Has anyone mentioned dumb ignition keys? and accompanying dumb ignition systems? The kind you can get a duplicates made for $5 at the shoe repair place. Oh, a little off-topic, but: "dumb" headlight, or more succinctly, aka $20-a-pop sealed beams?
The sad part is your comment is fully accurate, what’s even sadder is what has replaced forums, new is definitely not better when you loose how to information but that’s what they want, you can’t build a public facing database of knowledge on discord, TikTok or any of its similarly useless ilk. It’s like the young’s think their version of IRC chat is better when I’m reality it’s just a waste of resources.
Eh, I give them a lot of points for figuring out the negative consequences of accountability for persistent media and coming up with an effective counter to it in the online world. They might not realize the value of what they're missing, but then people on forums are probably over-valuing their own contributions. I'm impressed that this forum still operates, and even gets new visitors occasionally. I keep expecting to get a DNS error when I load it, but somehow the lights are still on. Won't be long... or will it?
Forums used to cost a lot to operate as data has become nearly valueless the cost of operation has come down alongside the decrease in participation. Sadly all forums have been dying for 10 years, still many remain moderately active despite being dead media. Even stranger new traditional forums are still being made every day some of which garner decent participation. Honestly I have been waiting for fbook to go 401 for years but never happens despite being your grandfather’s hangout, sadly many forums went there to die after being on yahoo or bloody bravenet for decades. Facebook is just one step above discord but difficult to search. Also the popularity of things like a Prius outside this forum is very hit or miss, I only know one other semi popular English Prius discussion group. How tos and contact info for obscure things like repairing Yugos and Comutacars disappeared after yahoo went belly up and that info wasn’t archivable in most cases In so far as accountability that is always an illusion, even 4chan /tor exchanges are human readable to just the entities you wouldn’t want reading your nonsense, only thing you might do is remove the public paper trail back to you even though normal people can screen capture and repost regardless
My 2016 Camry has an ignition key. Unlike the 2013 Sonic, you have to hold it at the ignition position to start the engine. Going back to more mechanical systems will likely mean higher cost for the parts. They likely use more raw materials. The newer key/fobs cost more, but the system likely means better security overall. Sealed beams have bad aero. The head lights on my Sonic had a retro design, but GM went with more typical ones later with better air flow. Some of the recent, retro Mustangs had the look of sealed beam headlights, but had a very transparent lens covering them pocket space for aero.
Considering the amount of flat vertical space on an average SUV, the addition of a sealed beam would not be a real issue. After all, a brick wall with a lens in it is still a brick wall.
at 67, i love sks. one of my favorite parts of newer technology. i hate getting the key out to use the dakota. of course, i take care of my fobs, and haven't had any problems in 18 years. i also replaced a headlight bulb for a couple bucks.
The cost in current halogen headlights is the housing. It's high, but are the other parts likely to be damaged in a collision. The real flaw in the hazing that happens over time. It's already starting on my 5-6 year old Camry. Cost and weight mean glass ain't coming back. Replacing the polycarbonate lens with the bulb would cut down on that, but what will the cost be? A pair of halogen bulbs is what, $10 to $20. A sealed beam is going to cost more than a bulb, before we even consider that car styles mean a wider range of beam types for different car models. You really haven't taken a look at today's SUVs. The car makers are probably spending more of designing aerodynamics for them than on cars.
That's so funny...and so on the mark in many areas! What's wrong with simplicity and functionality? Has anybody been inside an Tesla and seen all the electronics in there?? Funny story for y'all....my wife had a 2008 Corolla and loved that thing. (She got it new after we gave our old van to my sister.) Anyway, in 2017 our daughter's Suzuki got rear-ended and totaled so she had $6,000 to find another car which was impossible. So my wife sold her the Corolla and we searched for something for her. I tried to talk her into a new Avalon or Camry but she thought they were too big. We spotted a green car so looked at it....2017 Prius 2 (LE). Drove it and she loved it. I bought it for her. A couple of days later, I was at work, it was a hot day, and she calls me from the car...all frantic....couldn't figure out how to turn on the A/C...was so used to the knobs in the Corolla!
The last time I replaced a sealed beam, it cost 8 dollars, was available at every auto parts place AND the local grocery store. I replaced it in the parking lot in less than 5 minutes. When every car uses some variation of a common part, the economies of scale really come into play. You are right, I don't pay much attention to the aerodynamics of SUVs. Their MPG pretty much tells the tale. They are not very aerodynamic. From google: Quoting pickuptrucks.com...
I still think this is the most gorgeous car ever made. Never drove one, but I did get to take a long ride in one back in the early 70s.
The halogen bulb is a common part. It costs between $8 to $22 for a single one, and can be easily replaced in most cars. There are a few sealed beams for $8, but most are in the higher side of the bulb range. Don't know how easy they are to find these days. Don't remember seeing them in Walmart, which is where I pulled prices from. Part of the sealed beams low costs is that they are being made on equipment that was made, and paid off, decades ago. Some could even just be inventory sitting on a shelf at this point. that won't be the case if seal beams came back to new cars. You say SUV, but then go and list the fuel economy for a bunch of pick up trucks. Doing that, and making outdated or incorrect statements on the subject make you look like a troll. But since you brought up pick ups. See the ridge running along the top edge of the tailgate. Many trucks now have that, because the money spent on wind testing has shown it to promote cleaner air separation at the rear. Yes, the aero still stucks when compared to an aero optimized Prius, but people still are buying SUVs and pick ups. So the manufacturers are going to spend billions improving the fuel efficiency. Which is what Ford did with recent Mustangs. The lament for sealed beams comes from the fact that today's headlight housings are hundreds of dollars to replace. The call is really for cheap housings, which sealed beams could deliver with the exterior lens as part of the bulb. Using an aero lens to negate the sealed beam's disadvantage there just defeats the low housing cost advantage.
You caught me troll. Sometimes I retype the same paragraph several times before I'm satisfied with the way that it reads. Occasionally I end up with a miss-match between the parts I type and the parts that I cut and paste. But the point was still valid since we were talking about adding a small flat light to the front of a primarily vertical front end. Does this make it better? It looks like the SUV average is even worse than it was for the part about pickups that I quoted earlier. From asking google: All better now?
I was allowed to drive Dad's once. I drove it around the block to park it because Mom did not trust me to back up in it. I agree 100% with Jerry's opinion.
And you continue with your bias which appears to be that all SUVs are 4 door Wranglers.. Compact SUVs are the big sellers today. The top two, Rav4 and CR-V, out sell the top two midsize, Grand Cherokee and Highlander, by almost 100k or more last year. Even the Rouge outsells the larger ones by 20k. All three of those compacts are rated 29mpg combined, ignoring the very popular Rav4 hybrid. With the little turbo, the Rouge reaches 33mpg, with AWD. Going back to the sealed beams. The front ends of those five SUVs wouldn't look out of place on a car.
