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I want backlit plates like Japan allows.

I also think the front is a styling miss

Yep it looks dated already. Reminds me of an mix between and old 90's Ford Laser and an early 2000's Mazda 3
https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...
http://carphotos.cardomain.com...

The Chevy Sportvan is a homage to the Family Truckster, right down to the 8 headlights.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/...

Hi... You must be new to this planet!

And those are just a few of the idiots on 2 wheels. There are millions where those came from. We have millions that do it on 4 even more readily. You think they're capable of realizing the dangers of Glass on their own?

Somebody mod this guy funny! Quick!

Don't give us that crap, Sheriff. We all know good and well you drive a 1978 Dodge Monaco! A velomobile! That's just funny. COOO COOOO COOOOOOO!

Stripes? Stripes!!! We don't need no stinking stripes. We need FLAMES!!!! http://blog.cardomain.com/2008/10/17/pro-street-pi-1/ ...and a blower...

Pffft... Stripes? Flames? I covered my PC box with that newfangled paper thin screen material. Now I have ANIMATED flames, or anything else I want (including topless dancers). I even installed cameras in the PC box and now, when I leave the apartment, the computer goes into adaptive camouflage mode and melds into the furniture rendering it invisible to burglars. If they still find it, my fallback is a weapons grade laser. Mind you... that thing still has a few bugs, it fried the neighbours cat as it walked past the living-room window the other day.

Stripes? Stripes!!! We don't need no stinking stripes. We need FLAMES!!!!

http://blog.cardomain.com/2008/10/17/pro-street-pi-1/

...and a blower...

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/230140/1972-bmw-2002

Seriously, how does this kind of redneck garbage get into slashdot? Some buffoon got hisself a 1985 Dodge Colt (trailer trash car if I've ever seen one) and proceeds to put a shit-ton of radios in it. Big deal! There's no technology or inventiveness here, it's the same as some ignoramus who built a vehicle out of his La-Z-Boy. Let's get a closer look - license plates trimmed with neon (barf); misuse of the "radiation" symbol (car is not radioactive); Florida plates (redneck central); a laser light drawing spirograph designs on the rear window (what is this, a nightclub circa 1992?); ground-effect lighting (waaaaay overdone); a scrolling LED sign, and much more totally stupid crap. Most of the gear is just ordinary handheld radios. I mean, come on, a "Sear's Platinum" battery powers the whole thing? What kind of self-respecting geek shops at "Sear's" (sic)? And a "Hydrallic" system? *cough* redneck *cough*

I'm all for rewarding creative use of technology, but this isn't creative, it's merely excessive. Not news for nerds, stuff that doesn't matter.

Here is another picture of a meteor, this one is much clearer and you can easily see what the meteor is made of:

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/3008/3861/7519430001_large.jpg

Understood, and I love the idea of your highway. I don't understand why all cell phones and ipods aren't self-charging, I mean all calculators can do it with simple solar cells...

I want to keep this short, so here goes. Polls can be wrong, as are the EPA's finding. Go look up the 2005 Jeep Liberty/Cherokee 4x4. Look at the Diesel and 3.7L automatic (the two most sold vehicles of that year). Look at the details page and take note of the user-reported fuel economy. Do the same for the 2006 VW Jetta manual Diesel vs 2.0T and 2.5L inline 5. The diesel blows them away both in EPA rating and real world reporting. Take a look at the number of people reporting data.

Oil: you're wasting money and resources with a 3k interval. I've done several oil analysis over the years to convince myself that 10k is safe. Blackstone told me with one 2002 car that it could go to 13,500 miles between oil changes. Use synthetic, change it 5k to 7k miles, and it will be OK. To think otherwise is really undermining the advances made in oil technology, and feeding the planned obsolescence system.

Unusual workforce you say. I thought so too, until I found out how many people drive into DC from NC, VA, MD, ME, and other surrounding states. It's actually more common than you think. Polls are not always accurate and it depends on whom you ask. Survey people who work in one country but own a home in another and suddenly the facts change. I also can cite the entire state of mississippi. Most people who live there don't have a job in state, it is out of state. 60-120mi one way is normal, every day, expected.

You see more diesel VWs and Trucks for sale down there for a reason: Economy. My drama teacher in high school lives in Grenada MS and drove to Memphis TN (germantown, really) daily to teach. We asked how he afforded this one day. He said his diesel VW Beetle gets 900 miles out of a tank, so he fills it up every week just about -- at the time it cost less than $30. We were astonished by this. He said his whole family has driven diesel cars since 1977 when the VW Rabbit diesel came out and have never found anything comparable to replace it. I asked him about the Prius and he said it was too expensive for anyone who needs that kind of economy because you're looking at 100k miles in under 2.5 years of driving, and at the rate of battery replacements, he'd be throwing $4k into the car every 3-4 years, along with the timing belt (at the time the Prius had both normal car maintenance and the battery upkeep, new models are chain based and supposedly only need battery work). Made sense to me, this was in 2001 when the Prius was being launched. The Honda Insight was already for sale.

Lastly, it does take all types. The problem is that my reaction showcases the type of response a lot of people will give to EVs. Expensive. Costly. Short rage. Not worth it. It's the same reasons (sans the short range) that was given to the 80s diesels; many are still on the road yes, but they didn't come with automatics, the GM models sent pistons through the hood of the car around 50k miles if you were unlucky enough, and they all had a lot of issues. Good idea executed poorly, but what was the result? The 35MPG Caddy's, Delta 88's and 60MPG Ford Escorts (1984 model, see here: http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/1845/4701/29612350015_large.jpg) all went to the wayside and we went back to being happy with 25MPG... a standard still accepted today.

So forgive me if I think a 200mi range is laughable, I feel it is. I work and know people who put 200+mi on a car every day, and while it would be possible to make it work by plugging in while at work, I think we both agree that a large portion of Americans would forget to do it and thus be left stranded at some point in time. It might only happen once (its like running a diesel out, you tend to only do it once), but it would happen. Growing pains I suppose, but I think now to 2020, w

Do you use a feather tether harness for your Amazon or have you handled him since birth? We just started using a harness and it's been better than I'd expected. I have a more profound respect for YouTube, the videos on parrots and training have been quite helpful....

I'm really not up to debate this anymore. I don't trust the EPA. If you look at the User Input on fueleconomy the TDI New Beetle (pre-2005 models) have 40/50 economy, Motorweek's Review of the 99 model (engine used from 1998 to 2004, then replaced with a 100HP Pump Duse motor, which was in use in all models except the 05.5-06 Jetta which used slightly different 100HP Motor, the 05 Passat was the only model with a 2.0L Diesel). They also noted it emits less CO2 while deliverying 27% more torque than the 2.0L Beetle (the gas engine available until 2005, when the 2.5L came out). The 2.5L is a hog, it gets really bad economy -- thats what we traded (in Jetta form) for the Jeep, and the Jeep has out performed it since. The EPA has historically rated Diesels poorly; they gave the award for "most fuel efficient car ever" to the 99 Honda Insight at 63MPG highway EXCEPT that the 1984 EPA Rating for the Ford Escort Diesel was 68 Highway (see this ad: http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/1845/4701/29612350015_large.jpg)... the 84 data is no longer available, and they don't always have the data for all vehicles that came with a diesel for every year. Also they don't list economy for large trucks (F250 or bigger), which is where you *really* see the difference that a diesel makes.

I will say you're as passionate about your vehicle options as I am. I think the two have a place in the US, because we live two very different (but yet similar) lifestyles. I'd really like to see a diesel-electric hybrid, and I hope that VW is solid on their commitment of a Hybrid TDI Jetta in the 2012 timeframe, one made at the new USA/Chattanooga TN plant.

Also, as far as the wiring and HOA restrictions, we have no such protections where I live. I've seen people's solar installs be removed after lengthy court battles, and the HOA wins. Feel blessed where you are but do realize that what is working for you simply can't work for others (due to political limitation, no due to science or anything of legit fact). I've enjoyed this debate with you, but I still hold out that no electric in the next 15 years is going to be able to replace my Diesels. I hope to be proven wrong, but I feel we overlook usable technologies in the quest to find better ones, and yet keep using the same old broken crap.

>convertible submarine

http://blog.cardomain.com/blog/2008/03/geneva-motor-sh.html

You are really not trying hard enough.

Compare:
http://blog.wired.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/02/vw_one_liter_concept01_2.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/4/web/2416000-2416999/2416491_569_full.jpg

I had pictured one of these. More trunk space, but not quite as fast :-).

Old Beetles (and Squarebacks and Fastbacks, if you can find them anymore) are surprisingly simple and effective vehicles. Many of the parts are stamped or welded stampings (don't *ever* let the hamfisted towtruck operator sling your old Beetle.) They're pretty simple to work on, though you should expect to hack yourself a couple of times on the engine air shroud. As an EV donor, it's probably a pretty good choice.

However, I've driven them on the New York Thruway in winter, and lemme tell ya, the things dart around something fierce at highway speeds in the slightest of crosswinds. Ballasting with lead batteries up front will definitely help keep the nose pointed where you requested. A friend of mine, who's an Aero professor at U of Texas, described the old Beetle as "one of the most abominable aerodynamic designs ever." He'd done wind tunnel testing to back up his statement. Hopefully I got the quote right.

Old Beetles (and Squarebacks and Fastbacks, if you can find them anymore) are surprisingly simple and effective vehicles. Many of the parts are stamped or welded stampings (don't *ever* let the hamfisted towtruck operator sling your old Beetle.) They're pretty simple to work on, though you should expect to hack yourself a couple of times on the engine air shroud. As an EV donor, it's probably a pretty good choice.

However, I've driven them on the New York Thruway in winter, and lemme tell ya, the things dart around something fierce at highway speeds in the slightest of crosswinds. Ballasting with lead batteries up front will definitely help keep the nose pointed where you requested. A friend of mine, who's an Aero professor at U of Texas, described the old Beetle as "one of the most abominable aerodynamic designs ever." He'd done wind tunnel testing to back up his statement. Hopefully I got the quote right.

As regular viewers of the excellent MTV educational show "Pimp My Ride" will already be informed Xzibit and colleagues recently installed a 12,000 Watt subwoofer in one of their patient's vehicules. The subwoofer itself is here: http://www.cardomain.com/sku/MTXT992244.

Despite being a WASP I must add that the car post-transformation was "phat".

John.

I took that as a challenge.

Hey, my car keeps running out of gas. Let's get a horse.

More like "Hey, my 1968 Beaumont keeps running out of gas. Let's get a Prius.

...their forum-shopping in korea?

What engineer decided a 1/4" depression would be suitable to hold a cup? Especially in an off-road vehicle, they're useless.

One solution

Not all hacks are hard :)

The van is a "MasterAce Surf", 8 seats, it's diesel and 4WD, has removable skylights and uses very little fuel. Great for shopping, luggin bulk people around or gentle off-roading including parking anywhere.

The Peugeot 505 is just plain fun, albeit with nothing like the jaw-dropping fuel economy of a modern Pug. I've watched "sports" cars run over the roundabout or hit the kerb behind me more often than I can count after mistakenly assuming that where I could go in my old klunker, they could follow. (-:

The Pug is the closest to an electronically controlled (as in, transistor-assisted ignition) car I've owned. A friend in Mount barker got himself a new Mazda a few years ago, then when one of his friends drove the same-model car into a big puddle in a Perth underpass and killed an AUD$12000 car computer, he drove it back up to Perth the next day and traded it in.

Another fun car I once owned was Chrysler Centura 4l 6-cyl hemi with floor-shift. It was butt ugly and handled like a week-old trifle but had an elegant sufficiency of horsepower, thank you. Another was a Ford Transit van, no power or handling but you could stack stuff into it all day long without filling it up (I helped a girl move house with it and we got three wardrobes and a dining suite in one load), and you could bolt the sliding doors back on hot days (-: IOW, climate control locked on "yes" :-).

Wow, our '85 Ford (Mercur in the US) Scorpio woud apply power as needed when going uphil. It's actally the same model as the one on the pic above (85 2.8i Ghia), except for the color. Some more pics

I was dissapointed, a google search on that didn't turn up anything useful. Somone really should make one...

Although, I supose all it realy takes is three of these with one of these

I was dissapointed, a google search on that didn't turn up anything useful. Somone really should make one...

Although, I supose all it realy takes is three of these with one of these

I'm not sure what type of VW he's got, but given that he's in Afghanistan I wouldn't be surprised if it's not an air-cooled Type 1 (Beetle). But it could be a Type 2 (Transporter), too. Could even be a Golf -- it's the best-selling model they've got. We Americans are the only market that shuns it in favor of the Bora (Jetta) -- though I love my lil' white Golf IV!

I found a few more electric VWs with a little bit of looking:

Diesel-Electric (1.3L TDI) New Beetle

Electric 1969 Kharmann Ghia (the Ghia is a Beetle derivative)

Electric Rabbit (US Mk1 Golf)

And that's just for starters. VW AG itself considered a hybrid diesel-electric powertrain option for the Concept 1, which later became the New Beetle, but so far only the diesel portion has survived (the TDI is an option in the Golf, Beetle, Jetta, and now the Passat and the Touareg in the US, and in the rest of the model line elsewhere in the world.)

I'd love to see VW build a Golf-based CR-V competitor with a hybrid diesel-electric powertrain and the race-bred DSG transmission.

But yeah, this guy gets geek points from me. :)

If you'd seen the *SIZE* of the hulking monster I was staring at, you'd be impressed.

Also, compare the size of your Renault
against my Saturn SL2.

You're right; Bugatti needs to figure out a way to put their W16 engine in one of these :-)

> Simple rule: If your car is built anywhere between 13 (the Skoda factory) and 144 (Japan) degrees of longitude, don't buy it.

Cool! More Nissan Skyline GTRs for me then!

Clicky!

Please! The last thing we need is more Auroras!

With regards,
Car & Driver

>I like to take walks too, but I don't tell everyone on /. about it.

Yes, people who drive Paseos are often found walking instead. Although that isn't anything to be proud of, this is the internet.

Don't forget to check out some of the rice mobiles on that page. :-)