Next Car

[Huronlad 186]

You will be looking for a 34R battery. Several have spent the money on an Optima type battery. You will either need a sealed unit or one with a vent tube. I need to replace mine, it just made it through the winter and was going to try one of the Motomaster Eliminator batteries.

[Francesco 71]

12 hours after a long drive, the no-load voltage across the terminals should read 12.6 DC, simple as that. Any lower is weak. 12.2 is considered feeble, and 12.0 or less is considered time to replace.

[Duck 16]

Whoah, thanks for the quick response, guys! I'll grab a multimeter tomorrow at the office and check Sunday morning - thanks again!-Iain

[fairsider 0]

Hi Duck,Since selling my Smart last March - to some friends who already have a high km Smart in the family - I've been driving a 2010 Golf TDI wagon I bought new. I love the car. It is really well finished and free of defects - aside from a recall to update firmware. The fuel economy even for a much heavier, large car, is in the same league as the Smart. I miss waving at other drivers who have the same car as me (there are so many other VWs on the road) .The 2l diesel engine is wonderfully quiet, and there is no black smoke out the rear end thanks to the VW particulate filter. As a matter of fact, the tailpipes are still bare metal on the inside!Cargo carrying capacity is top notch, and the 6 speed manual works like a charm.If you're not considering the car, you may want to put it on your list.Good luck with your car deliberations!Lyle

[Duck 16]

We're still narrowing it down. I'm enamored with the planetary gear of the Prius, that combines the power from both two electric motors and the ICE to put out power to the wheels (beautiful!), and used GII Prius' are going for around $15k with 60 000 km on 'em. There's some guy in Japan who has a lifetime average of 2 L/100 km in his. Crazy! Plan is to rent one in a couple of weeks for a trip to the states (Kennywood/Morgantown PRT - woo!), and see how we like it.-Iain

[MikeT 744]

The Prius is at its best (for fuel economy) in city driving; on the highway a VW TDI would be a LOT better! Since you guys drive on the highway a lot, consider that.

[Duck 16]

It's the same argument my dad said, yeah - they didn't go for the Hybrid Highlander (just the regular one) because they mostly do highway driving.You know it has an offset crankshaft?! That's so that on the power stroke, there's more-or-less no side-loading on the cylinder walls (reduced friction). On the upstroke you also get a "fast return" kinda effect. So cool!I just need something quirky enough though, too. Versa is so boring. The shifter on the Prius is cool! It's weird like the smart. I know that's not a valid argument - and Phil called me out on it last night when asking why I wanted one so bad and I said that I wanted to listen to the electric motor and I liked how the dash looks and the weird shifter. But I've always wanted an electtric car - I built one when I was 12 out of a tractor starter motor!-Iain

[MikeT 744]

Peugeot 404 engines are désaxé too, that is surprisingly common in French cars at least.

[Duck 16]

Désaxé, huh? -Iain

[MikeT 744]

You know it has an offset crankshaft?!

= désaxé

[Duck 16]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desaxe

Nice! Learned something new. Didn't know that was the common term. I've heard "Atkinson cycle" thrown around, but that's not really right, is it - the Désaxé geometry just simulates the same volume changes during the crankshaft revolution as the Atkinson... I think?

-Iain

[MikeT 744]

The French have used it since the early 1900s I think.

[Duck 16]

We had an appointment with Nissan tonight, and took a Versa out for a drive. I don't like it anymore. It's really, really mushy. A lot more than I thought it would be. It's also large. It's comfortable, yes - and I like the 6MT gearbox, but 5>6 is like 300 revs so it's almost superficial. 100 km/h = 3k r/min. A bit high.We stopped in at Mazda to set up an appointment to go see a 2, which we'll do on Saturday. Having now seen them in person in the lot I can't say I've had that big a grin on my face in a while! It is adorable! So tiny! Lil' guy....Prius test drive Monday, and going to try and get in to Honda/VW later this week.I have to say though, when we got back in Nosedive and left the dealership (into the sunset, haha), it was pretty sad. The smart handles like no other, that's for sure. Still love it, despite it's lack of power and constant repairs.-Iain

Edited August 5, 2010 by Duck

[Francesco 71]

The Fiesta and 2 are here, the Spark is coming. If only the A and Polo came, too.

[Duck 16]

Is there a timeline yet on the Spark? I also really like the design of that guy...The 2 is marketed more as a "bare bones" car, wheras the high-end Fiesta will be priced more inline with a Mazda3! I like the 2 a lot more, styling-wise, especially.-Iain

[MikeT 744]

Look at the Versa's torque peak and the 3K RPM at 100 km/h probably makes total sense. I hope.Ford Fiasco might be worth trying.

[Duck 16]

No, because I just plain don't like it. So it's not even in the cards.-Iain

[MikeT 744]

It and the M2 look more or less the same to me.

[Duck 16]

They look completely different! The Fiesta is a blob, and the 2 actually has some crisp edges.-Iain

[deezle 0]

... used GII Prius' are going for around $15k with 60 000 km on 'em.

Another downside to picking up a used Prius (besides the city/highway bias) might be the looming need for a new battery.You do love to drive--- I think the TDi is much more of a driver's car. A good used one would be in your price range. And you'd still get to deal with clogged EGRs. A good place to read up on them is in the tdi club forum.

[Duck 16]

I honestly think the Prius community must hate battery pack comments as much as we smart owners hate the safety comments. I've looked into it - it's seemingly a non-issue. The lady at Nissan even brought it up but I shot her down with facts. The batteries will outlast the car.

I do love the Volkswagen MK IV Golf, and there are a lot out there - but the fear of expensive maintenance and unreliability scare the hell out of me (I think it's understandable!).

A former coworker who I hold in high regard once said to me, "Iain - never confuse German Engineering with Japanese Reliability."

-Iain

[yellow bumble bee 3]

Most of the taxis in Metro Vancouver are Priuses (Prii). My taxi owner friend says that they have had very little problem with them. They get rid of them before they are 7 years old or have more than 1.5 million kilometres on them. Says he does not know how reliable they are above these two thresholds.Roy

[Duck 16]

Either of those two numbers should suit me nicely! We'll see on Monday. I've heard the same thing, too (about Taxi's) - which is a good sign.-Iain

[MikeT 744]

Taxi service is actually really good for cars, very few cold starts per 1000 km driven.

[Duck 16]

All stop-and-go though. That's hard on them.-Iain