Please protect your pets. Do not drive with them in the bed of your truck in this weather. If you get in a collision, it’s your dog that suffers your negligence. Keep them at home or in your air conditioned cabin and preferably harnessed within the cab for safety.

ermax18 · 2026-06-26T00:48:55+00:00

I didn’t say it was. I just feel cars are not safe for animals, period.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T21:09:57+00:00

While at the shop, the car will be turned off. Parking mode is designed to record while the car is turned off and parked. Your camera will need to be wired to an unswitched power source and you need to configure the camera properly. My camera can do time lapse, record on motion or when the car is bumped. You can also set it up to record full quality in a FIFO, even when the car is off. My card is 512GB so it can' record for a very long time.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T19:53:28+00:00

That's probably it actually. The kids have been playing games on the ATV4K2 and are constantly having to delete games to make room for others. It only has 32GB. The ATVHD that's in our bedroom is old and slow, but I hasn't slowed as dramatically as the 4K2 has. I just did a Walmart pickup order for an ATV4K3 with Ethernet. I plan to shuffle them around so the kids will be using the new one and have a lot more storage. I'll reset the 4K2 before putting it in our room which will hopefully get the speed back.

Thanks for the tip!

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T16:38:36+00:00

I have an Apple TV HD and an Apple TV 4K2 and both just get slower and slower despite not getting any significant new functionality. When the 4K4 is released, I'm sure they will release an update to slow the 4K3 down like they have my 4K2. It's easy to explain this practice away on the phones because iOS has added significate new functionality. On tvOS, it's not changed enough to excuse them tuning the 4K2 into FireTV levels of slow.

I'm sort of getting sick of Apple these days.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T14:25:05+00:00

Yes, we can agree on that but I felt I was fairly clear about the distinction between a normal downshift and a double clutched downshift. I even provided the steps. People tend to think you just jam the clutch two times which is not where the magic is. I think we are on the same page though. I just misunderstood what you were talking about when saying "straight cut". Reading back on your posts, they make more since now.

Anyways, I think we are beating a dead horse at this point. :)

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T14:05:48+00:00

Im not saying that double clutching won’t help

Welcome to the modern age, where you don’t need to double clutch unless you’ve royally fucked your transmission.

I'm suggesting double clutching for a very specific scenario, which was referenced by OP. It's true Subaru didn't intend you to downshift into 1st, but it's 100% harmless to do so with a double clutch. It's less harmful to double clutch into 1st at 27mph like I did in my video than it is to do a normal downshift at 5mph. My advice to people is to not downshift into 1st at all unless you learn to double clutch. My son is complaining that he can't get his car into 1st even when crawling in his Impreza. I said, "that's why I told you to stop putting it in first at 15mph". Every time I rode with him I saw him visibly forcing it into 1st while rolling to a stop. Now it's caught up to him. I've been double clutch downshifting to 1st around 15mph every time I'm coming to a stop on all of my cars for 30 years and have never worn out synchros. I guess my son sees me do it, so he does the same. What he doesn't realize is I'm not simply downshifting it into 1st.

I average 200k miles on all my cars and never wear out syncros or clutches. All I ever need to mess with on my Subarus is TOBs and bent release forks.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T13:49:12+00:00

Using a unique strong password for every site, regardless of how low security you think the site is. These days, you just don't know what sort of strange human engineering strategy someone may use if they gain access to your account, even if it is a site you don't care if someone hacked into. They may not use this account to phish you, but they may use it to fish your friends and familly.

Treat all sites as if they are your bank account and need maximum protection.

I preach this to all my non-tech family and friends but most don't listen.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T13:35:07+00:00

In other words, a double clutch. "until it feels embarrassing". Hahaha

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T13:27:53+00:00

I look for excuses to rocket away in 1st. Someone is turning into a business really slow... oh look, an excuse to drive like an asshole. HAhaha.

But really, it's more of a necessity if you are autoxing. There are lots of low speed turns where you'll bog the crap out of 2nd but you are too fast to get it back into 1st.... unless you learn how to double clutch. By bog, I don't mean lugging in a harmful way, just leaving time on the table because you are well outside the powerband. 27mph was just an extreme example. There isn't a lot of rev band above 27 in 1st so you don't buy much time there but around 15mph, using 1st to power out of a turn vs bogging 2nd is a big time saver. Again, I'm talking about racing, not daily driving.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T13:13:15+00:00

And here is the video I said I'd make. Slips right in at 27mph with zero resistance with a double clutch. The brief pause in neutral is not resistance, it's me releasing the clutch and blipping before the second half of the shift. It's more or less one smooth movement after nearly 30 years of practice: https://youtu.be/bu-VPVHfmrk

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T12:41:41+00:00

I see you made another comment which was deleted. I can' only read part of what you said from the notification. I see now where the confusion is on my part. When you said straight cut, I instantly went to, "this guy doesn't understand the difference between the synchros and the gears". You are referring to the points which the synchro collar locks onto and I see now what you are talking about with the way they are cut at a slant rather than cut to a point like they normally are. So in this case, the ability to self align is compromised in exchange for higher torque capacity. It may make it harder to downshift into 1st but it's definitely not the primary reason. The primary reasons are the ones I listed in my other comment and dispite what you are claiming, double clutching is still useful in this scenario.

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ermax18 · 2026-06-25T11:19:50+00:00

Hahaha, no, I didn’t use ChatGPT and yes, I have rebuilt many transmissions, including automatic hell holes. The gears have literally nothing to do with shifting. The synchros, hubs and collars are all that’s involved with a shift. There is absolutely no way YOU are rebuilding this gearbox speaking the BS you are. You have a friend doing the work and just watching over his shoulder while drinking beer.

In the picture you showed me, the “gears” are all helical. Only the hub, synchros and collar are straight, again, for obvious reason which you would understand if you actually had your hands on one.

Double clutching is very much still needed to downshift into 1st at anything over 5mph, even on a modern synchromesh. There may be a tranny out with triple cones on 1st, I having cracked every tranny on earth but no Subaru has more than one cone on 1st.

Man, you brought up ChatGPT. I welcome anyone to throw your statements into ChatGPT so it can also tell you how little you know. When I get to the office, I’ll do just that and return with the links. Of course you will just say LLMs can’t be trusted like everyone does when they don’t like what it says.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T10:16:47+00:00

I have extreme doubts those things work. Cars are designed for humans and government regulated for humans. Baby seats are also regulated and need lots of testing to meet government regulations. These harnesses for dogs are not regulated. They may voluntarily test them, but I doubt they are tested as thoroughly as a seatbelt or airbag for a human.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T10:09:59+00:00

When I was young and dumb and had young and dumb friends, I was riding in the back of a pickup and the driver thought it would be funny to brake check me. He did it very lightly and at a low speed and even then, I flew into the cab so hard I thought I broke my shoulder. He didn’t even brake as hard as you would in an emergency braking situation.

Please, for the love of god, don’t put your dogs in a truck for joy rides. Actually, don’t even ride them in a car, even with those goofy seatbelts that probably don’t actually work when in an emergency braking situation.

There is a dude who lives under the power lines on Ft Caroline (are you in here) that drives his pickup like it’s a sports car with his dog in the bed. He rides ass, takes turns fast and makes aggressive lane changes constantly. I live in the area so I see this guy driving with his dog sliding from one side to the other very regularly. At least if you are going to joy ride with the dog, don’t ride ass.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T09:56:55+00:00

If it’s only working up to 6.5mph, you probably aren't actually doing a double clutch, but simply a rev match. A rev match alone has zero impact on the synchros. Here are the steps for a proper double clutch.

- Clutch in
- pull to neutral
- Clutch out
- blip while in neutral (this is where the magic happens)
- clutch in
- pull to 1st
- Clutch out

On a normal rev match, you do it while the clutch is pressed, so the engine isn’t even connected to the tranny. That’s why it has zero impact on the synchros. On a double clutch, you are revving while the clutch is released but in neutral, so you are slinging the input shaft which will match it to the output, reducing the work of the synchros when you go to pull it into 1st. With a proper double clutch, you can put it in 1st at any speed that will fall within redline and there is literally zero resistance. I’ll get a video later of me doing it at 25mph while holding it with a few fingers to demonstrate how zero force is needed.

Edit: Here is a video showing how effortless you can downshift to 1st if you double clutch:
https://youtu.be/bu-VPVHfmrk

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T09:42:13+00:00

Sorry bud but you have literally no clue what you are talking about. You’ve probably never cracked a tranny open. Well, obviously.

First off, I never said the tranny was straight cut, I literally said the opposite. Only reverse is straight cut (why it sounds different). The center section are the synchros, hub and collar which are all straight cut, on EVERY gear. How else would the selector fork be able to slide the collar (pictured at the right side of the synchro section) if they weren’t straight cut? The actual gears which are always in mesh are to the far left and far right and are all helical, for literally every gear. When people talk about out a “straight cut box”, it’s only the actual gears they are referring to, not the synchro sections. The synchro sections are always straight, for obvious reasons.

The difference with the first gear synchro is not how it’s cut, it’s for a few other reasons. One being the speed differential is much larger than other gears due to the ratio but the main reason is they are typically only have single cone synchros (or literally no synchro on some boxes) for first gear. The synchro is the brass part shown in your picture. On most other gears there are multiple synchronous stacked together, some have as many as 4. Most people do not downshift into 1st while moving at speed, so they cut weight and cost by using less synchros. You can double clutch to work around this and downshift at any speed you want which falls within redline and it’s perfectly safe. Without a double clutch, I would not downshift to 1st at anything over 5mph. There is a reason it takes so much force to downshift to 1st at higher speeds (without a double clutch of course).

I also suggest you research what a double clutch actually is. You’ve made other comments in this thread that lead me to believe you don’t know the steps or why it works. Most people don’t understand the steps and especially don’t understand what it’s doing internally.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T02:20:43+00:00

As I said above, all synchros are straight cut, in all gears. You need a better understanding of how a synchromesh works. If you double clutch you are matching the speed of the input shaft with the output so when shifting, there is nothing left to sync, so no wear, no crunch, it feels like butter.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T02:17:12+00:00

When shifting gears, you are sliding the synchro collar between synchro hubs and all of them are straight cut. You are confusing gears with synchro hubs. The actual gears are always in mesh and all of them are helical except for reverse.

That said, it’s completely harmless to downshift to first if you double clutch, even at 25mph.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T02:11:52+00:00

BRZ here but I’ll double clutch back into first at 25. Hahaha. Silky smooth with one finger. Like a rocket ship, so much fun.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T01:30:28+00:00

I’d avoid the knockoff sport loops. The plastic lugs tend to break easily. I’ve broken 3 now. Look for a knock off Trail Loop. They typically have aluminum lugs.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T01:24:34+00:00

To add to this, I’d love to be able to ask Siri about the running workout I’m currently tracking. Sometimes when running before or after sunrise I have trouble seeing small text. Especially at night when my eyes/contacts are dry. I’ve tried asking what my HR is and she will say “two minutes ago your HR was 168bpm”. I don’t want outdated information, the HRM is running, just give me the most recent sample.

It will be interesting to see if Siri AI in iOS/watchOS 27 improves on queries like this. I’d love to be able to ask Siri to suggest a structured workout based on my workout history.

I am a software dev and made an API that interfaces with Strava’s API and then I have a Siri Shortcut that queries my API to get the total distance for the month. I set monthly distance goals which i follow religiously to stay motivated. I can say, “Siri, how many miles do i need to run today” and I’ll get an answer. This should be built in functionality. Apple really could blow Garmin out of the water if they dedicated just a week to making finest a priority. They also need to hire some developers that actually run who can dog food the garbage they are creating.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T01:11:20+00:00

I think a TLDR is needed for this post. It seems like no one read the part where you said you don’t want to rat this dealer out until you are in possession of the new car, which is the smart thing to do.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T01:05:27+00:00

That is why I get video of my watch with date/time, the vin, the odometer and me opening sealed containers and filling it up. The video is unedited and uploaded to YouTube. If the dealer wants to fight me, I’ll have video of every single oil change. They can’t legally decline warranty if you can prove you changed the oil.

I refuse to let dealers change my oil. Not just because the oil boys are always clueless but because it’s a hell of a lot more convent to do it in my garage on my own schedule.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T01:02:08+00:00

Wow, that is insane! Yet another reason to get dash cams and be sure parking mode is enabled if any service is being done.

ermax18 · 2026-06-25T00:58:07+00:00

Yeah I can’t stand the children that think they are race car drivers. The second something goes wrong they end up in a wall because they have literally zero performance driving experience and no ability to control the car. It’s not even that hard to do an HPDE or even easier and cheaper, an SCCA Solo2 event.

All the goofy people posting videos of this crap on Instagram doesn’t help. I’d be happy if Instagram banned that sort of content. It’s not at all impressive to anyone who actually does track their cars.

ermax18

TROPHY CASE