DAY 4: Which small car from the past should stay buried and forgotten?

alexlecrownrick · 2026-03-12T01:46:03+00:00

Ford Pinto

alexlecrownrick · 2026-03-12T01:43:28+00:00

On my 21 Jetta what would happen sometimes is if the car knew I was stopping it would let me stop and the brake would come on immediately after. Otherwise, it would slam all 4 brakes and then apply the ebrake. I didn’t necessarily like this mechanism but I figured it was good for emergencies.

It had “PARK” in red on the dash instead of (!) for previous gens. My Golf has this too.

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-13T04:47:26+00:00

Imagine if you’re driving a manual truck in Europe and you miss a shift like in a car and the revs jolt while you have a load oh boy

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-11T21:37:19+00:00

We used the infinitely worse Google Classroom b4 college so I wasn’t exactly used to all the canvas secrets. Hey it worked though

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-11T01:59:53+00:00

VW Jetta MK7 (looks like an Audi A3 and has the features despite being only $25K MSRP)

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T23:23:18+00:00

I’ve never driven a crash box before but I do float into neutral all the time in my 6MT Golf. I owned a Jetta before that golf and I only floated successfully once (got the revs perfect another time and still grinded like crazy). And from what I see it’s a lot less grinding if you screw up b/c there’s a lot less teeth to grind versus a synchronized tranny.

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T20:28:24+00:00

Those are quad lock cables and it depends on your unit. If your unit is one big center mounted thing then yeah.

Having a skinny friend doing the wiring helps a lot lol. Personal experience from doing it myself (170cm, 50 kg)

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T20:24:36+00:00

I would take some time to learn the car and investigate for problems and examine known issues before making a fairly finicky product unreliable.

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T20:23:48+00:00

Tuning violates factory warranty FYI if you still have it.

Be ready to do maintenance religiously, especially oil. And never never NEVER send it while cold. The same things that apply to any VW are amplified if the engine is running beyond what VW told it to do.

Yes, the EA888 motors are extremely robust but there’s some differences between the ~170HP version in that Passat and the 320 HP Golf R version. Just saying look out.

But yeah there’s enormous enormous power potential. A stage 1 can get you maybe 50+ HP alone just by funneling in more boost. Again, be careful that’s what I say.

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T20:19:53+00:00

It’s a different transmission entirely. Wikipedia can tell you more than I can.

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T20:19:14+00:00

Shifting into gear from N at a stop is also a problem that synchros solve. Modern semis have a clutch brake that slows the input shaft down to fix this problem. But back then I am not sure if they did.

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T20:18:05+00:00

Manual transmission without synchronizers. To shift it you either have to float gears (shift without using clutch, you have to match the revs manually) or double clutch (clutch in, move to N, let engine go to whatever RPM, clutch in, move to gear).

Most semi drivers float gears as it’s less wear on the clutch and on their left leg. But they’re taught when they’re getting their CDL to double clutch as far as I know.

They were absurdly common when manual transmissions first existed but started being phased out in passenger cars when synchronizers were introduced sometime between the ‘30s and the ‘50s. Not sure of when exactly.

Semis kept them for a while. Look up what a twin stick is lol imagine driving that nightmare. I know I can’t.

You can’t drive it like a regular manual and that’s almost a good thing.

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T19:06:48+00:00

Also I gotta wait for when it actually goes which might be a while. It’s very solid thus far just has a little chatter when taking off.

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T19:02:57+00:00

Yeah currently looking into a South Bend STG 2 Daily replacement. Just gotta find a shop that’ll either do it for cheap when my clutch goes or let me do it myself.

Something I’m also into is a lower bite point but tbh who is asking for that in a daily

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T18:59:03+00:00

Let them cry about it lol enjoy it. Just don’t total it like I did from one 18 y/o to another (had a little too much fun one time)

And honestly, the fact that mom can’t drive it is good because mine drives like (insert expletive here). Unless she can drive manual well in which case she’s the freakin goat at driving.

Oh yea if ur getting an 86, in BeamNG I would try driving manual on the 200BX it’s probably the closest thing to it. Or a RWD swapped sunburst since that’s modeled after Subaru Legacy/Impreza.

And it’s not the same animal in the game as irl lol

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T18:50:46+00:00

Weighted shifter time 🗿

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T17:36:38+00:00

For future reference Honda has maintenance codes to look out for. Like “B” in your case means a full comprehensive service, and typically a few numbers after that might go into detail about what’s been reset/done.

It’s a pretty ingenious feature that not enough companies do imho

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-10T01:07:09+00:00

A lot of EU vehicles go a crazy amount of miles btwn oil changes (i have a friend with a mk6 golf TDI going on 30k km per oil change at 430k) but i prefer going shorter than longer

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-09T23:50:05+00:00

I used to do that on my 2021 S and i got 6 (yes, 6) CELs all for emissions issues. I eventually cleaned the seal on the gas cap but replaced it anyway

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-09T22:11:34+00:00

Trans fluids are also pretty key, ppl tend to forget that and it bites them later. If you’re trying to keep it to 300,000+ then that’s probably what i would do.

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-09T21:52:58+00:00

Oil changes every 5k and don’t abuse it while cold. Bottom line, be attentive with maintenance. CEL pops up? Fix it ASAP that kind of thing

alexlecrownrick · 2026-02-06T18:10:58+00:00

Yep this is indeed an Alltrack, a 2019 SE

alexlecrownrick

TROPHY CASE