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.

@kingt said in 10 car features people want most (and 7 they want least):

Ability to purchase things from the vehicle infotainment system: 12%

Oh god. How is that so popular?

@essextee Also, careful which brand you get.

@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").

@cb said in People doing things better than me:

I think it was a V8. I can confirm it was very purple.

Looks like a shaker hood, which is only available on the R/T or Scat Pack, so yes to V8.

But I also just got snows for my Challenger, which is also an V8 (R/T with the Performance Handling Group and a stick). I just don't have any snow to drive on yet.

Why get a fun car if you can't drive it, right?

@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.

@distraxi The Cobra in Gumball Rally is the car that inspired my love of cars.

And my name is Joe. I didn't think of combining the two until after I created my first email account (on excite!), and I've been using CobraJoe every chance I get.

@Skyfire77 It really needs to keep the flower on there. I love the whimsy.

@Exage03040 All the roads around me are straight and bumpy.

Give me the Buick.

@atfsgeoff said in I Don't Get It:

No she just labeled half of them (a plurality) as such. Which again, attacking your opponent's voter base is extremely bad form no matter what you think of their beliefs.

I think it could have been a reasonable strategy, because no one wants to see themselves in the " bad half" of any group.

After all, 73% of drivers think they're above average.

Problem is, I don't think she was a good enough speaker to make that message effectively.

@ibRAD said in Mustang owners will tell you…:

As a high school english teacher pointed out to me many years ago: They weren't classic cars back then, just cars.

Forget the "Future classic" situation for the owner who bought this in 1969, it's still a big block Mustang equipped with a block heater.

Did they intend to drive it during the winter? Because that's equal parts impressive and stupid. (But also very oppo, living with the car you want even through it adds pain and increased danger at certain times.) Maybe that's why it has so few miles on the odometer, because the owner didn't want a 2nd winter in this car?

But that's all assuming that the owner chose those options on purpose, and didn't just check all the boxes on their option sheet. I have no clue what the real history is here, just an assumption that the "rare block heater" option might hide an interesting story.

@ibRAD said in Mustang owners will tell you…:

@orneryduck Nice colour, and block heater is an important option for a collectible only driven in the summer.

Ya know, this is an interesting point. Why was it ordered with a block heater? Was the owner really intending to drive it over the winter?

I guess I'm that kind of guy too... Got my Challenger with a specific color, specific drivetrain, sport suspension package, and the winter package with the heated steering wheel. (And I did drive it through the winter, Oppo everywhere!)

@bison78 @Just-Jeepin

No inspections in Nebraska, but I recall that a car had to be licensed for at least the previous year to be eligible.

That means you couldn't fire up the van that has been parked in your driveway with the expired plates for the past decade and limp it in for the $4500 trade in. It also meant you couldn't buy a cheap beater just to trade it.

@Demon-Xanth said in Well That's F***ing Depressing:

@CobraJoe Planet earth doesn't give campaign contributions.

No, but it was bragged up as an emissions reduction and fuel economy improvement scheme as well as a stimulus.

Besides, campaign contributions don't necessarily buy votes.

@Demon-Xanth said in Well That's F***ing Depressing:

It was done to boost new car sales, not used car sales.

But used car sales do have several other benefits. Reusing is better for the planet than Recycling, used car dealers could see a boost in supply and sales, and the flood of better used cars could push the real junkers into the scrap yard.

Keep the $4500 trade in bonus for qualifying new car purchase, but then let the old stuff trickle down to those who could benefit from it.

Yes, the new car sales do give bigger tax revenue, but thousands of small sales would add up to a significant amount too.

@ash78 said in Well That's F***ing Depressing:

C4C was a small-scale humanitarian disaster, IMO. All the people out there who needed cars...well, they can't have them! All joking aside, I do secretly think it was a bipartisan effort to give lip service to the environment while boosting carmakers.

I have a brother in law who's job is basically political messaging. He saw C4C as an unequivocal win. It boosted new car sales! It improved overall gas mileage! It got a bunch of junky cars off the road!

That got into a pretty big discussion, but he eventually started accepting the fact that it did affect the poorer car buyers. I remember a "cheap but functional" car before then could be found for under $1000, but were difficult to find under $2000 after C4C.

It would have been a much better situation if the cars were allowed to live after being traded. I'm sure some sort of emissions recertification could have been done on the dealer's dime to ensure that they are running correctly. That would also be pretty effective in weeding out the horribly unsafe or full on junkers too, no dealer would be willing to put money into a car that won't sell.

@Rusty-Vandura said in There is no pit deep enough for this cretin.:

So many wingnuts.

That's a little harsh. Wingnuts actually have a purpose. How else is the air cleaner going to stay on when I'm hitting all those ruts on a gravel road?