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Git Mah Belt Son
Apr 26, 2003

Happy Happy Gators
I have two.

First was the 2005 Monte Carlo I bought. I bought it in 2006 before I was fully aware about car stuff. It was my first "nice" (I use that word loosely now) car that I bought on my own. I was so happy and super proud of it for about 2 months, then that pride quickly turned to deep disappointment. The transmission was terrible, it handled awful, the 3.4l engine was underpowered for such a heavy car with "sporting" intentions, it was a base model so everything inside was cheap as hell, the gauges were broken at like 50k miles so it always registered I was doing 110mph and the oil was -40 degrees, and the heater blower broke twice within a 12 month span, leaving me driving a car in the freezing cold both times. My best day of ownership of that car was when an old guy blew a red light and totaled it. I went home that night, after being thankful I wasn't dead, and celebrated that it was finally gone.

My biggest disappointment though was the 2013 Ford Fusion Titanium I recently had to lemon law. I really, REALLY liked the car itself and how it drove, but it was broken all. the. time. In 10 months of ownership it needed 11 trips to the dealership. I eventually got them to buy it back, thankfully. The car was built originally with the wrong gas tank, the SYNC system would constantly need resetting, the steering column needed to be replaced, the trunk struts failed and drat near killed me, a window motor needed to be replaced twice, and various other things that I can’t even remember right now. The dealership service writer and I got to know each other really well during that time. I think back about how much I really wanted to like that car but it completely soured me on them. It's too bad since otherwise they're really good cars to drive.

Git Mah Belt Son fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Nov 19, 2015

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Guinness
Sep 15, 2004

Git Mah Belt Son posted:

The car was built originally with the wrong gas tank

:stare:

How does something like that even happen in the 21st century? That's the kind of thing I could only imagine on a 1960s British or Italian car.

Git Mah Belt Son
Apr 26, 2003

Happy Happy Gators

Guinness posted:

:stare:

How does something like that even happen in the 21st century? That's the kind of thing I could only imagine on a 1960s British or Italian car.

It had the Fusion Hybrid 12 gallon tank in it. There was a TSB issued for it. Dimensionally the tanks are identical and look exactly the same so I'm assuming the supplier mislabeled them.

It was definitely a weird trip for me on the first few fill ups blowing through a tank of gas averaging like 15 mpg. I knew I was driving it hard but I couldn't understand how a 4cyl turbo was getting that bad considering my commute is mostly highway.

And yes, it took me a few fill ups to notice "hey, you're only getting 10 gallons in your car at empty" :v:

thechalkoutline
Jul 8, 2006



Late 2000's Chevy Camaro SS. I'd never driven anything fast that was American so I honestly had high hopes given the pedigree.

Turned like a pig (granted it was a convertible), it was loving huge for no reason and if you put your foot down the speedo needle would rise steadily up but it would feel so, slow.

I don't have to go into the interior

thechalkoutline fucked around with this message at 01:00 on Nov 20, 2015

Das Volk
Nov 19, 2002

by Cyrano4747

thechalkoutline posted:

Late 2000's Chevy Camaro SS. I'd never driven anything fast that was American so I honestly had high hopes given the pedigree.

Turned like a pig (granted it was a convertible), it was loving huge for no reason and if you put your foot down the speedo needle would rise steadily up but it would feel so, slow.

I don't have to go into the interior

This was my first thought, but then realized I didn't have as high an expectation for the Camaro as I did the Ferrari. Also the one I drove was an LS3 version and was kind of funny with the traction control off in Seattle. Spinning the wheels from stop to stop is fun.

karees
Sep 9, 2014
My biggest disappointment would have to be the 2005 Subaru WRX that I bought. I spent months lusting after one. I looked all over for a prime car that hadn't been screwed. What I ended up with was a year long nightmare that has just recently disappeared with a 2009 Charger R/T. You name it and I had it. The car burned oil. Someone had "fixed" the coolant return with a hose that was kinked. That ended with an overheat and warping the head. Someone put in a new boost controller and secured their rewiring job with twisting the wires and covering them with shrink wrap. It was one of the happiest days of my life when I got rid of that piece of scrap. Unfortunately, it has totally put me off of WRXs now.

Guinness
Sep 15, 2004

karees posted:

I looked all over for a prime car that hadn't been screwed
...
Someone had "fixed" the coolant return with a hose that was kinked. That ended with an overheat and warping the head. Someone put in a new boost controller and secured their rewiring job with twisting the wires and covering them with shrink wrap

Hmmm... doesn't sound very prime at all.

I'm not a WRX apologist, as I too think they belong in this thread for other reasons. But I don't think "I bought a lovely modded car" is a very good reason.

Human Grand Prix
Jan 24, 2013

by FactsAreUseless
I guess it is true a bad experience with a certain car can put you off owning them. I've never had something gently caress up that badly so i guess I've been pretty fortunate. I only buy bone stock cars though.

Oceanlife
Oct 6, 2008

Haha, nice one Punchy
2012 Ford Focus SE. It's not the worst car; in fact, it gets good MPG, has a good interior, it's useful for daily life. Disappointing as hell though, where should I begin.

The transmission, as bad as people on the internet say it is, it's worse. It's like the CEO of Ford had engineers map his teenage son learning to drive stick, then took the data and put it into the car. It's that bad. It had a huge amount of recalls for failing, the "fix" was just to dumb down the transmission even more. What's worse is the service department. Reciting lines from corporate, they condescendingly brush off the owners complaints and accuse them of not understanding the auto-manual transmission. They hand owners this pamphlet on how to operate a transmission as if it's our fault. No, it just sucks.

Then you get to the Microsoft Sync which is a god awful abomination. You can tell it was slapped together in a few weeks for Ford at the lowest price possible. It's useless, the blue tooth is not usable, particularly with how much road noise gets into the car.

But lastly, the single most disappointing thing are the paddle shifters. You see, Ford had this idea to make the car flappy paddle like most sports cars do. Except, they cancelled this idea and turned the flappy paddles into, I'm not joking, the cruise control button and the Microsoft Sync activation. It's a complete "gently caress you" to sports car drivers. It ties in the third most disappointing part of the car, Microsoft Sync with the second most disappointing part, the transmission. Imagine you are on a back road pretending to be Lewis Hamilton, you hit the upshift in your Ford Focus but instead of hearing a mechanical upshift, you're greeted with the shrill microsoft sync system "Blue tooth audio, please say a command"

Wheeee
Mar 11, 2001

When a tree grows, it is soft and pliable. But when it's dry and hard, it dies.

Hardness and strength are death's companions. Flexibility and softness are the embodiment of life.

That which has become hard shall not triumph.

I'm bemused by the number of people who still haven't figured out that unless you really know what you're doing you should just buy a loving Toyota or Honda.

On that note, my most disappointing car was an old Nissan Sentra which ate two engines in as many years and was just generally an unreliable piece of poo poo. Thanks, Japanese Chrysler.

Eskaton
Aug 13, 2014

kastein posted:

Also the GM Suburban I got for work in the same time frame. DBW was about as responsive as a dead UAW worker on strike, A-pillars were roughly the size of telephone poles and I'm pretty sure a compact car could hide behind them.
I can tell you they're the bomb when your parents decide to take the family on a road trip from Michigan to Maine. It felt like a mobile house as a kid.

It's still around and my god, I do agree on the responsiveness.

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
Then on the other end of the spectrum there's the F250 I've rented from Home Depot a few times, with its schizophrenic 6 speed auto that is exactly like Oceanlife said.

How it drives:
- in sixth loving gear by about 30mph
- ZERO acceleration due to the aforementioned octogenarian shift map
- floor it to accelerate even a little because I expected more out of a lightly loaded F250 and there's a truck bearing down on me...
- :supaburn: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH gently caress FUCKFUCK FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK WE GOTTA ACCELERATE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!!?! OKAAAAAAAAAAAAAY :downs: *drops into second gear and leaves a 10 foot strip of rubber behind*

I'm glad I ratchet strapped my poo poo down because it would have vaulted the tailgate easily when that happened otherwise.

Pryor on Fire
May 14, 2013

they don't know all alien abduction experiences can be explained by people thinking saving private ryan was a documentary

I've yet to drive an automatic transmission that didn't infuriate me, they all seem schizophrenic like you complain about. Are there any good ones that don't have a bizarre mix of unexpected pointless downshifts on the slightest incline combined with overly aggressive "fuel efficiency" ideas like 6th gear at 30mph and strange delays in shifting?

But I haven't driven any automatic in a few years so I could be out of date, have they improved much?

moxieman
Jul 30, 2013

I'd rather die than go to heaven.
The automatic on my 94 v6 Camry always struck me as being pretty nice as far as automatics go. Revved hard when I wanted it to, the gears ratios were well thought out (no dropping to 2nd to go up a hill on the highway with cruise control on). It's a Camry so it was still pretty pedestrian but it wasn't awful.

DarkLikePoe
Mar 17, 2008

what happens when you play catch without arms
Believe me when I say that, as a married man and father for two young children, disappointment behind the wheel is, by now, de rigueur. For brevity's sake, I'll leave out our current '08 Cobalt and '11 CRV, since I knew drat well what I was getting into in both cases. Ergo, though I find myself disappointed from time to time, I have only myself to blame. Other than that...

2007 Mustang (V6, convertible) - I didn't expect autocross, but my grandmother's Buick could out-handle this thing. Borrowed from a friend (who billed it as a "fun car") for a weekend drive, I found the V6 to be anemic and the steering to be heavy and soulless. Besides being a bit of a dog, the 5 speed felt mushy and sad. When I dropped it into overdrive/5th gear on the highway, I had the sense that the gear itself wondered why it was there. The most impressive thing about the car was the customizable-LED backlit dash, which I took the time to change to pink/purple before returning the car.

2010 Fiat 500 - Before they hit the US, these things were hyped like crazy in the EU, especially in Italy, where they were heralded as a reclamation of the original 500's sweet mid-century soul. Like the new VW Beetle, it was exceedingly unimpressive. Wrong-wheel drive plus a wheezing Multiair 4cyl made it a travesty to drive. The suspension was too soft for the mountain roads I was asked to drive it on. I later drove an Abarth 500, which was a vast improvement, but I'm not sure I'd drop the dollars on one if, for the same money, I could turbocharge an NA or NB Miata - which I would like very much to do.

1994 Mazda RX-7* - Even though it was HANDS DOWN the most fun car I have EVER OWNED and one of the most fun I've ever driven, the one time I worked up the courage to take the FD to the track, it was a total disappointment. My goon friends and I had installed a second oil cooler (it was a touring model) and taken other measures to control the famed rotary overheating issue, but we were unable to really nail it down. Got to the track and I couldn't go more than a few laps without pulling off to let her cool down - for like TWO HOURS. Luckily, another goon loaned me his NB for a few hot laps, and that was a good time. Weeks later, during a then-standard teardown of the engine bay, we discovered a golf ball-sized hole on the inside of the accordion-esque plastic cold pipe, which, under pressure, would flex and leak, depressurizing the intake manifold. This was awesome because the turbos had to work WAAAAAY harder (and run literally RED HOT) to hold 10psi. Fixed that and she ran like a dream until I was forced to sell her pending an international move. And that, frankly, is some existential disappointment right there.

* Would own again. 100% worth the suffering and pain.

Pryor on Fire posted:

I've yet to drive an automatic transmission that didn't infuriate me, they all seem schizophrenic like you complain about. Are there any good ones that don't have a bizarre mix of unexpected pointless downshifts on the slightest incline combined with overly aggressive "fuel efficiency" ideas like 6th gear at 30mph and strange delays in shifting?

But I haven't driven any automatic in a few years so I could be out of date, have they improved much?

Though I wouldn't actually recommend it, I'll admit that the Chevy 4sp AT in the Cobalt is, at the very least, predictable. I think the frenetic shifting you find in "modern" ATs is a consequence of manufacturers trying to deliver on fuel efficiency coupled with the availability of upwards of 9 gears to mill through. That and most ATs are marketed for sheep whose priorities are probably very different from most AI goons.

wallaka
Jun 8, 2010

Least it wasn't a fucking red shell

The Mercedes 5-speed auto in my Challenger ain't bad in normal mode and it is actually pretty good in sport mode. Only problem is that sport mode also makes the suspension harder than a 350Z. I need to get a tuner and fix it.

Guinness
Sep 15, 2004

Pryor on Fire posted:

I've yet to drive an automatic transmission that didn't infuriate me, they all seem schizophrenic like you complain about. Are there any good ones that don't have a bizarre mix of unexpected pointless downshifts on the slightest incline combined with overly aggressive "fuel efficiency" ideas like 6th gear at 30mph and strange delays in shifting?

But I haven't driven any automatic in a few years so I could be out of date, have they improved much?

The fundamental problem with automatics vs. manuals is that automatic shifts are reactive to conditions, whereas with a manual you can proactively shift (or perhaps more often, not shift).

No matter how fast and responsive an automatic is, it is ultimately up to some sensors and algorithms to do what it thinks you want it to do. You can't just tell it what you want it to do, you have to coerce it. And most autos just aren't that smart or responsive, so they do dumb poo poo like shifting into 6th gear at 30mph, hunting for gears mid-corner, or hesitate for way too long before downshifting when you floor it.

Guinness fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Nov 24, 2015

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.

Pryor on Fire posted:

I've yet to drive an automatic transmission that didn't infuriate me, they all seem schizophrenic like you complain about. Are there any good ones that don't have a bizarre mix of unexpected pointless downshifts on the slightest incline combined with overly aggressive "fuel efficiency" ideas like 6th gear at 30mph and strange delays in shifting?

But I haven't driven any automatic in a few years so I could be out of date, have they improved much?

So far my favorite is the AW4 / A340H in many Cherokees and Toyotas. It's reasonably well tuned, responsive, durable, and easily shifted by foot.

Might just be that I've been behind the wheel with them for slightly over 200k miles, so I'm very very used to how they shift, however.

sean10mm
Jun 29, 2005

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, MAD-2R World
Rental 2014 Camaro V6 convertible. My expectations weren't super high or anything, but it was much, much worse than I was expecting.

The ride was super bad, the seats made my rear end fall asleep, the interior felt gross and looked bad, the power was :effort: and the automatic transmission was as responsive as a DMV suggestion box. And the visibility was crap, but everybody knows that.

It combined all the downsides of a muscle car with all the downsides of a sports car while giving nothing in return. It actively made my life more unpleasant for the time I had to drive it around.

People like to poo poo on the 350Z around here for whatever reason, but that's about a quadrillion times better than the Camaro, and holy gently caress it's not even close.

sean10mm fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Nov 24, 2015

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

kastein posted:

Might just be that I've been behind the wheel with them for slightly over 200k miles, so I'm very very used to how they shift, however.

Nah, I'm 10 months into my first A340 and it really is a drat good box. I bought the Lexus fully prepared to ditch the A340E for a manual (especially since the existing trans is starting to die, it's making noises like a '90s Caravan full of burnt Dexron) but the fucker's winning me over. It just does what it's supposed to, when it's supposed to with no bullshit.

Raluek
Nov 3, 2006

WUT.

Pryor on Fire posted:

I've yet to drive an automatic transmission that didn't infuriate me, they all seem schizophrenic like you complain about. Are there any good ones that don't have a bizarre mix of unexpected pointless downshifts on the slightest incline combined with overly aggressive "fuel efficiency" ideas like 6th gear at 30mph and strange delays in shifting?

But I haven't driven any automatic in a few years so I could be out of date, have they improved much?

In my opinion, any auto that doesn't know what a computer is (i.e. hydraulic, vacuum modulator, kickdown or TV cable) will behave fairly well, and you can tweak how the kickdown is set up if you want to adjust it.

Guinness posted:

The fundamental problem with automatics vs. manuals is that automatic shifts are reactive to conditions, whereas with a manual you can proactively shift (or perhaps more often, not shift).

No matter how fast and responsive an automatic is, it is ultimately up to some sensors and algorithms to do what it thinks you want it to do. You can't just tell it what you want it to do, you have to coerce it. And most autos just aren't that smart or responsive, so they do dumb poo poo like shifting into 6th gear at 30mph, hunting for gears mid-corner, or hesitate for way too long before downshifting when you floor it.

But this is the reason I still prefer manuals over even the best automatics.

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
I like the AW4/A340 because while it is electronic, it's reasonably pragmatic (it doesn't go spacko on you), and if you're smart and proactive you can foot-shift it by goosing it a bit before you need to, or easing up a little for a split second to get it to upshift earlier. I can pretty much put one in third or second on the highway anytime I want without touching the shifter... and let's face it, if I was going to need third or second on the highway, I probably was going to use that much throttle anyways. It's very sanely tuned, Aisin knows their poo poo.

I still prefer manual, but at least they're not AWFUL.

moxieman
Jul 30, 2013

I'd rather die than go to heaven.

kastein posted:

I like the AW4/A340 because while it is electronic, it's reasonably pragmatic (it doesn't go spacko on you), and if you're smart and proactive you can foot-shift it by goosing it a bit before you need to, or easing up a little for a split second to get it to upshift earlier. I can pretty much put one in third or second on the highway anytime I want without touching the shifter... and let's face it, if I was going to need third or second on the highway, I probably was going to use that much throttle anyways. It's very sanely tuned, Aisin knows their poo poo.

I still prefer manual, but at least they're not AWFUL.

What transmission did they use in the '02 WJ then? Every time I had that thing in cruise on the highway I was always caught off guard by the "oh hey here comes a hill... BWAAAAAAAAAAAA SECOND GEAR"

Wheeee
Mar 11, 2001

When a tree grows, it is soft and pliable. But when it's dry and hard, it dies.

Hardness and strength are death's companions. Flexibility and softness are the embodiment of life.

That which has become hard shall not triumph.

To make the question more specific: How are manual gear selection automatics these days? Paddle shift or shifter mounted, whatever, that part's irrelevant.

As has been noted, it is the ability to control the transmission proactively rather than anything to do with having a clutch or stick that makes manuals generally superior transmissions, and if modern manual shift automatics shift immediately and quickly, as well as hold the gears they are set in, they'll have finally become truly superior.

mariooncrack
Dec 27, 2008

Oceanlife posted:

2012 Ford Focus SE. It's not the worst car; in fact, it gets good MPG, has a good interior, it's useful for daily life. Disappointing as hell though, where should I begin.

The transmission, as bad as people on the internet say it is, it's worse. It's like the CEO of Ford had engineers map his teenage son learning to drive stick, then took the data and put it into the car. It's that bad. It had a huge amount of recalls for failing, the "fix" was just to dumb down the transmission even more. What's worse is the service department. Reciting lines from corporate, they condescendingly brush off the owners complaints and accuse them of not understanding the auto-manual transmission. They hand owners this pamphlet on how to operate a transmission as if it's our fault. No, it just sucks.

Then you get to the Microsoft Sync which is a god awful abomination. You can tell it was slapped together in a few weeks for Ford at the lowest price possible. It's useless, the blue tooth is not usable, particularly with how much road noise gets into the car.

But lastly, the single most disappointing thing are the paddle shifters. You see, Ford had this idea to make the car flappy paddle like most sports cars do. Except, they cancelled this idea and turned the flappy paddles into, I'm not joking, the cruise control button and the Microsoft Sync activation. It's a complete "gently caress you" to sports car drivers. It ties in the third most disappointing part of the car, Microsoft Sync with the second most disappointing part, the transmission. Imagine you are on a back road pretending to be Lewis Hamilton, you hit the upshift in your Ford Focus but instead of hearing a mechanical upshift, you're greeted with the shrill microsoft sync system "Blue tooth audio, please say a command"

I had a 2014 or 2015 Ford Focus as a rental for a week. Not a bad car but I hated the transmission too. It always seemed to shift early and it didn't always make for the smoothest ride. Mine didn't have the paddle shifters though.


Wheeee posted:

To make the question more specific: How are manual gear selection automatics these days? Paddle shift or shifter mounted, whatever, that part's irrelevant.

As has been noted, it is the ability to control the transmission proactively rather than anything to do with having a clutch or stick that makes manuals generally superior transmissions, and if modern manual shift automatics shift immediately and quickly, as well as hold the gears they are set in, they'll have finally become truly superior.

The ones that I've driven always seemed to shift slow.

moxieman
Jul 30, 2013

I'd rather die than go to heaven.
Yeah I've never found one that shifts like a sequential clutchless manual which is really what I'm expecting when I hop in an auto car with paddles

Powershift
Nov 23, 2009


Wheeee posted:

To make the question more specific: How are manual gear selection automatics these days? Paddle shift or shifter mounted, whatever, that part's irrelevant.

As has been noted, it is the ability to control the transmission proactively rather than anything to do with having a clutch or stick that makes manuals generally superior transmissions, and if modern manual shift automatics shift immediately and quickly, as well as hold the gears they are set in, they'll have finally become truly superior.

It really depends on the vehicle. in the ford cars and basically all chevys, the buttons do nothing. you're only making suggestions, and hoping it agrees. The dodges with the 8 speed, it hops right up to 8th gear, and even if you want to be pro-active, you have to work your way through 4 gears to get something done, and it still over-rides you and jarringly drops from 8th to 4th against your wishes if you prod the pedal. The current ford super duty 6 speed is the perfect example of how it should be done. Manual mode is manual mode. it'll bounce off the rev limiter in the gear you're in, let you bog down if you're in too high of a gear only shifting once you're near idle. I would imagine if most vehicles work like this, you'd see people who accidentally went a little past drive screaming down the highway in first gear.

The performance oriented ones seem to shift quicker than you would normally be willing to shift your own manual, and with the engine computer integration, is as near as you can get to flat foot shifting. That's why when an automatic is offered in a performance car, it's usually the quicker of the two.

Applebees Appetizer
Jan 23, 2006

Raluek posted:

But this is the reason I still prefer manuals over even the best automatics.

Today I got caught in traffic and it kinda sucked, but I thought gently caress it, I 'll take the trade off every time. I choose Free Will motherfuckers.

kastein posted:

I like the AW4/A340 because while it is electronic, it's reasonably pragmatic (it doesn't go spacko on you), and if you're smart and proactive you can foot-shift it by goosing it a bit before you need to, or easing up a little for a split second to get it to upshift earlier. I can pretty much put one in third or second on the highway anytime I want without touching the shifter... and let's face it, if I was going to need third or second on the highway, I probably was going to use that much throttle anyways. It's very sanely tuned, Aisin knows their poo poo.

I still prefer manual, but at least they're not AWFUL.

I owned a '97 and '99 XJ at the same time a few years ago, one was an auto, one a manual. The auto was nice, but I loved the manual sooooo much.

http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/cto/5327722366.html GOD DAMMIT :argh:

Applebees Appetizer fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Nov 25, 2015

Panaflex
Sep 28, 2001

I would have to say a 2000 Honda Insight 5 speed manual. Now, for context, my wife was gifted a 2001 Insight about 10 years ago but it had the CVT transmission. It always felt like a tiny deathtrap but it kinda grows on you. The power off the line was reasonable and you could do freeway speeds no problem. I in no way was expecting a track car. Flash forward and we've beaten the 2001 CVT to death. My wife is going on and on about wanting one of the rare ones in a certain green color and a few months ago I found one in Las Vegas with under 200k on it and was immaculate, as if it was dealer maintained and kept in a showroom. I flew down and bought it and began driving it home and HOLY HELL it was the most GUTLESS nearly impossible to drive vehicle I have ever encountered. After doing some research, I found that the 3 cyl 1 liter engine in these cars only have a realistic powerband between 3000 and 3500 rpm. The CVT versions of these cars do a fantastic job keeping the motor tightly contained within this powerband. Not so much with a 5sp manual. A human just isn't able to contain the motor in that powerband the entire time so performance suffers to the point where you would rather get out and push the car sometimes than drive it. Regardless my wife is happy with it and it gets 60mpg with a new battery pack so win win I guess.

I suppose the only other vehicles I have driven where I had high expectations and was let down was a 2011 Dodge Nitro which I thought looked pretty cool but (seriously, transmission, PICK A GEAR AND STAY WITH IT) and my dad's 1989 BMW E30 which was a heavy lead brick that hardly moved.

Chillbro Baggins
Oct 8, 2004
Bad Angus! Bad!
'98 Cavalier 4-cyl, in driver's ed. Looked fast, didn't back it up. Was a half-decent car around town, but ran out of oomph exactly 10mph below the acceptable speed for merging onto the interstate. Mom's Aerostar was better than that poo poo.

My partner's first car was an '88 Z24, apparently it's actually pretty baller with the V6.

Chillbro Baggins fucked around with this message at 07:15 on Nov 25, 2015

IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





moxieman posted:

What transmission did they use in the '02 WJ then? Every time I had that thing in cruise on the highway I was always caught off guard by the "oh hey here comes a hill... BWAAAAAAAAAAAA SECOND GEAR"

Which engine? I'm guessing a 4.0 because they got a 42RE four speed. V8s got the 545RFE, a six speed gearbox that Chrysler launched as a four speed and later reprogrammed as a five speed. :pseudo:

The 545RFE is not the best auto I've ever driven, but it's far from the worst. Besides, that V8 sounds pretty decent above 4k.

moxieman
Jul 30, 2013

I'd rather die than go to heaven.
Yeah it was the 4.0

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
Yeah, the 42RE behind the WJ 4.0 is still the same basic design as the one in the 4.0 ZJ, and it's still a piece of poo poo sadly.

It's basically a hydraulic shifted transmission that Chrysler strapped a pressure solenoid and sensor onto, so instead of a throttle valve cable modulating the shifts, it's a pulsewidth modulated signal to the pressure solenoid that lets the computer say what pressure it wants and thereby shift the transmission. Possibly the laziest, ugliest way to make a hydraulic-brain automatic into an electronic one.

It's somewhat interesting, here's the full list of sensors and actuators in the transmission that manage shifting:
- governor pressure solenoid. PWM this to modulate governor pressure which controls all shifts from 1-2 and 2-3. Fails early and often.
- 3-4 solenoid. This is literally just a solenoid you engage to allow fluid to engage the OD unit.
- governor pressure sensor. Use this to watch the governor pressure so you can close the feedback loop and get positive control over what pressure you're feeding to the 1-2/2-3 shift valvebody. Fails early and often.
- trans fluid temp sensor. Use this to not rag the fucker out when it's cold or too hot.
- torque converter lockup clutch solenoid. Feeds fluid to the lockup clutch in the torque converter.

Basically, the 4xRH transmissions are TF727s that instead of simplifying and adding lightness, they complexified and added failures, and strapped an OD unit to the rear end end because they needed overdrive now. 4xRE (electronic control) they added further complexity ("gently caress, strap some solenoids and poo poo on, now it's an electronic transmission") and did nothing to fix the failures of the RH series. The x is a digit that says how hardy the transmission is, for instance the WJ/ZJ got 42REs, while the Cummins/V10 dodge 2500s and 3500s got 47REs. Many of the internal parts are compatible across units in a series, so a common way to upgrade the 42/44RE for durability is to use 46RE and 47RE upgrade parts where the 42/44RE parts are known to fail.

They also have adjustable bands, which approximately No One Ever adjusts, and need the fluid changed occasionally, which approximately No One Ever does. Doing those on schedule will prolong the life of a 4xRE transmission... as will a trans cooler and actually using tow mode properly.

BoostCreep
May 3, 2004

Might I ask where you keep your forced induction accessories?
Grimey Drawer

Powershift posted:

The current ford super duty 6 speed is the perfect example of how it should be done. Manual mode is manual mode. it'll bounce off the rev limiter in the gear you're in, let you bog down if you're in too high of a gear only shifting once you're near idle. I

My girlfriend just bought a new Mazda CX-3 and the transmission in sport mode does this too. It's awesome. I love how she drives the car in normal mode and it's a smooth, quiet commuter car, then I drive it in sport mode and the transmission auto downshifts going into turns and screams to the redline every shift. It's like a completely different car when you toggle that switch.

Edit: It mostly screams due to poor sound deadening and cheap plastic interior, but the point stands. It's still a great car for $25k.

InitialDave
Jun 14, 2007

I Want To Believe.

kastein posted:

They also have adjustable bands, which approximately No One Ever adjusts, and need the fluid changed occasionally, which approximately No One Ever does. Doing those on schedule will prolong the life of a 4xRE transmission... as will a trans cooler and actually using tow mode properly.
Interestingly, my manual said to adjust the bands in the 42, but not the 545 I had.

As for no one ever changing the oil, the lack of a drain plug makes it a bit of an annoying task (The WJ axles don't have drain plugs either, I mean come on), but it's not in any way difficult.

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
Yeah, as I recall the 545RFE is a clean-sheet design, so that makes sense. It's fully electronic control (7 loving solenoids holy poo poo) and the feedback I have on them is that they're reasonably solid as long as you treat them nicely and don't abuse them towing heavy loads.

INCHI DICKARI
Aug 23, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
My absolute largest let down was whatever Pontiac Grand (prix? Am?) Came out in the late 00s with an LS under the hood. Fire it up, boner inducing sound, punch it and traction control flips it's loving poo poo and I manage to get to 40 slower than if I had just rolled partial throttle. It was almost offensive.

Boaz MacPhereson
Jul 11, 2006

Day 12045 Ht10hands 180lbs
No Name
No lumps No Bumps Full life Clean
Two good eyes No Busted Limbs
Piss OK Genitals intact
Multiple scars Heals fast
O NEGATIVE HI OCTANE
UNIVERSAL DONOR
Lone Road Warrior Rundown
on the Powder Lakes V8
No guzzoline No supplies
ISOLATE PSYCHOTIC
Keep muzzled...

14 INCH DEVITO posted:

My absolute largest let down was whatever Pontiac Grand (prix? Am?) Came out in the late 00s with an LS under the hood. Fire it up, boner inducing sound, punch it and traction control flips it's loving poo poo and I manage to get to 40 slower than if I had just rolled partial throttle. It was almost offensive.

Yeah, the Grand Prix GTP.

300hp V8! :woop:

Still FWD! :suicide:

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
At least it's a sweet motor with a bellhousing pattern it shouldn't have (60 degree V6 pattern instead of SBC/Vortec pattern) which means we can bolt them to an astonishing number of RWD transmissions with junkyard parts instead of expensive adapter plates.

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wilfredmerriweathr
Jul 11, 2005
A good friend of mine had one of these as a hand me down from his brother. It was chipped and I think had a modified blower too. About 500hp and absolutely no loving grip. Also blew a lot of blue smoke (then blew up eventually).

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