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- Thread starter W2S
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Zolgar
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At that time, it was like owning a yacht.
Soandso
Major Contributor
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Another USA car manufacturer's historically interesting hood ornament is the masted sailing ship on the old Plymouth truck (pictured below) as a symbol of legitemacy. It alluded to the famous Pilgrim colonists sailing aboard the Mayflower into the "New World" back in 1620 and then founding the Plymouth Colony.
Digital_Thor
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Just bought a 17 year old V70 D5 automatic... Love it already 
napfkuchen
Addicted to Fun and Learning
If you're looking for a simple single channel 4K dashcam this might be interesting:
www.vantrue.com
only 99 $ / €, about 25% cheaper than the best price so far
Vantrue E1 Pro 4K Mini Dash Cam | GPS, WiFi, HDR, Voice Control, LTE Ready
Capture crystal-clear 4K footage with the compact E1 Pro dash cam. STARVIS 2, PlatePix™, HDR night vision, 5GHz WiFi, GPS, voice control & LTE compatible
www.vantrue.com
only 99 $ / €, about 25% cheaper than the best price so far
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- Apr 24, 2022
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An AP News photo from January 2025 of the Palisades Fire in Southern California went viral for showing a seemingly undamaged VW Microbus amidst a burned neighborhood.
VW restored the vehicle and unveiled it to the owner last month.
apnews.com
VW restored the vehicle and unveiled it to the owner last month.
Volkswagen debuts restored vintage blue bus that survived a California wildfire and melted hearts
A vintage blue Volkswagen bus named Azul became an unlikely symbol of resilience after surviving a California wildfire.
apnews.com
napfkuchen
Addicted to Fun and Learning
So I got my new car and it's a "mixed experience". Android Auto wireless (which actually works 100% unlike the addon solution on my last car), wireless phone charging, automatic transmission, matrix headlights and keyless access are nice improvements for me.
On the other hand there are features I wouldn't mind missing at all. Travel assist in theory combines automatic cruise control, speed sign reading, traffic alerts etc. In practice it is just annoying most of the time. Sometimes even a slight bend is enough to trigger a message on the display "curve ahead, 80 km/h" and the car will reduce speed. Or it might even register that you can also turn right there, and it decides 30 km/h might be appropriate... Of course, you can override the assistants, but at their core, these systems are still quite basic. The same applies to my father's BMW, where, for example, you can change lanes with a gesture. In reality it's all still rather clumsy.
Unfortunately, also it doesn't have a true automatic transmission, but rather VW's DSG. While it shifts quickly and imperceptibly most of the time, the acceleration and behavior in first and second gear are still far from ideal. But of course, for just over 25,000 euros, you can't expect perfection in every aspect.
However, after driving a few electric cars recently, I think one of those will probably be my next car. The noise comfort and smoothness are simply far superior to combustion engine cars. The rapid technical obsolescence and immature technology of the current generation have held me back so far. VW's battery problems (a friend works for a car rental company that, which has massive problems with the ID.4) or the ICCU issues with Hyundai/Kia can easily lead to a total economic loss, to name just a couple of examples. Maybe in 6-8 years, we'll see which manufacturers are still on the market then.
On the other hand there are features I wouldn't mind missing at all. Travel assist in theory combines automatic cruise control, speed sign reading, traffic alerts etc. In practice it is just annoying most of the time. Sometimes even a slight bend is enough to trigger a message on the display "curve ahead, 80 km/h" and the car will reduce speed. Or it might even register that you can also turn right there, and it decides 30 km/h might be appropriate... Of course, you can override the assistants, but at their core, these systems are still quite basic. The same applies to my father's BMW, where, for example, you can change lanes with a gesture. In reality it's all still rather clumsy.
Unfortunately, also it doesn't have a true automatic transmission, but rather VW's DSG. While it shifts quickly and imperceptibly most of the time, the acceleration and behavior in first and second gear are still far from ideal. But of course, for just over 25,000 euros, you can't expect perfection in every aspect.
However, after driving a few electric cars recently, I think one of those will probably be my next car. The noise comfort and smoothness are simply far superior to combustion engine cars. The rapid technical obsolescence and immature technology of the current generation have held me back so far. VW's battery problems (a friend works for a car rental company that, which has massive problems with the ID.4) or the ICCU issues with Hyundai/Kia can easily lead to a total economic loss, to name just a couple of examples. Maybe in 6-8 years, we'll see which manufacturers are still on the market then.
Digital_Thor
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Part of my 'new' 17 year old car, getting some TLC 
EJ3
Master Contributor
Just did all 4 of mine (all discs) on my 1 & 1/2 year old (to me) 2004 Chevy Silverado HD (and SS "Tribute") 1500 truck.
EJ3
Master Contributor
No need for the running boards due to the low slung design.
& the hidden headlights made for a nice, sleek, (& aerodynamic) design.
Beautiful cars.
Digital_Thor
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Nice! I just wire brushed mine and gave the rims some anti-seize, so that wintertime do not corrode them too much, and make them stick.
Next step is to remove all underpanels to look for any rust and other unwelcome stuff, and then fix the parking heater.
Just put on some temporary rear tires, since the ones on, have some broken sidewalls, making them really annoying to drive on.
Ordering 4 new tires soon, then all rims needs to be cleaned before mounting them and doing a full wheel alignment.
Incredible how such an old V70 can be so quiet and just smooth along the road like sitting in a good armchair
EJ3
Master Contributor
Since the beginning of the year, I have installed new rotors & pads on mine, 4 new KYB MAX Gas-A-Just shocks, had the transmission rebuilt from a 4L60E to a 4L70E HD (the trans case is the original one, all the parts changes are internal), along with a new torque converter that is speced for the Trailblazer SS, giving a 2600 RPM stall, helping the truck pull a load easier, replaced all the suspension bushings (I had to replace one tie rod). and all 4 tires (2 were Falken's on the front and 2 were General's on the back) with:Nice! I just wire brushed mine and gave the rims some anti-seize, so that wintertime do not corrode them too much, and make them stick.
Next step is to remove all underpanels to look for any rust and other unwelcome stuff, and then fix the parking heater.
Just put on some temporary rear tires, since the ones on, have some broken sidewalls, making them really annoying to drive on.
Ordering 4 new tires soon, then all rims needs to be cleaned before mounting them and doing a full wheel alignment.
Incredible how such an old V70 can be so quiet and just smooth along the road like sitting in a good armchair
Michelin
LTX A/T 2 275/55R20
Ride Comfort-Focused All-Terrain Tire Good on Highway, Snow (We get snow about once every 7 years)
On-Road All-Terrain
AMAZING ride now (and a substantial increase in road grip [both wet and dry]).
And the latest thing (done last week) is to change the rear gear from a 3.42 to a 3.90 and add a real clutch type Limited Slip at the same time (as opposed to the factory GM Gov Lock piece of junk limited slip. This caused the City fuel economy to go up about 4% (due to not having to apply as much throttle to get it moving [and to accelerate in general]), while also making towing easier. Interestingly, the highway fuel economy shows no change (with the cruise set a 78 MPH).
Next up is getting rid of the somewhat inefficient (built to cost), factory CAT back exhaust to one I designed myself, partially based on David Vizard's very efficient, low noise designs. I am expecting to gain a little bit of torque, a % or 2 of fuel economy on the highway and no increase in interior noise (at any speed) with a slight increase in exterior noise.
That will be my Christmas present to myself (and my wife, who wants to learn how to drive & tow with it [the biggest thing that she has ever driven is her 2024 Subaru CrossTrek]) so there will be a learning curve of some sort.
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I love that stuff. I have been wrenching stuff since age 6. At age 8 I got a ~400 pc Craftsman tool set and went off from that point on wrenching everything in sight. I read all the auto encyclopedias gifted to me many times each and studied over and over and over all the exploded views and images of all the American auto models for the ~50 previous years. By age 10 I knew the name of every part in a engine, how 2 and 4 strokes operate and was getting into transmission theories and operation. I was the guy that received the metal shop award every year till end of grade 12 at the end of school year and I had A and A+ grades in power mechanics every time all the time.Since the beginning of the year, I have installed new rotors & pads on mine, 4 new KYB MAX Gas-A-Just shocks, had the transmission rebuilt from a 4L60E to a 4L70E HD (the trans case is the original one, all the parts changes are internal), along with a new torque converter that is speced for the Trailblazer SS, giving a 2600 RPM stall, helping the truck pull a load easier, replaced all the suspension bushings (I had to replace one tie rod). and all 4 tires (2 were Falken's on the front and 2 were General's on the back) with:
Michelin
LTX A/T 2 275/55R20
Ride Comfort-Focused All-Terrain Tire Good on Highway, Snow (We get snow about once every 7 years)
On-Road All-Terrain
AMAZING ride now (and a substantial increase in road grip [both wet and dry]).
And the latest thing (done last week) is to change the rear gear from a 3.42 to a 3.90 and add a real clutch type Limited Slip at the same time (as opposed to the factory GM Gov Lock piece of junk limited slip. This caused the City fuel economy to go up about 4% (due to not having to apply as much throttle to get it moving [and to accelerate in general]), while also making towing easier. Interestingly, the highway fuel economy shows no change (with the cruise set a 78 MPH).
Next up is getting rid of the somewhat inefficient (built to cost), factory CAT back exhaust to one I designed myself, partially based on David Vizard's very efficient, low noise designs. I am expecting to gain a little bit of torque, a % or 2 of fuel economy on the highway and no increase in interior noise (at any speed) with a slight increase in exterior noise.
That will be my Christmas present to myself (and my wife, who wants to learn how to drive & tow with it [the biggest thing that she has ever driven is her 2024 Subaru CrossTrek]) so there will be a learning curve of some sort.
Then as an adult I had many cars. My favorite was a Chevy Nova. V8, Turbo 350 etc. I had gas shocks installed with extra heavy duty springs front and rear so it rode like a pickup truck and handled the rough and tumble mountain roads and mountain passes of South British Columbia very well Installed a shift kit in the Turbo 350, kept the 2 barrel carb, put on a stainless 3" exhaust with a cherry bomb bottle only and ran a single exhaust that way and it sounded fabulous. It had good fuel economy at high speeds as it did not have a 4 barrel and it frequently showed the speedo needle pointing far around the dial into the no man's land region. I had deer whistles mounted at the front fender tops near the headlamps, extra driving lights on the bumper controlled with relays off the high beam foot switch and all the goodies like heavy duty high quality windshield wipers and those additional anti smear anti-fog and anti bad everything accessories that keep the front window clean, fog free and the water beading off at maximum efficiency. It was a hoot to drive, was fast, screeched the tires in second gear all the time, had a big fat wide Buick red velvet power seat installed in the front and a 750 Watter 4 channel JBL car system in it. Women loved it and they where hesitant at first but within a few short minutes they got it and enjoyed it fully and wanted to go cruising all over. Great car.
EJ3
Master Contributor
PristineSound
Major Contributor
A Porsche is a fine car that I cannot afford.
You buy and live within your means. The good news is, there are plenty of fine amplifiers that is affordable, special thanks to the modern class D amps and these ultra affordable Fosi and Topping amps.
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