[subego]

[Thorzdad]

I don't get it, Subego. You just turned-over 30,000 miles?

[subego]

Yup. Took 9 years.

[Thorzdad]

We typically put 30k on cars in about a year-and-a-half, at most.

[subego]

A genuine advantage of city living in the right location.

I have all the essentials in walking distance, including a major train station which can get me straight arrow to all the other lines in the city excepting the one out to O’Hare. For that branch of the line I have to double back. In terms of access it’s one of the best stations in the city that isn’t downtown.

[subego]

[Thorzdad]

Obviously a fake. It isn’t on fire.

[subego]

Also fake because people almost universally like it.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by subego 

I'm not so sure, if I were interested in buying it, I'd check if it was bullet proof first Oh, and I'd try to throw a steel ball bearing through the window.

[ghporter]

I saw a meme today that I believe: raccoons are breaking into CTs because they appear to confuse them with dumpsters. Yeah, I buy that.

[subego]

Does anyone still use radar detectors, or are there too many false positives from other cars?

[reader50]

I use one on highway trips. Don't bother on familiar roads nearby. This lets me concentrate on the roads and other drivers during long trips.

X-band is worthless, always false. So I use the City setting to partially mute it, even on a highway. My detector doesn't have a way to turn X off completely.
K isn't used by Highway Patrol here, so hits are rare.
Ka is used by CA Highway Patrol. Generally accurate, though you sometimes can't pick out an unmarked cop car if it's going the other way. Readings go up, then back down.
Ku is not FCC licensed for radar use in the USA - it's more of a Europe thing.
Laser is always real. No false alarms.

Being set off by other cars hasn't been much of a problem for me. It's happened a few times, but my detector is new enough (10yo?) to screen those out well.

Mine isn't new enough to pick up detector-detectors. Supposedly the cops now have those, where they can tell if a car has a running radar detector inside. And recent detectors can alert to such a scanner. It's not important in the US anyway, as detectors are legal. If you are in Canada, running a detector is good for a fine, so this feature lets you turn off your detector before you get nailed. Hopefully.

Overall, false alarms are probably around 50% on the highway, mostly X-band. My impression is that X-band is only used by very old radars, something a small-town cop might have lying around. So if I shopped for a new detector, I'd look for one that allows X to be turned off completely. Mine has a City setting that mutes it until it hits 3- or 4-bars. This isn't enough, as the hits have always been false.

[subego]

All good info! Thank you!

It didn’t occur to me until reading your post that I shou… umm, I mean the person this is for should gather intelligence on the methods used by relevant agencies. Interstates are generally going to be state police hunting grounds, correct?

The thing is, it might not be necessary. The important stretch is a toll road, and I’ve never seen a stationary cop.

My friend hasn’t seen one either. Both of us.


Edit: Google says the Illinois State Police use Ka.

[Laminar]

I always assumed that if I ever got pulled over and the officer saw a radar detector, there's a 0% chance of leniency or a warning, it was ticket time. I'm usually pretty lucky with warnings.

I just use Waze. The one time in the last 10 years that I've gotten a ticket, Waze told me there were police ahead so I knew it was coming, but what I didn't realize is that my speed was currently being measured by aircraft, and the marked police locations were the multiple state troopers pulling over cars already marked by aircraft.

[subego]

I was taught to chuck it under the seat if you get pulled over, but obviously only if it can be done without drawing attention.

The Pimp my Ride place I go to will build them in.

Was the plane in Iowa? I feel Indiana does that too.

[Thorzdad]

I know Indiana used to use airplanes wayyyy back in the day, but I don’t think they do anymore. The ISP has a ton of unmarked vehicles though. Cars, trucks, and SUVs.

[subego]

I’m way out of date then. Steve Dahl used to complain about them driving to Michigan.

For people not familiar with Chicago radio, Dahl is Chicago’s Howard Stern.

[Thorzdad]

Steve Dahl complaining? Say it’s not true!

[subego]

I was thinking he’d complain about being called Chicago’s Howard Stern.

At least back in the day. He’d probably be flattered by it now.

[subego]

Had someone back into me today. Been a looooong since that last happened.

Scraped up my bumper. Benefit of utility vehicles: not really caring about it.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

I was taught to chuck it under the seat if you get pulled over, but obviously only if it can be done without drawing attention.

I like this solution the worst. It might be better in a cargo van where they can't see you shuffling around through the rear window, but I think the only thing worse than having a radar detector is suspiciously hiding shit in the car. Is it weed? Is it a gun? Cops probably don't love that.

The Pimp my Ride place I go to will build them in.

I like that solution the best.

Was the plane in Iowa? I feel Indiana does that too.

Yeah, coming home from Kansas City, I-35 south of Des Moines.

Picked up a new (to me) vehicle last week. The truck was always supposed to be a spare vehicle but due to 2021 it ended up being a main vehicle. My wife thought it should be nicer and I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a while and jumped on a local deal.



This one has heated/cooled seats, a heated steering wheel, miles more rear legroom for the kids, good headlights, it's quiet, and so far I'm averaging 5mpg better in town.

I'm trying to ditch the old one on Marketplace but most of what I've gotten so far are lowballs for less than half my asking price.

[MacNNFamous]

Originally Posted by subego 

Does anyone still use radar detectors, or are there too many false positives from other cars?

I have the same one from back in my Neon days. It's paid for itself so many times... but today...yeah, rarely gets used. So many cars have adaptive cruise that it just constantly goes off. And most highway patrol are using laser these days, and if your detector goes off, they have already got you.

Waze is the best defense.

[andi*pandi]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

This one has heated/cooled seats, a heated steering wheel, miles more rear legroom for the kids, good headlights, it's quiet, and so far I'm averaging 5mpg better in town.

cooled seats are a game changer.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Big fan of the air conditioned seats, especially with hot black leather in the summer. (Although it does feel a little like you peed your pants.) And warming them up in the winter is just a first-world bare necessity at this point.

I guess what I’m saying is that cloth seats kind of rule. But the first time you spill something…

[subego]

Yeah… I have cloth seats, so the lack of heating/cooling isn’t too awful. They do have stains. I honestly have no idea from what.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by subego 

They do have stains. I honestly have no idea from what.

Do you really want to know?
If you are a salty sweater, it could be salt. When I cycle in the summer, especially when I used to live in Japan, I'd have white stains on my jersery.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Thorzdad 

Steve Dahl complaining? Say it’s not true!

Ah, Steve Dahl. I listened to him on Detroit’s WWWW. He had a whole raft of characters that made the spaces between songs at least tolerable.

He moved to Chicago in 1978. And in mid-1979 he did a “promotion” at Comiskey Park during a White Sox - Tigers Game called Disco Demolition Night. I’m surprised he wasn’t tarred and feathered for that.

[subego]

He talked about how he did all the characters because he was alone in the studio and was reduced to bantering with himself. Once he found a partner in Chicago he dropped a lot of them but came up with some new ones. Anthony (Italian guy) stuck around. I don’t know if he had Tyrone (angry black guy) doing traffic reports from a helicopter. That character voice plus a pitch-shifter taking him up a couple octaves became Blackie the Affirmative Action Christmas elf.

With his partner he created “The Corn Borers of Southern Illinois”. Hillbilly, redneck characters. Highlights of their appearances were cruising truck stops for gay sex and accidentally blowing their “tallywhackers” off with bootleg fireworks.

It was a different time.

[subego]

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

Do you really want to know?
If you are a salty sweater, it could be salt. When I cycle in the summer, especially when I used to live in Japan, I'd have white stains on my jersery.

I do sweat like an MFer, not usually salty though. It looks like it could be a salt stain, but that seems unlikely because it’s in the “drink between the legs” spot.

[andi*pandi]

sweat + too much detergent in your wash?

[Laminar]

Had some excitement on Sunday, had a U-Haul trailer tire explode going down the interstate, as I came to a stop I saw flames blowing out of the hub.



Looks like the hub failed, overheated, set its own grease on fire, then melted the tire until it exploded.



U-Haul's roadside assistance wasn't able to fix it so he just took the trailer and left me there, 75 miles from home. Wife brought her dad and we drove all of the cars home, only 4 hours late!



On the plus side the race car managed 20.4mpg on the way home, which is way more than I expected it to get considering I've never done any sort of highway efficiency tuning on this engine configuration, just closed loop fueling taking it to stoichiometric.

[andi*pandi]

glad you got home safe!

[subego]

So, can’t drive for at least 3 months. What’s a good routine for non-driven cars?

[andi*pandi]

Battery will die if not turned on and at least idled for 30 min every couple weeks? judging from pandemic dead batteries.

[reader50]

Yes, put a battery trickle charger or maintainer on it. If the van is parked inside, crack a window for ventilation and you're done. Oh, and check for anything perishable left inside. Groceries that fell behind something, etc.

If parked outside in sunlight, check the wipers at the end.

[subego]

It’s in a garage, but gets direct sunlight through a window for a couple hours a day. I’d probably go new blades in about December normally. Aquapel too if I’m not being lazy.

The 10th was the last it was driven. I figure do my first trickle charge in a couple days.

If I’ve got the battery covered, any reason to actually start it?

[reader50]

I've occasionally let a pickup go unstarted for a couple months. Other than dead battery, it seemed fine.

If you were storing decades, I'd recommend a start & idle every six months. Maybe a drive to the store & back. But 3 months? I'd just leave a 1-amp maintainer on it all the time.

[subego]

I was confused and thought the venting was being suggested for idling, not battery gasses.

I must admit, I’ve never vented when I trickle charge.

[reader50]

"venting"?

I meant, crack a window on the car, so odors don't build up inside during the extended offtime. If the car were parked outside though, a cracked window would invite people to try and jimmy the car open.

A battery maintainer will be 1-amp or less. Battery gasses shouldn't be an issue, as technically, it isn't even charging the battery. It's powering the electronics and keeping the battery at full.

[subego]

Ah! I’m always finding new ways to misunderstand things!

I smoke in my garage, so cracking a window would only make things worse.