[trixtroll]

The title says "vehicle," so I may as well add in my sailboat.


I love my Hobie 16 because it's amazingly fast and its' fun to "fly" a hull, but but it's a lot of effort and often too much to handle by myself. I nearly capsized yesterday, so I'm slowly realizing it needs to go away... My wife "resigned" from sailing after a pitchpole in 2015.

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Last edited by trixtroll; 09-26-2022 at 10:21 AM.

[bogwalker]

The title says "vehicle," so I may as well add in my sailboat.


I love my Hobie 16 because it's amazingly fast and its' fun to "fly" a hull, but but it's a lot of effort and often too much to handle by myself. I nearly capsized yesterday, so I'm slowly realizing it needs to go away... My wife "resigned" from sailing after a pitchpole in 2015.

We had a catamaran growing up, it was a lot of fun. As I recall, my dad passed on the Hobie for a regular catamaran - the Hobie Cat is a little faster, but higher center of gravity, so it's easier to capsize. I kind of wish I had a sailboat now, but have no place to store it.

[Just1MoreDave]

Interesting segment on Ford "crate motor" electric conversion kits:

I've been thinking about whether conversions are practical. My guess is a converted electric vehicle wouldn't have much range. Look at electric vehicles with 200 or more miles of range. They are very heavy because of battery weight. I think the Ford F150 gas version is 1500 pounds less than the Lightning electric version. The extra power can move the weight just fine but the structure, brakes, tires, suspension etc. won't be designed for it. A lighter battery is easy, just cut the range.

It is a shame because they show a pickup, and my pickup has a lot of space for batteries under the bed. I bet I could remove the gas engine and tank, electric motor under the hood, figure out how to connect the motor to the driveline, add electronics and be done. But 1500 pounds of batteries means no payload at all.

[ChrisPlatt]

Long gone are the days when pickups were utilitarian work trucks.
Today many (most?) pickups are used primarily as passenger vehicles.
For these users a reduction in payload would likely not be a deal killer.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a39826497/2022-ford-f-150-lightning-electric-truck-production/

Chris

[cdd29]

We've replaced most of the fleet over the last few months.
my 370z has been replaced with a '18 Mustang. Seemed like a good idea at the time but kinda questioning it now. Lackluster performance (that can be fixed) & not as good of gas mileage as promised (the internet lied to me)
kid #1: 2000 Ranger replaced with a '09 Hyundai Sonata w/ 30k miles... severe rust & a cracked frame, too much of a safety concern so we put it out to pasture. She drives 5 miles a day, so it should last her for a few years
kid #2: 2006 Jeep Liberty replaced with a 2012 Ford Escape w/ 62k miles... tired of dumping money into it. Plus she's super hard on it. Hit an ATM, twice, took it through a field at least once (she slipped up and tattled on herself). Plus with her going off to college next year, we needed something more reliable as the Jeep simply won't survive. She just needs to take it easy on this one.

Actually buying more car stuff than camera stuff for a change.

[trixtroll]

We had a catamaran growing up, it was a lot of fun. As I recall, my dad passed on the Hobie for a regular catamaran - the Hobie Cat is a little faster, but higher center of gravity, so it's easier to capsize. I kind of wish I had a sailboat now, but have no place to store it.

I've got a love/hate relationship with the boat. The speed is amazing and I loved taking it to regattas and racing, but it's a huge time investment and I'm tired of spending $60/mo to keep it in a storage lot.

It's very weather dependent and it usually involves 3 hours of setup/teardown/drive time, so we only managed to sail it 4 times this summer.

[ChrisPlatt]

We just returned from a weekend in Upstate New York and Massachusetts.

Our daughter's boyfriend rented a Tesla for the trip. We rode with them on our Saturday day trips.
Driving was pleasant enough but was punctuated by many alerts which I presume are now common to ICE vehicle displays as well.

We had to look online for Tesla Supercharger locations. The closest one along the way was about 40 miles away at a Stewart's shop.
FWIW we passed numerous gas stations along the way. Even with the proprietary Tesla technology a 50%/200 mile charge took about 30 minutes.

Once the technology matures I'm confident getting a charge for an EV will one day be not too different from fueling up your ICE vehicle.

Chris

[ivanvernon]

Just purchased a new pickup, a 2022 Dodge Ram 1500 Big Horn edition. It has the 5.7 liter hemi putting out 395 hp and 410 lb-ft torque. The ride is great with rear coil springs, and towing and bed capacity are more than ample, especially now that I have given up medium format and stickling to K-1 and Sony A99 cameras. I especially like the convenience of gasoline service stations every few miles, and no need to plug it in for charge-ups on trips. The vehicle has something called etorque, which is an abbreviatec form of hybrid technology.

[R.Miller]

Have a 2017 RAM Big Horn with the V6 Pentastar engine. No problems so far and is the best truck I have ever owned. We help out at a horse rescue farm, so the bed is constantly filled with either tools or items from the constant maintenance of the grounds.

[ivanvernon]

Have a 2017 RAM Big Horn with the V6 Pentastar engine. No problems so far and is the best truck I have ever owned. We help out at a horse rescue farm, so the bed is constantly filled with either tools or items from the constant maintenance of the grounds.

I considered the V6 engine but decided we needed the extra towing/load capacity of the larger engine with out a terrible price in higher fuel mileage. These trucks really ride nice. I am taking mine in later this week for ceramic paint treatment and undercoating. I already put in a bed liner, toneau cover, and chrome running boards.

[R.Miller]

The V8's are really nice and have a lot of power. I never tow so did not need the extra power. They do ride nice with the coil springs. I swapped out the tires from the factory to all season winter rated tires. The factory tires had a tendency to slip a lot in the snow and wet pavement.

[Canada_Rockies]

The V8's are really nice and have a lot of power. I never tow so did not need the extra power. They do ride nice with the coil springs. I swapped out the tires from the factory to all season winter rated tires. The factory tires had a tendency to slip a lot in the snow and wet pavement.

Factory tires only advantage is that they keep the rims off the road. They've never been top quality any time I've bought a vehicle. Swapped them out quickly.

[Racer X 69]

Tire manufacturers rarely cut anyone a break on tires. Even racing teams have to pay for tires, which wear out quickly, and don’t come cheap.

The auto manufacturers manage to get a small break, by promising the tire manufacturers that all new cars produced will roll off the assembly line with their tires.

A great marketing strategy, to be able to boast, “Every XYZ car made rolls on BF Goodstone tires.”

[bogwalker]

Just purchased a new pickup, a 2022 Dodge Ram 1500 Big Horn edition. It has the 5.7 liter hemi putting out 395 hp and 410 lb-ft torque. The ride is great with rear coil springs, and towing and bed capacity are more than ample, especially now that I have given up medium format and stickling to K-1 and Sony A99 cameras. I especially like the convenience of gasoline service stations every few miles, and no need to plug it in for charge-ups on trips. The vehicle has something called etorque, which is an abbreviatec form of hybrid technology.

Seriously? You need a pickup truck with 5.7 liter engine giving nearly 400 HP to haul around your cameras?
I fit more than I need in my Mazda 3, with a 2 liter engine. It goes as fast as I need it to and I get 38 mpg on each tank of gas typically. It got 46 mpg on my commute today.
That's my gas guzzler, used to have a Prius (10 years). Next car will likely be an electric, when a reasonably-priced one comes around. I'm looking at the Hyundai Ioniq 6 as a possibility, will be coming to market in months. I only drive more than 100 miles in one shot about 2x a year. Otherwise I would charge at home and skip the gas stations altogether.

[cdd29]

Seriously? You need a pickup truck with 5.7 liter engine giving nearly 400 HP to haul around your cameras?
I fit more than I need in my Mazda 3, with a 2 liter engine. It goes as fast as I need it to and I get 38 mpg on each tank of gas typically. It got 46 mpg on my commute today.
That's my gas guzzler, used to have a Prius (10 years). Next car will likely be an electric, when a reasonably-priced one comes around. I'm looking at the Hyundai Ioniq 6 as a possibility, will be coming to market in months. I only drive more than 100 miles in one shot about 2x a year. Otherwise I would charge at home and skip the gas stations altogether.

Nothing wrong with having a high powered vehicle. I have a Chevy Coloraddo ZR2, which is designed for serious off road use & rarely sees it. It has come in handy as a few of the place I've shot at are remote and you need a 4x4 to get to, but it's overkill for me. So is the 300 HP Mustang I have (it's a turbo 4 cylinder, not a V8 GT). It is a compimise between power & efficiency. Plenty of power (though some would consider it underwhelming and slow) and gets decent gas mileage for what it is. Another hobby besides photography I guess. Sure, a Prius would suit most of my needs but the Mustang & ZR2 are more fun. To each their own..