two weeks of winter. | ||
| Hootowl |
Did 59 miles today. Mix of freeway and in town, plus a bit off goofing off showing my boss how much oomph it has. Distance: 59 miles cost per kWh: $0.11 voltage: 235 current: 48 charge time: 1 hour, 50 minutes cost to refill: $0.11 x 235 x 48 x 1 5/6 hours = $2.75 Gas is about that, depending on where you live. So ~ 60 miles per gallon. More if gas is more expensive. I’m honestly not sure what it is here, as I only buy diesel with any regularity, and by that I mean once a month. | ||
| Hootowl |
I read up on how they calculate MPGe. It’s a complete farce. It’s based on the energy content if a gallon of gas. They take no losses into account. Hence the halving of the MPGe rated 120ish to my observed, based on cost per mile, 60. Still, a 465hp/495lb-ft car that gets 60 mpg is pretty sweet. | ||
| Sifo |
That's because it was developed by the BO administration as a tool to promote the Government Motors Chevy Volt. It was discussed quite a bit at the time, and it was pointed out that it was not in agreement with Department of Energy equivalency calculations. It makes it a tool that can be useful for comparing EVs, but not EVs to ICEs. Hey, let me know when you plan on parking on my lawn and plugging into my house. I'd love to snag a ride in one!  | ||
| Aesquire |
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/08/green _misanthropy_they_want_us_dead.html Not all Greens are sociopathic monsters. But it doesn't take that many in leadership positions to make history. Ask an older German. | ||
| Aesquire |
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/08/the -specter-of-deep-fakes.php The video is... Amazing. The no doubt coming remake of Star Wars, ( of Course they will! ) will have no creepy Peter Cushing fake, it will be perfect. And by November 2020 I expect "leaked" video showing the President kissing Putin and May in a three way on top of Big Ben. | ||
| Gregtonn |
Hoot, You may want to check these guys out for future reference. https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/what-h appens-to-a-tesla-when-it-ages-it-goes-to-gruber-m otors/ar-AAFHZTk?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=mailsignout G | ||
| Aesquire |
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/08/biofu els_baloney.html Ultimately, the Greens will burn the bodies of those who oppose them for power. And it will require more fuel than they get to process their enemies into flammable materials. ( sarcasm! But accurate science ) | ||
| Hootowl |
Tom, I’ll steal power from you any time! Greg, that’s good to know. <sarc> I also found a place that will fix my Jetta, in case I don’t want to take it to a dealer. </sarc>  | ||
| Hootowl |
Incidentally, the original roadster was a limited production car, intended to appeal to deep pocket electric car enthusiasts. It was a money maker to fund production of actual production cars, like the model s. It was their first car. It does not surprise me that it was put together quite differently than other cars. I suspect the people who founded Tesla had little auto manufacturing experience. Musk, if you’re not aware, did not found Tesla; he was just an early investor. | ||
| Sifo |
I'm just going on the assumption that "bricking" a Tesla is no longer a thing. Safe assumption? | ||
| Hootowl |
I don’t know. I would imagine it could be ‘bricked’ in much the same way any modern car could be ‘bricked’ when its computer breaks. When I got T-boned in my Jetta, the repair shop had to replace all the computers before the car would turn on. Was my Jetta ‘bricked’? I think, by definition, yes. | ||
| Sifo |
But the older Teslas would brick themselves when the battery ran down. They couldn't even be put in "neutral" and rolled aside. As I recall the "fix" from Tesla for this usually cost more than the value of the car. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I'm just going on the assumption that "bricking" a Tesla is no longer a thing. Safe assumption? That all depends on who hacks it, and what systems they're able to compromise. I love my Grand Cherokee (all 17 on-board computers and all!)...but I TRUST my older stuff without hesitation because there's no wifi, no sat-nav, no web access, no broadcast/receive. My older cars and truck have computers, sure, but they're along the lines of our Buells - isolated, standalone, and all code-broken for home re-mapping and repairing. The Jeep has an extended warranty for that. | ||
| Hootowl |
Not sure, Tom. I know I’ve never heard of a 3 doing that. Like, I said: Growing pains. It’s a new company. I’m not a fan boy (like a I am with Buell ) so I haven’t immersed myself in their history, nor will I make excuses for their shortcomings. But, so far, I’m perfectly pleased with it. It is an absolute joy to drive. | ||
| Sifo |
It was kind of a big deal at the time. People leaving them in the garage, plugged in, while on vacation. They come home to find it wasn't plugged in securely, and not only didn't charge, but parasitic losses from the computers drained it down and bricked the car. That's just one real world example of how it could happen. It's hard to imagine that this hasn't been addressed in some way. I don't recall the exact reason(s) why this happened, but I seem to recall the battery needed replacement, and wasn't covered under warranty when you treated it that way. If it were still a problem I would expect lot's of stories about it happening. Probably just a glitch in the first model Roadsters, which were pretty slick cars BTW. There was one I would see a couple times a week. Definitely a head turner. | ||
| Sifo |
BTW, If you are ever up in Northern MI, let me know. I'll leave the extension cord in the lawn! | ||
| Hootowl |
The car has several power modes. In one, the big relay that connects the main battery shuts off. The only power available at that point is the 12 volt, which is a standard car battery. This is what operates the door locks, etc. There are no key holes. You must have power to unlock the doors and release the brakes. If the 12 volt battery is dead, there is a procedure to apply power externally for the purpose of getting in the car. So maybe they learned that lesson? | ||
| Aesquire |
You heard about a lot of Fiskars brick. Total dead, just drag on frozen wheels, squealing tires up onto the flat bed. Back to the factory, $50k repair bill. Teslas would suicide too if you don't give Them attention but not the same. Btw, the Fiskar has a great chassis and interior. There are a few nuts who bought dead ones and installed a LS V-8 and drivetrain. Serious fab work, but what a concept! | ||
| Hootowl |
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-17 /tearing-apart-teslas-to-find-elon-musk-s-best-and -worst-decisions Good read. | ||
| Sifo |
This woman implanted her Tesla Model 3's valet key into her arm | ||
| Hootowl |
Takes all kinds. Actually, it doesn’t - there just are. | ||
| Aesquire |
Hoot, the famed Rolls Royce Merlin engine was in great demand even before WW2 began. While Rolls Royce would have preferred to make them all, they couldn't possibly meet demand. Ford of England got licensed to produce them, and built many of the single stage supercharger engines destined for bombers. ( while Rolls Royce would build the later 60 series & on with two superchargers, one feeding the other, for better high altitude performance in fighters ) If you ever look at the internal parts, like connecting rods, they are highly polished on every surface to reduce stress concentrations leading to cracks. A tremendous amount of hand work is involved. I did that job on a very different product, and it's very time consuming. ( but takes reasonable amounts of training to do well ) Rolls Royce used a lot of hand fitting of parts on the line. The last few thousands of an inch to make everything fit perfectly are filed off by professional builders. The best. It was soon found, as airplanes came in for repairs, that the Ford made engines were far easier to fix. Just bolt in a new part, and the Hurricane was ready to go shoot down more Dorniers dropping bombs on Merry Old. ( the 2 stage supercharger engines came after the Battle of Britain ) On Rolls Royce built engines, you had to custom fit the parts, just like they'd been built. The difference was Ford was used to making vast numbers of engines and the entire system depends on actual interchangeable parts, and the quality control from raw materials to out the door is pervasive. ( my profession for years, coming into it from the precision machinist side of the house ) Keep in mind, those connecting rods, etc. are still getting hand polished. The blueprints are the same. The difference is corporate culture. When England wanted America to make Merlins, just as we'd made 1914 Enfield Rifles in WW1, faster, cheaper, and in greater numbers than they could, they first went to Ford. Henry Ford refused, being prejudiced against England. ( a story of it's own ) They then contracted with Packard, who already had a history building airplane engines, and luxury, powerful cars & trucks. Packard did a great job, and was able to make some improvements that Rolls Royce couldn't disrupt production to make. The "funny story" is when the Brit experts came to check out the Packard factory, they were puzzled that there were no vices on the production floor. When asked, the Packard people explained they were not allowed. If a part didn't fit right, it went into a bin to be inspected again and fixed or scrapped by the QC department. Nobody on the line would touch it. Nobody had files or grinders except where they were used on castings, far, far, from final assembly. Packard didn't waste time, effort, or labor on hand fitting. All the effort went into assembling precision engines perfectly with no wasted stupid. The engines rolled directly into QC, who inspected them, then bolted them into dyno carts, where there were run in, and the power used to generate electricity to run the plant. |
