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The local Toyota dealer is loaning me a 2023 Corolla SE while they repair the damage to The Beast caused by their tire guy skipping lug nut day.
Ye gads I hate this car.
It's a real incentive to get the stuck caliper on Moxie fixed so I can avoid driving it.
Parts should be here today...
It's the embodiment of the nanny state in every aspect.
A speed limit sign flashes up on the dash to warn me I'm about to speed about 5 mph before I have a chance to actually speed.
The infotainment screen is obtrusively placed, and counterintuitive to operate. Counterintuitive radios are SO safe...
I'm longing for a '70 Chevelle and a points distributor and manual brakes.
It takes a lot of poorly realized tech to make an automotive luddite out of me, but Toyota has succeeded.
I hate driver nannies too and I'm glad my one car new enough to have them is the base model without them. I don't want most of the "features" on new cars almost as much as I don't want a $700 car payment. Our early 2000s cars have antilock brakes and OBDII which feels like a just right level of technology.
ReplyDeleteYup, going to get my 1964 fintail Benz going again. Been sitting for 27 years since it last ran, needs a good cleaning, carb rebuild and probably a fuel system cleanout. Zero electronics beyond analog devices and some relays. Now if someone drops a 65 Impala on my doorstep. rust free, I would be in heaven. Only upgrade would be to go from a 2 speed to a 3 speed transmission.
ReplyDeleteI'd probably recommend a 4 speed automatic like a TH700R4 or a (properly built) TH2004R. Those still don't require a computer to run, but the overdrive gear allows you to run a better ratio in your diff without making you turn silly RPMs cruising down the highway. But yeah... I love the Powerglide, but these days it should be relegated to things like econorail drag cars. I run a TH350 in my C3, but that's because its a mostly original car. If I was to change anything it would be a TH2004R from somewhere like Bowtie Automatics. It's a nearly direct drop-in for the TH350 with the advantages I mentioned above. I could swap out the 3.07 gears in the Dana 36 with some 3.42s or even 3.73s.
DeleteMe again...
Delete-swj
I'd agree except the points distributor and manual brakes. I've had issues with blowing out the ICM in the HEI in my C4, but the one in my C3 is the original and 43 years old and no problems. I'm thinking about buying a new MSD distributor since from what I've read they make the best ICM these days but it won't fit the variant of the HEI currently in the car (I tried it). I think the Davis DUI coil I was running may have been overdriving the modules (the crappy Chinese ones you can get these days) which may have been causing the frequency of the failures. Not sure if you can get American made points anymore or if I'd trust Chinese made ones. For now I've got an OEM style coil on there. As for manual brakes... Reliable... but I've gotten spoiled by a car that stops on a dime. If I had another Chevelle I'd probably put a complete Willwood system on it. I've really liked what I've seen for those on classic cars.
ReplyDeleteAll that said... I complete agree about a lot of the nanny stuff on recent cars, especially ones targeted to old ladies like a Corola. The last time I got one of those was like a 2017 or 2018 and even back then it was just not a nice car to drive besides just being uncomfortable and dangerously underpowered. I've had a number of other rentals that I didn't enjoy at all. The last couple times I've rented I've paid extra for a pickup truck because I needed to haul stuff (like sheets of plywood and 2x4s to build a ramp for my Dad and all my brother's stuff in boxes so it could be dumpstered). Luckily it doesn't seem like they put the same kinds of nanny BS on pickups. Even the F150 wasn't horrible to drive. It was the best Ford I've driven in a long time. I still wouldn't buy one over a Chevy, but it was at least as decent as the last RAM I drove which is an improvement over previous F series I've driven which rode and handled like a lumber wagon. Their 5 liter V8 isn't nearly as peppy as the 5.3 in our Silverado but way better than Ford's old 4.6 was. Still mostly top end and not a lot of low end torque but better. The Colorado I got the previous time was OK, but Chevy really needs to put a V8 in them before I'd seriously consider buying a new one. Of course the government is trying to get everyone to quit building V8s entirely. They're trying to force those awful turbo'd 4 cylinders on everything. If you watch resale values on used trucks... really piss poor for those, especailly the EcoBurst. One of my friends' son just had his blow a head gasket. Seems like deja vu from the old SVO Mustang and Thunderbird years.
-swj
I'm frankly surprised there's not a booming market of private enterprises, products, and service packages to de-nanny and de-tattletale everything on the road.
ReplyDelete(If anyone thinks that Toyota Corolla isn't telling the computer chip about your speeding habits, and every other thing, or believes that data is unavailable to your insurance company and the authorities after an accident without a warrant on any notification whatsoever, I've got a bridge to sell you, cheap.)
I would think the hacker community and the after-market car mod community would pollinate this until it went thermonuclear, and rendered your car back to being your car, rather than snitching on your location to within a meter, driving habits, and God alone knows what else, including full voice recordings of every minute you're in the car, to the manufacturer, loan note-holder, insurance company, NSA, and every level of government from Hell to breakfast.
A car is now a cell phone with wheels. Which means it's a 24/7/365 spy, forever.
Look up the "right to repair" fights and cross reference with DMCA to see why that cottage industry is still-born.
DeleteAlso: One nice thing about owning an ex-cop car is an utter lack of that tracking equipment on it.
DeleteThere are some companies that offer some tuning services that can do some of these things. However, most tuners have basically zero interest in a car like a Crayola. They usually only are interested in "performance" cars. And most of their efforts are performance related, not really what you are talking about as far as de-nanny and de-tattletale goes.
DeleteI think most people are blissfully unaware that their cars are working against them. Most of the people who buy cars like Crapolas have no clue about any of this stuff.
I do know that people have figured out ways of disabling the data portions of On-Star for example. But the car makers and government are actively conspiring to make doing that kind of thing difficult if not illegal. Car makers will legally persue anyone who defeats the protections in their car sofware or distributes information on how to do it. Agencies like the EPA are trying to crack down on tuning and other mods because of claims it violates environmental law and the DOT, NHTSC and others are trying to get legislation or enact rules to prevent changes because of claims it violates their codes or safety regulations.
Because of threats from the government a lot of the car community feels that they have to work clandestinely.
Dohh...
Delete-swj