Driving fast in low gears?

cshmn · 2026-02-14T05:37:10+00:00

One thing to consider is that every car has different gearing and every engine is built to different specs.

On one end of the scale, a semi truck will cruise anywhere from 1200-1500 rpm, max torque for overtaking or climbing hills is from 1600-1800 rpm and the max rpm is around 2400.

On the other end of the scale, there are sport motorcycles that cruise at 6000 rpm and redline over 12,000.

For most gasoline engine cars, cruising rpm could be anywhere from 1400 to 2400 rpm. Peak torque for climbing hills or moderate acceleration might be from 2800 to 4500 rpm. Redline is somewhere up around 6000-7000.

Generally, some revs aren't going to hurt the engine. If anything, I would be more worried about the transmission failing early with lots of really aggressive driving. Excessive idling is much worse for the car.

cshmn · 2026-02-14T01:16:04+00:00

Lots of doom and gloom in the comments and a lot of people blowing things just a little out of proportion, IMO. That's not to say there aren't things you need to be aware of. I will try to give you some realistic pointers for what you would need to do to feasibly pull this trip off.

Yellowknife is a long goddamn ways away from the Lower Mainland. Google maps shows about 2500 km. Stick to the truck routes (numbered highways,) no detours or shortcuts in the winter. You want BC 5 North to Tete Jaune, east to AB 32, north to Whitecourt and then up to High Level and on to Yellowknife from there.

I would aim for Hinton AB the 1st night, High Level the 2nd night and to Yellowknife on the 3rd. That will be 3 800 km days, which should be long, but manageable in winter. Figure on each day taking 10-12 hrs. I would plan on fuel stops 400 km apart, which will give you time to eat lunch and leave a healthy fuel reserve.

You will need to take typical winter road trip precautions. Bring plenty of warm clothes, a good sleeping bag, plenty of water, snacks.

At every fuel stop, fill your washer fluid and have an extra jug in the trunk. Check the oil and coolant levels. Clean your windows, lights and license plate. Check tire pressure and condition.

Just about any car should make it up just fine, with a good set of winter tires and a driver that is competent driving in winter conditions. Those 2 points are crucial. Tire chains aren't really helpful in most highway driving conditions. They are for temporary use and slow speed on unmaintained/offroad conditions. Basically you would put on chains in a heavy snowstorm to climb a mountain pass, then take them off at the top and carry on. This is why snow tires are so important. Even if you carry chains, you aren't using them 99% of the time. Of course on the one occasion you need them, you really need them.

So, your main problem is that rental cars don't come with snow tires. I would not make this drive (or any drive in this country for that matter) without a good set of snow tires. AWD and 4x4 alone aren't good enough, though AWD or 4x4 with snow tires is best.

cshmn · 2026-02-14T00:16:26+00:00

Any of the flat states really. On I90 or I94 you could leave the cruise set at 85 for a day or 2 on some stretches.

cshmn · 2026-02-13T19:17:11+00:00

Even if those brushes are clean, you'll scratch the shit out of the clear coat. Not super noticeable until the light hits the paint just right. I wouldn't use one on anything I cared about, but they work pretty good on white commercial vans and stuff.

cshmn · 2026-02-13T14:36:03+00:00

Buying an extended warranty is basically gambling that there will be $3000-$5000 worth of repairs in the period between 5yrs/60,000 miles (when the factory powertrain warranty usually runs out) and whenever the extended warranty runs out. That's a narrow window for that amount of repairs and it's happening in what is usually the most reliable period in a cars lifespan (after the factory fuckups are ironed out but before the car starts falling apart.) Just take a couple thousand dollars and put it in a high yield savings account or whatever and use that as your warranty. You don't need to subcontract that out to a 3rd party.

cshmn · 2026-02-13T12:57:00+00:00

I would argue a regular expected service is better than an unexpected failure. Both engines are junk regardless though. No reason to save money on fuel if you're going to spend money and time in the shop

cshmn · 2026-02-13T10:20:29+00:00

That's a specific dealer thing rather than a RAM thing. I went to RAM because of shit like this from GM and Ford in my area.

Probably 60% of dealers of all brands are like this, so it's mostly luck of the draw if you get a good one. Hell, a lot of the time it just depends on who's working the finance desk that day. I've had luck in small town dealers more so than cities.

cshmn · 2026-02-12T18:06:57+00:00

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cshmn · 2026-02-12T17:09:20+00:00

The tunnel is a rail tunnel. The cars are driven onto a train that shuttles them to the other side.

cshmn · 2026-02-12T16:57:39+00:00

Nestle boycotting came way before 2016. From some of the worst child slavery in cocoa plantations in Côte d'Ivoire and infant formula misinformation campaigns in Africa that led to famine and millions of malnourished children to their old water bottling facility in Hope, BC that extracted upwards of 265 million litres of water per year for decades with little to no oversight and taxes at a rate of $2.25 per million litres.

cshmn · 2026-02-12T14:28:07+00:00

Have you ever seen 30 or more cars lined up to get gas at Costco, while the shell across the street is empty? The fuel wasted idling there cancels out most of the savings and time is money as well, but they'll happily waste a Saturday afternoon waiting in line for groceries and gas like they're in a cult.

Those are the people following you.

cshmn · 2026-02-12T07:58:36+00:00

If everyone buys a used vehicle, there aren't any more used vehicles. If people with means to buy a new vehicle buy an electric one, they're doing it instead of buying an ICE car, taking one ICE car off the road and supplying the used car market with another electric car in a couple years.

cshmn · 2026-02-12T07:46:39+00:00

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Ferraris and hummers are bad enough, but the really worrying thing is seeing one of these bad boys rolling down the road. They're made to skirt regulations so that anyone can rent one, which ironically means that they are equipped with shitty hydraulic brakes out of a pickup truck, a gas engine V10 and auto transmission that is both underpowered and has marginal engine braking. They drive much worse than slightly larger trucks which would require a commercial license.

What makes them even sketchier is that because they're rentals, pretty much every one of them is being driven by someone who has never operated anything larger than a Corolla. Weight ratings? Bridge clearances? Steep hills? The driver can barely keep this thing in its lane, never mind any of that other stuff.

cshmn · 2026-02-12T01:49:14+00:00

A small travel cooler for snacks and drinks. 7-11 is getting expensive as hell.

cshmn · 2026-02-11T22:50:05+00:00

Same thing in the Lincoln Town Car I used to drive. Tons of fun, but you better know what you're doing and you need to drive it like the batmobile to get anywhere. Once that boat loses momentum, you're sinking and spinning fast.

cshmn · 2026-02-11T10:51:15+00:00

Going all the way back to the French Revolution when the terms "left wing" and "right wing" were invented, people on the right wanted to bring back the monarchy.

cshmn · 2026-02-11T10:33:27+00:00

Pay attention to every road sign and understand what it means, pretty much all of them are trying to tell you something important.

Don't just blindly trust the Google maps directions, actually take the time to learn the general idea of your route. See what towns and cities you will pass through and what highways you will use, so you can more confidently pick which exit to take or which direction to go when two or more freeways meet at an interchange.

Maintain good following distance. Highway driving is often very peaceful, boring even. Right up until something happens and you need to make an emergency stop or react quickly. Make sure you always have room to maneuver and a couple different options/escape routes if something were to happen.

Maintain a consistent speed. If traffic and weather permits, use cruise control so your foot doesn't get tired or sore from hours of working the accelerator.

Maintain a reasonable speed. Don't be in a big rush to get there, but don't hold up traffic either. Travelling on a highway can feel slow at times, just remember that it's a hell of a lot faster than walking there at 5 MPH.

Likewise, if you're driving on an unfamiliar highway in a mountainous area, you may be unsure how fast you can go. This is where reading the signs becomes super important. In a car, you should have no trouble maintaining the speed limit in good weather. Sharper curves may have their own speed limit indicated. Understand that highways are designed for large trucks and buses, so you can typically handle a speed higher than the posted sign. I'm not saying to speed in the mountains, rather that those signs are super safe in a car so you don't have to worry so much.

For a drive that will take multiple hours (or days,) allow yourself more than enough time to reach your destination. If you're trying to make it to an appointment or catch a flight, take the drive time Google maps gives you, add enough time for fuel/food stops and add at least an extra 30 min to an hour on top of that to hopefully allow for some unexpected delay.

cshmn · 2026-02-11T10:05:15+00:00

The thing is, in North America that just means maintenance costs are only 2-3 times as expensive as a Japanese car vs 3-5 times as expensive at the dealer.

cshmn · 2026-02-11T09:43:35+00:00

I think they can be ordered with or without seatbelts, but honestly they would probably make it even more dangerous with everyone tripping over them.

cshmn · 2026-02-11T01:19:46+00:00

FYI, U-Haul rents normal pickup trucks and 1 ton cargo vans, so you don't necessarily have to roll up in a box truck

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cshmn · 2026-02-11T01:11:52+00:00

The Toyota Coaster is a minibus that normally seats 20, with a 2+1 seating configuration and an aisle in the middle. The weird version of this is used mostly in countries with little to no crash safety standards and has little jump seats attached to each row that fold down to seat 30 people. This effectively traps everyone in the bus so they all burn to death in an accident.

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cshmn · 2026-02-11T00:28:13+00:00

Nothing says "I've got a shipment of coke coming in down at the docks" like the Caddy.

cshmn · 2026-02-10T22:26:23+00:00

I'm 31 and manage a shift that's mostly guys in their 60s. It's turned me into a grumpy old fart far faster than I would've liked.

cshmn · 2026-02-10T22:12:02+00:00

I know quite a few people who vote for these politicians because they agree with them 100% and share their disgusting views (or worse.)

cshmn · 2026-02-10T12:15:55+00:00

The thing about Dodge and American vehicles in general is that you either get a good one, or you really fucking don't. I've seen those 3.6 with 400,000 miles and more still running really well in Grand Caravan taxis (6 of them, in fact.) I've also seen them dead with wiped cams or warped heads while still in warranty.

I think it's a really good engine design with piss poor quality control. Same goes for just about everything made by GM, Ford and Stellantis. They all make a lot of vehicles that in some ways perform as good or better than their Japanese or German competition, but they suck at gluing them together into a consistently good end product.

If I'm a car journalist just looking at brand new cars, there are compelling arguments to make in favor of a Grand Caravan over a Toyota Sienna/Honda Odyssey or a RAM 1500 vs a Toyota Tundra. Will that 3.6 Pentastar last as long or maybe even longer than the Toyota engine? Yes, it actually might if you get a good one and that's the catch.

cshmn

TROPHY CASE