To the Big 3 (help me format and fix blah before sending this off)

[ed1948]

' loud pedal'

 

[CaliWagon83]

a.k.a. "put it to the wood!"

Or the British version, “Give it the Wellie.” (Wellington was evidently a popular brand of shoe in the early days of cars in Britain).

 

[commandercool86]

I, for one, feel blessed to be born a baby boomer. I (we) still get to enjoy the I.C.E. contained within a crude, but individually attractive transportation device and roam the roads before they're banished like lead water pipes, asbestos insulation, child proof anything, kids playing with mercury or sharp sticks, CFC's, smoking in the car-windows up.....
Next time you're out for a drive, just mat it* for old times sake. They can't tax fun.
* the term 'mat it' means to push the accelerator pedal down in a rapid, forceful manner(aka - floor it, Jim), to the mat, floorboards, size 15 right shoe dance.

Petal to the metal brotha!

I'll be there soon

 

[jiho]

the future of hot rods

Actually it's not just about hot rods, but personal vehicles in general. As in control of your own life. The occasional pedal to the metal being a mere token thereof.

 

[CaliWagon83]

Once there’s a critical mass in the OE supply chain in regard to electric motors and components, I’m sure you’ll see the aftermarket follow. I think the last new production ICE vehicle will probably be made around 2050. You’ll still see them rumbling around as used or antique vehicles for a while.

EVs are far from “golf carts” anymore. If you get a chance to drive a Bolt or Tesla, do it. I think you’ll be surprised.

 

[jiho]

But notice I said "if," not even "when." If what they have under development now for solid state turns out to be just about the best kind of battery anyone can manage, then some kind of renewable liquid fuel will remain more practical. Indefinitely. Then these dino-motors won't look so bad.

 

[jiho]

Recently at my store we had a car that died in the parking lot. Changed plugs, wires, battery.... One of the OBD codes was knock sensor, changed it out and the car started and drove away. Did the Nissan with over 200k miles need the engine rebuilt? Wouldn't hurt. Did changing out a sensor fix the problem? Yes. So why is the sensor there? Oh right, to tell you that loud knocking noise means you need to fix the engine. For the record, the engine didn't knock, the sensor was just bad.

And finally, now that everyone has chimed in with anything and everything EXCEPT what you originally requested (help with your letter), I have one more little pile of salt to add to your wound.

Have you heard the story behind that knock sensor, how it came to be and why everything has one? It is a G-body tale ....

When Buick built their first turbo V6 for the 1978 model year, they had to make it run on regular gas because super unleaded didn't exist much yet. To solve this problem they invented the first knock sensor. It was a book-sized box of electronics on the fan shroud, connected to a crude sensor screwed into the intake manifold. The idea was to retard ignition timing to keep the fool thing from blowing up on regular gas. But most people couldn't find premium, so the cars could only run like crap. Stomp on it and it slows down. Sales went down the toilet and never recovered until the intercooled SFI turbo started tearing up drag strips 8 long years later, by which time super unleaded was widely available. But at that point the intercooled SFI turbo was promptly killed along with the whole G-body platform.

So was that the end of the knock sensor? Of course not. GM had drastically improved it along the way, and had started adding it to all their motors. And naturally it wound up REQUIRED by regulation, although as you astutely point out, the logic behind it is the only thing making any noise.

So that's the story of the knock sensor. It only exists because of somebody's brainless idea to market a motor before it could possibly work right.

 

[81cutlass]

Also, got one of these for Christmas last year. Great little tool: https://www.bluedriver.com/

Do you have an idea if this has the ability to do transfer case and abs codes? I know if says on the amazon listing that it can do ABS, but I would like to read the actual ABS wheel speed sensor signal and read transfer case codes in mid 2000's GM stuff with awd or similar.

I have hptuners which stops at engine and trans, and one of those torque cheap $10 obd bluetooth plugins, but neither can do full feature body control ABS/airbag and transfer case stuff.

I've looked into a tech2 clone but they have poor reviews in terms of staying working over the long term.

Theres is a vcx nano that is the guts of a tech2 with a emulator to run on windows 7 for $110 i was going to buy but I need a windows 7 32 bit professional intel processor laptop only for it to run.

 

[CaliWagon83]

The BlueDriver is one of the better OBD-II Bluetooth dongles that I’m aware of, but it’s not sold as a “tuning” tool. You can reset codes, and get RPMs.

If you need something more advanced than that, probably best to get a full professional diagnostic tool.

 

[Pedrolif]

I didn't think my one rant would gather 4 pages of comments. But you guys are right. I don't think the makers could make what I want due to regulations, though I feel half the regulations (not actual number, just saying) are completely worthless. Yes, some of the new tech is required (damn you TPMS sensors) but surely there is a better way. We live and breath octane. We turn wrenches. We find ways around the laws where need be. That spark plug adapter is supposed to be attached to my O2 sensor, trust me.
I know there is hurdles, but I still feel the auto manufacturers could make a better car. One for us, that doesn't have all the extra weight of built in iTunes, back up cameras, lane change assist....
Don't get me wrong, it's all good technology, but I don't wan't it. I'm the driver. Not the car. If i'm too dumb to drive, I deserve what I get.