Earlier quoted context omitted.
That would be the absolute dream engineering brief. If I actually sit down and design that vehicle, it would have something like this. List, off the top of my head. 1. You keep the modern metallurgy and the crumple zones. You keep ABS and basic traction control because they are solved problems that save lives without needing cloud connectivity. 2. Instead of a 2000 USD proprietary touchscreen that will be obsolete in…
You should look into the slate truck! This is exactly what they are trying to do
Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15
101–110 of 571 posts
Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15
#102Most people who live in rural Britain today are still getting around in hatchbacks or estates (station wagons, to use the American term). The enormous SUVs are almost entirely driven by people who've used their money to buy into the countryside aesthetic.
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Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If your Range Rover breaks down in a field because a sensor in the air suspension noticed a voltage variance...you are stranded until a tow truck takes it to a dealer. No, you just reset the ECU and get on with your day.
With all due respect, you are confusing a software race condition with a hard fault in a safety critical system. Resetting the ECU only works if the error is a transient glitch in the code logic. If the failure is a physical sensor reading out of range? Furthermore, modern automotive architectures store permanent diagnostic trouble codes in non volatile memory specifically to prevent people from "just resetting it" t…
Yet despite the appliance-ification of cars, they are, on the whole, much safer and quite a bit more reliable than they were decades years ago, despite being forced to work a lot harder for emissions compliance.
It's true that you can't fix them with a spanner, paperclip and pair of tights any more, but it's so much more rare that you have to.
Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15
#104Genuine question: what about the NOx?
I remember in Belgium when the laws pushed for lower CO2, and you got an influx of all these diesel engines, as you couldn't get that low with gasoline engines (that had some power).
But a few years later people came to the realization that CO2 is the least bad of the global warming gasses, and those diesel engines emitted a lot of NOx.
Every year there was a distance that you'd have to drive before diesel made sense (as you get more miles out of a gallon, and it was cheaper per gallon).
That number kept on creeping up due to new diesel taxes, and the fact that diesel is no longer cheaper per unit than gas.
Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If your Range Rover breaks down in a field because a sensor in the air suspension noticed a voltage variance...you are stranded until a tow truck takes it to a dealer. No, you just reset the ECU and get on with your day.
With all due respect, you are confusing a software race condition with a hard fault in a safety critical system. Resetting the ECU only works if the error is a transient glitch in the code logic. If the failure is a physical sensor reading out of range? Furthermore, modern automotive architectures store permanent diagnostic trouble codes in non volatile memory specifically to prevent people from "just resetting it" t…
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Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15
#106Off topic: That comma in the title really grates on me. It's supposed to be "dramatic pause" or something, but it can also be read as "pause while I check my notes to remember what the name of this thing actually is".
Hat tip to Joel Garreau, from whom I stole this reading of that kind of comma.
Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If the failure is a physical sensor reading out of range? Then you buy a new sensor and put it in, just like you would any other failed part. > You would need a proprietary manufacturer tool to force a relearn or adaptation. You can do almost anything you need to do with a non-proprietary Autel tool. I mean, I get it, the manufacturers are absolutely doing their best these days to lock up repair and maintenance. Bu…
> Then you buy a new sensor and put it in, just like you would any other failed part. In the middle of nowhere?
If you're driving to the middle of nowhere you carry spares and tools.
Source: live in Scotland, frequently drive to the middle of nowhere in a Range Rover.
Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15
#108Can you fit an 8'x4' sheet of plywood in it? My pickup truck wants to know. But it doesn't have to worry, because my other main use for it is as a large gas powered wheel barrow for carrying yard waste, and the little enclosed C15 can't compete. In fact it looks like the love child my Ford F350 and a Citroen C2. But it can't be because I had the Ford fixed.
Someone pointed out that a lot of US builders will drive pickups truck, and that it's kinda doesn't make sense, why don't they drive a van? Depending on the trade and location builders and contractors here will drive something like a VW Transporter, Mercedes Sprinter, Toyota HiAce or a Peugeot Partner. The Sprinter will fit e.g. your plywood, others will have mounts on the side or roof to transport material.
They won't act as a large wheelbarrow though, not well at least.
Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15
#109The C15 represents a time when a vehicle was a tool. I feel vehicles want to turn into a subscription service these days. I still see these running in rural Spain and France, usually held together with wire and hope, clocking like what 400k+ km? The XUD diesel engines are practically unkillable. They have no ECU to brick, no adblue sensors to fail and put the car into limp mode and thankfully none of those DRM locked…
My driving skills are probably below average. I really like that my car warns me of zebra crossings and can follow the car in front of me with a safe distance. Many of the modern car features are just useless marketing fluff, but there is some really good progress too.
I’ve got two cars that I drive regularly, a modern day BMW with all the bells and whistles, and an almost 20 year old Honda
Acty Van. It’s 660cc, doesn’t have rear seat belts, or a radio, it does have power windows though.
I enjoy driving both for different purposes, but I have to agree with you. On long distance driving (>200km), the BMW is safer. Cruise control, lane keeping, auto distance. It really makes long, multi hour drives less tiring.
I wouldn’t drive my Acty to the next town.
Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you have an electric vehicle you need none of that
And if people would make one that wasn't an iPad on wheels I'd be in line to buy.
This is my exact same sentiment. I’m cautiously excited about the upcoming Slate Pickup[1] - I can see it being my go-to if I leave NYC, but it still won’t hit like the XJ Cherokee I drove before I gave up cars for the city.