Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Yesterday I did some plowing for the first time, in dad's '98 Jeep Wrangler. Over a foot of snow following the record 3 foot storm last week made the job a bit difficult. The Jeep is highly maneuverable compared to larger plow trucks but unfortunately lacks the inertia to deal with the amount of snow... I'm torn over whether a larger vehicle would have been better for the job or not. Either way, it was certainly a new experience.
 
After getting stuck in my Prelude yesterday due to the plow forcing a ton of snow under my car and preventing the wheels from touching, I'm considering selling it for something like a Jeep this summer. Snow tires are great for driving on the roads but I simply don't have the clearance i need at time. Metro Detroit sucks at plowing roads in any reasonable amount of time. Some of the on/off ramps around the area still haven't been touched by a plow. No salt has been laid either.
 
Yesterday I did some plowing for the first time, in dad's '98 Jeep Wrangler. Over a foot of snow following the record 3 foot storm last week made the job a bit difficult. The Jeep is highly maneuverable compared to larger plow trucks but unfortunately lacks the inertia to deal with the amount of snow... I'm torn over whether a larger vehicle would have been better for the job or not. Either way, it was certainly a new experience.

Bigger vehicle == more mass == can move more snow.

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After getting stuck in my Prelude yesterday due to the plow forcing a ton of snow under my car and preventing the wheels from touching, I'm considering selling it for something like a Jeep this summer. Snow tires are great for driving on the roads but I simply don't have the clearance i need at time. Metro Detroit sucks at plowing roads in any reasonable amount of time. Some of the on/off ramps around the area still haven't been touched by a plow. No salt has been laid either.
This is one of the reasons why I'm reluctant to go with winter tires on the Z, sure it would give me better traction in the snow but the only times I have trouble driving it is when the snow is deep enough for the car to sink through it.
 
Yeah but the short Jeep can get to the tight spots in the irregularly shaped driveway.

Doesn't help if it can't move the snow when it gets there. :p

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After getting stuck in my Prelude yesterday due to the plow forcing a ton of snow under my car and preventing the wheels from touching, I'm considering selling it for something like a Jeep this summer. Snow tires are great for driving on the roads but I simply don't have the clearance i need at time. Metro Detroit sucks at plowing roads in any reasonable amount of time. Some of the on/off ramps around the area still haven't been touched by a plow. No salt has been laid either.

Don't worry, if you get a taller vehicle, they will simply pack more snow under it so you still have the same problem. :p
 
What good is a truck that can push snow that it can't get to? :p

A good plow driver can get his three quarter ton or one ton (or even heavier class) truck in some surprising places to plow snow. On the other hand, one question would be "how much do you care what he runs over"? :p

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The other thing is that for really tight space snow removal, Jeeps *are* used, but they don't have the mass to plow properly (as victor found out.) This is the traditional solution for snow removal with Jeeps:

 
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although it doesn't have to be a snowman.
 
Suddenly, the BRZ isn't well-insured enough according to my bank.

So I go make the requested policy changes aaaaannnnd.

$36 refund! Car insurance is fucking weird.
 
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For most volume marques, no. There are special cases and some models like the Mustang are shockingly customizable. Even in Europa, land of the configuration checklist that's kilometers long, there are still possible configs they will not sell you.

Been meaning to reply to this for a few days, but finally getting around to it. Mustangs are actually surprisingly not customizable. When I ordered my first pony (which I ultimately ended up canceling), I wanted a few conflicting options that I couldn't get for some inexplicable reason. I wanted the gimmicky pony projector mirrors, but since those are packaged with the comfort package, you can't get them with the Recaros. You tell me how seats and side view mirrors have anything to do with each other. There were several other conflicts that I can't remember off the top of my head right now too.

Having the benefit of working for the company that actually builds the damn thing, I asked around. So far I've got 3 explanations, none of which I buy. One guy said its all about maximizing profit. The comfort package costs more than the Recaro seats so a buyer might be swayed to put out the extra penny for it to get the lights and thus earning the company more money. Really? I don't buy that a customer that wants Recaros is going to sacrifice them for some lights that shine ponies on the ground. If the company actually wanted more money, on top of bundling them in the package they should've made them available as a stand alone option. I was ready to pay them more money to get the mirrors, but NOPE, they wouldn't take my money. Ok, so one might argue that if they make it a stand alone option, people might order the option without the rest of the comfort package and thus save money overall. Fine, if you want to be greedy, make it a stand alone option ONLY for those who order conflicting options (like my Recaros). The 2nd explanation I go was that its just too much complexity for the plant to handle. Since all the parts are delivered to the line just in time they can't have the extra combinations. Well, all the mirrors (with projectors or not) come in the same part carrier at the same time, its just a matter of the operator choosing the correct part. So that doesn't work either. The last explanation I got was that the archaic computer systems that control the plant can't handle the combinations. Without going into any detail on the system specifics, this is a garbage excuse.

I'm willing to bet theres some extra complicated marketing algorithm developed by bean counters that don't really understand what customers who buy cars like Mustangs want which causes option combos that can't be ordered together for no apparent reason.

After getting stuck in my Prelude yesterday due to the plow forcing a ton of snow under my car and preventing the wheels from touching, I'm considering selling it for something like a Jeep this summer. Snow tires are great for driving on the roads but I simply don't have the clearance i need at time. Metro Detroit sucks at plowing roads in any reasonable amount of time. Some of the on/off ramps around the area still haven't been touched by a plow. No salt has been laid either.

Do it! I beasted it to work on Monday in the XJ. All those Michigan lefts that were left completely unplowed, no problem. My apartment complex plow service completely blocking in all cars, the Jeep went right through. It was a fun commute.
 
Crz: Yes and no - as you know dealerships are willing to do a lot of parts swapping and customization on Mustangs that the factory won't do, which most dealers aren't necessarily willing to do for other marques or models.
 
Crz: Yes and no - as you know dealerships are willing to do a lot of parts swapping and customization on Mustangs that the factory won't do, which most dealers aren't necessarily willing to do for other marques or models.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if the dealers had something to do with this system so they're not stuck with an "unsellable" car if someone orders a weird combination of options and then backs out of the deal. Plus, for those who insist the dealer then can make some money on the parts swap.
 
Probably says a fair bit about me that my first thought was "I'd do it, but not for a Subaru."

I thought almost the same thing. Not for that Subaru.


Yesterday I did some plowing for the first time, in dad's '98 Jeep Wrangler. Over a foot of snow following the record 3 foot storm last week made the job a bit difficult. The Jeep is highly maneuverable compared to larger plow trucks but unfortunately lacks the inertia to deal with the amount of snow... I'm torn over whether a larger vehicle would have been better for the job or not. Either way, it was certainly a new experience.

I used to use a K5 Blazer with a mildly built 400 Pontiac in it. It was still heavy enough for most snow and still more maneuverable when needed than the 3/4 ton truck my brother in law used.


Suddenly, the BRZ isn't well-insured enough according to my bank.

So I go make the requested policy changes aaaaannnnd.

$36 refund! Car insurance is fucking weird.


What wait? That is a sure sign of the apocalypse...
 
The other thing is that for really tight space snow removal, Jeeps *are* used, but they don't have the mass to plow properly (as victor found out.) This is the traditional solution for snow removal with Jeeps:


You don't have these?

[video=youtube;m-ktwN73Org]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ktwN73Org[/video]
 
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