I'm buying my first brand new car! And it's a Big Boi.

Used car prices right now are pretty crazy, especially for the car I want, so I'm ordering one brand new! (Maybe not the wisest choice money-wise, but 2016s with a manual and low miles are often in the $35k range, and used car interest rates are not as good as new).

The options:
5.7L Hemi, 6 speed manual
Frostbite Blue
Performance Handling Group
Cold Weather Group
8.4inch screen with Nav
Spare tire (Yes, a spare tire is optional)

So, why an R/T instead of a Scat Pack that gives those options as standard plus a ton more power?

Because I'd rather drive everywhere with a heavy foot in a 375hp car than with a feather foot in a 485hp car. The R/T is also a little cheaper, doesn't require premium fuel, and is slightly cheaper to maintain. All positives for something driven everyday.

I signed the purchase agreement and $1000 hold payment last night, it should be here in 6-8 weeks (As long as COVID and the chip shortage doesn't screw up build time). That means this Freedom Machine should be here by the 4th of July!

I'm pretty damn excited, even though it doesn't feel real yet. Definitely will have pictures coming when it gets here.

Side note: Horsepower levels today are insane. Less than 20 years ago, the world went nuts for the powerful Mustang "Terminator" Cobra, factory rated at 390hp. Granted, the Challenger is bigger and heavier, but it's 375hp rating gets laughed at for being weak and slow. (And for the record, both cars seem to dyno much higher at the wheels than what the factory power would suggest).

Well, I bought it a while ago now, but seems like it's a bike day today.

It's a Trek Marlin 6. The gearing fell into the sweet spot for me, because it will be used for both trail and pavement.
(Plus, I love that blue.)

Right now, I'm only riding pavement to try and get back into shape, but I'm excited to get back on the single tracks. My old Marin often felt a little unstable and hard to slow down, so this big boy will definitely help.

Ya know, I think I'll try for a ride this afternoon.

@cash-rewards I like it. Very much a function over form type look.

Side note: My wife doesn't let me have much input on interior design.

I'm wanting to start a little side hustle, making custom shift knobs from pool balls. But before I open an Etsy store, I thought I'd offer a first run here at an Oppo discount.

Piston knob in my '84 Mustang

Pool balls make great shift knobs, though just a little too large to comfortably fit in my hand. The solution should have been obvious: Make them smaller!

Small Diamond knob in a 2011 Prius (Please excuse the dust)

Since I have access to CAD (and spent way too much time working on designs), here are 9 styles that should work well and I know I can make.

Please note the diameters! The small ones are quite small. (My favorite so far is the Jumbo Type R, but I have big hands.)

Plus, I'm adding a brass insert for the threads (stronger threads than the pool ball resin), and I'll tap them to fit whichever application you want. (I haven't tried an unthreaded install yet, but I'd be willing to try).

I've used a few for prototypes, so these numbers are still available:
2 @HoustonRunner
3 @Poor_sh
5 @t0ast
6 @CivicWagonEngineer
7 @flatisflat
8 @SmugAardvark
9 @Miss-Mercedes
10 @jminer
12 @just-a-scratch
13 @way2blu
15 @davesaddiction
(I'll cross them out as they get claimed)

I'm asking $35 (including shipping in the US, I'll have to do some calcs for international) for your choice of number, cut to your choice of shape, threaded to fit to your car.

EDIT: For the "ordering", I think it's a good idea to reply here to claim the number you want, and then we can use chat (or email) to fill in the rest. I usually use Paypal, but let me know if that wouldn't work.

You can get a fairly cheap custom knob, I'll get some practice to iron out my method. Win win!

Please ask if you have any questions! (I have a couple more prototypes I could show, but one is best chalked up as a "learning experience").

@jarrett said in "Cool" SUVs (Poll/Discussion):

What makes any SUV inherently "cool"?

I have a simple answer: An SUV is cool when it's not trying to be something else.

An SUV having a big engine without a chassis built to focus on track times is very cool, but an SUV trying to be a sports car is uncool.

An SUV with off-road capabilities is cool. An SUV with off road appearance is not cool.

An SUV that has massive passenger/cargo space because it's huge is cool. An SUV that has massive passenger/cargo space because it's built like a minivan is not cool.

@tripper said in Shooting Brake Corvette Anyone?:

@taylor-martin said in Shooting Brake Corvette Anyone?:

it's probably the cheapest one of a kind car you could buy.

lol please don't test this group

Please test this group.

@pixel I only know 2 things about these:

A 5.7 Hemi Magnum once paced me from a roll in an chance meeting on the street. I was shocked that my '04 Mach 1 didn't leave him in the dust.

Secondly, that guy rolled down his window and asked me how fast we were going, because his speedo wasn't working.

Finally!

It's at the dealership! Only 4 days (EDIT) past the original 6-8 week window... but I'm not bitter...

I spent far too much time worrying about choosing the wrong options or color... but it looks pretty damn good, even with the protective plastic on it.

Now I just need to wait until the end of the work day.

@davesaddiction said in Athletics in the Era Of Inclusiveness?:

With that said, consider a trans young woman who is naturally taller and stronger than the born female young women in her large high school. She wants to play basketball, is allowed to try out, and makes the varsity team (let's say 12 girls out of hundreds of students at the school). What of the 13th girl - the last one who was cut?

I'm also for every kid being able to play sports, but there does reach a point in competitive sports where not everyone can play at the required level. It might not be inherently fair, but that is life, and not just in sports. (I've had several Engineering classmates fail out or change majors because they couldn't handle the math.)

Would your hypothetical scenario be that different if instead of a young trans woman, it was someone who moved so their kid could make varsity in a less competitive school? Or what if the coach's daughter makes the spot instead besides being less talented? Or what if the girl cut was just not playing her best at tryouts? Or what if a student fails a grade and gets held back a year?

Any of those scenarios end up with the same result, so what exactly is the difference? Pointing to a trans woman that tried out and made the team instead is putting the blame on someone else or an "unfair situation", and ignoring the fact that the person who was cut didn't play well enough to earn a spot on the team.

But here's the most important part of my long-winded point: Just because that 13th person didn't make the team, doesn't mean they should quit playing. Perhaps they are better at a different sport. Or maybe they can practice all year and try out for the next season, or as a walk on in college. And if they still fail to make "the team" they can still play! Intramural, pickup games, sports clubs, amateur tournaments, even just shooting hoops in the park.

Blaming other people for what you can or cannot do is the weakest of all cop-outs. It took me too long to realize that.

@dr-zoidberg That angle really highlights the amount of blacked out "extra body" they were trying to hide.

Why must "sporty styling" require the appearance of a "fastback"? There are lots of fast and beautiful cars out there with long flat roof lines, use one of those for inspiration instead.

@dipodomysdeserti Seems like we're mostly on the same page here. I'm using the CCW permits as an example of a bare minimum of training that I would accept as a licensure for public carry of fire arms. Handling and carrying the weapon safely is far more important to me, because that's by far the most common activity that CCW holders will be doing with their guns. Using the gun to attempt to save a life is going to be a very rare occurrence.

I would agree that any CCW owner should spend the time training, because merely having the gun with you is not going to save your life. But I would also agree that any driver should spend time "training" with their car to know how to control it in stressful situations too. How much of those skills should be required to get the permit (for driving or CCW) is absolutely up for debate.

@whoistheleader said in DOTS: American Sunroof Company's McLaren Mustang:

Though the top doesn't appear to fit very well

Speaking as a factory convertible Foxbody owner: That's a feature.

@dipodomysdeserti said in Ban Archery:

Well, yeah. If you can’t hit a piece of paper at 3m with zero stress, you certainly won’t be able to hit a person trying to kill you.

Unless they're point blank, which is very possible when someone is trying to kill you. Also, intimidation works without the need for accuracy too, though I'm not sure how many life and death situations you would want to use that method for.

I'm happy enough if they can safe load ammo, unload ammo, and shoot downrange with some reasonable trigger discipline. After all, the range is nothing like a life and death situation in the real world.

@dipodomysdeserti said in Ban Archery:

Firearms are tools of death and destruction. You need to be proficient in all aspects of their operation, otherwise you’re more likely to kill or maim an innocent person.

No offense, but a weekend course for a conceal and carry permit is not enough to become proficient with a firearm. I'm not even sure the average police officer has enough training to be considered proficient with a firearm under stressful conditions.

I'd love to see all firearm owners have training equivalent to the deadliness of the tool, but I can also acknowledge that a weapon of last resort might never be drawn in a life and death situation.

@st80mnd Piling on here, but most of that 200hp is going to come in just above idle. Or, in other words, right where the engine spends most of its time during normal driving. No need to downshift twice to pick up speed, just floor it and feel the push, and few engines are as responsive as torquy big block.

Besides, an engine with that much more max torque than max hp means it can gain quite a bit of power with some simple mods, and an insane amount of power with some serious mods. [MT got 650hp out of a 400 on 93 octane gas](https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/hppp-0809-pump-gas-pounder-pontiac-tech/.

@dipodomysdeserti said in Ban Archery:

If you don’t respect the firearm you’re carrying, you’re more likely to shoot yourself than someone else, which is a much better outcome in my book.

This is true, but it's not ironclad. The risk of being injured or killed around someone with a firearm increases exponentially if they're not following some basic safety rules.

That's why I'd argue there is a hierarchy of firearm rules, though chances are the biggest ones are already being followed closely by anyone attempting to get a CCW permit.

@dipodomysdeserti said in Ban Archery:

It’s testing whether you can safely operate a firearm without shooting a bystander.

You mean a bystander on a range, right? There's no way a range shooting test would prove that someone can aim accurately in a time of stress.

Shooting on a range is like driving in a parking lot. It's proof that you can operate the machinery, but it isn't proof that you can use it safely in the real world around other people. Granted, it's good to prove that they can handle and shoot the gun safely, I care about that a lot more than accuracy.

@dipodomysdeserti said in Ban Archery:

When I took my CCW class, they let everyone who failed the actual shooting test retake it until they passed. It was a useless test, too.

Honestly, accuracy is pretty low on the skills I want CCW owners to have. High stress situations always reduce accuracy anyways.

Instead, my number 1 want is for all firearm owners to be fully respectful of the weapon they are carrying and able to handle and carry it safely. Knowledge of the laws involved is a distant second place, and accuracy is only to let the trainees have a little fun shooting during their course. Once it fully sinks in that they are carrying a device capable of lethal harm, both intentional and accidental, then all other safety procedures will happily be followed.

I'd like to believe that no CCW permit trainer would pass someone who would do something as unsafe as wave a loaded pistol around. I certainly know that it would never happen if any of the old guys I went sport shooting with were in charge.

@derp said in Ban Archery:

If a single death is too many for a gun, why isn't there the same outrage for knives, bows, trucks, bombs, baseball bats...

Simple reason: Guns are the only thing out of everything you listed that have no other purpose than killing. (Well, except for maybe bombs, but those are already widely illegal.)

That's not to say, guns don't have legitimate purposes (hunting, sport shooting, collecting, home defense, etc), but they were primarily designed to quickly kill at a distance, and most changes to firearms since their invention have been to make that purpose more effective and/or efficient.

Of course, there are specific knives or other weapons meant solely for the use of killing too, but most of those are already legislated. In my state, I can't pocket a knife with a blade over 3.5in long without it being considered a "concealed weapon". And while it is perfectly legal to walk around public places with a visible holstered pistol, I'm sure you'd quickly get in trouble for walking around with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.

I think the biggest argument for "common sense" gun laws are similar to other dangerous equipment: Namely, if you want to have it in public, you should be trained and have proof of that training. That's why I was in favor of my state approving concealed carry permits. It requires training by an authorized group, it provides a minimum bar for people to need to jump over to get the right, and it makes it possible to lose that right.

Extending that CCW type process to all "public use" firearms (hunting on public grounds, sport shooting, open carry, etc) would extend those societal benefits to a wider group, while also allowing for private collectors and private land users to enjoy their current freedoms. Also, I would bet that making a legal process for carrying a gun in public could also help reduce the stigma. It might make open carry citizens look like law abiding citizens instead of government hating cowboys.

It doesn't fix the "bad guy doing bad things with a gun" problem, but it should help reduce opportunistic shootings. If someone with rage issues isn't carrying their gun in public because they don't have the public license, then they won't have it in their vehicle when they get road rage.

@houstonrunner It has to be at least... three times bigger than this!

@essextee My Challenger has the parking brake release and hood open handles in the same area. It wouldn't be an issue, except that I have also owned a '88 Thunderbird with a manual transmission and a foot parking brake... The low handle in the Thunderbird released the brake, and the low handle in the Challenger pops the hood.

I've popped the hood more than a few times while attempting to leave work.

@long_voyager94 Looks like a good selection of parts, I wish I could tell you if they worked on the Briggs or not. The only reason I'm arguing in favor of a new engine is because I've fought with poorly running small engines before, and a new carb isn't always an easy fix.

Only tips I can add is that the straight pipe will be pretty loud, so a muffler might be worth considering if you have neighbors nearby.