Recent posts

#21

General Car Banter / Re: What Did You Do To Your Ca...

Last post by Bridgecity - Oct 09, 2026, 10:48 AM

Junior's  '12 Civic developed a vibration under light throttle while taking right hand turns, as well as a transmission oil leak.  We narrowed the vibration down to the left side CV axle (original at almost 300k) and the transmission oil leak to the axle seal on the right side.  Picked up an aftermarket CV and seals from Honda for both sides and swapped them out two nights ago.  Took about 2 hrs, and Junior did all the hard work under the car.  The vibration was gone, but now both axle seals were leaking terribly.  I knew Junior had pushed the seals in a bit too far (supposed to be flush with transaxle case and he was about 1/8" past) and that allowed the moving parts in the tranny to chew up the seals internally. 

Picked up two more seals yesterday and was more careful in their placement this go around and all seems well.  We could  swap both axles on this car in under an hour now, haha.

#22

Off-Topic / Re: We bought a beach...and a ...

Last post by blur911 - Oct 09, 2026, 09:17 AM

Not sure what it's like out there, but here a lot of recreational trails whether hiking, XC skiing, snowmobiling, etc. are on private land and owners give passage rights, sometimes in exchange for lower tax bills from the city. Not saying you have to allow people onto your land, but maybe that's generally what people assume...?

I certainly understand that people have been using it for years, I did too, but things change.  (I do give permission to hikers and dog walkers)   I wouldn't mind much if it wasn't harming anything, but where the ATVs get on and off the beach has caused a lot of damage and erosion to the sand dune, it kills the grass which keeps all the sand from blowing away.  I now have two trenches through the bank  that are about 5-feet deep that I'm trying to fill in. 

The other thing is that it'll illegal to ride an ATV on a beach or a wetland, so they're not supposed to be there even if I give permission.  There are large fines and possible ATV seizure if caught.

#23

Show and Shine / Re: Firm's 2001 XK8

Last post by Revelations - Oct 08, 2026, 09:32 PM

Yeah, it happens, especially with deaths and whatnot. The part that gets me is that this car is now 25 years old...I remember when these came out in the late 90's and they were like a dream car to me. Early 00's I remember my dad taking the family to a Jag dealer to look at X-Types, he was finally going to replace his Camaro daily driver and they had one of these in the showroom, in a similar color combo and I couldn't get my eyes off it. Dad came to his senses, drove the Camaro another year or so and then bought an off-lease 99 XK8 - silver on black, which he still has today.

Those days don't feel THAT long ago....but now here I am, that showroom car is just another wreck sitting in my driveway

Trip down memory lane! I worked for a Ford dealership when I was 18. The owner had one of these (Ford owned Jag at the time) and I got to drop him off at the airport in it. I felt like a movie star on the way back driving that Jag. Never dared to even half throttle it...I was a good noodle back then 

Looks like a beauty though. Long forgotten how they drove, but I still love the styling.

#24

Electric Vehicles (EVs) / Re: Level 2...finally.

Last post by RRocket - Oct 08, 2026, 08:15 PM

I may be switching to SWTCH. I feel like I made excuses to stay with Grizzl-E long enough.

What happened?

#25

Electric Vehicles (EVs) / Re: What's good economy for an...

Last post by dkazzed - Oct 08, 2026, 12:46 PM

They should've switched the Trailseeker and Outback names, there's nothing Outback about the new Outback.

#26

Member Test Drives and Product Reviews / Re: 2026 Mazda Mazda3 Sport GT...

Last post by Blueprint - Oct 08, 2026, 09:10 AM

#27

Member Test Drives and Product Reviews / Re: 2026 Mazda Mazda3 Sport GT...

Last post by Blueprint - Oct 08, 2026, 09:10 AM

#28

Member Test Drives and Product Reviews / Re: 2026 Mazda Mazda3 Sport GT...

Last post by Blueprint - Oct 08, 2026, 09:09 AM

Review is out: https://www.autohebdo.net/editorial/essai-routier/mazda/3/mazda-mazda3-sport-gt-manuelle-2026-essai-routier/

#29

Off-Topic / Re: Vacation Thread

Last post by Gurgie - Oct 08, 2026, 08:58 AM

I'm off to South America on October 31. Should be a really interesting trip as I'm going with my dad and two brothers. My dad is from Uruguay and all of our trips there have been heavy on family visits and this one is going to be a bit different as we'll get a chance to see more stuff rather than just staying with family in small villages. This will also be the first time the four of us are traveling together since we were kids. I think the last time I was in Uruguay was in 2017 or 2018 so it's been a bit.

Here's the itinerary:
- Fly to Buenos Aires where we will spend four nights
- Take the ferry across to Colonia del Sacramento, rent a car, drive to Montevideo (about two hours away) where we will stay for two nights
- Backtrack a bit to spend the weekend in Colonia Delta where my dad grew up, staying with my aunt and uncle.
- Go east of Montevideo to Punta Colorado for three nights. This is the coastline with resort towns that are popular with Brazilian tourists and where my grandparents used to vacation as well.
- Head across the country to Colonia Gartental to stay with another aunt and uncle for two nights.
- Spend our last night in Colonia del Sacramento before taking the ferry back to Buenos Aires to fly home.

Also have a vacation planned for next summer already, only because we had some Air Canada credits that were expiring. We're flying into Vienna and out of Dubrovnik (which is a new destination for AC) and also plan to spend a few days in Montenegro.

Sounds like a fantastic trip, looking forward to some pictures of the adventures.

#30

Electric Vehicles (EVs) / Re: What's good economy for an...

Last post by Blueprint - Oct 08, 2026, 12:00 AM

My latest EV was the Trailseeker, impressed by the observed 16.1 kWh/100 km for the week, handily beating the NRCan numbers. Impressive for a jacked-up off-roady long roof that does 0-60 in 3.9s.

New Bolt in a few weeks.