Hmm, 1% of vehicles, the new firmware apparently checks for the issue and displays an error code if detected, that leads to a battery replacement… I wonder what the actual root problem is?

Mine has 0 recalls on NHTSA, phew. Other than two electric coolant heaters failing - known issue with early builds - it’s been great.

They invested heavily in the charge network and getting margins up on the cars, and now it’s paying off. I’m not sure exactly why other carmakers are struggling to do the same, maybe with the exception of Hyundai/Kia and VW. Mazda I get, at least - they’re small, they don’t have the cash/size to invest in massive electrification programs and supply chains.

I like how the Geese complained about the noise, while this review revels in it. Vrrrrooom PSSHT.

I really wish carmakers would let the turbo noises out and mute the exhaust a little on these turbo 4s, I feel like they do the opposite to not scare people or something, and they sound awful as a result.

I think many Redditors don’t understand the point of this vehicle…

Watching TFL Truck’s tests, it seems like the first BEV (along with the Hummer of course) that can actually tow long distance under heavy load. I guess just putting a huge battery in works pretty well for that. The charge time at full power is pretty quick too, so theoretically you could do a road trip with a trailer in one, assuming you are willing to fiddle with the trailer at charge stations and find 350kW stations that work.

Thing is, it’s a pretty steep price to pay for that, both in dollars for the truck and in inconvenience compared to gas/diesel. I’m guessing most truck buyers looking for a long distance tow rig wont’ bite.

Those “Autopian TV” things in the middle of the articles make me think the Autopian is going downhill.

Probably a nice rack, with the motor on the rack and not the column, for starters. Add careful assist tuning, with lots of assist to make it light and a good speed curve to make it consistent. Also good bushings in everything to take slack out. Suspension geometry and tires too, of course, though I think Metris van drivers aren’t dealing with very high slip angles, so there might not be as much magic there.

Modern cars that aren’t named Wrangler tend to have real solid/precise front suspension, so my guess it that you are mostly feeling the rack parts choice and calibration - but I’d love to hear from an actual engineer.

Hybrids are especially susceptible, at least ones with direct injection. My Wrangler, like most PHEVs, has logic to track how much oil is in the fuel (via software estimates) and force engine runtime to burn it off. Does it work well enough to keep the oil good long term? I don’t really know, no one does yet - but I do know that after so many cold starts and short trips, it will force engine use until you get the oil hot enough, long enough for it to decide it’s good again.

Of course being a PHEV, the Wrangler has a great solution built in to handle oil dilution on shorter trips.

“I Do Cars” on Youtube tears down an engine every Saturday night. It’s a good way to see what actually blows engines up, which is almost always user inflicted really.

For modding and repair, I have yet to find a “youtube star” style channel I like, but I have found random build videos that actually explain a decent amount. Most of the time I’m looking to do something to my own car and search for a video of someone else doing the same thing.

Hmm, all three are rather slippy… I wonder if they aired down? I think the lack of a truly locked powertrain kind of hurts the current EVs off road. I mean, you’ll get up things with traction control slipping/gripping individual wheels but only after you’ve thrown the trail around a bit.

I built an “analog” car, an LS-swapped NA Miata. OK, sort of, it had two ECUs - the airbag controller and the PCM for the LS1. Guess what? My Y has better throttle response than that car because er… there are fewer mechanical components in the foot->torque path, it’s purely electrical and instant. It also had little steering feel due to the GM pump running more pressure than the Miata rack expects, haha - hydraulic steering doesn’t magically feel good and unassisted got old real fast (I tried it for a while).

Not disagreeing that analog cars are cool, just pointing out that you gotta be sure what you are after. Road feel means lots of things to different people, but usually it’s killed by things other than electronics. Specifically - tuning for emissions and smoothness, setting the chassis up for easy steering and low feedback, adding lots of sound insulation for less NVH, etc. IMHO, the problem isn’t electronics or EPS or any other single thing killing the feel of modern cars, it’s how they are designed overall. But many modern cars are quite good to drive - try a manual C7 for example. Do you just want a car that feels great to drive, or do you truly want a throwback analog car?

If you really do want no electronics, find an old diesel or carb’ed car. Thing is, you are also gonna have old suspension, and an old chassis, and old steering… That might not be the feel you are looking for.

Also mid 30’s, I fell like the “old web” in general has emptied out. Miata.net is still around, but most forums now are kind of a mess and often corporate owned, like the 4xE one is. Kinda how the web in general is going, really.

Yeah, I realize the irony of posting that on Reddit, haha!

One of the reasons I don’t see network updates as a silver bullet. Ideally, you’d have some way to also update via USB, even on a bricked system, but well - few things are designed that way since it’s extra effort. I should know, I’ve worked on a few myself though outside the automotive world. An auto update rollback process would solve problems like this too, for what that’s worth.

I think this will become more common as automakers stumble through becoming tech companies or whatever. I’m actually surprised Tesla hasn’t botched an update yet, regressions aside.