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Speaking of GTA, the AI in GTA V leaves much to be desired. At some point everyone forgot how to car.

@Toyminator900  
I never played that one, it seems they came a long way even from GTA 3 where you could actually have a 3D world

@SeraphimDawn  
Mazda was ahead of the curve, I kinda feel the same with the Stingray Corvette. The Mazda is more 80s with the use of black molding instead of plastic though

@Toyminator900  
Remember when GTA was just about stealing cars?
 
It’s hard to believe this 1978 Mazda RX-7 was a 70s car.  

 
It looks like something from the late 80s.

@SeraphimDawn  
Hehe… yeah, when comparing to GTAV

@Toyminator900  
The GTA series had a humble beginning didn’t it?

So I was playing GTAI and I found a couple of interesting cars…  

@RainbowDash69
 
I’m sure the SUV’s capable of 25 or higher at HWY speeds.
 
There’s another truck, a 1982 Ford F250 with a Diesel engine, that someone modified and actually uses for hauling things.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBo7k_9zxBs
 
@Flying Pancake
 
Not hard at all. That could work, either that of just have it snap in place at three or five contact points.
 
I’ve heard of other aerodynamic caps making a 3 MPG difference over an open bed; between that, an air dam and all the wheel covers and skirting it might make a 6 MPG HWY difference.
 

@BarryFromMars  
That’s kind of nuts. It can’t be that hard to design a quick release for a wheel cover, right? Maybe have it slot in at the peak of the opening and secure it at the bottom with a couple hood pin type things?
 
That’s a really interesting looking truck. I’m not sure I’d ever want to go that far with aero modifications for fear of losing functionality, but the wheel covers, particularly the rear ones, look great, and I bet the fastback cap makes a huge difference.

@SeraphimDawn  
I just watched a video about the base model, actually. it was the 2017 model though. only for $13,100 you get this cute thing
 
Mazdaspeed 3 was one of the coolest hatchbacks I remember from a few years ago. Ford definitely has a better design going on (Mazda smiley face was kinda okay) and I like the sorta-tuner design of the Focus RS.
 
 
@BarryFromMars  
Yeah I keep forgetting it’s for a diesel. 20 mpg is great for that beast. it is a great tow machine with that cold intake, for sure.
 
That pickup has a pretty great design, best score of 65 mpg makes it worth all the work… I kinda want it, but it needs to be a different color

@kleptomage
 
Thanks, I hadn’t thought of using metal flashing. Right now the air dam’s made out of floor matting and is held on the bumper from plastic “brackets” I made out of bent plastic. They’re not very durable, although the air dam never fell off I had a few of the brackets break on me from time to time.
 
@Flying Pancake
 
Because “Rear tire changing’s a pain” or something which doesn’t make sense to me; a much better skirting removal system could be used. I get the ideas from Ecomodder.com. Here’s a 1995 Toyota Truck that’s been taken much farther with aerodynamic modifications:
 

 
Here’s the article the photo’s from: http://evworld.com/blogs.cfm?blogid=1289
 
@RainbowDash69
 
Thanks. I’m glad you mentioned the headlights, I worked on all except two of them with ChrisFix’s headlight restoration tips and it worked out wonderfully; I also worked on the taillights which looked like faded paper and now they look ruby red! No, most of my driving might fit somewhere between City and HWY; although it’s not always at HWY speeds I’m often going at least 10 miles in one direction at least at 45 MPH due to living in rural Pennsylvania.
 
One other modification; I added a cool air intake by cutting a hole in the air filter box and putting a tube from it down to the air dam which is why you see a hole in the dam on the passenger side. Though the hose broke it still works well, I can read the intake air temperature with the Scangauge II. I don’t know if it makes a big difference in fuel efficiency but it at least keeps the turbo cool so I won’t get turbo failure.

@RainbowDash69  
It’s the economy car on steroids.
 
Meanwhile, Mazda should really bring their Mazdaspeed series back. Ford pretty much has a monopoly along with VW in the Hot Hatch market.

@SeraphimDawn  
a 3-banger engine is sure insane. Ecoboost will make it cool, I know. turbocharging is a fad and I’m happy for it.
 
though I can’t imagine how fun it would be to get a base model with a naturally aspirated 3 cylinder

in its current generation, the Suburban is longer (about 20 inches) and has been around since the 30s while the Tahoe was just made in the 90s

2018 Ford Fiesta ST
 
 
@RainbowDash69  
What are the differences between Tahoe and the Suburban? I always get them mixed up.

@kleptomage  
Can’t really compare luxury cars back in the 90s to luxury cars today, especially with the different economics these days.
 
Compare 2017 Genesis G90 vs 2016 Lexus LS 460  
Their prices aren’t really that much off IMO.

@BarryFromMars  
That Suburban looks amazing. I love how new the chrome looks. Perfect headlights as well
 
I agree that the airdam might work better if it was curved on the sides. It’s interesting to see for sure. Do you do mainly city driving? I’d imagine 20 mpg is a good combined driving number.

@BarryFromMars  
You’re cowling the rear wheels too? That’s awesome. I’ve never understood why more cars don’t come that way from the factory (aside from purely stylistic reasons). They’re just big holes ruining your airflow, so why not cover them? Plus, done right they can look really good, too.

@BarryFromMars  
It would probably help if it was curved to divert air away from the truck. I mean, the truck is basically as aerodynamic as a brick but it would help a little. You know the metal flashing used for waterproofing houses? You could probably take a roll of that and spray paint and shape it into a better air dam.

@kleptomage
 
I can’t really tell from experience as I’ve never A-B-A-B tested it on the highway or filled the tank up all the way since I patched it. The air dam’s hanging on there without gentle curves on the sides; air dams other people have that are reported to work have gradual curves, seen below. Removing the roof rack which I never used helped though according to my not calibrated Scangauge II. I did put screws in the roof rack holes and silicone on the top of them too, it won’t leak.
 

 
(The air dam on “Big Red” above looks a bit too low to the ground for me.)

@Flying Pancake  
Not sure. Maybe the seat in the 300 was not down fully.
 
@SeraphimDawn  
Lexus entered the market as a value proposition and their vehicles are still priced reasonably compared to their competitors. Hyundai’s starting price of $69,000 for the G90 is not exactly a value.
 
 
@BarryFromMars  
Do the aerodynamics of the bumper make a difference in mpg?

@Flying Pancake
 
Thanks. The reason is for aerodynamics, I also plan on putting skirting over the rear wheels like this Insight while not rotating the tires. I don’t know what my fuel consumption has been exactly but it’s at least close to 20 MPG.
 

 
@SeraphimDawn
 
Yes, it could be used for that. There’s a lot of room, sure; not only from front to back but vertically it’s comparable to a 1970s Station Wagon. I prefer the seats in it much more than those in the Caprice and Wagon too even if the ride’s different.

@BarryFromMars  
Looks like you can turn that into a snow plow in the winter.
 
I used to see a lot of those on the road in my middle school years.
 
Is it like a living room inside?

@BarryFromMars  
Very nice looking! Im curious, though, what’s the story behind the bumper modifications? Mount points for a snowplow and better aerodynamics?

Photos of my 1999 Chevrolet Suburban K2500 LS with a 6.5 Turbo Diesel engine. They were taken 2 days after I finished waxing.
 

 

 

 
Really, the vehicle looked dull before with a penchant for attracting dirt to the rear windows; now that I’ve supercleaned and waxed it the rear windows aren’t getting dirty anywhere near as quickly as they used to. Big improvement, now I have to replace the stock oil cooler lines; OEM ones feature a “Quick Disconnect” feature and if the C Clips holding them on go there goes your oil!