tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18810878.post1586818995076942564..comments2023-09-24T04:58:25.149-04:00Comments on Team Grondul: 4 American Vehicles Worth OwningMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00251721824712434255noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18810878.post-71791825810160237032009-12-08T09:31:31.901-05:002009-12-08T09:31:31.901-05:00I forgot about the spinning wheels! I think I nee...I forgot about the spinning wheels! I think I need a set of those for the track car.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00251721824712434255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18810878.post-20627692264020815472009-12-08T09:27:41.869-05:002009-12-08T09:27:41.869-05:00The seating position on the fit is quite comfortab...The seating position on the fit is quite comfortable for me, but given the difference in our leg lengths, I imagine that we are having different experiences with the vehicle. The seat does feel noticeably higher relative to the pedals than the seat in my '01 Civic; I consider that to be an improvement, though, to both comfort and visibility.<br /><br />I particularly enjoy the Xterras with the "snorkel" exhausts; yeah, you're really going to take your bright-yellow, spinny-rimmed baby through three feet of water. Sure.Nicholas Condonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13425895105081617926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18810878.post-58756034992712916892009-12-07T12:57:30.518-05:002009-12-07T12:57:30.518-05:00Nick,
Pushrod engines typically take up less spac...Nick,<br /><br />Pushrod engines typically take up less space than overhad-camshaft engines because the head can be thinner. That's one of the reasons the hood can be so low on a Corvette Z06, even with a 7-liter (!) engine. Similarly, pushrod engines, at least those with V configurations, are usually lighter than the corresponding OHC engines, since they have half as many canshafts. (The banks share the camshafts.) The V8 Corvette only has a single camshaft, while the I4 Miata has 2. Most OHC V engines are double-overhead cam; a DOHC V8 would have 4 camshafts.<br /><br />Like I said, I can only guess that visibility out of the CTS coupe, especially to the rear, will be subpar. The greathelm effect was certainly in play in the Mustang I rented in Buffalo, and it looks to be worse in the CTS coupe. Still, I think the car looks great from the outside. <br /><br />I agree that the visibility in the Fit is outstanding. How do you like the seating position? In the first-gen cars, I found the angle of my lower leg to bee to steep. In other words, my feet felt like they were under my knees, rather than out in front of them. That arrangement made it slightly unfomfortable for me to operate the pedals.<br /><br />Oh yes, the Wrangler is a poor choice for an on-road vehicle, and far too many of the ones I see on the street have never tasted dirt. Of course, the same is true for all the SUVs; they are advertised pounding through the desert or crawling up a riverbank, but they usually never go anywhere more wild than a the parking lot at a soccer field. I really "love" the ones with the brush guards on the grill and taillights. They are the same ones with the huge chrome wheels and low-profile tires, both of which are completely inappropriate for off-road driving. Hilarious.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00251721824712434255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18810878.post-54608443068975378682009-12-04T09:47:41.122-05:002009-12-04T09:47:41.122-05:00While the Jeep Wrangler may be an entirely reasonb...While the Jeep Wrangler may be an entirely reasonble off-road vehicle, it's monumentally pointless as a road vehicle (too-tall suspension, poor use of space, beyond-wretched fuel economy). Unfortunatley, I'd wager that a very large majority of the Wranglers ever sold were purchased by suburbanites inveigled by putative romance of the vehicle who never once drove them on a surface rougher than an ill-maintained parking lot.Nicholas Condonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13425895105081617926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18810878.post-81113863091996426612009-12-04T09:41:09.859-05:002009-12-04T09:41:09.859-05:00I have to say that the CTS coupe doesn't reall...I have to say that the CTS coupe doesn't really excite me. I've grown very tired of the prevailing "tall body, tiny window" design aesthetic, and I hate what it has done to visiblity. The last two times I've rented a car for a conference, they've "upgraded" me to a Dodge Avenger. (I got the impression both times that they person thought they were doing me a favor by giving me a "sporty" car.) Driving that car is like wearing a medeival greathelm: little peripheral vision and no ability at all to see up or down. One of the Fit's many advantages is that it (mostly) eschews this styling and thus has very good visibility; this is a big part of the reason we chose it over the Matrix, whose rear-corner visibility went from "poor" on the older models to "nonexistent" on the most recent.Nicholas Condonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13425895105081617926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18810878.post-55128994306556941272009-12-04T09:19:54.594-05:002009-12-04T09:19:54.594-05:00Corvettes still use pushrod engines?! Pushrods? ...Corvettes still use pushrod engines?! Pushrods? Really? In lieu of a starter motor, do they have a handcrank?<br /><br />Seroiously, is there some part of the engineering trade-space accessible to pushrod engines that can't be reached by a proper overhead cam engine, or is this just some sort of ridiculous, hare-brained traditionalist atavism?Nicholas Condonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13425895105081617926noreply@blogger.com