Random Thoughts Thread

[Drew Dowdell]

The Honda Civic hybrid is a substantially better hybrid than the Pruis.

[Robert Hall]

The new Prelude sort of looks like a less sleek coupe version of the latest Prius.  I like the styling. 

Edited 22 hours ago by Robert Hall

[ccap41]

1 hour ago, G. David Felt said:

At 57 with grandkids, my days of motorbikes and scooters are over, I promised the wife I would not take risks at this stage in life. Like @A Horse With No Name living my best life with the kids and their families out hiking, skiing, seeing the world and being active.

I'm 37 but with two kids, I'm also off of two wheels on pubic roads. As much as I love being on 2 wheels, I don't trust the public anymore. I'd like to say I'll be back on a motorcycle one day, it just won't be any time soon. 

[G. David Felt]

The Mercedes press release says there was still 85 miles of charge left after driving 749 miles on a single charge on a true "All Solid-State Battery" or ASSD
Long-distance test successfully completed: EQS with solid-state battery covers 749 miles on a single charge

[Drew Dowdell]

I miss sedans and big coupes.  Sure, there are some left, but what's left isn't great.  

As much as we all nitpicked about some of the sedan offerings in the final years, most of them were pretty darn good even if they weren't what this crew thought of as "perfect".  The Continental, Fusion platform and all, was still a very very nice car to wheel around.  The Avalon and Maxima were built to eat up highway, the Crown is just kinda meh.

The Buick Lacrosse Avenier was better than most Cadillacs from 10 years prior. 
 

Fusion and MKZ hybrids were comfy and efficient.  Mazda 6 was a sexy sport sedan.

Where are all the Eldorados? Where are the Rivieras? Why are my only two options the 4-series and CLE?

[Robert Hall]

I miss mid size or larger sedans, coupes and 4 seat convertibles.  

[Drew Dowdell]

[trinacriabob]

On 11/5/2025 at 12:04 PM, G. David Felt said:

I get the need for rebuilding reefs, but why not recycle this ship and use better environmental materials to build the reef. This just seems like a lazy way of getting rid of a ship.

I know that, in online posts, people don't want other people to keep beating a dead horse.  However, Long Beach, California took on the first Queen Mary in 1967 and Long Beach is a big town, but still considered a suburb of Los Angeles.  People went to the Queen Mary to eat, have brunch, have drinks, have their proms, have conferences, and even sleep there.  QE2 is thankfully a floating moored hotel in the port at Dubai.  I really think that the SS United States could have found a spot on the river near the Financial District in New York.  Downtown New York becomes a small triangular tip on the harbor at its base.  Workers and visitors go to eat and do other things at the South Street Seaport on the Brooklyn Bridge side in a matter of minutes.  If placed on the Hudson near Battery Park City, you can bet that there would have been a lot of employees in the area who would have gone to the ship to eat lunch, have meetings, and sleep there if they created a hotel in part of it. The SS United States was billed as "America's flagship" and New York was the inscription on the stern.  That's where she needed to be.

[trinacriabob]

3 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

I miss mid size or larger sedans, coupes 

Ditto.

That may be why I'm "turning Japanese." I really think so.

[oldshurst442]

 

[oldshurst442]

[oldshurst442]

5 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

@oldshurst442 You should be happy for a car option. 2026 Honda Prelude is getting good press for being a better, faster hybrid than Toyota has.

After Driving The New Honda Prelude, I Think Toyota Finally Has A Reason To Worry

2026 Honda Prelude Revealed: Iconic Model Returns with Hybrid-Electric Power, Type R Chassis Hardware and New Honda S+ Shift

 

If anybody cares what I say...here is my opinion of it.  

Its a sleek cool little car.  I like it.  Especially in that blue.

 

But the Renault EV I posted about a month or so ago is what Id rather own/buy. 

1. Its 100% electric. Id rather be in the gasoline only or electric only camp. No in between.

2. The Renault tugs on my emotions more.  

In green

 

or yellow

 

[ccap41]

I believe it was @A Horse With No Name who asked a few weeks ago about the Continental tires I had on my bike. I finally remembered to take a picture of said tires and bike. 

[A Horse With No Name]

10 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I believe it was @A Horse With No Name who asked a few weeks ago about the Continental tires I had on my bike. I finally remembered to take a picture of said tires and bike. 

My younger son and I both have Giant bikes, they make fantastic bikes. 

11 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

Hell yes, Hockey Content will ALWAYS be welcome here. Always. 

Instead of negative about America, how 'bout positive about Canada....

 

 

If i were ever to buy another bike, this is probably the Giant I would buy. Which of my bikes I get rid of, that is an impossible question to answer. 

 

Your daily cool adventure video...

 

 

[trinacriabob]

17 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

The Honda Civic hybrid is a substantially better hybrid than the Pruis.

While I now like the sleek design of the Prius, I wonder if the Honda Civic is easier to get in and out of.

[A Horse With No Name]

27 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

While I now like the sleek design of the Prius, I wonder if the Honda Civic is easier to get in and out of.

I really like the Prius though. If it could easily haul two bikes without a rack, I would be in. It does have a generous hatch area, i can haul one inside easily. 

[A Horse With No Name]

Interesting on the new Mayor of New York. 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Brutal Swiss art and Swiss protest against our dear leader...

 

[G. David Felt]

13 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

Well done review of GM and Mary is on the right track even though adjustments due to Idiot47 is needed, my only problem with GM is their lack of AA/CP support which their platform does support as proven by the excellent made Honda Prologue. 

GM needs to stop attempting to nickel and dime every buyer via their choices of what one can do via the play store and monthly payments to use the navigation system that was built into the auto.

If a legacy will survive, I can see GM over Ford. Stellantis is dead to me as is the American name plates they own, never will buy another product from them.

[G. David Felt]

This is so cool, a real review of the G90 luxury car from Genesis. Cool technology.

 

[G. David Felt]

FYI - Anyone that says we are not heading into a bad recession if not full depression is drinking way too much MAGA Cool aid. 

US layoffs for October surge to two-decade high, Challenger data shows

Appears ICE is using facial recognition software to determine if they should arrest you.

ICE's use of smartphones to determine citizenship could trigger the next constitutional crisis

This I would agree with would be a boon for everyone, but the auto industry especially.

A ruling striking down Trump's tariffs would be like rocket fuel for stocks

 

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, G. David Felt said:

Well done review of GM and Mary is on the right track even though adjustments due to Idiot47 is needed, my only problem with GM is their lack of AA/CP support which their platform does support as proven by the excellent made Honda Prologue. 

GM needs to stop attempting to nickel and dime every buyer via their choices of what one can do via the play store and monthly payments to use the navigation system that was built into the auto.

If a legacy will survive, I can see GM over Ford. Stellantis is dead to me as is the American name plates they own, never will buy another product from them.

Agree on Stellantis. 

1 hour ago, G. David Felt said:

FYI - Anyone that says we are not heading into a bad recession if not full depression is drinking way too much MAGA Cool aid. 

US layoffs for October surge to two-decade high, Challenger data shows

Appears ICE is using facial recognition software to determine if they should arrest you.

ICE's use of smartphones to determine citizenship could trigger the next constitutional crisis

This I would agree with would be a boon for everyone, but the auto industry especially.

A ruling striking down Trump's tariffs would be like rocket fuel for stocks

 

We can hope on Tariffs, and the economy is going to crater. 

 

[Drew Dowdell]

3 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

While I now like the sleek design of the Prius, I wonder if the Honda Civic is easier to get in and out of.

I didn't notice that much of a difference, but I'm fairly limber.  The difference for me is in the substantially superior interior and better power delivery.  Aside from the extra surge of torque and minimal gasoline spend, you don't really know you're driving a hybrid in the Civic

[trinacriabob]

48 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I didn't notice that much of a difference, but I'm fairly limber.  The difference for me is in the substantially superior interior and better power delivery.  Aside from the extra surge of torque and minimal gasoline spend, you don't really know you're driving a hybrid in the Civic

Yes.  That's good to know.  I reviewed my Tampa Bay Prius rental here on C&G.  I liked it.  It's attractive.  But, at 5'-10" (average), that front pillar was overly raked and *bump* a few times a day.   One is conditioned to enter a regularly proportioned coupe door.

I will have to test sit a Civic hybrid.  Civics are certainly not the runts they used to be.

Getting ~50 mpg is a great feeling! I like economizing when I can. (I made it to Whopper Wednesday yesterday.)

[trinacriabob]

21 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

The new Prelude

Back in the '90s, Dr. Ruth did a commercial for the Honda Prelude.  Or should I say PRRRelude. She was one of a kind!  And I mean that in a good way.

[A Horse With No Name]

On 11/5/2025 at 11:44 AM, ccap41 said:

Let's talk about the automotive world, eh? I doubt anybody here follows NASCAR, because I don't recall anybody talking about it here but, I'm probably wrong.

I'll start with; I'm a Ross Chastain and SVG(Shane VanGisbergen) fan and I've grown for a likening for Denny Hamlin over the past two years from listening to his podcast. He doesn't hold back on the sport and the issues the sport has and issues he has with other drivers. It's just nice to not hear the politically correct talk from drivers who are conditioned to always be perfectly buttoned up and say the "perfect" things. 

Anybody watch the championship race last Sunday? 

With that said, Denny was one of the Championship Four drivers and pretty much dominated Sunday...until somebody blew a tire 3 laps to go and it shuffled the field with who pit, who didn't pit. Who put two tires on, who put 4 tires on. The final restart didn't go as I would have liked and Denny ended up not winning. It's a bummer, mostly for him. He's been pretty open about this being the last time his terminally-ill father will be able to see him race for a championship and he was in position to win his first championship. His crew chief made the wrong call, in the end.

Congrats to Kyle Larson on his 2nd championship.

Next autosport championship? F1 and Max is coming for the McLaren duo.

I used to watch a lot of open wheel, I need to get back to it. 

 

Thank you for this post!

19 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

Yes.  That's good to know.  I reviewed my Tampa Bay Prius rental here on C&G.  I liked it.  It's attractive.  But, at 5'-10" (average), that front pillar was overly raked and *bump* a few times a day.   One is conditioned to enter a regularly proportioned coupe door.

I will have to test sit a Civic hybrid.  Civics are certainly not the runts they used to be.

Getting ~50 mpg is a great feeling! I like economizing when I can. (I made it to Whopper Wednesday yesterday.)

My wife hates the sloping front A pillars like that, at 5 foot four they really block her vision 

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I didn't notice that much of a difference, but I'm fairly limber.  The difference for me is in the substantially superior interior and better power delivery.  Aside from the extra surge of torque and minimal gasoline spend, you don't really know you're driving a hybrid in the Civic

I may need to check one out 

[Drew Dowdell]

7 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I may need to check one out 

If you're looking for a comfortable fuel miser, the civic is the top of the list. It has the smooth low-end torque feel of the old V8s. It rides more like a luxury sedan than an economy one. Nicer leather and some faux suede and they could have called it an Acura. 

[G. David Felt]

5 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

While I now like the sleek design of the Prius, I wonder if the Honda Civic is easier to get in and out of.

I can honestly say that as a big guy, getting into Toyota Prius is hard as well as out as they sit so damn low. The Honda Civics are easier for me to get into and out of compared to the Prius on the road today. This will be interesting to see what the interior space is for this new prelude once it hits the lots.

[Drew Dowdell]

5 minutes ago, G. David Felt said:

I can honestly say that as a big guy, getting into Toyota Prius is hard as well as out as they sit so damn low. The Honda Civics are easier for me to get into and out of compared to the Prius on the road today. This will be interesting to see what the interior space is for this new prelude once it hits the lots.

Lol you're not fitting in a Prelude.