Automatics changing my view.

[Draigflag]

Id never have a bike due to safety reasons, they make up 40% of road deaths in the UK despite only making up 1% of the traffic, and as you can imagine on these roads, I see a lot die every year. Ive had 3 car accidents in my 10 years of driving, safe to say I too would be dead if I had been on a bike.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

Your Buick should have an electric choke. Should be simple enough to unplug the wire and run it to a dash switch for you to manually control the operation.

I hadn't thought of that. I wonder if that would help. I'm skeptical because I think part of the problem is that the electric choke has neither the range nor the reaction time I'd like. I really just want to control the choke or have something computer-controlled. This mechanical/dumb electric dinosaur automatic technology is lame.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Have you tried adjusting the electric choke? I'll have to look it up, but there is a procedure to adjust them. Been so long since I did it I just don't remember how anymore.

[theholycow]

The procedure is simple. Drill out the rivets, turn it, and put screws in. However, I would have to adjust it every time the weather changes. It's good at some temperatures, idles high at a bunch of temperatures, and won't stay alive when it's really really cold out.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Aaah, that procedure sounds about right.

[litesong]

Originally Posted by litesong

Like the auto. It has given me 38+mpg, overall, in its first year, while other Elantra drivers average 30mpg.

Originally Posted by Draigflag

Driving should be a pleasant fun experience, I just don't get why people want such little input when behind the wheel. Auto's are very boring.

I love to drive....... to see nature, to get to nature & revel in nature. I hate to be in gas stations & find no "pleasant fun experience" driving into gas stations. I'd rather see bald eagles, turkey vultures & Mt. Rainier, close up, than be close up to gas stations. While other Elantra owners have been at gas stations 38 times, I've been at gas stations, 30 times.

It is important to have high mpg, without burning through money or the nation's gas supplies & that's why I also use 100% (ethanol-free) gasoline. I am very pleased that this personal auto tranny choice has NOT sacrificed mpg to get to interesting places & animals.

[gnarly928]

Originally Posted by Charon

I have seen this argument before. If you really want input, get a car without any electronics. You need a manual choke, a manual mixture control, manual spark advance, and no ABS or electronic traction control. You need a manually operated wireless with a manual tuning knob and no presets. Don't forget - no power assisted braking or steering. Enjoy.

I have a vehicle that is close to what Charon above kids about....84 VW Vanagon with a manual 5sp and an inline Jetta gas motor mounted using Vanagon diesel engine mounts. It does have an electronic choke but the engine management is Digifant, an extremely simple electronic fuel injection.

But....No power steering (the large diameter steering wheel works just fine) no traction control no ABS no annoying check engine light or often-faulty(can you tell me your OBD is 100% true, every single readout?...) Actual mechanical switches for most of the controls, mechanical valves for the heater and vents, roll up windows, buttons to lock the doors, the key to open them.
I love owning and driving this vehicle. It give me 25mpg, had lots of room and a kitchen and bed, it has adequate power and when things break I can fix them with normal hand tools. With the manual trans I can anticipate my next gear and select it by hand as I approach a hill, exit a corner, come to a stop or descend a long mountain pass. I can feather the clutch in low traction situations, have the vehicle NOT shift at the wrong time and send me into a skid...
On the other hand, I recently got my first ever automatic vehicle...a 97 AWD GM Safari small van...I now know why I always have had only manual vehicles...It is annoying to drive, listening to it waste fuel and shift needless and at inappropriate times. The OBD II system is also painful, as is the electronic control of everything else in the vehicle...But I couldn't find one with 'power nothing'...they are very rare, I guess and I needed a work van with the AWD function for the coming winter... A bazillion times I have walked up to the rear hatch to get a tool only to find....there is no latch there...you gotta walk up to the dash and push a button...Want to open the window?...You gotta find the key, stick it in the slot and listen to the tone as you push the button for the window...rather than just winding down the crank on whatever door you choose.
You can keep the electric BS...I'll be keeping my old Vanagon rebuilt and maintained until the Government takes it away from me...
Yes, it passes emissions testing with no problemo...though now I have to test it at a "special" shop because it has no OBD system for the minimum wage tech to plug into and get readings..

[Jay2TheRescue]

I'm a GM guy at heart, and I'll admit the GMC Safari/Chevy Astro is not a great van by any stretch of the imagination. They're reliable, cheap to fix, parts are easily obtainable, but to actually drive one is hell. Of all the vans my family has had over the years, I'd say that the Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager vans seem to be the best.

[trollbait]

One of the cars I learned to drive on was an Astro conversion van. It was probably the worse car I have ever driven.

[3Cheers4RealGears]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

I'm a GM guy at heart, and I'll admit the GMC Safari/Chevy Astro is not a great van by any stretch of the imagination. They're reliable, cheap to fix, parts are easily obtainable, but to actually drive one is hell. Of all the vans my family has had over the years, I'd say that the Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager vans seem to be the best.

Believe it or not, I used to have a short-wheelbase Voyager with a stick shift. Paid $13k for it and drove it until it died. Of course, once we had twins plus a 2-year-old, it couldn't quite fit all our stuff, so you have to imagine a stick-shift Voyager tooling down the highway with a U-Haul trailer stuffed to the gunwales with kid gear. No, really. Stop laughing...