Drrr...what?
If, at 3am as you began the trip, your temp gauge had told it you was going to be Hades in 6 hours, that might be useful. Although, as you noted, that info is available from many other devices more suitable to the job, so why burden the car?
As it is though, all that gauge could/can do is put a hard number to the feeling you already have...it's bloody hot, I'm miserable.

I'm baffled by our weather fixation.
We have spent eons as a species exerting and perfecting our "mastery" over nature and yet here we sit, at the apex of our progress, obsessed with the weather.

We have the driest homes, the most abundant heat, the best clothes and the most extensive infrastructure in mankind's history...the weather should be a trivial matter to us.

A hundred years ago you got up in the morning with very little info about upcoming weather. If it was winter, you'd figure it'd be cold, if summer, warm and if British, wet. Then you walked out the door and did what you did.

Today though...well, let's look at your Saharan expedition.
Had you known at 3 am what was coming, what would you have done differently?
Installed AC, cancelled the trip, detoured through Alberta?

I'd much rather have a fuel gauge that was accurate throughout its range or a calibrated speedo than a outside temp gauge.

 

You know, when it comes to me trying to explain something, I sometimes feel like the Doctor when he crashed Rory's stag party and mentioned kissing his wife-to-be Amy "Funny how you can say something in your head and it sounds fine... " I agree with you.

Had I known, I would've made sure that I carried a lot of water (as in gallons), wore a proper hat and took longer rest breaks in shady areas or indoors. Or, as you suggested, cancelled the trip. Although the latter wasn't as flexible an option since I had to be at a Cousin's wedding in Iowa and diverting through Alberta wasn't an option since I was starting in Sault Ste. Marie and my first long road trip was taking me east to New Jersey. I thought I planned everything for that trip but forgot about the weather (and that parts can wear out at the worst times, like an alternator during a thunder storm). Your case for not needing an outside temperature gauge is valid and compelling.

OKay, I'm going to stop.

 

Sorry, I was ranting in general, not really at you.

I fear that complexity and "features" are valued more for their presence than utility.
I totally expect to see Gillette incorporate internet connectivity into razor blades any day now.
This will be touted as a breakthrough although why will be a mystery.
Perhaps it will take pictures of you shaving, send them to Gillette and they can give you pointers.
They will run self diagnostics on the blades and if they fail (i.e.- "used once"), the cartridge will self eject and the mounting frame melt (so you can't reinsert it).
We will love it.

 

Oh no no, not at all. Don't forget that text doesn't carry one's tone of voice.

I used to like the idea of automating and putting electronics into everything, but the idea of having the Internet handle absolutely everything is silly. I'm at the point where I want a modular system that's rugged and dependable.

In terms of features and complexity, I'm actually starting to go in the opposite direction with my FC; at least for what you can see. For example, I used to have three auxiliary gauges and moved the idiot lights into the instrument cluster (first just crudely laid them out as a horizontal line, then later integrated them into the face of the cluster). After I put in a MegaSquirt 3, I realized that I didn't need those auxiliary guages (fuel pressure, water and oil temperature) and instead added two more sensors to the MegaSquirt and use a tablet as an auxiliary dashboard if needed. I'm going back to the factory idiot lights and clock in the original location (with its warning lights tied to the MS3's output) in 2016 and swapping in a stock instrument cluster (and putting the custom one into storage). I used to think about retrofitting ABS from a more modern vehicle but that's shelved. Same with a GPS Navigation system and CAN BUS electrical system.

I think there's been too much overthinking and features just for the sake of having the most toys. At one point, that car used to have a rather convoluted stereo system consisting of a mis-mash of factory and aftermarket sources and now it's pared down to just a pair of Boston Acoustics components in the doors, a single small well-engineered subwoofer (6.5" JL Audio), an amplifier with enough power to provide distortion-free output at reasonable volume and a Clarion preamp/eq that can accept any source (I have an old Clarion AM Stereo/FM stereo cassette with Dolby B/C as one source and a Parrot Bluetooth as another) with no rear speakers. With the components in the doors, you don't need any rear fill.

There's keyless entry alarm, but I'm planning to replace that in 2016 too. I was seriously thinking of building my own using an Arduino and have pages of handwritten notes and realized that I was making things too complex. You don't really need a microcontroller to handle locking and unlocking doors, opening the hatch, or preventing the car from being started.

Bottom line, I'm actually going toward simplying things, adhering to standards where I can and incorporating technologies that are useful but don't take center stage (like full LED lighting for less current draw--though the Hella headlights and fog lamps are doing well).

I still like having an auto-dimming mirror with compass and temperture readings (I think everyone should carry a paper map and a compass in their car ro be able to get a map quickly) and I'll admit it was because I could. Plus I want to know if the ambient temperature is dropping to freezing while I'm driving.. Plus I have Homelink (don't care for the clip-on remotes and changing batteries anymore).

I suppose I'm contradicting myself at this point, but again, it's preference. What I have works for me (or I'm changing it). But what works for me may not work for someone else. If someone knew what I now carried in the car, I could see them either shaking their heads or admiring me for my foresight (and then some emergency happens and well...).

 

clokkers tone is all vibes baby, all vibes

 

exactly.

 

for the ABS units, the late 90's/early 2000 honda systems are actually standalone, there is a control box and a harness, but it doesn't use the cars body harness, which is interesting. its also a 4 channel system.

my current FC is pretty bare bones (its just being built as a dumb street car), but i think my next project car will go in a similar direction to what you say. i want to do an SA, and keep all the stuff that makes it cool, but add a couple of modern features.

 

Preach good sir, you speak the truth.

 

I put about 20-25k/yr on a car, ~70 mi round trip just to work down fairly rural two lane roads. I daily drive Honda's, currently a '06 RSX-S. 31 mpg on average. Kinda fun too.

 

Well, absent any feedback, I just ordered the Bosch O2 sensor.

I was actually going to get the ($10 more expensive) Delphi part- based only on brand recognition- but the only shipping option was $13 for some stupid reason. Shipping on the Bosch was $2...I don't get it.

That should be about all I need to buy online, the oil and denatured alcohol I'll get from Walmart.

Here's another shopping oddity:
Turns out it's $4 cheaper to buy 4 quarts of alcohol from Wallyword than a gallon from Home Depot Racing.

I also wonder when getting oil at WM who the hell buys quarts of Castrol at $5.79, when the 5qt. container is $16. Makes zero sense, they're right next to each other on the shelf.

Math be hard.

 

From what I heard, WM has the patent on the 5 qt container. Advanced Auto now offers a 5.1 qt at comparable pricing. Sometimes.

 

The people that need 5.5 quarts of oil buy the singles.... I just buy 2 5 quart jugs when that happens though, but not everyone thinks of that I guess.

 

The modern mustangs (05-14) have a standalone ABS computer and can be fully built as a standalone ABS system. Ford Racing sells ABS modules for use in race conditions with race tires for about $300. The modules are plug and play into street mustangs.

 

i just take my car to the dealer for oil changes, its under $30, and i don't need to do anything...

as a funny aside getting rid of the old oil is the problem, it turns out the Palo Alto dump was leased land, and the owner wanted the land to build condos on. so we now have no place to bring used oil.

 

I thought it was federal law...but I guess not, that anyplace that sold oil retail had to recycle it.
Any Autozone, Pep Boys, O'Reilly's, etc.

I drop my oil at my old Mazda shop and they burn it for heat in the winter.

 

I thought that it was federal law too. I know that in Texas you can go anywhere that sells oil and have your old stuff recycled. They'll even recycle oil filters.

 

it probably is, but i don't have to deal with it.

 

Yea.. Just take the oil to the nearest Jiffy Lube, they will take it.

 

funny..

i've had ~30 some odd cars, and worked at shops and stuff, i have changed a lot of oil.

second, the cost of oil + filter is more than the dealership charges me to just do the oil change, AND i don't have to go to some 3rd store to get rid of the used oil.

thirdly, i'm at the dealership picking stuff up anyways. i used to work there, so i have friends there.

 

Still waiting on the o2 sensor but that's OK, still waiting on the weather, too.
A warming trend moves in this afternoon and by Sun. we'll be in the 50's.

Plan is now to spend Mon/Tues going through the "tune-up", dump the alcohol in and drive directly to the testing station, fingers crossed.
Like many plans, this one is flexible but at least it's a start.

 

you shouldn't need to change the o2 sensor yearly, the NTK one that the car came with went 20 years....

 

It's every other year actually but your point is still valid.
It's a traditional part of my biannual Hail Mary, more a habit than a necessity.

 

Clokker, enjoying the winter storm?

This is the third winter storm for us in 2 weeks! The whole city has to shut down so you are freaking stuck at home. My wife works for DPD and let's just say the weather doesn't make for a pleasent work day, lol.

 

Not really, no.
We've had an unusually long period of snow and cold and although it doesn't compare to say, Boston, enough is enough.

The snow/ice ruts have ripped most of my front lip off, not looking forward to fixing that.

 

I was being sarcastic.

We aren't enjoying it either. Dallas just isn't equipped to deal with this crap. My wife is from NH and everyone with a pickup truck there owns a snow plow...just a different world.