SAmadei

Its like Tucker all over again... Also, not trying to make light of the situation, I thought it was ironic they flew into power lines and blacked out parts of Palo Alto... if the plane was electric, it could have used the lines to recharge the batteries. It is a shame, though. I don't understand why these rich guys feel the need to fly planes themselves. I also wonder why Tesla would permit putting three valuable Execs in one amateur flown plane.

Standard catalog: 1996 O: 394,016 B: 427,316 1997 O: 211,000* B: 438,064 1998 O: 239,572 B: 431,142 1999 B: 408,132 2000 B: 475,000* 2001 B: 339,000* 2002 B: 350,602 * Total was not figured, I estimated this by adding models together. Wiki: 1996 O: 300,032 B: 342,538 1997 O: 277,086 B: 287,655 1998 O: 291,064 B: 212,780 1999 B: 216,652 2000 B: 209,328 So all the numbers are all somewhat off. I imagine von is right and the Canadian Buicks aren't being counted... but why is Olds off?

Thats really funny.

I wish I would understand the dialog a bit better. After riding the bus years ago, this kind of stuff was a daily occurrence. I love how right at the end "I got it all on video, you can sue!"... yeah.. right... he threw the first punch and the old man remained unidentified.

<facetious> What, when GM kills off Buick-GMC? </facetious>

Loved the rest of this post, Camino. You phrased a bunch of things I wasn't able to put together. One thing that drives me nuts about NASA is that its highly visible successes end up hurting its image. If I had a nickel for everytime I heard somebody watch a rocket/shuttle launch or a spacecraft going farther than man could imagine and they go, "Boy, that looks expensive. Why are we spending this money? (and not giving it to me)". Yeah, it is expensive... but the problem is that its nothing compared to the money we waste on everything else. I wish it was possible to profoundly show people just how much money some parts of our government is blowing. But the problem is that for much of the population, they can't grasp a thousand-fold increase or even a hundred-fold increase sometimes. Adding a 0 to the end of $1000000000 is a bit more than adding a 0 to $10.

NASA has had boondoggles, sure... but their budget is nowhere the big money pit as most US budgets draws. Oh, Utopia... well, thats not coming. There no money in curing cancer permanently. No money in making people live longer. Watch Idiocracy and view our future. Its about keeping the masses poor, dumb, unarmed and dependant. At least NASA provides a distant hope of getting some people off this rock, where a newfound freedom will be found.

Without NASA, a lot of very important technologies would never have come about. The military had better care about the NASA's funding (especially if the aliens visit ;-) ).

Same boat here, 98R, from total GM loyalist to 'None's across the board. Still leaning towards a few European makes now that GM doesn't make traditional American cars.

I haven't had issues with the TB on the 2004 Grand Prix, but its supercharged. On my '99 Bonne, I did have issues, to the point where the the butterfly would get sticky. I cleaned it from the outside, but it got sticky again. I took the TB off, and it turned out the goo was on the inside, from the PVC. At that point, I totally cleaned it with TB spray and it was fine up to the point that I redid my upper intake and at that point I put a hogged out TB on the car. As for the starting problem, are you getting any codes?

I would think it would get all gouged to hell. Just curious, is it possible to remove the plastic treatment at the rear window? Or do they offer a cap for the Avalanches?

The point is its lighter, has less drag and wear and tear and is less complex. I would expect a G80, however. Sorry, IMHO, 4WD is for offroad and I'm not all that thrilled with 4WD as a snow vehicle. I have a 4wd vehicle... '76 K5 Blazer with big tires... it sucks in the snow, IMHO. Unfortunately, as much as I generally hate trucks, I suppose a newer truck is in my future since GM has only made about 10,000 worthwhile fullsize cars in the last 14 years. That Orange Avalanche is interesting, but not really practical for me... I don't like being arrested everytime I drive... ;-) I'd be happy with a 2wd Avalache... preferably black (without the ugly plastic), lowered, G80 with a decent sounding exhaust.

You're still breaking with the front wheels of the car... the rear wheels break only 10% of the fronts. This is all fine in a straight line. But in a curve, the rear wheels are still going faster and will want to pass the front wheels. The big problem with engine breaking during during a slippery curve is when you feel the need to jump off the gas quickly. I guess its a good thin6 that 4-5-6-7-8 speed OD trannies don't engine brake too much. I probably would. But I'd keep in it my lane. Its about using the fishtail to steer... OTOH, if you're fishtailing out of control... your just out of control. I used to do it in a newspaper trucks all the time... they always had questionable tires on them and were pretty wild in the snow and ice. Especially in '96 when we ran out of salt midwinter. Black ice everywhere.

So I've been thinking about the future of the car. Assuming that electric cars are the future... or at least some sort of hybrid drivetrain, and that motors, engines, batterys/capacitors will continue to shrink, I was thinking that the current debate of FWD vs. RWD will change radically. FWD's biggest selling point is that the weight of the engine is over the drive wheels. And for the car makers, its a packaging benefit. Since electrics tend to put the batterys in the center of the car, and there are many prototypes of electric motors that are located in the wheels of the car, negating the need for a large motor in the front of the car, the weight is actually shifting midship... so you are losing the public's perceived benefit of FWD. Adding to the change will be the overhaul of the traditional car format... with car's shrinking in size, and trunks disappearing, I imagine that the front of the car needs to be utilized as a trunk... you can't really get rid of the front without sacraficing crash protection. I imagine hybrids will only need (or be permitted by the EPA) a small engine, directly coupled to the electric system, with no transmission needed... these engines may be small enough to fit under the passengers, as well. Of course, immediately, people are going to chime in about 4WD or AWD electric vehicles, but since these motors are expensive, there will always be the bulk of cars on the road that do not power all of the wheels... and in the future, maybe not even more than one wheel in the most inexpensive cars. So, I ask... in the future, will RWD make a comeback because it makes more sense from a driving dynamics perspective or will the car makers continue to use the idea of FWD being better to continue the misrepresentation they have used for the last 25 years? Thoughts?

But the trouble is... you can't doctor up FWD with a bag of cat litter. You can't 'fix' the problem of the front wheels engine braking. Fishtailling is fun, and is not always a sign of loss of control. In fact, I used to go out in the first snow/ice every season and intentionally fishtail, skid, etc. to bust the rust off my snow driving and to see how the car was going to react after 10 months of non freezing weather. Learning how to harness the fishtail is key... in snow, wet or dry.

I'd rather have a RWD car in the snow. FWD cars are great for getting up to speed in the snow. Trouble is, you end up going too fast for the conditions. I'd rather have a Camaro and have a tough time getting going than a FWD car going around a snowy curve when engine braking decides to turn the car around. This is why I love seeing 4WD cars in ditches during snow storms... or video with FWD cars, wheels cut hard and locked up, sliding straight into accidents. Put some decent tires on it and a couple bags of cat litter in the trunk. I've noticed FWD cars are more prone to getting stuck on snow piles. At least when you get stopped by a snow pile in a RWD car, your rear tires are still on the ground. During the last storm, I saw so many people with FWD cars with the front end sitting on a pile of snow that it was hilarious. My FWD '99 Bonne almost got stuck in the same way... and nearly ended my 21 year streak of not getting a car stuck in the snow... I've had about 15 RWD cars to 1 FWD. But I rocked it and was able to back it off.

I hear ya. I have to step up the fixing of the Caprice (broken for one year, ugh!), so I have something when the Bonne's tranny gives out... but the garage is too tight... I have to be halfway outside in the snow! And the garage leaks, so I have meltwater on the floor... not prime car working time.

I love threads like this. Other threads people are complaining about fit and finish, interior plastics, navigation and cup holder counts... This thread: Legality optional, ABS broken, no Speedo, disable the ECM, Only needs first and reverse! This is my kinda thread. In other news, I'll be probably looking for a gently used 4T65E-HD soon.

1984: Blazer/Jimmy FS '83-86 AT, gas Chevy/GMC Pickup Tr. '82-86 AT, 4x4, TH700, gas Suburban '82-86 AT 4x4 TH700, gas These are 1904As, so you may have to swap the speedo from cable to electronic. Might screw up ABS, but I think you could live with that.

If a cop pulls you over, just push a big pile of snow around him and escape!

Looking up the tranny in the Hollander shows quite a few donor vehicles... Its a 1904B, but 1904A interchanges, as one has a aux valve body. Seems to be pretty common 1983-1989 4x4s. Its a long list. If you want I can scan it, but its likely easier to just ask me... pretty much everything 4x4 and gas... goes to 1992 in Suburbans.

Just a stupid thought, but why not disconnect the ECM to tranny link and see who the current busted tranny runs. I would think it would still function well enough and not do any damage... but you'll get a CEL. Then you could use a "regular" 4x4 ready 700r4 to get by and fix it right later.

7 might be a bit much... lets say 4, his jersey number.

It could be a problem in the future when we have flying Volvos!

If I posted a photo of me in a loincloth, the server would crash and burn from all the people linking to poorlydressed.com.