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Comments
-juice
I think the indirect method (using existing ABS sensors), using existing sensors and technology, would be more reliable. Just additions to the ABS software and YAIL (Yet Another Idiot Light) on the dashboard.
..Mike
..Mike
Bob
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020531/ap_on_bi_ge/autos_quality_glance_3
But still, look at some of the brands that ranked higher - Mitsubishi, BMW, Hyundai - none of these do as well in the long-term.
-juice
I think it uses a wireless transmitter. The battery operated sensor/transmitter is strapped in the wheel.
Added expense, now you got to remove the tires from rim to replace battery. >:|
-Dave
Posted some new (BIG) pics on the Gallery board
- Serge (always gets the big picture) Small -
Battery? I thought of that but hoped an engineer would develop a more reliable solution. If true, that would mean (in addition to the change-the-dead-sensor-battery hassle you mention) more heavy metals into the waste stream (from the old batteries). Yeah, some pro or home mechanics might take the time to recycle, but confidence is not high.
..Mike
..Mike
I'm going to listen to the CDs you like that I don't already own, as your tastes are eerily close to mine.
Steve
The 3.2l in the Catera has a bore and stroke of 3.44 and 3.46. The Rodeo's is 3.68 and 3.03, which is a pretty short stroke.
Those differences are bigger than they seem and make it unlikely that the blocks are shared. In fact I bet the CTS engine is just a stroked version of the old 3.0l from the Opel Omega.
-juice
PS Sorry, I love a conspiracy theory as much as the next guy!
-mike
-juice
It would probably have been more reliable too!
-mike
GM loves those Isuzus...
-juice
-mike
The indirect system requires some slop in the software to account for turns, wheel spin, etc. and not false excessively. That may make it slow to respond in a real situation.
The direct system can produce some tire balancing problems (extra mass in one spot), plus what do you do when you have extra tires on rims that you swap out occasionally? (snows, rally/autocross, etc.).
One possible advantage of the indirect system is that it would force GM and others to put ABS back as std equipment on base models.
Steve
Bob
<rant on>
browsing through their site and I came across this...
http://www.jdpa.com/studies/summary.asp?StudyID=410&CatID=1
disturbing, especially where they state All problems are weighted equally and overall performance is summarized with “problems per 100 vehicles” .
I also noted that they pride themselves as the quality benchmark for manufacturers; however, I did not see anywhere an attempt to educate the consumer that their survey(s) is/are performed soley for the manufacturers of the product surveyed and should not be considered by the consumer as a means to weigh their decision on a product by reason that their quality survey is based soley on quantity and not 'quality' of problems.
i.e.
Make A ranks 36 with 212 reported problems
Make B ranks 10 with 121 reported problems
obviously we're led by the numbers to say Make B is the better product. Is it? "Numbers don't lie"... 121 loose steering wheel versus 212 lousy radio is 91 less problems therefore deserve to be ranked 10.
So consumers, if you're deciding whether to buy Make A or B, buy Make B it ranks better than A.
I'll go have my coffee now... </rant off>
-Dave
Brush with fame: Many moons ago the ambulance company I was working for also had a limousine service. Got called from home hurry-up-quick (I lived close) to take one of the Caddies to the Sheraton, take a celeb to the airport to meet his wife, take them both back to the hotel.
The wife turned out to be Valerie Bertinelli, aka Mrs. Eddie VanHalen, and the plane was late. Eddie had no ID, so guess who bought him a beer while we waited?! A very regular guy who complained he was going to have to sell his Porsche due to too many speeding tickets!
Cheers!
Paul
Impressions:
• I liked the S80 much better than the S-60, which surprised me. It felt much faster, and didn't suffer from as much turbo lag, as the S-60s did.
• On all the Volvos, upon doing panic stops, the tranny hesitated a moment or so upon starting up again. It just didn't feel right. I didn't try the manual-shift tip-tronic override. I just left it in the auto mode.
• The ABS performed flawlessly on all the cars.
• Didn't get to spend as much time in the vehicles as I would have liked. There were a lot of people there, and we were kind of "herded" through the process.
• Went on a very fast drive with a professional driver, which was fun. I guess that was the "Fire" part. The "Ice" part was taking the cars on a partially wet course, to compare the FWD versions against the AWD versions. Unfortunately, it wasn't very wet, so it was hard to tell the difference between the two.
• The S60 (not the XC70 Cross Country) has a reactive AWD, meaning it's FWD until slippage occurs. When it does occur, the rear wheels do kick very quickly. I think juice mentioned that there was about a 1/2 wheel rotation before the rears kicked in. Still, I prefer a proactive AWD, like Subaru's, where all four wheels are working all the time.
• No XC90s there, but plenty of pixs.
• No XC70 Cross Countrys for test drives.
Bob
In the mid-70's, I worked at a local auditorium hawking programs etc. Once in a great while, we would get the opportunity to go backstage. I had a couple of beers with Jeff "The Skunk" Baxter (when he was touring with Steely Dan) after they opened for, now get this... Jim Croce. This was two weeks before Jim Croce was killed in a plane crash.
The Skunk was a great guy. I'm sure he knew I was just some geeky kid (who wasn't old enough to drink beer legally) that was awestruck, but he treated me nice. (Ah... the 70's.)
Ron
Bob
Steve
The audience were unaware, but I can't say the same about the cast. The cats were all over in our section.
-Dave
The cars were not PDIed, so I was restricted to a short drive up the street, and around the dealer lot. Preliminary comments:
• Classic Honda: brilliant and frustrating at the same time. Brilliant in that it will probably become the new paradigm for this class of vehicle. Frustrating in that, as great as it is, with just a little more work, it would be perfect, IMO.
• The interior is extremely well thought out. Terrific attention to detail, especially the front center console, with its cell phone storage, and double row front seat rear storage pockets. I even sat in the 3rd row seats, and aside from marginal legroom, the seats were quite comfortable. An adult could stay there for short to moderate ride, but it's best left to children.
• With only a 106" wheelbase, it has a very tight turning circle; I think it's 38 feet.
• It's very wide. 48" paneling will fit flat on the floor in the rear, between the wheel wells. In my limited drive, the width didn't seem to be a problem.
• Details MIA: No moonroof option. No heated seats or outside mirrors. No ambient temperature gauge. No full-size spare.
• Bad decisions made by Honda: The DVD/Navigation system is an either/or situation. You can have one or the other, but not both. These options are also only available on the top-of-the-line EX w/leather.
• Towing: Yes it has the same 3500/4500 tow rating as the MDX—only if the trailer has brakes. Unbraked trailers are restricted to 1000 pounds, just like Subaru and many others. I read this in the owner's manual.
• Wished it had a low range, so that it could compete with traditional SUVs for HD applications.
• I'm a fan of timing chains, this has a timing belt that need to be replaced every 60K.
Bottom line: Close (very close!), but no cigar.
Bob
-mike
Steve
-Brian
It's designed for light to moderate off-roading; I agree it's not meant to be a Jeep. A low range can always be useful, especially if you're pulling a boat up a steep launch ramp out of the water.
Bob
I have a friend with an MDX and you'll be ripping the running boards and undercarrige components as soon as you try to do anything that would require low range.
As for a boat ramp, the engine is more than powerful enough and if placed in 1st gear it should pull any 4500lb trailer out of the water. I've never used low range on any of my trucks to pull even the heaviest boats out of the wetest steepest ramps around, and my engines were less powerful than the MDX/Pilot engine.
-mike
Bob: 1000 pounds with no trailer brakes? I don't get it, even the CR-V is rated for 1500 pounds!
Marauder is a cool concept. It's not for me, I recognize that, but they will sell out early and be sought after for years to come.
Brush with fame? Met Paul Berry while valet parking his Volvo at i Ricchi's in DC (he's generous and his blonde wife is taller than I am). Also met Larry King, parked his Town Car several times (he's cheap!). Drove Wilbur Marshall's (ex-Redskin 6 million dollar man) Porsche 911 turbo. Saw a few other celebs there.
Also met George Stephanopolous inside a trendy DC restaurant.
-juice
-mike
I used to have a sports marketing consulting firm as a client and met a lot of old-time baseball players and front office people, including a couple of Hall-of-Famers, as a result. Some of that came about as a result of charity work and in working with some of the providers of material to HBO for the "When It Was A Game" series.
Ed
The S60 T5 was a little disappointing. Turbo lag is rather severe. Maybe because it's too heavy, and once the turbo kicked in around a curve and caused some scary torque steer. Another time the steering ran out of boost mid-corner, again because the engine had not spooled up yet. Understeer was persistent.
The S80 T6 was actually nicer, this from a guy who almost always prefers lighter, smaller cars. I liked the C class better than the E class, the 3 series better than the 5, the Forester better than the Outback, etc.
The S80 T6 has some turbo lag, but not as much. Twin turbos mean it spools up quicker, and the 6 has more displacement to begin with. Also, oddly, it had less understeer, though still some.
All cars, I mean all, would hesitate to put the tranny back into 1st gear after a complete stop (excellent brakes BTW). I mean 1-2-3, shift, then go. Annoying.
They had a BMW 330 and a Mercedes C320 for the price/features comparison with the Volvo S60 T5, which was fine. But was peeved me was for a 0-60-0 test, they use a BMW 325 instead, which is cheating. The Volvo T5 costs more and is their top model, and should have been compared to a 330 or even arguably an M3. Blatant cheating, especially when they compared prices with the 330.
Funny side note - I convinced the hosts (AMCI) to let Bob and I be the volunteers for that test. So I rode along in the BMW while Bob rode in the Volvo. We were actually quicker off the line, but the T5 spooled up and eventually passed. In braking, the BMW had a longer distance and for effect they had us break through a paper poster, like football teams do at the beginning of homecoming. Funny, but still, I caught them cheating.
They took us for a "hell ride" with an instructor, and those guys managed to get the T5 to drift, but I wonder if they played with tire pressures or sway bars 'cause the stock ones felt very different. Plus they had manuals, all the ones we drove were automatic.
AWD? Even though it was a reactive system, starting at 95/5 front bias, it did react fairly quickly and felt different during my hot lap. Noticeably less understeer. Better off the line with power sent to the rear axle instead of wasted with brakes heating up (traction control).
So, better launch, better handling, no noticeable torque steer. A solid test that once again proves that I hate the way FWD feels and that AWD is better in every way, easily worth the $1750 they charge.
He he, it was like a Subaru ad.
-juice
The Pilot is perfectly capable for for beach driving. Having a low range would be an added plus. BTW, there have been sand situations where I did need low range. I specifically remember climbing a dune vehicle entrance way into Carova Beach NC, where I could not get by in 4-high. I put it in 4-low, and I made it through. It was going up-hill in deep, soft sand.
Bob
On Park Ave; Sigourney Weaver and her husband
Driving a checker taxi in 1977, had Harry Chapin's brother Steve as a passenger, another time, Walt Frazier
At Penn & Teller show on Broadway, P&T (got their autographs in a Gideon's bible used in a trick), also met Howard Stern and his then wife Allison.
On a Plane...Anthony Quinn, George Carlin
In Nantucket, met Jerry Stiller and Ann Meara while checking out bike rentals
I'm wondering if it has an advantage to begin with.
-juice
Bob
-juice
Bob
But torque is a different story. And Honda is using a 3.5l. No replacement for displacement, as they say.
-juice
As for torque, my guess is that the Honda has more torque in the upper end, but probably not much. Hondas are the opposite of american engines. Basically a honda will make HP and Torque on the top end, while american engines generally make HP and torque on the low end.
-mike
Bob
There is a world of difference between 10psi and 20psi.
-mike
Bob
-mike
Bob