Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

[vansmack]

I'm drunk and ubering home from a cocktail party where I met Tom Ridge and I just found this. . . 

Pricey, but useful.

Also, had my first ride in a self driving Uber last night.  Someone still sits in the drivers seat, which is comforting, but I was still fascinated.  And nervous.

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

Also, had my first ride in a self driving Uber last night.  Someone still sits in the drivers seat, which is comforting, but I was still fascinated.  And nervous.

Michigan just passed a law allowing the driverless cars to not require a person in the drivers seat, I think.

I am totally in favor of driverless cars. I think we're going to get to a point where none/few of us own cars and we just pay a monthly fee for unlimited rides in something resembling driverless Uber. It would cut the number of needed cars dramatically and be a great environmental boon.

Also, the day I can fall asleep in the back seat of my car on a Friday night and wake up Saturday morning in a parking lot in Ann Arbor is the day when I start attending every Michigan football game home-and-away for the rest of my life.

[vansmack]

Michigan just passed a law allowing the driverless cars to not require a person in the drivers seat, I think.

I'm not sure I could have done that - maybe on a test track or something, but I'll be honest - it was a bit nerve racking to see the guy with no hands on the wheel and the screen interpreting all that was happening around you.  I asked him if he ever had to take over and he said yes, while making a left hand turn as the light was going from yellow to green.  The car just stopped in the middle of the intersection because it was a red light in the direction they were headed.

I'm sure I'll get used to it, but the first time is equal parts fascination and fear.

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

if you use biodiesel in one of these
what is the impact to emissions?

The actual physical output of CO2 is roughly the same, but the measurement of Overall Impact would be less because of the offset of the plant that produced the biodiesel taking in as much CO2 as you would be omitting.

Depending on the concentration of the biodiesel, 100% biodiesel fuel would be about 74% less green house gas emissions than standard diesel #2.  The less percentage of biodiesel, the lower the difference.  Follow the red line on the chart below:

Is the only thing out of the tailpipe we are concerned about is C02?
I thought there was a lot of other gunk we were concerned about as pollutants

I didn't realize it was essentially the same as far as CO2
So manufacturing the BioDiesel is part of the problem

but 74% less green house gasses sounds like an impressive #
Guess the issue is access to 100B

As if I could get access to 100B and got one of these VW/Audis ....wouldn't that be a good thing?
you'd think this could really spur that market as there would be low cost to entry for pretty solid cars

[vansmack]

In that chart:

HC = Hydrocarbons
CO = Carbon Monoxide
PM = Particulate Matter
NOX = Nitrogen Oxide

So yes, savings in some places (green house gases) and increases in others (cancer causing chemicals). 

Now, depending on how they treat the NOX (via a trap like the 2.0L engines, or with the BluTech liquid for larger engines) this can be mitigated, but yes, there is a 10% increase in NOX which would be above the legal CARB limits, which may or may not apply in your state.

[shemptiness]

Smackie, are you going to beat the hell out of that car before you turn it back in?

It's already gone, but both head lights were out, the service engine light had been on for the last 5,000 miles and one of the mirror side mirrors was hanging on for dear life from being parked on the street for the last month.

I thought about beating the piss out of it, but that would just about assure the worst case scenario for the polluter - further pollution by being stacked up in the junkyard with 450,000 other similar models.  That didn't make sense to me and even if VW cuts some of it's losses by selling a repaired version of my car, it was better in my eyes than scrap heap.

 

This VW Diesel Owner Is About To Turn In A Completely Stripped Car

[vansmack]

This VW Diesel Owner Is About To Turn In A Completely Stripped Car

Saw that last night.  He wins....

[chaz]

This VW Diesel Owner Is About To Turn In A Completely Stripped Car

Saw that last night.  He wins....

Not yet he hasn't.  VW is stalling with Lawyers.

[vansmack]

Not yet he hasn't.  VW is stalling with Lawyers.

They have to put up a fight because they're so behind on this process and people are so upset that this will easily become the norm. 

Unfortunately, they're relying on the "spirit of the settlement" defense, rather than the actual text of the settlement:

- to be eligible cars have to be ?operable,? a term the settlement defines clearly as ?can be driven under its own 2.0- liter TDI engine power.?

But I get it, if they let this go without a fight, they're getting 400,000 more cars just like this over the next two years.  As I told Hoya on FB yesterday, it would cost me more to store the parts than I would make selling them on Ebay.

[vansmack]

In case you're really bored the next couple of weeks, spend some time here:

http://everynoise.com/engenremap.html

[grateful]

I find the distinction between technical death metal and technical brutal death metal to be...nuanced.

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

I find the distinction between technical death metal and technical brutal death metal to be...nuanced.

I only acknowledge deep symphony death metal as a valid artform.

[vansmack]

I feel like i prematurely used my gif.  I should have waited for comments like that.

Though, truthfully, I nearly threw something when I hit the oi playlist.

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

I feel like i prematurely used my gif. 

Try thinking about box scores.

[grateful]

Boogaloo!

http://everynoise.com/engenremap-boogaloo.html