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Comments
I think a big key to safety is to not only tie the kayak down to the rack, factory or aftermarket, but also tie front and rear lines to the bumpers or toe hooks. That way, if your rack fails (or if your cross ropes do), you have a fail-safe to keep the kayak from flying off.
As far as length, so long as you aren't cranking down so hard on the end lines that you warp the cockpit area, you should be fine. I've seen lots worse than this. :shades:
Then again, I didn't ASK for one cuz it never would've happened. :P
Are there any Suzuki engineers who can comment as to whether Suzuki has any plans (or TSBs for the drive-by-wire) to improve on these issues?
Has anyone tried this? How flat is the cargo floor? Is it long enough for a 6-footer to camp in if you shove the front passenger seat forward?
Thanks
So in *some* cases, it's actually a good thing.
Aftermarket Pulleys
I cannot wait. Although I see someone else enjoys their Sportage, it is the most unreliable car I've ever owned (with only 90000 kms too), and I'm really looking forward to having a brand new car as spunky as the SX4 is.
Now I just have to wait a week to have the one I wanted delivered...
When I read this, I thought "Must be a Canadian." Then I visited Suzuki of Canada's website. I'm a little surprised you have some different color choices than us. I'm unsure if your 'sapphire' blue is the same as our 'techno' blue, but the azure grey (has a bluish tone) and ocean blue (baby blue) aren't choices in the U.S. We have a red option that you don't.
It surprised me how many Canadians post here (sometimes it seems like half of the people) when you consider the U.S. has about 10X the population.
Questions for Canadians.
1) All cars sold in Canada have km/hr speedometers and kilometer odometers, don't they?
2) Is all gasoline in Canada sold by the liter?
I notice many Canadians post their fuel economy in discussions as miles per gallon... and often the figures seem unusually high and are frequently disclaimered/corrected by other psoters as 'imperial miles per gallon'. If you don't measure by miles or purchase by gallons... why/how do so many Canadians deal with miles per gallon? Is it an easy conversion? :confuse:
1) Yes, although I haven't lived here long enough to know if American cars brought across have to be adapted. (I'm Australian)
2) Yes.
I don't - but again, I have no idea how to deal with the imperial system. I don't know how to convert...I know 2.2 kms is a mile, but I don't know how many litres in a gallon.
I think you got the 2.2 from the conversion factor between kilograms and pounds.
1 liter is 0.22 Canadian (Imperial) gallons or 0.26 U.S. gallons.
tidester, host
GM and Ford transmissions are moronic toads and never do this sort of behavior, so you might not be used to it
If for some reason you wish to have engine compression braking there is usually a special procedure for that in your owners manual.
This is most noticeable as a feeling of being "bumped from behind" just before coming to a full stop or as sort of a "slingshot effect" upon a full lift-throttle coastdown event at 30-45MPH.
There is also the case, sudden RPM change, of converter clutch lockup being disabled the instant you apply the brakes but that one has been around since lockup clutches first came into use.
The first of these involves significantly reducing the level of regenerative braking if/when the OAT is near or below freezing. The second technique will disable regenerative braking the instant the anti-lock system activates while braking.
And yes, this new (UP)shift pattern only applies, seemingly, to FWD and front torque biased AWD vehicles with automatic transaxles. I suppose it could be applied to manual transaxle vehicles by using DBW to raise the engine RPM to prevent braking but it appears the industry has chosen to eliminate manual transaxles from the FWD market altogether. 2007 RAV4 as example.
If the dumbing-down of all drivers continues I suppose we will begin to see this technique also applied to RWD and rear biased AWD vehicles such as your truck. Obviously engine braking can have adverse effects on RWD vehicles but not nearly as much so as FWD vehicles since steering ability will remain viable with RWD.
Or even with a quick lift-throttle event and an automatic should the OAT be below or near freezing. When slowing to a stop rather than upshifting the transaxle to prevent, or to reduce the potential for, loss of directional control go ahead and downshift to 1st but match the engine RPM to prevent engine braking.
The second feature that would be nice to have would be an ABS that didn't activate unless direction control was being threatened. VSC sensor signals could be used for that.
Downshifting a FWD automatic while descenting a hill on a low traction roadbed is tantamount to signing your own death certificate.
Besides which pickups are not driven, generally, by the dumbed down Jane/John Q publics out there.
A point you may be missing here is that a pickup has the weight bias to the front so it's pretty scary to have it downshift in low traction conditions - the rear can come around pretty easily especially if the road has some crown to it. I usually leave my pickup home and drive a 30 year old FWD VW with (4) studded tires when the roads are slick - and I do shift it down when descending hills. Years ago, I made the mistake of only putting traction tires on the front and the car was very scary to drive - but that was because of skidding of the rear tires, not the front. Here's a technical question for you regarding anti-lock brakes: If a car with them is sitting on an icy incline with the brakes firmly applied and gets bumped from the rear causing it to start sliding down the hill, will the wheels remain locked up as long as the driver keeps the brake pedal firmly pressed? My friends think the car would travel down the hill with the brakes alternately releasing and applying. I think the wheels will remain locked up as long as the pedal is not released.
I have to vehemently disagree. It is a manual transmission and the driver should be controlling the engine speed, not a computer. This could lead to more accidents when the car does not slow as the driver expects it to and as it 'normally' would. It is up to the driver to match engine speed and selected gear and slowly reduce engine speed. If a driver cannot do this, then that person should get an automatic. Or not geardown and let the clutch out if he or she cannot control the car.
Conversely, it could be argued that manual transmission cars already do exactly what you want. As you let out the clutch the engine has to speed up and how quickly it slows down depends on how much throttle you apply.
After driving FWD cars for years in Canada, I can't recall a single time when shifting down made the car unstable or caused a spin. And I am not an expert driver by any means, just an average one.
MikeF
And I absolutely agree that judicious use of the clutch would undoubtedly alleviate this problem. But then just how many of todays drivers, if put in a vehicle with a stick shift, most especially a FWD or front torque biased AWD one, would know how to "manage" engine compression braking on such a surface?
I guess it is a question of approach - engineer to meet the lowest common denominator, or try to improve that lowest common denominator. There are merits and reasons for both approaches. I hate to think that at 45 I am one of the 'Old school', but I guess I am!
Cheers,
MikeF
Just teaching folks how to drive doesn't teach them how to survive in the various adverse circumstances many will encounter as they go through life. Regrettably some of those circumstances will result in the end of life.
"... stick to an automatic and have that much less to worry about...."
Wrong, totally WRONG..!
It should be pretty clear by now that automatic transmission are currently in a rather serious evolutionary phase. There are lots of things you can do with a clutch pedal that are simply not available to folks driving an automatic.
An automatic transaxle in a FWD or front torque biased AWD on a low traction surface and a driver with no substantive experience with same is purely a recipe for desaster!!
Give the same individual a stick shift and some brief training and they would instinctively disengage the clutch instead of simply releasing the gas pedal.
That's exactly why we are now seeing most automatic transaxles quickly upshifting upon a FULL lift-throttle event, the closest analog they can come to depressing the clutch pedal.
In the meantime we cannot fault the manufacturers for making everyday driving as beniegn (non-exciting...??) as possible.
More training is always good. We survived without the use of simulators and so can today's drivers.
I dislike the trend towards sueing manufacturers to cover up for our stupidity, hence the risk-adverse lack of developments and the dumbing down of so many products.
I remain in disagreement with your original statement about having a 'snow' button that would have the engine react differently than it normally does. I think such a control would be riskier than proper training.
Back to the regulatly scheduled discussion on the SX4. The SX4 remains on my list as a potential replacement for my '94 Accord, along with a list of other cars. I have to take it for a test drive one day and see if it graduates to the short list or moves off of the potential list. Of course, my wife will have a lot to say in that reagard!
Cheers,
MikeF
Apparently most manufacturers have already changed, or are in the process of changing, the cruise control "decel" functionality, automatic (downhill), or driver actuated, so it uses actual braking instead of engine braking (closing the throttle and/or retarding the timing) for reducing the speed while cruise control is active.
The owners manuals indicate that engine braking cannot be attained while using the "decel" function by downshifting as a aid in slowing the vehicle down more rapidly. Apparently the system will rev-match the engine speed to the roadspeed to prevent engine braking regardless of gear ratio.
Anyone yet expereinced this in their new 2007 RAV4?