I agree, and I also think that laser-driven fusion is the least suitable method to scale up to commercial level. I'm curious if I'm missing something, but I suspect this is a mere funding grab:
Someone, maybe Scott Locklin(?) mentioned something exactly of this nature recently: if we "accidentally" end up making a bunch of progress in the energy/energy transmission sector in an effort to fuel the AI data centers, that would be a pretty big win.
I know it's not intelligence but it is impressing me more every day. I'm not sure how the hell they monetize it past the 12.50 per month I'm already paying Microsoft. I don't think I'd pay $100 a month for it. MAYBE 25. It's nifty at summarizing stuff and double checking my work.
They're losing money on it, in the hopes you will find it to be indispensable when they start charging the real rate -- which, at current power usage rates, is probably a grand a month or more.
If it’s per user, i will pass. It will replace a junior analyst but then you will never have a senior analyst. Currently giving work to junior analysts yo get it summarized in ai
Jack, thank you for sharing Julius' thing. He's a really good little guy. He's a decently sized cat. A healthy weight would probably be 10-12 lbs. He was under 7 at the vet yesterday. And that's after a few days of eating fairly well. He's already looking much healthier. I'll keep everyone updated.
"But it would certainly be cheaper to run, assuming the torque converters lasted longer than they did in my 6.2 Silverado and also the engine didn’t blow up. "
*Grumbles in 3 year 100k mile warranty Jasper 6L80E reman*
I'm not a big fan of hating people I've never met but there is something about that way that dude looks that makes me want to stuff him upside-down into a toilet. Either he is a genuinely brilliant actor or a genuine piece of shit.
If I had a nickel for every time they brought in a Latino comedian with a fudged background on his actual identity to make a sketch comedy show to replace a more popular canceled black sketch comedy show, I'd have two nickles.
A minor regret of mine is that I never got to spar with Seagal when we were both healthy human beings. He would have been a little taller and heavier than I was, but I had the advantage of training in a more realistic school.
Critical Drinker's "Crash and Burn" segment on him for youtube was pretty damning and I'm positive he didn't even cover half of it. Dude has just been a class A jerk his whole life even when things went his way.
I spent two years in a dojo that was based on, and encouraged, street fighting. The only protective equipment you got: winter gloves. I would piss blood about twice a month.
I'm not, but even if I *were* a sports fan, I could never imagine getting as worked up over a Super Bowl halftime entertainment as I will over the millions of tax dollars that the billionaire team owners extort out of their cities....
The issue with that thinking is that politics (along with fiscal issues) is downstream from culture. Can't win the political battles if the cultural ones are ignored.
The bad bunny thing doesn't move the dial for me. Lyrics in a foreign language? Half the music on my phone is in a foreign language.
I stopped watching football years ago. I'll catch fifteen minutes of a college game here and there, but I'm a nerd and prefer Star Trek or crappy Japanese TV.
Freddie did it better. You simply cannot top him belting out, "Are you gonna take me home tonight? / Oh, down beside that red firelight / Are you gonna let it all hang out? / Fat bottomed girls / You make the rockin' world go 'round"
From afar, it looks like the Ineos has safari windows. I was disappointed to see that they’re just handles.
These have interested me since seeing one in person at their office in Stuttgart. From what I gathered, they were engineered to be user-serviced and use common parts (for Europe) when appropriate. For that alone they should be commended.
I have a friend that has one, it is great for what it is, which is not the same thing as a Defender 110. It is not particularily quiet, not really refined, but he has yet to have a problem with it he did not cause.
I’ve seen a few on the road here and they look big. It’s because of their square design. The current Defenders are big but don’t look as big because of their rounded and softened edges. Gotta appeal to the city dwellers who wouldn’t think of getting mud on them.
The first new Defender owner I met was a Hagerty Media vice president: a bald, cucky-lookin' dude who ALWAYS wore a ballcap and dressed like a Brooklyn rent boy. He couldn't stop talking about how RUGGED his Defender was.
I like to cosplay as a rich person in the 1970s (Cadillac, Lincoln, etc.). I cannot afford to cosplay as a 1930s rich person (Duesenberg, Pierce Arrow, V16 Cadillac)
I bought a 72 Excalibur SS in black with six Borranis, an affordable way to get the look/vibe and be able to buy 454 parts from NAPA. All the vintage Mercedes style with none of the National Socialist baggage. Of course I have hardly driven the darn thing. Wrenched on it a lot though.
As it languishes in the dealer repair shop while my 167k mile LQ4 runs with no complaints despite low compression on 3 cylinders and belching oil fumes. Not CEL or codes to speak of since I did the cam/crank relearn!
Be that as it may, the new Defenders when specced correctly ARE good looking and do drive really well.
If I could stomach paying for out of warranty Land Rover bills, I would love a D90 in blue with the white steelies. The only two door SUV on sale today that won’t destroy your body and ears on a highway.
When I bought the Lexus LX, I also told the salesrep that I wanted to look at the GX. I diid and wasn't impressed. I asked why there was a longer wait than the LX and he said they're getting all the Defender people trading them in. If DG gets a GX, you can be a fellow Cosplayer!
Stellantis could cure a lot of their problems by putting the original XJ back into production. Only with changes underneath.
I think that all the auto manufacturers have dug themselves into such a deep hole with their EV push and addition of unwanted technology that they need to do something totally unexpected to get customers back.
I think that most customers these days are buying the least worst vehicle they can stomach. There’s little love left in buying new vehicles.
The size is why it would work today. A large segment of the population is tired of big vehicles. XJ’s could be re-engineered to be less noisy and much better vehicles
Jimny’s are way too small. I saw one last year here in NC with British Columbia plates. That sounds like an awful drive.
Since Jeep needs an entry level vehicle and they are already a retro brand, a re-engineered XJ could fill the bill. Plus they just look cool.
You may think the market wants comfy things that look cool but Jeep sells around 200k Wranglers a year and Ford another 100k+ Broncos, and neither is very comfy.
There's no way you could design even a (cramped) XJ sized vehicle with solid axles and transfer case etc and not end up having it weight 4000lbs by the time it's been made sturdy enough to pass modern crash testing. And that power to weight and stance is what makes an XJ, an XJ IMO. Not being able to fit modern child seats in something with the legroom of an XJ would also doom it in the marketplace.
They dotn realize the public hates then, and only half the public hates them, the other half love screens and nannies cause they hate driving and cant drive.
I owned a 2002 Accord V6. It was close to perfect. The only thing it lacked was about 50HP. I gave it to my daughter and bought a 2014. In 2017, she, her husband, and their baby moved to a big city where they could not afford a two car garage, so she gave it back. The lady I sold it to got another few years out of it, but she lived near Canton and it developed frame rot, that killed it. ;-(
My brother bought an 03 Accord EX V6 off a customer for $500 (the customer's offer) who was worried about the (totally superficial) bits of rust on the body and that it needed brakes all around. With a bit of fixing up, he's got a comfy sedan with some pep that gets 30+mpg on the open road, for chump change. The only bummer are the leather seats (stiff, cold).
Agree. It’s a “good enough” choice for those that actually care about cars now. The new car market has been thoroughly washed of character.
The Ineos is cool. Gotta admire the move. That alone is enough to nudge Good Lady Wife that direction. She would love the cosplay aspect and embrace it proudly.
My CX-9 has lane departure warning where it buzzes the steering wheel and some sort of driver alert thing where it beeps at you after X amount of time behind the wheel. The time is adjustable. I have turned both off because I hate them. I like the parking sensors, but I can't use them in the winter because of snow and ice buildup. I like the backup/360deg camera but I still twist around when I'm backing up because trusting computers is not for me.
My mom has 2025 Mazda3 with a (way too buttery smooth, almost feels electronic) manual. Lane assistance and front end collision turn themselves on again with every start, but they give you two buttons on the left of the steering wheel to quickly turn them off. Reading angry Reddit it seems like in 2024 you could buy a Mazda and it would remember the setting.
Yes but the manufacturers don’t seem to realize or they have their reasons for foisting crap cause they’re all doing it. Although I did read the new interior designer at Audi says he’s goi g dials buttons and a screen that disappears into the dash.
Was at an event witha. German last night who told me he has an app that goes through the obd2, that permanent turns off Adas.
As someone old enough to remember, the early XJs were saddled with weak four cylinder and V6 engines, had electrical systems feeble enough that the best XJ was one with no options, and often had 4WD levers that lived up to the old joke about a lever on the floor(console in an XJ) that fails to engage or disengage the front axle, depending on which one you don't want.
I dated a girl who had an XJ Wagoneer. She would insist on waiting for the automatic lights to shut off before we could leave her car, as sometimes the timer failed and the battery followed. A flaw with the transfer case saw the Wagoneer go from parked in a driveway to submerged in a pond.
I had another friend with an XJ Wagoneer. All I really remember about it is that one day we had sleet fall while we were at work, and the parking lot was icy. It was no problem for my BMW E30, but his Selec-Trac toggle switch turned out to not feel like engaging the front axle, and his Wagoneer could only go downhill as a result.
Late production XJs may have been obsolete, but they were also somewhat rationalized in their offerings. They didn't try to dazzle with Cadillac gimmickry, and almost all of them had the appropriate 4-liter I6 engine.
The last of the distributor 4.0s were the best version of that motor.
The electronics as a whole were better than the older ones.
The interior design was cleaner and despite the hard plastic was far better than the Explorer or Blazer.
The exterior design is subjective, but the slightly softer edges still manages to look relatively modern while remaining utilitarian.
I’d go as far as to say that the XJ was one of the last true people’s cars. It was affordable, durable, and was equipped to take the average family anywhere they needed to go in any conditions in (relative) safety and comfort.
How are they cooler? I thought Chrysler did a super job updating the Wrangler and XJ for 1997. They got rid of all the crap Renault parts and the fiddly Renix fuel injection and really did a great job getting the most power and economy out of the classic AMC six. I even think the styling has aged better than the 1984 design.
Sad to admit, but if I fell into some money I would consider the SF90. I liked driving the LaFerrari and I bet I'd like driving the SF90. And they *are* fetching decent money, just slowly!
I am whatever the opposite of a Ferrari buyer (not because I dislike the cars, but because I do not make “Adult Money”) is — and it remains the one reasonably large brand I have absolutely zero experience with — so I will defer to you!
Last I saw, they were regularly trading for like ~60% sticker after a year and negligible miles.
Yeah that's on the lotto collection list for sure... That list is huge by the way. I couldn't provide a full written version as it would probably take me a full business day to make.
I was at a supercar show a few years ago and a guy tried to talk me into buying a share of an exotic with guaranteed time slots through the year. My wife shut me down before I could get my Visa out of my wallet…
That said--I don't know that the NFL owners are picking Bad Bunny out of hatred for a demographic; they are usually happy to take anyone's money. I think they're scrambling to have a future: S&P Global says that 47% of NFL viewers over 2023-4 were over 55 years old.
They need some young blood to get some eyes on the game and start liking it if they don't want to lose relevance as those older folks die off. I'd suggest they are doing *something* right, as this last Super Bowl apparently was the second most-watched ever, and the regular season was also second most-watched.
1) They see an untapped market of BILLIONS of people. ABSOLUTELY they are gonna chase that dragon. Flag football is in the 2028 olympics! Gotta capitalize! The NFL is about making money, full stop. That is their only goal. If they see this as a way to make more money (and viewership numbers are in support of it!), they are gonna do it.
2) I wonder how much the Bud Light thing actually was the result of them using a trans person to advertise for them that one time, or if it was a confluence of events that made their sales dip. Liqour/beer sales are in the shitter in general, Bud Light is not good beer, and actually decent alternatives are more widely available than at any point in the past.
Sales dip starts, A-B execs look for new markets and end up trying to capitalize on the seemingly emerging trans market/neglected leftie market? More than plausible, I think.
Now apply your dragon-chasing rationalization to the NFL playing the black national anthem. Were they going to lose black viewers? Is Planned Parenthood going to stop culling the black population? Sorry. They hate their existing customers and want to demoralize them. Full stop.
Even the Democrats don't care about 'African Americans' at this point. They were the Guinea pigs for tactics to demoralize targeted demographic groups, and the magic sauce was discovered. Nobody is talking about building a future around them.
I think they say that 'global audience' stuff as cover for hating who really watches the NFL.
When I heard bad bunny was the 'most streamed artist in the world' I was expecting to be somewhat impressed, but the song was indiscernible from every other song just like it. Hearing it I half expected to see a roofing crew working outside my window. Of course I listened after the bowl, I have kids, no way I'm subjecting them to that.
"I think they say that 'global audience' stuff as cover for hating who really watches the NFL."
You are assigning way too much emotion to the NFL. They as a corporation don't hate anybody. They simply care more about growing their audience base because that is what will make them more money. It really isn't personal like that.
Tim Tebow was a TERRIBLE player. He was given numerous chances and was really bad every time!
His ability to sell jerseys was what got him drafted and what kept him around as long as it did! You can’t suck shit at QB and TE and expect to last forever!
There is one QB who one can possibly say was blackballed for his actions, though, but I am confident in assuming that anyone arguing in favor of Tim Tebow QB1 is not ready for that conversation.
Tim Tebow took a decent Broncos team to the playoffs by winning games. There were twenty quarterbacks who didn't achieve as much that year. Were they all fired and vilified for their faiths?
"His ability to sell jerseys was what got him drafted and what kept him around as long as it did!"
Maybe for the latter but for the former:
Tim Tebow, a legendary Florida Gators quarterback (2006–2009), finished his college career with a 48-7 record, two BCS National Championships (2006, 2008), and the 2007 Heisman Trophy. As the first sophomore to win the Heisman, he set 5 NCAA, 14 SEC, and 28 UF records, including 145 total touchdowns. 20/20 Season:
First player in NCAA history to rush and pass for at least 20 touchdowns in a single season (2007)
.
Passing Efficiency: 170.8 career rating (ranked 2nd in NCAA history at the time)
Some QB's can thrive in the big league and others can't. Judging that ability is still voodoo.
NFL is just part of Clown World, there is no emotion in it at all. If they were a corporation acting on good faith upon the idea that "expanding their international audience" will earn them more money than catering to their core fanbase, enough so they can piss them off, they need to be dissolved since they are too stupid to be in charge.
They won't pull that off. Futbol will never relinquish that crown and the NFL will be hawking Depends as it continues to screw locals into financing their stadiums.
If I'm pretending to be social and need to go to a sportsball party, the college games don't as purposely shit in my mouth. Luckily, I had the flu for this one.
I’m hoping the Grenadier engineers learn about caster for the 2026 model year - a gross oversight on their part. We see a lot of them here in AZ and the overlanding crowd loves ‘em. I had a chance a few months ago to drive one in Baja but didn’t avail myself of the opportunity.
As I drifter I try to add as much caster and KPI as possible. There's a point of having too much, but without having custom built and insanely adjustable parts, you usually can't find it with factory adjustment limits/basic bolt-ons.
I haven't heard of instances of death wobble with them but it's a solid front axle with control arms and a pan hard bar so it's definitely a possibility. The main deficit I've heard about on these rigs is the lack of caster in the front end - around 2, maybe 3, degrees, which is totally inadequate. A rig like these should have 5-6 degrees. As a consequence, owners complain of on-road wandering and the lack of return to center in the steering that Jack mentions. 2-3 degrees was the norm on 4WD rigs in the 60s with manual steering and bias ply tires that traveled at lower speeds (my early Bronco being a prime example of this thinking). Less caster made the steering effort lower with manual steering. Once power steering came onto the scene and better handling was expected, caster angles were increased. Until the Grenadier came along....
I forced myself to listen to whatever the top Bad Bunny song is yesterday since there was so much drama around it. I truly tried to come into it unbiased against him since I'm definitely on the MAGA side of the aisle and I wanted to just judge the music. Turns it was just as bad as I would have hoped it was from a political point of view. I listen to some Hispanic music that's in Spanish, and i enjoy it, just from the music and how it sounds. Bad Bunny's on the other has was completely uninspiring in my opinion, I truly don't understand why he's so popular. My thought at the time was maybe if i understood the lyrics then it would be better, but judging by the above translation it sounds like it would be even worse.
In the US Bad Bunny was apparently 5th in streaming, behind Morgan Wallen in 3rd. Imagine how pissed off the left would have been if it had been him, it would've made the MAGA revolt look tame.
His music reminds me of mariachi music. It all sounds the same and has a cartoonish element to it. Before anyone criticizes me for my old white guy take, I also call Irish folk music “Irish mariachi music” because it all sounds the same. There’s just one song and they keep playing it over and over.
Definitely. I really don’t know anything about Taylor Swift’s music but apparently she keeps using the same chords over and over. I saw a video where a guy explained this, then linked a bunch of her songs together and it all sounded like the same song.
There was a bar here in Hooterville that I used to walk by on Irish night where they had a circle of excellent players that all looked like they just got off the boat from Ireland. Like, the real thing.
However, after a few weeks of walking by this bar with their garage door front open to the street, I kept thinking “Why are they always playing the same song when I walk by? What are the odds of that?”
Generally in agreement excepting the bossa nova of Antônio Carlos Jobim and/or Elis Regina, particularly Waters of March. A more sensual song would be difficult to find.
That song can be so many things. I’ve heard some versions that are downright depressing. Here is an effusive version from some teenagers in Barcelona. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Qe6HIxPxc
It would hurt everybody and make a mess of the industry for a while. The results would probably be worth it, I'd just be concerned about my wife and I being unemployed in the interim.
I never thought of it that way. My uneducated guess would be that it would have been good for the auto industry, which I want to grow since it’s so important to the country.
My other thought on durability is for all the people in this country that depend on 2nd and 3rd hand cars for mobility. I want people to have mobility no matter where they are on the food chain.
That was my primary problem with EVs. Because they would have ended up in the junkyard before ICE cars, or be cost prohibitive to repair due to replacement batteries, their widespread adoption would have killed mobility for the most economically vulnerable Americans.
This was even recognized by some green zealots, who wrote that the government would have to provide EVs for low income people. I’m not making that up.
I detest the Grenadier. Not because of its creator or any of its mechanical parts or abilities; I just think they're incredibly ugly inside and out. It's trying way too hard. You may not be surprised to hear this from me, though, given my love for the old Cheby. Trucks should just be trucks in my opinion. The Grenadiiiieeerrrr with "nothing on it" still has more shit packed in it than was even optional in 2000. I know some people might say, "how is that a bad thing," but when you said that in 2000, you actually got a truck with nothing in it. My truck came with AC, 2 speaker AM/FM ONLY radio, manual windows and locks, SANS cruise control. Base model actually fucking meant BASE.
I was curious what your halftime thoughts would be, and I must thank you for coming to a fairly logical conclusion. I didn't think it was evil but nor did I find it entertaining. I took my best man and FIL out to look at the newly landed Challenger in my garage and let them hear it's long-tube header rumble. Also fired up the Dakota to show off my handmade custom exhaust on that 5.7. The two hemis running side by each made better noises than any song recorded since 2005. The game itself was dreadfully boring but I'm happy with the outcome. Seattle wore that poor young QB out quick, but I think he should still be proud to make it that far so early in his career!
An EV Ferarri huh? Maybe it really is the end times...
In my friend groups I'm often introduced to new people as the "oldest boomer/young man in the world." Which is mostly accurate. I just don't want to drive a phone or something that thinks it's a main battle tank when it isn't actually a main battle tank!
AC and cloth split bench are quiet luxurious additions I suppose. It was ordered for WORKIN with the 6.0/4l80/3.73 12 bolt combo as well. It's a 2500 after all! I did upgrade the stereo and add cruise control as those are conveniences I can't do without. I'll actually fix the AC this year, too, but I wish I had the sliding back window. If it was a manual I'd love it even more!
Yes! Lol it's a black 2009 RT 6mt. 163k mile Texas car. First time it ever saw salt was on the trailer up to Michigan and man did it see a LOT. Looks very nice after a quick scratch-machine wash though, just a few small dings in the body line along the rear quarters. I got it up on stands last night to discover the P.O dropped a ton of money on the exhaust. The Borla quad tips gave a hint but I figured it was just a cat-back or even just an axle back with hacked out mufflers. But no. Imagine my surprise when I went to set the front stands and saw big-ole long tube headers and a full stainless Borla header-back system!
Then I crawled around under the car in AWE of how fucking CLEAN it is underneath. I figured it would at least by dirty or perhaps even muddy because the engine is filthy. But no. Just immaculate factory painted floors, rockers, even brake and fuel lines, all looking like they were just assembled in Brampton. I pulled a tie rod end off in 2 minutes. The inner tie rod looks brand new but the joint at the rack is sloppy. I've literally never encountered a car where shit like that *wears out before rust ruins the threads on every fastener.*
It's a great car to build off of, but building is what I need to do indeed because all the joints and bushings are shot and there's upgrades I'm doing besides. Plus a clutch for peace of mind. Already have my wheels sorted and Silvers coilovers on the way, it's going to look tight as fuck and I'm absolutely stoked!
My '22 Challenger I got over the summer had Corsa exhaust with the resonators deleted. The drone was unbearable, I ended up getting the resonators put back on, now its bearable but I still wish it was quieter, older models had 2" exhaust pipes rather than 2.75". Or even better, a non existent manual with a V6. My V6 Challenger was graceful and smooth, this drives like a tractor. It's currently seeing daily driving through full Massachusetts snowstorms and salt, and I expect it to last 10 years like my old one (which I still have in case I want peace and quiet). One recommendation, get the rocker panels covers off and remove the foam, it blocks the drainholes and traps moisture and you get the rusted corners.
Thanks for the rocker tip Ian! This car is not destined to see winter ever again if I can help it. It's going to be a drift car, not a year-round daily.
And yes this Borla system also drones like hell which might deter me from taking it on summer road trips. This system uses their turbo style mufflers at the middle but nothing out back. I might try and stick some resonators before the tips but it'll be much later in the year.
Interesting you feel that way about the driving experiences between your cars; is your 22 an RT or a Scat Pack? I've driven, if briefly, numerous challys when I worked at the dealership and never thought any of them were agricultural. In fact my favorite one to this day was a 6 speed 6.1 SRT I did rear brakes on. I expect my 09 will be far heavier feeling than my e36 just due to physics, but I believe the changes I'm making will make it feel… less huge at least. My 2012 Charger would sometimes feel like a red leather suit and I was able to drive to hell out of it when that feeling hit, so I hope to achieve something even greater here. Should be possible given the clutch pedal my Charger never had.
I have a '22 R/T Plus, I got it mostly because it was a manual and had 1320 miles, I'm holding my nose through the rest of it. It's the Tremec 6060, its dramatically different from every other manual I've driven. Everything about is heavy and direct and analog. Car does not move with just the clutch, needs to be slipped up to 5 mph at 1000 RPM, slowly. Shift to second is rough especially when cold, need to keep your foot in it so the engine doesn't sit back down or its a grind and lurch. Definitely feels like the clutch won't make it 100K. Sometimes the stars align when merging on to the highway and its not busy, I row through the gears up to around 3K and the shifting is perfectly notchy, but driving around slowly it feels like construction equipment. I can understand why Ford and Chevy tried to engineer something lighter and notchier and only resort to the 6060 for the limited hot rod editions. My old car I can rev to 6500 every time without catching a felony and losing traction and once I'm cruising it is quieter and vibrates less than my boss's G70, let alone the iron boat anchor car. I could easily and confidently drive the hell out of my old car. Some of this will be fixed when I replace the 20's with 18's. Still the only car I would ever buy, and I wanted a manual, but this is not my dream car and I am not going to baby it.
Hmmm. I love the shifter feel personally, but then again my car is… 13 years older with at least 100x the mileage your did, so maybe it's more “broken in?” Perhaps some of your shifter woes are due to the skip shift function forcing you from 1st to 4th unless you exceed a certain rpm. That tripped me up a few times driving mine home, and I bought the $20 delete plug from amazon. I also agree the clutch feels strange. They're twin disc clutches which I'm not used to. I'm replacing mine just for peace of mind so we'll see if the strange engagement is a result of wear or design haha. It starts to grab very early but just barely does anything. Then as the pedal comes up nothing changes until the very top and it grabs all at once. Does your clutch do something similar?
I also noticed some YouTube videos about removing the delay valve from the release bearing, and apparently that helps with clutch feel. I'm hesitant to do that though because a delay valve can help mitigate extreme shock loads to the drivetrain. Especially helpful for prolonging axles in drifting.
The interior...definitely could be nicer. I wish they just had standard gauge cluster and have NO screen at all. That would have been my pref.
As far as ugly exterior, I dunno. I may be biased as an owner, but I still walk away thinking it looks pretty cool. I'm curious to see what you think of as cool looking SUV.
As far as handsome and rugged 4x4 on the market today, here's my ranking:
1. G Wagen (yes, i hate admitting this but they did a great job with the design inside and out)
I like the two door bronco. The four door bronco just looks awkward. The wrangler looks decent in any configuration. I do like the the two door bronco better than any of the
I had a friend with the previous gen 454 and I think I am suffering from a little trauma from it. I am not sure I've ever imagined having to hear that much praise about a truck or its engine...
Somehow I ended up with a Hemi WK and it was surprisingly good. Still had a rear solid axle and that engine kicked ass. Only issue was that my brother never checked oil and apparently they burn through it...
Open thread? Is the recent funding activity for inertial confinement, laser-triggered fusion for grid-scale power the nonsense I think it is?
Fusion power is still 30 years away ....
I agree, and I also think that laser-driven fusion is the least suitable method to scale up to commercial level. I'm curious if I'm missing something, but I suspect this is a mere funding grab:
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Laser-Fusion-Startup-Inertia-Raises-Additional/p5/a71954
It would be interesting with an Orion-style pusher plate, though.
As it has been 60 years ago?
100%. Controlled cold fusion is perpetually 30 years away, and always will be.
Correction: cold fusion is ALWAYS 30 years away.
It won't happen in my great-grandchildren's lifetime.
Exactly what I meant.
If someone manages to get fusion working to power the AGI that never arrives... well, THAT will be ironic.
Someone, maybe Scott Locklin(?) mentioned something exactly of this nature recently: if we "accidentally" end up making a bunch of progress in the energy/energy transmission sector in an effort to fuel the AI data centers, that would be a pretty big win.
Somehow I don’t think our electric rates would decrease if that happens.
Absolutely not! I'm pretty sure passing savings along to consumers rather than shareholders has been a crime for some time now!
Happy to say that is *not* the case in my rural co-op, but so much of my life now is divorced from how things are for most people.
Ironic, and about as likely as a manned flight to Jupiter.
I know it's not intelligence but it is impressing me more every day. I'm not sure how the hell they monetize it past the 12.50 per month I'm already paying Microsoft. I don't think I'd pay $100 a month for it. MAYBE 25. It's nifty at summarizing stuff and double checking my work.
They're losing money on it, in the hopes you will find it to be indispensable when they start charging the real rate -- which, at current power usage rates, is probably a grand a month or more.
If it’s per user, i will pass. It will replace a junior analyst but then you will never have a senior analyst. Currently giving work to junior analysts yo get it summarized in ai
Elon is betting on orbital datacenters for unfiltered solar and unlimited cooling.
How large of a solar array would be required to run an "AI" datacenter?
Jack, thank you for sharing Julius' thing. He's a really good little guy. He's a decently sized cat. A healthy weight would probably be 10-12 lbs. He was under 7 at the vet yesterday. And that's after a few days of eating fairly well. He's already looking much healthier. I'll keep everyone updated.
Thanks again for your generosity, gents.
"But it would certainly be cheaper to run, assuming the torque converters lasted longer than they did in my 6.2 Silverado and also the engine didn’t blow up. "
*Grumbles in 3 year 100k mile warranty Jasper 6L80E reman*
“Leguziamo is actually from Colombia. “ ahahahahaha !
I'm not a big fan of hating people I've never met but there is something about that way that dude looks that makes me want to stuff him upside-down into a toilet. Either he is a genuinely brilliant actor or a genuine piece of shit.
He is playing a role
Successfully
His role as 'Clown' is oddly some of his best work.
His work as Aurelio in John Wick was pretty memorable as well. Everything else was pretty forgettable for me.
Sir, you are forgetting
BENNY BLANCO FROM THE BRONX
I refuse to care about new yorkers in fact or fiction 😀
I always liked the "Chicano Militant Minute" bits from "House of Buggin."
10/10 for obscurity, what the heck did I just watch
If I had a nickel for every time they brought in a Latino comedian with a fudged background on his actual identity to make a sketch comedy show to replace a more popular canceled black sketch comedy show, I'd have two nickles.
HOW DARE YOU FORGET HIS ROLE AS SUPER MARIO...
Seriously, how did that ever get made?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3u3anNJJjNs&pp=0gcJCUABo7VqN5tD
His greatest role is Sid the Sloth.
It would’ve been difficult to top the performance he gave in Baz Luhrmann‘s “Romeo + Juliet”
Even Steven Seagal punched him in the gut. Who do you root against THERE?
A minor regret of mine is that I never got to spar with Seagal when we were both healthy human beings. He would have been a little taller and heavier than I was, but I had the advantage of training in a more realistic school.
Sean Connery got in ahead of you there.
I just read that story. Seagal really is a bad person. I don't think I have ever read a single redeeming thing about him.
Seagal has this recurring pattern of beating people up during what are supposed to be stunt films, then refusing to fight in real life.
Have you heard the story of when he went up against "Judo" Gene Labell? Labell put him in a choke hold and Seagal shit his pants.
Critical Drinker's "Crash and Burn" segment on him for youtube was pretty damning and I'm positive he didn't even cover half of it. Dude has just been a class A jerk his whole life even when things went his way.
What school? The real world?
I spent two years in a dojo that was based on, and encouraged, street fighting. The only protective equipment you got: winter gloves. I would piss blood about twice a month.
ew
on the other hand that makes you slightly more feminine than a troon
That was from the ketel one
I find John Leguizamo (SP !) to be a brilliant actor and a truly funny guy in a sick & twisted way that I approve of heartily .
-Nate
F250 or F350?? Headline says "F350"
This is his 2017 F-350 review. In the years since he has REPEATEDLY reviewed the F-250, including once in 2024 and once now.
ah, ok
The Ferrari Luce designers really like the Toyota Crown.
I'm not, but even if I *were* a sports fan, I could never imagine getting as worked up over a Super Bowl halftime entertainment as I will over the millions of tax dollars that the billionaire team owners extort out of their cities....
The issue with that thinking is that politics (along with fiscal issues) is downstream from culture. Can't win the political battles if the cultural ones are ignored.
That they park in the Cayman Islands...
I watch the superbowl every year, I get refreshments and a snack at the halftime show every year. It's been garbage for awhile.
My dad used to host a Super Bowl party every year with the last one being in 2020.
That was the only Super Bowl where the halftime show had everyone’s undivided attention. You could hear a pin drop.
I went puppy bowl
Probably ever since the “wardrobe malfunction” in, what, * 2002?! * (Has it been that long?!)
The bad bunny thing doesn't move the dial for me. Lyrics in a foreign language? Half the music on my phone is in a foreign language.
I stopped watching football years ago. I'll catch fifteen minutes of a college game here and there, but I'm a nerd and prefer Star Trek or crappy Japanese TV.
I’m not the NFL’s target market so I don’t care what they do.
As Rush Limbaugh put it, the average football game looks like a battle between the Bloods and the Crips, but without the weapons.
To me it is 20 seconds of action, followed by 60 seconds of replays and bloviating commentary, followed by 2 minutes of commercials. Ugh.
"They already paid to watch the game. Do we have to keep hustling them like this?"
*3.5 minutes of commercials
Yeah, probably, I haven't watched for a few years.
A good fifth of my music library was recorded in Tokyo between 1985 and 2005.
The rest runs the gamut from Vivaldi to Steel Panther.
"Fat Girls" is an absolute epic of a tune.
That's what you have the DJ play at your wedding reception.
before or after "Fat-Bottomed Girls" ?
All I've heard at a wedding in that genre is from Sir Mix-A-Lot.
Freddie did it better. You simply cannot top him belting out, "Are you gonna take me home tonight? / Oh, down beside that red firelight / Are you gonna let it all hang out? / Fat bottomed girls / You make the rockin' world go 'round"
All the best extreme metal is sung in a foreign language...
From afar, it looks like the Ineos has safari windows. I was disappointed to see that they’re just handles.
These have interested me since seeing one in person at their office in Stuttgart. From what I gathered, they were engineered to be user-serviced and use common parts (for Europe) when appropriate. For that alone they should be commended.
I briefly misunderstood that the handles could be REPLACED by safari windows and I was ready to make a deposit on a Grenadier than I cannot afford!
I have a friend that has one, it is great for what it is, which is not the same thing as a Defender 110. It is not particularily quiet, not really refined, but he has yet to have a problem with it he did not cause.
I’ve seen a few on the road here and they look big. It’s because of their square design. The current Defenders are big but don’t look as big because of their rounded and softened edges. Gotta appeal to the city dwellers who wouldn’t think of getting mud on them.
The first new Defender owner I met was a Hagerty Media vice president: a bald, cucky-lookin' dude who ALWAYS wore a ballcap and dressed like a Brooklyn rent boy. He couldn't stop talking about how RUGGED his Defender was.
Lots of cosplay going on.
I would have said “Yes, I heard these were designed specifically for Michigan potholes.”
It’s always fun to leave people guessing.
I like to cosplay as a rich person in the 1970s (Cadillac, Lincoln, etc.). I cannot afford to cosplay as a 1930s rich person (Duesenberg, Pierce Arrow, V16 Cadillac)
Why, do you need a second monocle?
don't you then have ... eyeglasses?
thats the way to roll
funds permitting id be tear assing around in a t35 bug or an ssj
I bought a 72 Excalibur SS in black with six Borranis, an affordable way to get the look/vibe and be able to buy 454 parts from NAPA. All the vintage Mercedes style with none of the National Socialist baggage. Of course I have hardly driven the darn thing. Wrenched on it a lot though.
Those 70s cars were attainable luxury as evidenced by all the blue collar Cadillac owners, like my steelworker uncles.
As it languishes in the dealer repair shop while my 167k mile LQ4 runs with no complaints despite low compression on 3 cylinders and belching oil fumes. Not CEL or codes to speak of since I did the cam/crank relearn!
Be that as it may, the new Defenders when specced correctly ARE good looking and do drive really well.
If I could stomach paying for out of warranty Land Rover bills, I would love a D90 in blue with the white steelies. The only two door SUV on sale today that won’t destroy your body and ears on a highway.
100% disagree about the “good looking” part. They look like a plasticky anime version of the original. A Play Skool Defender.
I don't think they're the best looking land rovers by far, but they're decent.
I still think the LR4s look way nicer.
Even the D5 has a bit of elegance next to the defender.
I think the 90 looks great. At the length increases, the L663 gets uglier.
We had one as a loaner. As much as I complain about the L405, I would consider a D90 for every day.
The Grenadier infinitely cooler though.
The Defenders look great from behind, that's for sure.
When I bought the Lexus LX, I also told the salesrep that I wanted to look at the GX. I diid and wasn't impressed. I asked why there was a longer wait than the LX and he said they're getting all the Defender people trading them in. If DG gets a GX, you can be a fellow Cosplayer!
To be fair, the GX is also the better part of $40,000 cheaper than the LX!
I will admit that the 2 door defender, in a darker color & high contrast white wheels gives me the feels. I get a little Leakey in the pants even.
The Grenadiers are cooler than the new Defenders the same way 1980s XJ Cherokees are cooler than late 1990s XJ Cherokees.
Oh, that's a nice analogy.
Stellantis could cure a lot of their problems by putting the original XJ back into production. Only with changes underneath.
I think that all the auto manufacturers have dug themselves into such a deep hole with their EV push and addition of unwanted technology that they need to do something totally unexpected to get customers back.
I think that most customers these days are buying the least worst vehicle they can stomach. There’s little love left in buying new vehicles.
Honestly, the XJ is too small and loud to be successful today. Same reason why a Jimny wouldn’t work outside of a very narrow niche in the states.
The market wants big comfy things that look cool, even if they don’t necessarily back up the looks with anything substantial.
On that end, the new 2026 Cherokee is a resolute failure as it is large but also looks fucking doofy with a $40k entry price.
The size is why it would work today. A large segment of the population is tired of big vehicles. XJ’s could be re-engineered to be less noisy and much better vehicles
Jimny’s are way too small. I saw one last year here in NC with British Columbia plates. That sounds like an awful drive.
Since Jeep needs an entry level vehicle and they are already a retro brand, a re-engineered XJ could fill the bill. Plus they just look cool.
At the very least, it would be cool if they tried it.
You may think the market wants comfy things that look cool but Jeep sells around 200k Wranglers a year and Ford another 100k+ Broncos, and neither is very comfy.
Agreed. There's a market for raw, and Stellantis is the only company that might fill it.
There's no way you could design even a (cramped) XJ sized vehicle with solid axles and transfer case etc and not end up having it weight 4000lbs by the time it's been made sturdy enough to pass modern crash testing. And that power to weight and stance is what makes an XJ, an XJ IMO. Not being able to fit modern child seats in something with the legroom of an XJ would also doom it in the marketplace.
Truly.
How many people have said, "I wish I could buy a brand-new '96 Accord?"
Exactly. The auto manufacturers have absolutely nothing to lose.
They are at a point where the public hates them, so they need to do something radical to make at least some people like them.
But they would rather rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.
They dotn realize the public hates then, and only half the public hates them, the other half love screens and nannies cause they hate driving and cant drive.
Maybe having Bad Bunny pimp their ride? Could wave the day flag from atop a Grenadier?
I owned a 2002 Accord V6. It was close to perfect. The only thing it lacked was about 50HP. I gave it to my daughter and bought a 2014. In 2017, she, her husband, and their baby moved to a big city where they could not afford a two car garage, so she gave it back. The lady I sold it to got another few years out of it, but she lived near Canton and it developed frame rot, that killed it. ;-(
If they would have stuffed the 3.2 from the Vigor in there, that would’ve made a fun car even more fun!
Sadly, Honda and Toyota have given up the horsepower war, with Honda waving the flag first.
My brother bought an 03 Accord EX V6 off a customer for $500 (the customer's offer) who was worried about the (totally superficial) bits of rust on the body and that it needed brakes all around. With a bit of fixing up, he's got a comfy sedan with some pep that gets 30+mpg on the open road, for chump change. The only bummer are the leather seats (stiff, cold).
Agree. It’s a “good enough” choice for those that actually care about cars now. The new car market has been thoroughly washed of character.
The Ineos is cool. Gotta admire the move. That alone is enough to nudge Good Lady Wife that direction. She would love the cosplay aspect and embrace it proudly.
And yet were constantly being told that adas and auto drive is the answer. theyre even mandating it.
"I think that most customers these days are buying the least worst vehicle they can stomach. There’s little love left in buying new vehicles."
You're so right, but I would guess most customers dont realize how bad and annoying a new car is till they take it home, by then its too late.
My CX-9 has lane departure warning where it buzzes the steering wheel and some sort of driver alert thing where it beeps at you after X amount of time behind the wheel. The time is adjustable. I have turned both off because I hate them. I like the parking sensors, but I can't use them in the winter because of snow and ice buildup. I like the backup/360deg camera but I still twist around when I'm backing up because trusting computers is not for me.
Now imagine a car where you have to go into a screen and turn off the crap each time you start.
That’s actualy the euro law now. Thankfully not there yet
But some manufacturers setup their cars that way here now
It’s best to find out whether the off switch stays off before buying. Any new vehicle these days
Maybe Jack can do a side gig reprogramming this stuff to stay off
Apprently such things now exist in eu
My mom has 2025 Mazda3 with a (way too buttery smooth, almost feels electronic) manual. Lane assistance and front end collision turn themselves on again with every start, but they give you two buttons on the left of the steering wheel to quickly turn them off. Reading angry Reddit it seems like in 2024 you could buy a Mazda and it would remember the setting.
Rentals have opened my eyes.
Cars built since C19 are horrible by every metric.
Yes but the manufacturers don’t seem to realize or they have their reasons for foisting crap cause they’re all doing it. Although I did read the new interior designer at Audi says he’s goi g dials buttons and a screen that disappears into the dash.
Was at an event witha. German last night who told me he has an app that goes through the obd2, that permanent turns off Adas.
Well, I haven’t made a purchase yet… perhaps I should check out the Grenadier (!)
As someone old enough to remember, the early XJs were saddled with weak four cylinder and V6 engines, had electrical systems feeble enough that the best XJ was one with no options, and often had 4WD levers that lived up to the old joke about a lever on the floor(console in an XJ) that fails to engage or disengage the front axle, depending on which one you don't want.
I dated a girl who had an XJ Wagoneer. She would insist on waiting for the automatic lights to shut off before we could leave her car, as sometimes the timer failed and the battery followed. A flaw with the transfer case saw the Wagoneer go from parked in a driveway to submerged in a pond.
I had another friend with an XJ Wagoneer. All I really remember about it is that one day we had sleet fall while we were at work, and the parking lot was icy. It was no problem for my BMW E30, but his Selec-Trac toggle switch turned out to not feel like engaging the front axle, and his Wagoneer could only go downhill as a result.
Late production XJs may have been obsolete, but they were also somewhat rationalized in their offerings. They didn't try to dazzle with Cadillac gimmickry, and almost all of them had the appropriate 4-liter I6 engine.
97+ XJs were miles better than the old ones:
The last of the distributor 4.0s were the best version of that motor.
The electronics as a whole were better than the older ones.
The interior design was cleaner and despite the hard plastic was far better than the Explorer or Blazer.
The exterior design is subjective, but the slightly softer edges still manages to look relatively modern while remaining utilitarian.
I’d go as far as to say that the XJ was one of the last true people’s cars. It was affordable, durable, and was equipped to take the average family anywhere they needed to go in any conditions in (relative) safety and comfort.
How are they cooler? I thought Chrysler did a super job updating the Wrangler and XJ for 1997. They got rid of all the crap Renault parts and the fiddly Renix fuel injection and really did a great job getting the most power and economy out of the classic AMC six. I even think the styling has aged better than the 1984 design.
I agree the refreshed ones are nicer to drive and more refined, but I'd still rather have the older looks.
Somewhere I saw the TJ referred to as the last of the dangerous Jeeps.
"Somewhere I saw the TJ referred to as the last of the dangerous Jeeps"
i believe it. i could saw at the wheel and remain going straight. good for scaring passengers.
And when it did start turning, you better keep the speed down on that top-heavy thing.
“I rather think this will be the first Ferrari since the FF to stall in the showrooms.”
The SF90 is so forgettable and disliked that even in the category of hardest-to-sell modern Ferrari it doesn’t get a mention!
Sad to admit, but if I fell into some money I would consider the SF90. I liked driving the LaFerrari and I bet I'd like driving the SF90. And they *are* fetching decent money, just slowly!
I am whatever the opposite of a Ferrari buyer (not because I dislike the cars, but because I do not make “Adult Money”) is — and it remains the one reasonably large brand I have absolutely zero experience with — so I will defer to you!
Last I saw, they were regularly trading for like ~60% sticker after a year and negligible miles.
I'd look into either a Koenig Competition Evolution Testarossa or a Vector W8, restyled as a W2.
Pppffftt, why don't you just go get 1986 Markie Post while you're dreaming?!
I just watched a video of a wide body MB 560SEC AMG and I was smitten. And it was green! I went out and bought a lotto ticket.
Yeah that's on the lotto collection list for sure... That list is huge by the way. I couldn't provide a full written version as it would probably take me a full business day to make.
Mine too! Watching online car channels reminds me of all the cars I’ve forgotten.
Check this out. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SxSRx63IYTk
I'll watch that and probably some more from him with my lunch. Seems like a nice video.
Those AMGs are just so cool! Big, blocky, and mean in a handsome way
Man, forgot about her!
I can't .
-Nate
Once you do think about her, it’s hard to let the image go away! 🙂
Much like Stephen King.
Not even trying anymore.
Isn't the target demographic for the SF90 the same as the LaFerrari: Decrepit 80-year-old Bond Villain billionaires?
Them, those with oil money on the Arabian peninsula, and the odd bitcoin millionaire yeah. Feel like that's true for every supercar though.
Hell, they're the only ones who can afford them!
Except for those shady "entrepreneurs" who lease them as "company cars" and write them off as business expenses on their taxes.
Somali day care owners?
They like AKs.
Show me where I can lease a Ferrari please
There’s probably a BHPH lot in Miami that can help you with that.
Will a bhph ferrari make it from miami to Chicago in the winger?
I was at a supercar show a few years ago and a guy tried to talk me into buying a share of an exotic with guaranteed time slots through the year. My wife shut me down before I could get my Visa out of my wallet…
Seems even dumber than a time share condo.
That said--I don't know that the NFL owners are picking Bad Bunny out of hatred for a demographic; they are usually happy to take anyone's money. I think they're scrambling to have a future: S&P Global says that 47% of NFL viewers over 2023-4 were over 55 years old.
They need some young blood to get some eyes on the game and start liking it if they don't want to lose relevance as those older folks die off. I'd suggest they are doing *something* right, as this last Super Bowl apparently was the second most-watched ever, and the regular season was also second most-watched.
The NFL is also desperate to grow a global audience.
Having the biggest artist in the world speaking in Not English certainly helps with that.
At the expense of being bud light'd?
1) They see an untapped market of BILLIONS of people. ABSOLUTELY they are gonna chase that dragon. Flag football is in the 2028 olympics! Gotta capitalize! The NFL is about making money, full stop. That is their only goal. If they see this as a way to make more money (and viewership numbers are in support of it!), they are gonna do it.
2) I wonder how much the Bud Light thing actually was the result of them using a trans person to advertise for them that one time, or if it was a confluence of events that made their sales dip. Liqour/beer sales are in the shitter in general, Bud Light is not good beer, and actually decent alternatives are more widely available than at any point in the past.
Sales dip starts, A-B execs look for new markets and end up trying to capitalize on the seemingly emerging trans market/neglected leftie market? More than plausible, I think.
Yeah that does make a lot of sense.
Now apply your dragon-chasing rationalization to the NFL playing the black national anthem. Were they going to lose black viewers? Is Planned Parenthood going to stop culling the black population? Sorry. They hate their existing customers and want to demoralize them. Full stop.
Are we to be shocked that a major corporation whose primary labor force is like 75% black wants to appeal to a younger audience?
Even the Democrats don't care about 'African Americans' at this point. They were the Guinea pigs for tactics to demoralize targeted demographic groups, and the magic sauce was discovered. Nobody is talking about building a future around them.
Exactlky, but they assume the core audience remains no matter what they do to appeal outside.
This is the NASCAR roadmap to irrelevance.
Contempt for you clients is never a good plan.
Can't bring myself to listen to ANYTHING that Puerto Rican hack makes.
I instead luxuriate in glorious, two-hour YouTube AI synthwave compilations.
You know, the voice of God.
Post a good one, please.
Tracks 3 and 4 on this first one are especially good!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8OGckXeBGI
https://www.youtube.com/@moebiusfm
https://www.youtube.com/@OuroborosFM
https://www.youtube.com/@ChillCityFM
Thank you!
Of course!
I think they say that 'global audience' stuff as cover for hating who really watches the NFL.
When I heard bad bunny was the 'most streamed artist in the world' I was expecting to be somewhat impressed, but the song was indiscernible from every other song just like it. Hearing it I half expected to see a roofing crew working outside my window. Of course I listened after the bowl, I have kids, no way I'm subjecting them to that.
"I think they say that 'global audience' stuff as cover for hating who really watches the NFL."
You are assigning way too much emotion to the NFL. They as a corporation don't hate anybody. They simply care more about growing their audience base because that is what will make them more money. It really isn't personal like that.
That totally explains why they didn't want anything to do with Tim Tebow. He was ticket sales poison.
Tim Tebow was a TERRIBLE player. He was given numerous chances and was really bad every time!
His ability to sell jerseys was what got him drafted and what kept him around as long as it did! You can’t suck shit at QB and TE and expect to last forever!
There is one QB who one can possibly say was blackballed for his actions, though, but I am confident in assuming that anyone arguing in favor of Tim Tebow QB1 is not ready for that conversation.
Tim Tebow took a decent Broncos team to the playoffs by winning games. There were twenty quarterbacks who didn't achieve as much that year. Were they all fired and vilified for their faiths?
"His ability to sell jerseys was what got him drafted and what kept him around as long as it did!"
Maybe for the latter but for the former:
Tim Tebow, a legendary Florida Gators quarterback (2006–2009), finished his college career with a 48-7 record, two BCS National Championships (2006, 2008), and the 2007 Heisman Trophy. As the first sophomore to win the Heisman, he set 5 NCAA, 14 SEC, and 28 UF records, including 145 total touchdowns. 20/20 Season:
First player in NCAA history to rush and pass for at least 20 touchdowns in a single season (2007)
.
Passing Efficiency: 170.8 career rating (ranked 2nd in NCAA history at the time)
Some QB's can thrive in the big league and others can't. Judging that ability is still voodoo.
Oh please, Kaepernick was extremely mediocre. Even if he was blackballed, nobody missed out on anything.
Tebow only got to start for one season. His passing percentage was terrible but they won a playoff game!
Was the Heisman Trophy just a flash in the pan?
NFL is just part of Clown World, there is no emotion in it at all. If they were a corporation acting on good faith upon the idea that "expanding their international audience" will earn them more money than catering to their core fanbase, enough so they can piss them off, they need to be dissolved since they are too stupid to be in charge.
Not English is what rappers do.
No sheeit!
Then they should have had the guys and girls twerking on top of a C8.
Tasteless act, tasteless car.
They won't pull that off. Futbol will never relinquish that crown and the NFL will be hawking Depends as it continues to screw locals into financing their stadiums.
If I'm pretending to be social and need to go to a sportsball party, the college games don't as purposely shit in my mouth. Luckily, I had the flu for this one.
I’m hoping the Grenadier engineers learn about caster for the 2026 model year - a gross oversight on their part. We see a lot of them here in AZ and the overlanding crowd loves ‘em. I had a chance a few months ago to drive one in Baja but didn’t avail myself of the opportunity.
As I drifter I try to add as much caster and KPI as possible. There's a point of having too much, but without having custom built and insanely adjustable parts, you usually can't find it with factory adjustment limits/basic bolt-ons.
I hear "caster" and "oversight" appear in the same sentence, I think "death wobble". What am I missing?
I haven't heard of instances of death wobble with them but it's a solid front axle with control arms and a pan hard bar so it's definitely a possibility. The main deficit I've heard about on these rigs is the lack of caster in the front end - around 2, maybe 3, degrees, which is totally inadequate. A rig like these should have 5-6 degrees. As a consequence, owners complain of on-road wandering and the lack of return to center in the steering that Jack mentions. 2-3 degrees was the norm on 4WD rigs in the 60s with manual steering and bias ply tires that traveled at lower speeds (my early Bronco being a prime example of this thinking). Less caster made the steering effort lower with manual steering. Once power steering came onto the scene and better handling was expected, caster angles were increased. Until the Grenadier came along....
I forced myself to listen to whatever the top Bad Bunny song is yesterday since there was so much drama around it. I truly tried to come into it unbiased against him since I'm definitely on the MAGA side of the aisle and I wanted to just judge the music. Turns it was just as bad as I would have hoped it was from a political point of view. I listen to some Hispanic music that's in Spanish, and i enjoy it, just from the music and how it sounds. Bad Bunny's on the other has was completely uninspiring in my opinion, I truly don't understand why he's so popular. My thought at the time was maybe if i understood the lyrics then it would be better, but judging by the above translation it sounds like it would be even worse.
In the US Bad Bunny was apparently 5th in streaming, behind Morgan Wallen in 3rd. Imagine how pissed off the left would have been if it had been him, it would've made the MAGA revolt look tame.
His music reminds me of mariachi music. It all sounds the same and has a cartoonish element to it. Before anyone criticizes me for my old white guy take, I also call Irish folk music “Irish mariachi music” because it all sounds the same. There’s just one song and they keep playing it over and over.
Feel like that's just a lot of pop music in general tbh
Definitely. I really don’t know anything about Taylor Swift’s music but apparently she keeps using the same chords over and over. I saw a video where a guy explained this, then linked a bunch of her songs together and it all sounded like the same song.
My daughters love her. At least it got them into vinyl. Youngest wants my CRAMPS 45s and albums.
You know she has the divorce papers already written up, right?
But he is the one who ends up with alimony.
Three chords and the truth it ain’t.
Alright, pal, listen up: I played in an Irish band, a GOOD one, and
you are absolutely correct
There was a bar here in Hooterville that I used to walk by on Irish night where they had a circle of excellent players that all looked like they just got off the boat from Ireland. Like, the real thing.
However, after a few weeks of walking by this bar with their garage door front open to the street, I kept thinking “Why are they always playing the same song when I walk by? What are the odds of that?”
Is that you, Rick Beato?
Well, he hasn't hawked the Beato Book yet, so I'm not sure...
My daughter does Irish dance, and I don’t think that’s fair, there’s three songs.
Dad of a good friend of my wife said his responsibilities were to teach his girls Irish dancing and his boys Irish drinking. Nine in total.
I genuinely hate virtually all music from south of the Rio Grande.
It’s really bad.
I do like Cuban jazz based music.
You gotta be a 60-year-old guy in a white suit to play that!
I saw Tito Puente once. Great show. No twerking by the attractive ladies in the club.
Generally in agreement excepting the bossa nova of Antônio Carlos Jobim and/or Elis Regina, particularly Waters of March. A more sensual song would be difficult to find.
What about Steel Panther's "Community Property?"
That's very romantic.
That song can be so many things. I’ve heard some versions that are downright depressing. Here is an effusive version from some teenagers in Barcelona. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Qe6HIxPxc
Uh... Bob Marley?
How dare you talk about Shipping Up To Boston like that.
They used to play that song at Chicago Blackhawk’s games way too much. I really don’t want to hear it again.
feels like the enshittifcation of music not that reggaeton or whatever was particularly highbrow
It’s a low brow world. We are just the richest low brows.
"from the perspective of a very badly-closeted gay man"
I actually think the only thing Dan Neil really lusts for is to suck his own dick.
He has the physical slightness to make it possible, but probably not the length.
Does he take yoga so he can blow himself?
My friend Dan asked this of a classmate in fifth grade loud enough for everybody to hear.
Even the guy at the player piano stopped and stared.
“BMW has a stop-sale on the M2, M3, and M4 right now, due to a cause listed in their system as “BEARING SHELL”.”
What is the actual story here ?
You know everything I know -- this was a message from a BMW tech who found it interesting.
There’s a lot of bearings in the car.
Is this all the specificity we have so far been able to procure ?
When did Toyota start building German engines? Is the Axis rising?
What do you think?
BMW's playing chicken with their bearing clearances again.
They can make a 1940s tank engine so well-machined it doesn't need gaskets but can't get an automotive water pump to 50,000 miles.
Wait until Germany gets so poor they start using plastic parts in their engines….
https://images.wsj.net/im-820320/social
E36 water pumps...
My proposal for mandated government durability standards will really hurt the Europeans.
It would hurt everybody and make a mess of the industry for a while. The results would probably be worth it, I'd just be concerned about my wife and I being unemployed in the interim.
I never thought of it that way. My uneducated guess would be that it would have been good for the auto industry, which I want to grow since it’s so important to the country.
My other thought on durability is for all the people in this country that depend on 2nd and 3rd hand cars for mobility. I want people to have mobility no matter where they are on the food chain.
That was my primary problem with EVs. Because they would have ended up in the junkyard before ICE cars, or be cost prohibitive to repair due to replacement batteries, their widespread adoption would have killed mobility for the most economically vulnerable Americans.
This was even recognized by some green zealots, who wrote that the government would have to provide EVs for low income people. I’m not making that up.
What do you mean wait? Hasn't that been true for a long time?
Lame joke on my part. I have an E91 in my driveway that is a needy companion.
Maybe it’s an homage to the Jumo-004.
Has BMW gone to 0W16 on their S engines?
I detest the Grenadier. Not because of its creator or any of its mechanical parts or abilities; I just think they're incredibly ugly inside and out. It's trying way too hard. You may not be surprised to hear this from me, though, given my love for the old Cheby. Trucks should just be trucks in my opinion. The Grenadiiiieeerrrr with "nothing on it" still has more shit packed in it than was even optional in 2000. I know some people might say, "how is that a bad thing," but when you said that in 2000, you actually got a truck with nothing in it. My truck came with AC, 2 speaker AM/FM ONLY radio, manual windows and locks, SANS cruise control. Base model actually fucking meant BASE.
I was curious what your halftime thoughts would be, and I must thank you for coming to a fairly logical conclusion. I didn't think it was evil but nor did I find it entertaining. I took my best man and FIL out to look at the newly landed Challenger in my garage and let them hear it's long-tube header rumble. Also fired up the Dakota to show off my handmade custom exhaust on that 5.7. The two hemis running side by each made better noises than any song recorded since 2005. The game itself was dreadfully boring but I'm happy with the outcome. Seattle wore that poor young QB out quick, but I think he should still be proud to make it that far so early in his career!
An EV Ferarri huh? Maybe it really is the end times...
sheesh Wyatt, you are too young to sound like a "get off my lawn" old fart like many of us.
In my friend groups I'm often introduced to new people as the "oldest boomer/young man in the world." Which is mostly accurate. I just don't want to drive a phone or something that thinks it's a main battle tank when it isn't actually a main battle tank!
You gotta be old enough to credibly yell at clouds here.
I am, wanna make something out of it ? . =8-) .
-Nate
Sir, my 1995 F-150 dealership demo had:
* no A/C
* AM radio
* 300 inline six
* vinyl bench
* optional automatic
Your 2000 sounds QUITE FANCY
AC and cloth split bench are quiet luxurious additions I suppose. It was ordered for WORKIN with the 6.0/4l80/3.73 12 bolt combo as well. It's a 2500 after all! I did upgrade the stereo and add cruise control as those are conveniences I can't do without. I'll actually fix the AC this year, too, but I wish I had the sliding back window. If it was a manual I'd love it even more!
The 300 inline 6 was the best Ford truck engine ever made.
What a ridiculous, stupid thing to say.
There was no need to include "Ford" and "truck" there, Sir.
LQ4?
Love mine. But I think 5.7 hemi is my favorite engine overall.
If I could buy that truck tomorrow, brand new, for what it cost in 1995, I'd be a Ford owner again.
You got a Challenger?!
Yes! Lol it's a black 2009 RT 6mt. 163k mile Texas car. First time it ever saw salt was on the trailer up to Michigan and man did it see a LOT. Looks very nice after a quick scratch-machine wash though, just a few small dings in the body line along the rear quarters. I got it up on stands last night to discover the P.O dropped a ton of money on the exhaust. The Borla quad tips gave a hint but I figured it was just a cat-back or even just an axle back with hacked out mufflers. But no. Imagine my surprise when I went to set the front stands and saw big-ole long tube headers and a full stainless Borla header-back system!
Then I crawled around under the car in AWE of how fucking CLEAN it is underneath. I figured it would at least by dirty or perhaps even muddy because the engine is filthy. But no. Just immaculate factory painted floors, rockers, even brake and fuel lines, all looking like they were just assembled in Brampton. I pulled a tie rod end off in 2 minutes. The inner tie rod looks brand new but the joint at the rack is sloppy. I've literally never encountered a car where shit like that *wears out before rust ruins the threads on every fastener.*
It's a great car to build off of, but building is what I need to do indeed because all the joints and bushings are shot and there's upgrades I'm doing besides. Plus a clutch for peace of mind. Already have my wheels sorted and Silvers coilovers on the way, it's going to look tight as fuck and I'm absolutely stoked!
Hell yeah man! That sounds like one hell of a car.
It will be come April! Hopefully we'll get to take it to our first anniversary dinner on March 29 🤞🏻
Could we get a post out of it here?
I'd be happy to write one eventually!
No pressure, just Harambe’s eternal rest hanging in the balance is all…
I have made tribute before! I need to make memories and put miles on the Chally before I can reasonably offer another.
LETS GOOOOOOO
Southern cars for the win! No salt winters and no freeze and thaw cycles. Congrats!
My '22 Challenger I got over the summer had Corsa exhaust with the resonators deleted. The drone was unbearable, I ended up getting the resonators put back on, now its bearable but I still wish it was quieter, older models had 2" exhaust pipes rather than 2.75". Or even better, a non existent manual with a V6. My V6 Challenger was graceful and smooth, this drives like a tractor. It's currently seeing daily driving through full Massachusetts snowstorms and salt, and I expect it to last 10 years like my old one (which I still have in case I want peace and quiet). One recommendation, get the rocker panels covers off and remove the foam, it blocks the drainholes and traps moisture and you get the rusted corners.
Thanks for the rocker tip Ian! This car is not destined to see winter ever again if I can help it. It's going to be a drift car, not a year-round daily.
And yes this Borla system also drones like hell which might deter me from taking it on summer road trips. This system uses their turbo style mufflers at the middle but nothing out back. I might try and stick some resonators before the tips but it'll be much later in the year.
Interesting you feel that way about the driving experiences between your cars; is your 22 an RT or a Scat Pack? I've driven, if briefly, numerous challys when I worked at the dealership and never thought any of them were agricultural. In fact my favorite one to this day was a 6 speed 6.1 SRT I did rear brakes on. I expect my 09 will be far heavier feeling than my e36 just due to physics, but I believe the changes I'm making will make it feel… less huge at least. My 2012 Charger would sometimes feel like a red leather suit and I was able to drive to hell out of it when that feeling hit, so I hope to achieve something even greater here. Should be possible given the clutch pedal my Charger never had.
I have a '22 R/T Plus, I got it mostly because it was a manual and had 1320 miles, I'm holding my nose through the rest of it. It's the Tremec 6060, its dramatically different from every other manual I've driven. Everything about is heavy and direct and analog. Car does not move with just the clutch, needs to be slipped up to 5 mph at 1000 RPM, slowly. Shift to second is rough especially when cold, need to keep your foot in it so the engine doesn't sit back down or its a grind and lurch. Definitely feels like the clutch won't make it 100K. Sometimes the stars align when merging on to the highway and its not busy, I row through the gears up to around 3K and the shifting is perfectly notchy, but driving around slowly it feels like construction equipment. I can understand why Ford and Chevy tried to engineer something lighter and notchier and only resort to the 6060 for the limited hot rod editions. My old car I can rev to 6500 every time without catching a felony and losing traction and once I'm cruising it is quieter and vibrates less than my boss's G70, let alone the iron boat anchor car. I could easily and confidently drive the hell out of my old car. Some of this will be fixed when I replace the 20's with 18's. Still the only car I would ever buy, and I wanted a manual, but this is not my dream car and I am not going to baby it.
Hmmm. I love the shifter feel personally, but then again my car is… 13 years older with at least 100x the mileage your did, so maybe it's more “broken in?” Perhaps some of your shifter woes are due to the skip shift function forcing you from 1st to 4th unless you exceed a certain rpm. That tripped me up a few times driving mine home, and I bought the $20 delete plug from amazon. I also agree the clutch feels strange. They're twin disc clutches which I'm not used to. I'm replacing mine just for peace of mind so we'll see if the strange engagement is a result of wear or design haha. It starts to grab very early but just barely does anything. Then as the pedal comes up nothing changes until the very top and it grabs all at once. Does your clutch do something similar?
I also noticed some YouTube videos about removing the delay valve from the release bearing, and apparently that helps with clutch feel. I'm hesitant to do that though because a delay valve can help mitigate extreme shock loads to the drivetrain. Especially helpful for prolonging axles in drifting.
The interior...definitely could be nicer. I wish they just had standard gauge cluster and have NO screen at all. That would have been my pref.
As far as ugly exterior, I dunno. I may be biased as an owner, but I still walk away thinking it looks pretty cool. I'm curious to see what you think of as cool looking SUV.
As far as handsome and rugged 4x4 on the market today, here's my ranking:
1. G Wagen (yes, i hate admitting this but they did a great job with the design inside and out)
2. Gren
3. Bronco
4. Wrangler
5. Hummer
6. GX550
7. Defender
8. Land Cruiser
Let's hear your take
As far as current production? I don't really like any of them but I guess I'd say Bronco.
Overall though, I'd have to pick the GMT800 Suburban 2500 4x4 as coolest SUV ever. With a 7.4 or 8.1 big block.
Hmmm...for me that's a tossup for that era. Hard to pick against the Excursions. What's cooler than a Excursion with the stroker?
An 8.1 Suburban 4x4 hahah
Gotta keep the Ford v Chevy wars alive, ya know!
I like the two door bronco. The four door bronco just looks awkward. The wrangler looks decent in any configuration. I do like the the two door bronco better than any of the
jeeps though.
My brother just sold his 2004 with the 8.1L. Great truck.
I had a friend with the previous gen 454 and I think I am suffering from a little trauma from it. I am not sure I've ever imagined having to hear that much praise about a truck or its engine...
I still like my Jeep GC Summit 4xe - had it out in the desert last week bombing around washes and canyons. Plus its really comfortable on the highway.
GC has always been good looking, except the WK. That is a bit homely.
Somehow I ended up with a Hemi WK and it was surprisingly good. Still had a rear solid axle and that engine kicked ass. Only issue was that my brother never checked oil and apparently they burn through it...
A hemi, even one that burns oil, will cure a LOT of ills!