Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

ffKEPVYl.png


I lol'ed
 
In the land of wrenches, the man with the 10mm socket is king.
 
I wonder how long it will be until "Save the manuals" morphs into "Save the transmissions", what with all these new all electric vehicles coming out.

I remember so many discussions about how much better all these fancy twin clutch gear boxes are compared to manual transmissions, because of their speed and efficiency, but these new electric cars are direct drive. Constant uninterrupted power delivery. For the same reasons that a twin clutch is better than a stick, these direct drive EV's are better than a twin clutch. I imagine it won't be long before fans of these gearboxes are making the exact same arguments that the "Save the manual" crowd have been making for quite a few years now. You know, "driving involvement" and all that.

:whistle:

I can assure you that more gears will not be the future at least. Not if Ford is hired at least. I had an ecoboost mustang with the 10-speed auto. Once I get home this evening I’ll write up a review in the rental car roulette thread as it needs some explanation. It’s not good though. :/
 
Funnily enough the most hated type of transmission is the best one, the CVT essentially replicates all the features of a direct (ish) drive EV. Also some EVs do have two speeds. I don't think that "save the manuals" will ever actually become "save the transmissions". People who care about driver involvement are already in the former camp, those who care about speed/efficiency would be just as happy with EVs
 
Funnily enough the most hated type of transmission is the best one, the CVT essentially replicates all the features of a direct (ish) drive EV. Also some EVs do have two speeds. I don't think that "save the manuals" will ever actually become "save the transmissions". People who care about driver involvement are already in the former camp, those who care about speed/efficiency would be just as happy with EVs

I think thets because engines at a constant rev doesn’t excite people. Even if it’s better, people like the feeling a hear change gives them. What is wrong though is someone like Nissan Who programs in “gears” instead doing what Chrysler did with the Patriot and just let the CVT do its thing. What I hated was Chrysler’s incompetence of how an electronic throttle works. They have a delay between input when the car responds.
 
I don't think there'll be much of a "save the transmissions" campaign from the flappy paddle crowd. As much as they have improved over the years and have long been the standard for modern, expensive high performance vehicles, it's hard to lay claim that these cars' gearboxes have the same enthusiastic following as do the good old stick and clutch. But for the small minority of owners of said cars who track them, I doubt the manual shifting options get used with any regularity among their well heeled clientele.
 
I don't think there'll be much of a "save the transmissions" campaign from the flappy paddle crowd. As much as they have improved over the years and have long been the standard for modern, expensive high performance vehicles, it's hard to lay claim that these cars' gearboxes have the same enthusiastic following as do the good old stick and clutch. But for the small minority of owners of said cars who track them, I doubt the manual shifting options get used with any regularity among their well heeled clientele.

On my alltrack I’ve done it a few times just to see what it’s like. It’s kind of neat and that’s about it. It shifts smooth enough on the road and stays in the gears that I want that manual mode doesn’t need to be used in daily driving. If I ever tried an spirited driving I’d use it. I’m interested in Apex’s Polo GTI and am thinking of trying that at ringmeet. Perhaps because it was my first time, I found manual on the ‘ring a bit too much. I was so overwhelmed with making sure I wasn’t in anyone’s way and listening to the instructor that by the second lap I completey forgot the shift pattern on the Up! GTI. I think for the once a year I am on a track, having an automated manual will be a benefit as has been proven many times over. Manual is great on the street as it gives you something to do other than hanging in a steering wheel and using one foot, other than that I don’t see the point especially with the way autos have progressed recently.
 
Fuck Nissan in the ass. One of the things that the X had to go in for was a seal on rear axle, well lo and behold, the fucking is impossible to change without changing the whole half axle assembly... Which of course is roughly $500...
 
I don't recall that being anywhere close to the price tag for my axle seal. You do need to change the sealed bearing since you have to crack the race to get to the seal, but not the entire assembly.
 
IIRC there was a change between 06 and 11
I don't recall that being anywhere close to the price tag for my axle seal. You do need to change the sealed bearing since you have to crack the race to get to the seal, but not the entire assembly.
My cursory search earlier today did confirm what he said, I'll do some more digging but the dude generally knows what his doing.
I think yours has a different rear axle as well, mine is a Dana 44 with the electrically actuated locking diff.
 
IIRC there was a change between 06 and 11

My cursory search earlier today did confirm what he said, I'll do some more digging but the dude generally knows what his doing.
I think yours has a different rear axle as well, mine is a Dana 44 with the electrically actuated locking diff.

D44s don't have to have the half shaft replaced when you replace the seal (and therefore bearing). However, it's not an uncommon situation where if the bearing really degraded the shaft got scored or the seal gets really hard and scores the shaft - perhaps to the point where a speedy-sleeve won't fix it, at which point you have to replace the shaft as the seals won't reseal for long with a scored shaft, if at all.
 
This was one of the first videos I found on the subject. From my search it doesn't appear that Nissan sells the bearings separately, they sell the entire assembly. RockAuto seems to have just the bearings but I'm not sure if it's even doable (I'm assuming it all has to be pressed in)
 
Last edited:
If that axle shaft comes with everything pre-assembled, it's worth the $400-500. Shop time to press a floating axle like this apart and back together is ugly.
 
IIRC there was a change between 06 and 11

My cursory search earlier today did confirm what he said, I'll do some more digging but the dude generally knows what his doing.
I think yours has a different rear axle as well, mine is a Dana 44 with the electrically actuated locking diff.

That's what I have since I own the Off Road trim.
 
That's what I have since I own the Off Road trim.
That’s interesting, when I was ordering the seal from Courtesy, they actually told me that my car came up as “off road” and that those didn’t come with a locking diff. I was very confused to say the least. Perhaps there was a redesign sometime between yours and mine?
 
Mine is a 2006, but I believe the same axle was used for the entire 2005+ run of the Off Road/Pro-4X. That guy doesn't know what he's talking about, or he's thinking of the C200 rear end that came on the lower-end trims, not the M226 with the locker.
 
Mine is a 2006, but I believe the same axle was used for the entire 2005+ run of the Off Road/Pro-4X. That guy doesn't know what he's talking about, or he's thinking of the C200 rear end that came on the lower-end trims, not the M226 with the locker.
He did a VIN lookup, not much guess work there :dunno:
 
The only two rear axles that the X ever had were the C200 or the M226. If he said the Off Road didn't have the locking diff he doesn't know what he's talking about, that is literally the defining equipment difference between the Off Road/Pro-4X and the rest of the trim packages.
 
Top