Test Drove a Tesla Today

Ninth best-selling car in the US last quarter.

And still the company runs from imminent bankruptcy.


(Incidentally, clutch chatter is not a rare thing. (It would be in a Tesla though.))

No, clutch chatter is not rare. It has been a common thing for a hundred years. My comment was that I had never encountered anyone who said their clutch only chattered when it was cold outside.  Then again, I may have misunderstood the remark.
Detour--> Go have yourself a few small strokes and you'll misunderstand a whole lot of things, too. It took me about a minute of effort to come up with the word "stroke". Actually, I cheated: after a minute or so of failing to come up with the word, I googled "brain bleeding" and got the word "stroke" from the response.

_Howard wrote:

My comment was that I had never encountered anyone who said their clutch only chattered when it was cold outside.  Then again, I may have misunderstood the remark.

Not so much "cold outside" as "the car is cold" = the engine hasn't warmed up yet = the clutch is cold.  The chatter disappears after the car has run for a couple minutes.  My local Subaru shop says the clutch looks good, plenty of wear left, no high points, no contaminants... it's just "one of those things."  My car is old enough to drink legally, and like you, is developing some eccentricities.

"it's just "one of those things."?" Really? The shop is feeding you this shit and you're gobbling it down? Get yourself another mechanic. A remark like that is unacceptable and unprofessional. I can assure you that if it was my shop, the problem would be properly diagnosed within an hour; less if the tranny didn't have to be yanked.

Money is an issue too.  I don't want to dump tons of cash into a 21-year-old car, chasing apparitions, when it runs "strong and smooth" 100% of the time after it warms up.

Incidentally, I don't know which employee of the shop you think is transgender, or why xhe should be "yanked."

Yeah, I wouldn't spend a ton of cash on an old car, either (unless it was valuable). I drive a 17-year-old Chevy pickup and it looks like shit because clear coat doesn't like extreme heat. Runs fine though: has 11,500 miles on it. The damned AC doesn't work though.

My point was that I wouldn't trust a mechanic who says "it's just one of those things" instead of finding out what the problem is.

My Forester has a few minor door dings, but it runs reliably, it's watertight, it starts every time, it's comfortable to drive, I'm comfortable driving it (by which I mean, I know how small a circle it will turn when I'm maneuvering). It gets 33 mpg and doesn't use oil.

It has 146,000 miles on it.

BlueBook on it is about $500.

NoCoPilot wrote:

Appears to be more Tesla vaporware.  Why'd they have to make it so ugly?

The slightly less vaporous Tesla pickup truck isn't QUITE as butt-ugly as the initial depiction, although the front end is wayyyy too boxy and high for a vehicle with the motors in the wheels. The bed looks like a joke. The doors are unnecessarily convoluted:

Went for a couple of small excursions in the wife's Forester today, and was satisfied with the car's ride and handling. Another 100 hp wouldn't hurt anything. In fact, I wouldn't buy one for myself without at lease 60 or 80 more hp. Other than that, I think it's a very nice little car.

NoCoPilot wrote:

The EyeSight and DriverFocus options can undoubtedly be turned off,

To turn off the EyeSight, all you have to do is put on sunglasses.

There use to be a turbo version of the 4-cylinder Boxer engine -- and they may bring it back -- but it runs on premium gas, and the gas mileage is considerably worse.

I think the Subaru MRX or whatever it is is supposed to be a hot little number.

They still have that turbo engine. There was one of the turbo-equipped cars in my driveway a few days ago. WRX model.

Was it a hot little number?

Well, that is up to the observer.

Here is the WRX



And here is the BRZ (my preference)

I don't know how in the hell you'd get a 4x8 sheet of plywood in that.

Simple:

Quote :

Tesla could end up rolling out a “Model 2” for $25,000–30,000. If the Model 3 looks like a disruptive top seller, imagine the Model 2! Who could sell a gasoline car at that point?

Source

Additionally, Hasan Minhaj talked about how the Koch Brothers are killing public transit initiatives around the country.  We'll need to keep them away from Tesla obviously.

New rendering of the Tesla pickup makes it look utterly conventional:
https://insideevs.com/news/367132/tesla-pickup-truck-render-reality/

Still wayyy too boxy in front.

Very interesting video, NoCo.

Zero to ninety to zero, in 10.7 seconds.  On the deck of an aircraft carrier.


The frickin' barrier at the end of the flight deck was a bit of a cheat though, eh???

The final Porsche Taycan design was unveiled today.


It's a fine-looking automobile.  However, at $185,000 it costs the same as 2-1/2 Tesla Model S's, or 5.28 Model 3s.

Oh, piss on the Porsche. If you want a fast car, look to the French.

1,578 hp.  304.77 mph.  Street legal.

85.88 Model 3s