Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

But those cars were going for a premium. The cars with nav and the SMG were cheap, because no one wanted that gimmicky garbage.

Wasn't just because it was gimmicky, it was because both the BMW nav of that era and the SMG were unreliable garbage with enormous price tags to fix.

Built in GPS can be done well and hold up well to the test of time. On modern cars, often getting the GPS comes with other stuff that's convenient, such as larger displays for information. On top of that, OEM GPS makers have finally realized that you can get realtime traffic and updates and they don't have to cost an arm and a leg.
 
I've never used sat-nav before. 99.9% of the time I know where I'm going. The rest of the time I look up directions before I leave.

I really like GPS for two situations:
- When I'm going to see a client for the first time. San Francisco is constantly under construction (like most cities) so I need to be prepared for a detour, or a mistaken wrong turn, with the quickest reroute back to where I needed to go.
- During vacations, I like to aimlessly drive until I'm lost, not paying attention to roads...then when I'm done, I'll punch in the hotel's address, and drive straight back (or take interesting detours, which it automatically reroutes).
 
Today, we sent our drivers to deliver a Chrysler Town & Country, Mazda 3, Hyundai Elantra and a Mercedes B250 to a buyer. Only one failed to make it...if you guessed the Mercedes you'd be correct. Apparently the stupid thing overheated in a matter of minutes, not to mention it had the lowest mileage of the bunch by far being at 12,000 kms whereas the others were 40,000+. Talked with our logistics coordinators and apparently the previous batch that included a B250 also overheated...only that car overheated just as it reached the buyer. Now I wonder how we rid of the stupid thing, good chance the buyer no longer wants it if they're told it couldn't even go 1 km before overheating.
 
I tried the Mazda 3. I love this car. But while I love the car, it's not available with the option combinations I want. I want GPS, climate control, but I also want cloth seats and the small engine. I have to say, I've always assumed I'd require the larger engine, but I drive it with 2 people, and it had just barely "enough" get up and go for my needs. While it didn't have shift paddles, it still had the "manual" mode, which would come in handy in San Francisco's hills.

The cockpit of the Focus, while I love the ST I drove, feels too bulky inside (doesn't feel "open" enough, and seems like it may not age well).

I respect the Versa Note, but the interior materials were just that one step too chincey.

You're leaving out one obvious option, espeically since the Versa Note was on your shopping list:

IsWksYs.jpg


It comes with automatic climate control standard, and a very well equipped Mirage ES with Nav is 17k. The ES includes the aformentioned Climate Control along with alloys, fog lamps, bluetooth, and proximity key entry.

f93zYud.jpg


While it may not be a thriller in the corners, it's wonderful value for money.

Um, most people with a car that is less than a few years old.

Here it's rare to find anyone with a navigation system that's not driving a luxury/near-luxury car, despite it being offered on even subcompacts. A lot of new cars now offer a "tweener" infotainment setup where you get a touchscreen but no nav, the latter being a option or bundled into a trim level a'la Honda.

I don't understand why someone would want it besides for convenience. 3-5 years from now the maps will be out of date. To me, having a small portable device that handles GPS makes more sense since you are able to upgrade much easier.

Suzuki interestingly enough had a clever idea for this: They partnered with Garmin and integrated docks into their car dashboards for a Garmin Nuvi that came with the car. The dock charged the Nuvi and integrated it with the audio system. Any Nuvi in the 7xx series can be used with the dock, including models that offer "Maps for life".

Nowhere near as good as crowdsourced data from Google AND is a non-free service in the states.

Actually, traffic data over FM is indeed free, some carmakers integrate it into the infotainment system just in case the customer decides to ditch XM after the trial period. (XM Traffic isn't free)
 
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You're leaving out one obvious option, espeically since the Versa Note was on your shopping list:

IsWksYs.jpg


It comes with automatic climate control standard, and a very well equipped Mirage ES with Nav is 17k. The ES includes the aformentioned Climate Control along with alloys, fog lamps, bluetooth, and proximity key entry.

f93zYud.jpg


While it may not be a thriller in the corners, it's wonderful value for money.

I endorse this message. If your key concerns are value for money and a warranty.
 
I think Narf was being humorus with the Flash thing.
Dude his German... But no we had a conversation about Java sucking in the RT Tech thread.

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I've never used sat-nav before. 99.9% of the time I know where I'm going. The rest of the time I look up directions before I leave.

The only thing I wonder about with built in systems, is how bad they're going to look in the future. There was some thing where a guy was trying to buy a E46 M3 BMW, manual trans, with no ugly dated navigation system. But those cars were going for a premium. The cars with nav and the SMG were cheap, because no one wanted that gimmicky garbage.
I can tell you that my Pioneer that I got about 4 years ago looks like garbage now. It was a flagship model at the time that had a $1500 MSRP, (I got it for about a grand after shopping around).

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Wasn't just because it was gimmicky, it was because both the BMW nav of that era and the SMG were unreliable garbage with enormous price tags to fix.

Built in GPS can be done well and hold up well to the test of time. On modern cars, often getting the GPS comes with other stuff that's convenient, such as larger displays for information. On top of that, OEM GPS makers have finally realized that you can get realtime traffic and updates and they don't have to cost an arm and a leg.
I like Apple's car link idea, where you basically use the built in screen as a terminal to the phone in a sense. (More or less what Ice posted above with Android) this way you get the best of both worlds. Though my experience with all the car navigation systems is that they tend to have crap screens, maybe higher end stuff like MB or BMW has nice high def stuff but even recent (2012) top of the line Camry (car my friend traded in his 2010 Camry for) has a pretty ugly display.

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I really like GPS for two situations:
- When I'm going to see a client for the first time. San Francisco is constantly under construction (like most cities) so I need to be prepared for a detour, or a mistaken wrong turn, with the quickest reroute back to where I needed to go.
- During vacations, I like to aimlessly drive until I'm lost, not paying attention to roads...then when I'm done, I'll punch in the hotel's address, and drive straight back (or take interesting detours, which it automatically reroutes).
I like to use it even when I know where I'm going for live ETA and traffic, Google maps (due to Waze integration) has been very good at traffic.

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Actually, traffic data over FM is indeed free, some carmakers integrate it into the infotainment system just in case the customer decides to ditch XM after the trial period. (XM Traffic isn't free)
Hmm, I never seen it be used by anything/anyone :dunno:
 
You're leaving out one obvious option, espeically since the Versa Note was on your shopping list:

IsWksYs.jpg


It comes with automatic climate control standard, and a very well equipped Mirage ES with Nav is 17k. The ES includes the aformentioned Climate Control along with alloys, fog lamps, bluetooth, and proximity key entry.

f93zYud.jpg


While it may not be a thriller in the corners, it's wonderful value for money.
NO, RICK!!!!!
 
The Mirage is a absolutely awful car. One of the slowest I've driven, its really noisy, the body roll is so bad it can be induced almost the very moment you turn the wheel, its not made very well, its not that safe in a crash and the brakes are really spongy and not very responsive. I don't see much value there. That car car only be on someone's list if the only thing they care about...is a car that has options, with the Nissan Micra being the least expensive car in Canada...there's no reason to get a Mirage for even the price. It sets a standard so low, I'm almost certain any Chinese car entry might actually be better. I'm tempted to put this as the absolute worst car I've ever driven...dislodging the 2007-2010 Chrysler Sebring and that was a car I really really hated.
 
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NO, RICK!!!!!

It wouldn't be my personal choice (in the subcompact segment I'd be torn between the handsome refreshed Fiesta, the Mazda2 or the Fiat 500 Sport) but one has to admit that, in the features per cubic foot category, the mirage has a clean sweep over more enthusiast minded choices like the Mazda2 or Fiesta.

Not to mention MPG figures that embarass even most "fuel economy" variants of these. The mirage gets 44 mpg highway. To the kind of value minded shoppers its prodigious feature content is courting, that is important.

Edit: if I was going used, I'd take a 1st gen fit. Because. Orange. Also its not bloated looking like the 2nd gen.
 
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Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

The things I do for friends... I get to spend 90 minutes driving across Dallas in an E46 limited to 35mph...

aWh3bS8.jpg


Oh well. If I didn't want to do stuff like this, I should not have signed up for it. :mrgreen:

Edit: Never mind, tow truck it is.
c1BmoPj.jpg


The funny part is that the favor I was doing was helping DS get this thing home *from* the shop. Now it's on the way back for completely unrelated systems.
 
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Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Random Dallas road debris?

See edit above. Nope, just the classic BMW massive negative camber stock alignment destroying yet another set of rear tires. Other one still on the car shows identical inside edge wear except it hasn't failed yet. Less than a year old and IIRC less than 15k on these.

And yes, the alignment's been checked.
 
The things I do for friends... I get to spend 90 minutes driving across Dallas in an E46 limited to 35mph...

Edit: Never mind, tow truck it is.
c1BmoPj.jpg


The funny part is that the favor I was doing was helping DS get this thing home *from* the shop. Now it's on the way back for completely unrelated systems.
I love how optimistic the econ gauge is
 
But...but...stance!
 
Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

But...but...stance!

Stance isn't why BMW often dials in -5 or more degrees of camber. Also, this thing is stock.

I love how optimistic the econ gauge is

It's basically a glorified vacuum gauge, like the so called 'efficiency' gauges the aftermarket sold from about 1960 on and some makers started including in the 70s.
 
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The Mirage gets 44hwy mileage with the manual transmission, and 74hp. 74.

74.

74 horsepower at 6000rpm.

Fail = 74 horsepower +
street_big.jpg
 
It wouldn't be my personal choice (in the subcompact segment I'd be torn between the handsome refreshed Fiesta, the Mazda2 or the Fiat 500 Sport) but one has to admit that, in the features per cubic foot category, the mirage has a clean sweep over more enthusiast minded choices like the Mazda2 or Fiesta.

Not to mention MPG figures that embarass even most "fuel economy" variants of these. The mirage gets 44 mpg highway. To the kind of value minded shoppers its prodigious feature content is courting, that is important.

Edit: if I was going used, I'd take a 1st gen fit. Because. Orange. Also its not bloated looking like the 2nd gen.

Rick, the Mirage's features are just that - a mirage. They're there to check off boxes, not work well. The MPG is attained at the cost of sufficient horsepower and there's already nightmare stories about them disintegrating just weeks after purchase. The car is sh*t.

Even 'value conscious' buyers don't buy them. Sales have plateaued at under 2000 units per month. http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2013/10/mitsubishi-mirage-sales-figures-usa-canada.html?m=1

Last month the Fit sold well more than three times as many and the trend is accelerating.
 
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That sounds unlikely as UPS trucks are the loudest road legal machinery you can find. I also like how they're incredibly noisy on all continents. It's some sort of old style Mercedes, only louder.
They're using hybrids now, so it was running on battery at the time.
Refiring to leave, it was quite loud.
 
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