Now that I've got the car, it's time to turn to the important things. Like finding a badass gear shift knob cos it's manual.
33 thoughts on “August 22, 2018: Customization”
I want to thank you for joining the fight to save the manuals. We face insurmountable odds, so we need all the help we can get.
Realistically, I suspect manuals will persist (in very limited applications — Jeeps, Porsches, Mustangs, some pickup trucks, foreign-market models) right up until the industry does an inevitable hard transition from locomotion by internal combustion to electrical or advanced hybrid drivetrains. Then everyone who wants a manual will need to buy a used ride, which may no longer be viable, depending on oil prices. Right now I have a pickup* that’s a three-on-the-tree, with no power steering or power brakes. It’s basically a glorified tractor, a smiles-per-gallon vehicle. I’ve driven it on the interstate, but honestly, that wasn’t the best idea. In anything more than a low speed accident, that thing is a coffin. By the time internal combustion takes a back seat to electric & hybrid vehicles, who knows how safe our current cars will be by comparison.
* Built in St. Paul in 1966, bought off an alpaca farm in...Farmington.
I'm pretty strictly a stick guy...and my current car will probably be my last manual. I'm anticipating getting an electric (or at least a hybrid) for my next vehicle, in another five years or so.
I finally transitioned off of a standard* transmission two years ago after having driven manuals since ~1983 (earlier if I count farm equipment/trucks). I thought I'd give my hips a well earned break, albeit late. As much as I loved it, I have to remember those 5+ years on LA freeways -- not pleasant. Still, even after two years I find myself wanting to shift down when hitting the off ramp if I'm mentally autopilotting it.
*how long has it been since manual transmissions were considered standard??
Technically they still are for most cars that offer them, since the autos are an upcharge.
Neither our Subaru (which has a manumatic) or our inherited Buick (drowsy, column shift GM slushbox) have a sophisticated automatic transmission. I almost always will downshift (or shift into a gear to hold it) when exiting. When appropriate for the conditions, I like to go into exits hot & try to hold my line with my best speed.
The Buick has ludicrously high* gearing — 2.92:1 in first, 1.57:1 in second, 1.0:1 in third, 0.75:1 in fourth, combined with a 2.86:1 drive ratio — so engine braking simply isn’t available without downshifting, sometimes from fourth to second. Around town I can more or less coast once I have a head of steam going, but the problem is that I have to brake more, either because other cars’ gearing slows them down quicker if they’re off-throttle, or because I leave a gap between me & the cars in front, which other drivers try to exploit, accelerating to fill the gap, then hitting their brakes so they don’t hit the car in front. I’ve concluded the best thing to do is simply to keep everyone behind me. Then I only have to worry about the cars pulling out in front of the champagne Buick sedan, expecting I’m on my way to Old Country Buffet or something.
* numerically low
I'm a stick and ball guy, myself.
Har!
Our Triumphs and the Morris are all manuals and while I enjoy driving them I really appreciate driving an automatic for my daily commute in traffic.
That's how I feel too, if there were some decent side-road options for my commute a manual would be a more attractive option. The majority of my time is spent in stop-and-go traffic and that just isn't fun.
Definitely get a kick out of driving the MG and its ancient transmission when I get a chance.
This is why I'm fortunate, my commute for both this job and the last one I had were traffic free. My current commute is 15 miles of county roads and its the best.
Anyone aware of any Minnesota Wild ticket presale codes? Tickets go on sale tomorrow and it is time to pay the piper on my son's birthday present, not sure how likely it will be to snatch up tickets to the opener without wading into the secondary market.
Mauer/Puck watch. Joe now is 10 PA behind Puck. If he plays today/tomorrow they may be tied going into the weeekend. Puck had 86 more XBH (mostly due to his 65 more HR). Mauer has 229 more times on base.
So when the Twins score 5 again today they will hold the record by themselves.
And thanks for the handy-dandy chart! I new if I asked I'd get the answer.
The Twins will open their 2019 season at home on March 28 with a three-game series against Cleveland.
Only teams I have never seen are the Mets, Phillies, and Dodgers, so I hope at least one is visiting next year.
Looks like the Mets are in town on July 16 & 17. Maybe they can play the Dodgers or Phillies at home in October.
Apparently MLB’s schedulers learned a ton from the experience of cold-weather teams early this season.
POLANCO'd!
Any recommendations for a used car dealer in the western half of the metro? Daughter's car was totalled. No injuries.
hey! i just went through that! it was awful!
I’m still looking for someone to total my car with no injuries.
I'm worried my company would jack up my rates if that happened
Just gotta make sure you're parked and not in your car at the time.
It is a running joke with my wife whenever a thunderstorm with hail is in the area, I send a text of the radar image and tell her "I need to drive to x now."
In 2016 I bought a car at the St. Cloud Luther dealership. I found the car on Cars.com, which is pretty helpful. You can add a bunch of different makes/models and filter down to what you want. My favorite filter was the one that offered a free car history report, which was beneficial when shopping for cars 150-200 miles away. And when I bought the car there I got a Holiday card with three years of gas & car wash discounts which I'm sad is expiring next year.
Hey y'all. 'Member how I said I was gonna stop by more often? Yeah, then I became the assistant manager in my department at work and now work 45+ hours a week standard. It sucks, but the money's not great.
Anyway, thanks DPWY for jumping on the EPL contest this year. Lemme know if you need the source code for the Excel sheets.
I want to thank you for joining the fight to save the manuals. We face insurmountable odds, so we need all the help we can get.
Realistically, I suspect manuals will persist (in very limited applications — Jeeps, Porsches, Mustangs, some pickup trucks, foreign-market models) right up until the industry does an inevitable hard transition from locomotion by internal combustion to electrical or advanced hybrid drivetrains. Then everyone who wants a manual will need to buy a used ride, which may no longer be viable, depending on oil prices. Right now I have a pickup* that’s a three-on-the-tree, with no power steering or power brakes. It’s basically a glorified tractor, a smiles-per-gallon vehicle. I’ve driven it on the interstate, but honestly, that wasn’t the best idea. In anything more than a low speed accident, that thing is a coffin. By the time internal combustion takes a back seat to electric & hybrid vehicles, who knows how safe our current cars will be by comparison.
* Built in St. Paul in 1966, bought off an alpaca farm in...Farmington.
I'm pretty strictly a stick guy...and my current car will probably be my last manual. I'm anticipating getting an electric (or at least a hybrid) for my next vehicle, in another five years or so.
I finally transitioned off of a standard* transmission two years ago after having driven manuals since ~1983 (earlier if I count farm equipment/trucks). I thought I'd give my hips a well earned break, albeit late. As much as I loved it, I have to remember those 5+ years on LA freeways -- not pleasant. Still, even after two years I find myself wanting to shift down when hitting the off ramp if I'm mentally autopilotting it.
*how long has it been since manual transmissions were considered standard??
Technically they still are for most cars that offer them, since the autos are an upcharge.
Neither our Subaru (which has a manumatic) or our inherited Buick (drowsy, column shift GM slushbox) have a sophisticated automatic transmission. I almost always will downshift (or shift into a gear to hold it) when exiting. When appropriate for the conditions, I like to go into exits hot & try to hold my line with my best speed.
The Buick has ludicrously high* gearing — 2.92:1 in first, 1.57:1 in second, 1.0:1 in third, 0.75:1 in fourth, combined with a 2.86:1 drive ratio — so engine braking simply isn’t available without downshifting, sometimes from fourth to second. Around town I can more or less coast once I have a head of steam going, but the problem is that I have to brake more, either because other cars’ gearing slows them down quicker if they’re off-throttle, or because I leave a gap between me & the cars in front, which other drivers try to exploit, accelerating to fill the gap, then hitting their brakes so they don’t hit the car in front. I’ve concluded the best thing to do is simply to keep everyone behind me. Then I only have to worry about the cars pulling out in front of the champagne Buick sedan, expecting I’m on my way to Old Country Buffet or something.
* numerically low
I'm a stick and ball guy, myself.
Har!
Our Triumphs and the Morris are all manuals and while I enjoy driving them I really appreciate driving an automatic for my daily commute in traffic.
That's how I feel too, if there were some decent side-road options for my commute a manual would be a more attractive option. The majority of my time is spent in stop-and-go traffic and that just isn't fun.
Definitely get a kick out of driving the MG and its ancient transmission when I get a chance.
This is why I'm fortunate, my commute for both this job and the last one I had were traffic free. My current commute is 15 miles of county roads and its the best.
Anyone aware of any Minnesota Wild ticket presale codes? Tickets go on sale tomorrow and it is time to pay the piper on my son's birthday present, not sure how likely it will be to snatch up tickets to the opener without wading into the secondary market.
Mauer/Puck watch. Joe now is 10 PA behind Puck. If he plays today/tomorrow they may be tied going into the weeekend. Puck had 86 more XBH (mostly due to his 65 more HR). Mauer has 229 more times on base.
Mauer 389/440/829 125 OPS+
Puck 360/477/837 124 OPS+
Does the car have Ludicrous Mode?
The Twins have scored exactly 5 runs in their last 5 games. So what's the record for scoring the same number of runs in consecutive games.
Are you going to allow zero as well?
Twins appeared twice in the one run streak, once in the two run streak, once in the five run streak, and three times in the nine run streak.
So when the Twins score 5 again today they will hold the record by themselves.
And thanks for the handy-dandy chart! I new if I asked I'd get the answer.
The Twins will open their 2019 season at home on March 28 with a three-game series against Cleveland.
Only teams I have never seen are the Mets, Phillies, and Dodgers, so I hope at least one is visiting next year.
Looks like the Mets are in town on July 16 & 17. Maybe they can play the Dodgers or Phillies at home in October.
Apparently MLB’s schedulers learned a ton from the experience of cold-weather teams early this season.
POLANCO'd!
Any recommendations for a used car dealer in the western half of the metro? Daughter's car was totalled. No injuries.
hey! i just went through that! it was awful!
I’m still looking for someone to total my car with no injuries.
I'm worried my company would jack up my rates if that happened
Just gotta make sure you're parked and not in your car at the time.
It is a running joke with my wife whenever a thunderstorm with hail is in the area, I send a text of the radar image and tell her "I need to drive to x now."
In 2016 I bought a car at the St. Cloud Luther dealership. I found the car on Cars.com, which is pretty helpful. You can add a bunch of different makes/models and filter down to what you want. My favorite filter was the one that offered a free car history report, which was beneficial when shopping for cars 150-200 miles away. And when I bought the car there I got a Holiday card with three years of gas & car wash discounts which I'm sad is expiring next year.
Hey y'all. 'Member how I said I was gonna stop by more often? Yeah, then I became the assistant manager in my department at work and now work 45+ hours a week standard. It sucks, but the money's not great.
Anyway, thanks DPWY for jumping on the EPL contest this year. Lemme know if you need the source code for the Excel sheets.