Drew Dowdell

In a Chrysler... probably the LeBarron Convertible. In a Dodge... probably their last K-Car convertible. The Cutlass Supreme had a white leather interior in convertibles up until 1995.

That deserves a couple of +1s

Today! You can't get past "today". The whole point of the Volt is that it removes gasoline as the lynch pin to mobility. Electricity is renewable and we know many many many different ways to make it. Having the electric drive train opens up a host of possibilities on how to generate that electricity. A sterling engine or propane turbine engine would NEVER be viable as the primary motive power in a vehicle.... but both of them can be used to generate electricity. It's like you are griping about Ford upgrading the brakes in the Model-T to something other than wood because cars will never go above 30mph anyway. Did you really just make a super idiotic analogy? The analogy I'd make is this one. You have two students. One majored in Basket Weaving and got a C-. The Basket it made were interesting, but not particularly useful. The other student did a duel major in chemistry and physics, with a minor in eco-sciences.... and got solid B's throughout for being capable of doing the work. Which student do you think is going further in life? The Volt is the far more advanced power train here. You're heaping all this praise on Nissan for doing something Detroit Electric did in 1907. Their vehicles had an 80 mile range on nickle iron batteries. So... yay Nissan... 103 years later, they beat Detroit Electric by 20 miles. 1. Not at a set speed, but at a fairly constant speed. I do understand that it's not on/off. 2. Because of the dynamics of torque. The Pruis's electric motor smooths out differences between torque needs and torque supply. A standard gas engine with a CVT is all over the RPM band all the time. 3. It's more efficient to run an engine, any engine, at a constant rpm. Any time you have to change the RPM, you're losing energy.

We have a fairly strong Google and Bing presence for a site our size. That's something I've worked on since I took the site over.

What is the issue?

Well it's getting a new powertrain, suspension tuning... the works. This is not your neighbor's Enterprise Rental.

Much nicer than the current one. The interior was the biggest thing that held me back from ANY of the LX cars. I like the 300c from the outside and when looking under the hood.... but the badness of the current interior, I just couldn't get over.

I mean current Taurus, not the renamed 500.

How long is your commute?

And that is the beauty of the Volt architecture. The generator really doesn't care what is spinning it does it? Someone comes out with a very low maintenance Wankel engine that runs on seaweed? Throw it in there. Someone else comes up with a diesel that runs on sugarcane? Throw it in there. GM decides that stubborn "mericans aren't going to give up gasoline until it's pried from their cold dead hands, make an HCCI version. Europe wants a biodiesel Volt? Throw it in there! As long as whatever is spinning the generator can run at a constant speed, efficiently, on command.... throw it in there. You could even make a combo Photovoltaic solar and Sterling solar model and go completely fossil fuel free.... For the Leaf... what's the next step? Where does it go from here? Bigger batteries? Better batteries?....... that's about it. The Prius is limited in it's ICE by still requiring the engine dynamics of a typical car... it has to operate efficiently at nearly all RPM with a constantly changing engine speed, where as the Volt's engine can just hang out at 3,000 rpm all day happily recharging the batteries.* * I don't know the exact RPM the Volt operates at, but hopefully you get my point.

There aren't any hills near you and I that the Volt would even worry about. It was down to Semi-Trailer speeds at the top of Loveland Pass which is 12,000 feet in elevation. That's a about 3 times the highest points in PA, MD, and WV. In fact, the only time you get an elevation over 5,000 ft east of Colorado, is Mt. Washington in Maine at 5,299. Ideally, the Volt should suggest mountain mode if it detects through your map guidance that you should be engaging it. The Prius has no mountain mode to allow you to prepare ahead of time, and the Leaf obviously doesn't since it can't regenerate on the fly.

If the interior upgrades are anything like what we've seen in the Grand Cherokee, 2011 Durango, and hinted at in the Charger, I think with the powertrain upgrades, we could be looking at a radically transformed car.....even better than the transition from Ford 500 -> current Taurus.

Dodge releases Charger interior teaser From the teaser shot, we know for sure the Charger will have the same steering wheel as the recently revealed interior of the 2011 Durango and Dodge is promising better materials and excellent fit 'n finish for everyone's favorite rebel American sedan (not that that's a extremely difficult thing to do in the first place). More here: Just a Peek: 2011 Dodge Charger Interior

Yeah, you got downrated 3 times for this, but I agree with you. My ex's Passat was a constant nightmare, from electronics that would stop working, to buttons that would fall off, to cupholders that would break..... The rain sense windshield wipers would be working... and then just quit "sensing" mid rainstorm. All in all, it was as flaky as he was.....

Ok... refixed. Chat is back and the board is working properly now.

No need to hide that last bit. If you can get down here when I have a vehicle or we can meet half way, I'd be happy to include you. You can keep your member group as long as you want... I can add as many member groups as secondary if need be.

My advice for the bread machine. Don't use it to make bread. The best thing I found for it is as a dough machine, but I never actually cook the bread in it... which somewhat defeats the purpose. Bread really requires two rises to be any good. Bread machines can only do single rise, which is why all bread machine bread comes out too dense and basically tasteless. If I use the bread machine (it's good for making pizza dough ahead of time), I punch down the dough after the first rise, remove it from the machine, form it into whatever type of loaf or roll I'm going for, and then let it rise again in an OFF oven with a bowl of hot boiled water under the pan. I've been getting artisan quality bread this way. I've got a set of 13 year old Ginsus that can't even.. cut through bread.

Croc, Do you ever do any bread making? I've been doing home made bread of various recipes every week now. and they've all turned out fantastic. just wanted to get your thoughts on it if you had any. Oh... and I need new kitchen knives...preferably that were dishwasher safe... and looking for recommendations.

Definitely in need. I just need to figure out what roles will be and who is interested in doing what.