Recent content by wrc777

I think since she doesn't want to drive something too big you will want to look at midsize SUVs. The old body on frame Explorer ('06-10?) would be a decent tow vehicle with the V8. '07 and newer Expeditions while big, do ride nice and you can get them pretty cheap used. Grand Cherokees and...

I believe legally speaking there is no requirement to have oil changed at the dealer to preserve your warranty unless the manufacturer pays for the service...so it is up to you but VW could try to weasel out of a warranty claim if you did not do the free service. On the other hand my first free...

I have some Rain-X beam blades on our Expedition. They are not very good. They have trouble wiping on the hwy and don't seem to conform to the window shape very well. I doubt they fit the weird size VW wiper arm either. The Bosch blades I had previously on the Expedition were better even after a...

I am on my second season with Michelin Xice3 tires in Indianapolis. They aren't just better on snow and ice. They are better than the factory Bridgestones were in the rain below 55F or so. They start to feel "weird" around 70F meaning they get too soft. You can pretty much run them without...

The Mk7 gassers (1.8 and GTI) have the same issue. They also drop from full to 7/8 in just a few miles. Not sure if the shut off is not allowing the full 13.2 gallons to be used (ie tank only has ~12 gallons in it when full) or if the sending unit is calibrated differently than older cars.

It could be a normal dealer sales tactic. However the last time I got a call like that I wound up getting not only a stupidly low price on a new Wrangler but I also got a trade in value on my old one that was about what I paid new for it from the same dealer. Sometimes dealers just want to...

I think the Xice lacks a little lateral bite. I think they optimized for braking and acceleration while still trying to make them work well on cold, dry pavement. They had to sacrifice something to make that work. For me in Indiana the trade off is worth it since we get some snow and ice but not...

Were they Xice3? All the tests are showing the Xice3 to be nearly a match for the Nokian Hakka R2 and better than pretty much everything else in ice and snow. Not sure how they can do so well in all the magazine tests and not in the real world.

A G19 will just fit in that drawer with two extra mags. I don't think anything bigger will. In fact it will fit with a Raven Concealment vanguard trigger guard/IWB holster.

It works to reduce NOx but the cost is extra fuel used during NOx catalyst regens and lots of smoke pouring into the DPF which results in more frequent DPF regens than you would see on an SCR system. The NOx catalyst is also less efficient at NOx reduction than an SCR system so engine out NOx...

Does the rear floor in a GSW drop down like the one in the Mk7 Golf?

How are the Hakkas on dry roads say around 40-50F? We see that quite a bit in winter here and the Michelins feel almost like an all-season tire in those conditions. No marshmallow ride. The Michelins are pretty quiet too.

Tirerack has the generals too. About the same price as the Michelins though with the current rebates. Generals are studdable, Michelin are not. Do you think the Hakkas are a lot better than the Xice3? My Xice3 are pretty good on dry and wet roads, and they seem to be wearing well. Kind of hard...

I wonder how many 09-10 Jettas and 09-14 Golfs/Sportwagens are on the road? Maybe VW buys those back. They might be able to sell those buybacks as used cars in the EU too if the Euro regs can be met with a recal. It is a mess any way you look at it.

So two sets of batteries per car plus solar cells and related power conversion devices. The storage cells will have to be bigger than the car cells due to energy loss due to essentially charging batteries twice. Then the question becomes how much does it cost in solar cell price plus real estate...