Subaru Crew Cafe

rsholland

As most of you know, if it's got wheels, there's a good chance that I'm probably interested in it. If it's got big wheels, there's even a bigger chance that I'll be interested.

Well this afternoon I went down to the Baltimore Convention Center to take in the "Work Truck" show. Talk about BIG wheels!!

I enjoy going to truck shows like this because (A) I like trucks, (B) there's always interesting things to see, and (C) how often do you get a chance to sit in a $133K Unimog with a 33K GVW, or a Sterling 9200 dump truck, or an Autocar Severe-Duty rig with the biggest snowplow I've ever seen, and with probably a dozen or so gear levers on the floor, or an all-new Hino Class 7 truck?

The Unimog was utterly fascinating. Even with the sales guy explaining everything while I sat in the cockpit, I was completely lost. I have never been in a vehicle that is so utterly strange. I mean we're talking about a vehicle with 7 reverse gears, God only knows how many forward gears, full time AWD, and portal axles!

The Hino was also very interesting, and a real surprise. I found out Hino is owned by Toyota, and they're just introducing a new Class 4-7 conventional truck. In addition, Roger Penske will be running the the US operation, and all his class 4-7 Penske rental trucks will eventually become Hinos!

I asked the Hino sales guy if Toyota might enter the commercial class 4- 7 truck market with a Toyota badged version of the Hino. The sales guy just smiled and winked. He then pointed out the huge Hino logo on the grille and asked if that shape looked familiar? Sure enough, you could swap a Toyota logo in there, as the Toyota logo and the Hino logo are the same shape. So don't be too surprised if in a few years you see medium-duty Toyota trucks on the road. Just remember, you heard it here first.

Sometime, if you ever get a chance to go to a work truck show—go! There is some really neat stuff that truckers get to play with these days.

BTW, this show is not open to the public. A few years ago I responded to an ad in the Baltimore Sun about this show, and since I have my own business, I sort of faked my way in. So now I'm on their mailing list, and had no trouble getting in—and it was FREE to boot!

Bob

cusafr

Rob: Not to be dumb, but when you say they are pointing backward, exactly what do you mean. You said drivers side, so the arrows should point toward the back. In other words, the arrows on unidirectional tires should point in the direction the tire turns when going forward.

Don't mean to insult your intelligence, just trying to help.

CUSAFR

rob_m

Jim no apology necessary.

I just happened to notice that there were arrows on the sidewall, and the ones on the driver's side were pointing to the back, not the front, against the natural rotation of the tire. All 4 were mounted in the same direction, so the passenger side is fine.

I was more curious as to damage to the tires when driven this way for most of the winter.

I have a set of Yoko AVS (love them!) on my Mustang GT, so I am familiar with directional tires. My dad however, trusted the local tire shop to mount the winter tires, and someone was not paying attention.

Thanks! Rob M

fibber2

"All 4 were mounted in the same direction, so the passenger side is fine."

Now I am starting to understand. So it is not that they were put on the car wrong, but that the two on the drives side need to be taken off of the wheels and remounted. It is the fault of the shop that sold him the tires in the first place, not the party that put them on the vehicle this season.

Steve

ateixeira

I'm with paisan, the tibby looks good for what it is. Some of the details aren't quite right, but the overall look is among the best in that price class.

Bob: you scam artist! Pretty sneaky! I mean, Graphic Artists use heavy machinery all the time...

Sounds fun. Not my cup of tea, but still interesting.

-juice

rsholland

Bob: you scam artist! Pretty sneaky! I mean, Graphic Artists use heavy machinery all the time...

It known as "creative (CDL) license."



I've long felt that large commercial vehicles and agricultural equipment to being among the best designed vehicles out there. Nowhere (except perhaps for race cars) does Porsche's concept of "form follows function" hold more true. To me an Unimog is just as gorgeous as an Aston Martin.

As I said earlier, there are some great ideas presented at these shows, some of which could possibly (?) trickle down to consumer-oriented vehicles. I find this type of show to really stimulate my creative thinking.

Bob

paisan

Bob, let me know next year, I'd LOVE to go!

-mike

rsholland

It doesn't occur every year in Baltimore. It's like every 2 or 3 years. They seem to be on some sort of rotating show schedule.

Here's their web site.

http://www.ntea.com/Expo/default.asp

Maybe there's something scheduled up in your neck of the woods?

Bob

paisan

ah ha, well next time it's around let me know, or if you hear it's up here, I have a biz also so I can reg and probably get in too.

-mike

rsholland

See my amended post above. Maybe you could get on their mailing list via the web site?

Bob

fibber2

"All 4 were mounted in the same direction, so the passenger side is fine."

Now I am starting to understand. So it is not that they were put on the car wrong, but that the two on the drives side need to be taken off of the wheels and remounted. It is the fault of the shop that sold him the tires in the first place, not the party that put them on the vehicle this season.

Steve

ateixeira

To me an Unimog is just as gorgeous as an Aston Martin

Ease up on the drugs, Bob. ;-)

-juice

rsholland

dead serious... Each have their own definition of beauty. You can't judge an Aston Martin's aesthetics by Unimog standards, or vice-versa. Each is beautiful in its own way.

Bob

hypov

I like the Unimog. Wouldn't be a passenger [cargo] in the rear though.

-Dave

ateixeira

I should probably attend a show like that, then. I tend to think anything that big is hideous, I guess you have to adjust your standards before going in.

-juice

rsholland

I tend to think anything that big is hideous,

but there's a flaw in your thinking. You can't judge a vehicle like the Unimog by conventional, accepted automotive standards of beauty. Looking *pretty* was the last thing thing a Unimog designer thinks of when designing one of these things. It is function first, and styling* is last on the list of importance.

* = Styling as it applies to cars, that is. The ground rules for *beauty* for vehicles like the Aston Martin (or any automobile) simply do not apply to vehicles like the Unimog.

Bob

ateixeira

That's what I mean.

It's a Paradigm Shift.

Had to get that buzzword in there.

-juice

njswamplands

is that a competitor to AT, CVT, MT, Speed Shift, Short Shift?

ateixeira

Top secret, sorry I can't reveal anything further at this point. ;-)

-juice

rsholland

kens

Okay, both you guys ease up on the drugs. ;-)

Ken

rsholland

cookie rush...

Bob

njswamplands

i havent seen a post from him in awhile

hypov

njswamplands

rsholland

design commentary on the Geneva Show here. This is from guys who live and breathe car design.

http://www.cardesignnews.com/autoshows/2004/geneva/index.html

Bob

designman

Do you subscribe to CarDesignNews? I enjoy looking at the portfolios. I've often wondered how great it would be to design cars, but I guess for every design that makes it to production, there must be thousands of concepts that go down the drain and there is criticism from all angles... very frustrating.

Ah-h-h, the power Bangle had, and to think he blew it.

;-)

rsholland

rsholland

http://www.swrt.com/490234.html

c_hunter

Corona+lime is one of my favorites!

Craig

locke2c

that's because Corona tastes like Coors without lime, which is not a compliment.

~c

ateixeira

That's fine for Europe, I guess. Not sure it would fly here.

Check out that Mini estate, it might actually have a back seat. Still 2 doors, though.

The Corolla Verso is nice. Not much else stands out.

-juice

designman

I actually think lime and beer is a good combo. Too bad the prevailing mentality and marketing limits it to Corona. I also despise being served Corona and lime wedge without specifically asking for the lime.

"You put dee lime in dee coconut and drink it all up."

hypov

I always thought that the lime was to mask the skunkiness of Corona.

-Dave

subearu

I bought my dad a LimeBomber http://www.limebomber.com for his birthday last year. It works on *any* long neck bottle beer, not just Corona's.

-Brian

ozman62

I'm with Dave on this one. Any beer that needs fruit in it to be palatable really isn't beer. I like the Corona logo though, it should look good on the cars. Does that count?
Owen

ateixeira

I was gonna buy a dad a keg meister, maybe I'll get him one of those and save money for my B9SC. :-)

I guess I have positive associations with Corona beer, you tend to drink it when visiting tropical places.

But give me XX Dark any day.

-juice

kenoka

I prefer Negra Modelo myself, but XX dark is nice as well.

ateixeira

Yeah, that's better than Corona also.

It's funny, when I visited Matamoros they didn't even serve Corona at most of the places.

-juice

designman

I happen to be partial to Guinness. Even the canned version is decent. Corona skunky without lime? Nah.

"You put dee lime in dee coconut and den you feel better."

designman

And key lime pie is awesome.

c_hunter

Also one of my favorites. Excellent ice cold with Mexican food.

Craig

kens

Corona is pretty cheap stuff and you won't find it at the nicer establishments in Mexico. In fact, I've found waiters smirk when you ask for it at some places. Imagine some country thinking Pabst Blue Ribbon as being some cool US-drink!

Whomever marketed Corona in the US and got it to be a trendy beer is a genious.

Ken

ateixeira

Bingo, it's all marketing.

In grad school we did a paper on beer (really!) and several very successful beers did not test well for taste but ended up getting pitched as "premium" anyway, with heavy marketing behind it.

-juice

bigelm

My non-spanish friends. Lime in the Corona was/is to keep the flies from landing, puking, contaminating, dirtying, filthing, disgustinging (is this a new word?) your drink.

All you beer drinkers know that beer attracts insects, especially flies!

I don't drink beer, but there are some things I do know :-p

njswamplands

kens

bigelm,

I've seen a household fly trap that uses beer as bait! It's a cleverly blown piece of glass that allows flies in but not out.

What would we do without fermentation.

Ken

jlemole

Hey, what's wrong with Pabst?

Jon

fibber2

I am partial to Sapporo....

Steve

njswamplands