Hooniverse Asks- Do You Really Care How Many Cylinders Your Car Has?

Robert Emslie

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Yesterday I asked if you would be open to the thought of a V6 engine in a Corvette, as an ancillary model. Some responded no effing way, and condemned me as anti-American. Others said, sure, as long as the engine and the car adhere to the expected performance and feel of a real Vette. The rest said “what’s a Corvette?” and went back to eating their oatmeal. That got me thinking ( and hungry), does it matter how many pots your engine has, as long as it does everything you expect of it?

For nearly 30 years a Ferrari came only one way – with 12 cylinders. Smaller road cars arrived with lesser piston counts, but they were branded separately because Enzo felt doing otherwise would denigrate the brand’s mystique. Then came a batch of 308 GT4s that were stacking up like cord wood at dealers due to the gas shortage. In order to give the cars a greater sense of desirability Enzo instructed the dealers to affix prancing horses to the cars, a first for a non-V12 road-going Ferrari. History was made, and the earth did not swallow up the company, nor did prospective buyers flee elsewhere.

So what about other brands? Porsche has gone from flat fours to sixes to V8s and has hardly missed a beat. Jag, best known for their dohc straight six and V12 boat anchor now is exclusively V8 in the states, and even sells a diesel back on the Continent. BMW still sells a straight six, they’re one of the last in fact to do so. But instead of being the centerpiece of their engine lineup, the six is just one engine out of a series of fours, sixes, eights, tens and twelves that flow from the Bavarian maker like so many tasty schnitzels.

Fuel economy has been a wavering factor for decades, but the near doubling of gas prices within the past couple of years has added some immediacy to car makers efforts to make do with smaller, less thirsty motors. Ford’s Eco-Boost line and Hyundai’s 270 hp turbo 4 are notable examples of these. The Korean motor takes the place of the previous V6 in their mid-sizer and produces even more power than the six.

So, if it’s becoming more difficult to tell how many cylinders are under the hood by the throttle pedal, does it matter how many there are when popping the hood? Are bragging rights about having more that important? Does quantity really trump quality?

Image sources: [beaterblog, perfectwinperformance]

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Robert Emslie

Robert Emslie

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115 responses to “Hooniverse Asks- Do You Really Care How Many Cylinders Your Car Has?”

  1. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    … to 0 cylinders.

    Reply
    1. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      Coming soon, kiddos……….LIKE NOW! 5350 – 5399.
      <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lv5rHT72pr8/SwMZ5h9PDXI/AAAAAAAAAGI/URqnOMjWOWI/s1600/5350-part2B.gif"width="500"/&gt;
      5350

      Reply
      1. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
        Tower_Of_Power

        mzs…
        I use my car for utility all the time. I don't know what I'd do without a wagon. I even broke the thing that covers the spare tire hauling about 70lbs of walnuts out of my yard! Subaru didn't make that part too sturdy 🙁 Nothing to new with me, but my girlfriend just got a new car. A 2012 Subaru Impreza! It's pretty nice, quiet, way more roomy than mine which was a surprise, and at 700 miles has averaged 35mpg! Also, her mom is looking to get a new car, my mom is looking at a new car, $kaycog is getting a new car…it seems the women are all up to something here?
        Have fun at the Volvo meet! I know you will!
        5355

        Reply
      2. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
        Tower_Of_Power

        $kaycog…
        A car buy based on Matt's review…probably a good call. That 1.6L Ecoboost sounds like quite a nice little powerplant along with heir other Ecoboost engines.
        I didn't have any plans over Memorial Day weekend, but ended up hanging out with family and picking my dad's strawberries, which are way ahead of schedule this year! Are you up to anything this weekend (new car?)? I will be picking more strawberries tonight otherwise I won't be up to much else besides the usual chores.
        5356

        Reply
      3. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
        mr. mzs zsm msz esq

        Hi Skay,
        <img src="http://images.craigslist.org/5I85G35He3Ia3F93J4c6q2ac1fe227f7211e3.jpg"&gt; You're not going to believe what I ran into on CL today: http://cosprings.craigslist.org/com/3103387491.ht… "I was on Rampart Range Road and saw the Fire basically when it started. I have video and pictures and believe I know who started the fire. I have left 4 messages with the tip line and have not received a call back. The perpetraitors are probably in another state by now and as time passes crucial evidence is being lost! Somebody needs to contact me asap. I may go to the Television stations tomorrow. What a shame!"
        I was looking at cars on CL in CO from a crazy idea I had earlier in the morning. We are supposed to leave on Aug 9th and get back on the 20th. The most important thing is that I still have not read anyone being seriously hurt in the fires thankfully. I read that mid July was the estimate for control of the fire. So then I assume more time to reopen roads and what not. I let Aga know, we do not know yet what we will do. A lot of the things were we headed for were in that area. Twice now we have gone on vacations we had planned after the area had some detestation. Once was after a (and during another it so happened) hurricane. The other time was after the BP oil spill. For the second one we really got lucky since the oil had just not yet reached the beach, but in both cases you could tell that the businesses were very happy to have us there and we still had a great vacation. So if it's safe and enough is open, we'll go is my guess. I worry also about the hill climb, I think that is early July.
        The water park was great, though I got a sun burn. It was not so hot here recently, but I like it better that way. We were able to mow the lawn, and it's nice to not have to wait until 11PM or so to walk Max. Oh and riding the bike is fun too. Later today we are going to take Aga's sister to sushi place, I've been building an appetite all day by eating little. About tonyola (I think I wrote enough to get this off the more recent posts blurb) I think he is [edited – why did I not think of this sooner? Anyway email notification will have it]. Maybe you would like to call him or write a letter to see if he is okay? I do not know if that's polite though. I've always respected that guy a ton.
        Have a good one,
        5393
        PS: The "2" glows.

        Reply
    2. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      <img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/03/04/automobiles/collectibles/04volvo_span.jpg">Holy crap, Colin Powell and his '62 Amazon wagon! At one point he had SIX 🙂 5351

      Reply
    3. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      zsm, szm, asp………Do you mean C. Powell had six Amazons at the same time? How interesting. That's a great picture. I can't believe this is the last day of May. You leave tomorrow for St. Louis……..unless I got that screwed up again. Last night, I went to dinner at a new Chinese place in town. Actually, it's just a relocated one. I thought the food was just so-so, but I'll give it another chance. Today, is my bi-monthly appointment out-of-town and Chinese buffet. It's more Asian in my opinion.
      I finished this book over the weekend, and it was amazing!! Spinelli did an article on it a couple of weeks ago. I went to Amazon for price……..I think it was $18 plus s&h. I went to eBay and bought one for $6.40, NEW, which included s&h. I commented in Spinelli's article about my deal, and the author, A. J. Baime, replied to my comment……"why did I buy it on eBay, as authors need money too"……something like that. I ignored his reply. Anyway, it's a most interesting read, and I highly recommend it.
      <img src="http://img2.imagesbn.com/images/101490000/101491695.jpg"width="500"/&gt;
      5352

      Reply
    4. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skay,
      Whoa I read a good chunk of that book too! But I stumbled on it at the Warrenville library. Kevin had archery about a block away from the library, and I needed something to do since it's not too close to where we live. So I went to the library and browsed the books, and that's what I got! Though the cover on the one I read was different. I read it for eight Saturdays 🙂 It really was fascinating, though it started kind of slow. The way I understood the quote from Colin Powell is that at one time in his past he owned six Volvos at the same time and they were projects. he had to sort of spread them around and hide them so that MP would not catch on and have them towed! I take it from that it must have been some time ago 😉 Anyway he seems to keep buying and fixing the old Volvos, at least until five years ago. The trip is tomorrow. I drove in to work today. I have only one front seat in at the moment and half the carpeting. IT IS SO FREAKING QUIET NOW! Actually that's sort of bad because I used the sound to tell me when to shift, but should make the trip more pleasant. You know, like to hear conversations and radio 😉 Enjoy your Chinese, again! Michelle is dressed-up as Harriet Tubman for school history project today, I hope Aga makes it to her speech.
      Have a good one,
      5353

      Reply
      1. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
        mr. mzs zsm msz esq

        Oh forgot a funny part, that title on the cover was pretty embarrassing, so I was always covering it so some little kid would not see it.

        Reply
    5. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, szm, soy………I didn't get notification of your reply here either, but I think that was my own fault. The last 50 comments, I didn't have to click "all new comments" , so I think I forgot that. The carpet will make a lot of difference and make riding in it more enjoyable. You'll get used to it and really like it, I think. I hope you have a wonderful weekend a that the weather is perfect.
      I went to dinner with friends last night to celebrate school being out. She's a third grade teacher. The teachers are probably more excited than the kiddies when school is out for the summer. We went to Mexican restaurant, and I had my favorite beef taco salad with mild green chili.
      Enjoy St. Louis.
      5354

      Reply
    6. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      TowerofPower……..My Memorial Day Weekend was pretty quiet with out-of-town company for a half day and then a cookout with friends. This past weekend included a trip to the mountains. The wildflowers were in bloom, so it was an "ooh" and "ah" trip. There was a brief shower at 10K elevation which really cooled it off and freshened the air. It was wonderful. Have a good week!
      5357

      Reply
    7. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Tower and Skay!
      The trip was great! It was kind of hot on the way back for a while, and bad traffic on the bridge into St. Louis, other than that perfect. Jake won a little toy C70 in a raffle, Fred got first place in the class. The bad thing is I did not take any pictures with Astrid in them 🙁 I am pretty stupid, there is one Fred took where you can see a bit, hoping there are some on the web site for the meet later. On the way there I smelled something odd, so I pulled over. There was oil dripping out of the front air filter! Well I had about 4qt of multigrade and a quart of SAE30 so I just topped-up every now and then. I thought that the filter in the oil cap had ruptured (it is a strange early emissions control system, where crank vents into intake manifold and head into air filter). But when I got there, some people told me what I thought was the PCV valve was not it and I simply lack one. I'll try that first. Another guy told me his 140 just does that when he goes fast 🙂 It was funny though since on the drive back these shirtless guys towing a boat really got a kick out of me showing them the oil dripping off of the bottom of the air filter and just topping-up from the big oil jug. There was a guy that drove a PV544 all the way from California. He cracked me up. He was sort of the Volvo version of Harrell in some ways. His PV only had 3 gears and he was boasting how he was passing the semis on the trip 😉 Anyway some photos:
      https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-a…
      https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-a…
      https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-a…
      Have a good one,
      5358

      Reply
    8. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, szm, oop……….I didn't get a notice of your comment, but again, I think it was my fault. Your trip sounds like it was a lot of fun. I love that photo of you guys with white doctor coats on……..very funny! Yesterday, in my COTD award, some guy posted a full frontal boob's photo, and then he posted it again as a new comment. Some of the guys and I posted NSFW warnings to get it off the front page. It really upset me. Finally Orlove took it off, but not the one in my thread. A few of the guys told him how distasteful it was only with stronger language. Here's crossing my fingers for today. I better see if COTD is posted yet.
      Happy Taco Tuesday!
      5359

      Reply
    9. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Tower,
      <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/3rd_Subaru_Impreza_Outback_Sport.jpg/400px-3rd_Subaru_Impreza_Outback_Sport.jpg"&gt; Congrats on all the new cars (bet there's another one now, they are contagious). Does it look like this one? I really liked that style, it looked liked the C3 on the outside and very Volvo like on the inside especially without the sun roof version. It's so much fun to use cars. Enjoy all the strawberries! <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Citroen_C3_Exclusive.JPG/400px-Citroen_C3_Exclusive.JPG"&gt;
      Hi Skay,
      Well I had to go and look when the kids were not around. That was a very pleasant lady, but no car I could see. I think guy got the point. Sorry he upset you. Feel better? Internet meanie 🙁 I also notice that not much has changed on jalopnik. Like there are stars and the comments are the same. Did they give-up on what Ray warned about? Also did Ray ever answer what he took to HS reunion when he left jalopnik? I have now hunch Ford Raptor. Here's something funny, I am going to wedding with Agnes! We have not been invited in a long time. I thought it was next week though, whoops, it's Friday! Anyway,m I love weddings, this one in in Kansas, we will be driving all day. I'm really excited though. Aga was at the kids' almost end of school party outside all day running an obstacle course, she got sun burn in a funny way. Like she was wearing sun glasses, and she thinks she looks like raccoon now. Also her feet look like they have spiders on them from the shoes she wore. She is not so excited about the wedding because of that, heehee. Here's a funny photo from work (crap I closed the window that said who took it, anyway some really lucky and good amateur photographer here): http://www.fnal.gov/pub/today/images12/snappingtu…
      Have a good one,
      5360

      Reply
    10. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, zms, pie……….Yes, I'm over the NSFW pic in my award. I think it upset me more than it should have. I might have been more angry than upset. Ray never said what he drove to the HS reunion that I know of. We're not on the new format, but Gawker forum is. It's absolutely the dumbest thing I've ever seen, and they even changed it this week so that it's worse. Utterly ridiculous. Are the kids going to the wedding in KS? I too like weddings……..I cry. I'm sure Aga can fix her raccoon eyes with some make-up tricks. I bet she did look funny, but I'd never tell her that. I love that turtle picture………..a lot!
      Happy Hump Day!
      5361

      Reply
    11. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skay,
      No the kids are not going. They have a lot of activities happening at the same time, so our family is watching them and Max while we are away. Aga planned a neat little trip though, we are canoeing for example on Saturday! I called Alff and he gave some great suggestions of what to do near to KC as well. I'll certainly have full food report afterward 😉 I already told Aga it's funny, but no harm cause it was funny. Yes she went to store yesterday to get some cover make-up. I did go to gawker, was indeed strange. Seemed like you could only navigate one thread and never see all the comments at the same time. But crosstalk seemed normal at least so maybe oppo will remain how it is. I wonder which thread will be the one visible in COTD, the beer or ladies awards? So how has your day been so far? Mine started off great with pancakes and a game of cards before work, but then at work they wanted me to be at a meeting tomorrow. So then they changed it to Monday, but I am supposed to be at a conference M-W, so they made it really early on Monday, but now it looks I will only go for part of Tuesday. And then I tried to check my personal email and could not login. I was on tech support call for 45 minutes. Now all is well. The fellow was very nice, computers are very frustrating though. I love that snapping turtle too. Cause it looks like some giant prehistoric monster with the perspective like that 😉
      Have a good one,
      5362

      Reply
    12. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, szm, you………..I hope you have a fun and safe trip to KS. How many miles is it? The canoeing will be lots of fun for you and Aga. Of course, what you eat is of utmost importance. 😉 Nothing is new with me, other than I have the VIN # for my Escape. I guess it's on the assembly line now. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday, but I did have a good week, and it was also a fast week. Is Aga's sunburn fading somewhat? Later!
      5363

      Reply
    13. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      $kaycog…
      Opps! I replied to the wrong person last time. I also saw the NSFW prize on the quote of the day. It was weird though because as I was reading the comments, I saw all of these warnings about a NSFW photo and I figured a bunch of commenters were putting the NSFW tag as a joke for your normal prize submission just to give you a hard time. But as I found out, that was not the case!
      It's the weekend again! I'm heading to my girlfriends parents in Dubuque this weekend. Always good food there! What are your plans?
      5364

      Reply
    14. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      mzs…
      Welcome back from the Volvostravaganza! It sounds like it was good fun!
      My girlfriends new car is the brand new body styled Impreza…even the same color as the one below. It's weird because nobody in my family (or friends) has ever bought a brand new car. We have historically been used car shoppers, but used cars have been holding their value compared to new ones so the new car proposition seems to be high right now. Everything is so shiny and there is no rust anywhere! Even the underside looks amazing. I'm sure that will change after winter though. All of this new car talk is giving me the itch to buy a new car too but I'm at least going to drive my WRX until 135,000 miles, which I should hit sometime next summer. Of course I'm already window shopping and I'm sure $kaycog will love to hear that the Focus ST is high on my list of potentials!
      <img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/04/002-2012-subaru-impreza-five-door-opt.jpg&quot; width=500>
      5365

      Reply
    15. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      TowerofPower…….I hope you had a nice weekend in Dubuque and lots of tasty foods. My weekend was uneventful other than a couple of meals out. Once at my favorite Italian restaurant for chicken calzone and the other at Japanese restaurant for chicken yakitori. Both meals were superb, as always. I tend to order the same thing at certain restaurants because I know what I like. I do have steak at the Italian restaurant on occasion though. Other than that, the weekend was pretty much the same as always.
      5366

      Reply
    16. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Tower,
      Ha I drove sort of close to Dubuque this weekend, near Davenport! We stopped at "The World's Largest Truckstop" which was not as neat as I had hoped. I wonder what was the excellent food you must have eaten now. I ate a lot of great stuff. The reception had BBQ and I had two other BBQs. Also an Iowa pork chop. But I am going to have to turn in my full report later cause I have so much to do. That is a very pretty color. I almost bought the pre-facelift version of the Impreza when it was getting hard to find good old car before Aga found the Amazon. This new version looks a little lumpy and less clean. It works better on the Forester I think. And Volvostravaganza was fun.
      Hi Skay,
      You okay from all the bad weather there was Thurs-Fri, good! Your Escape is conceived, yippie! Fred got this report from Gottenborg or however it is spelled about his '68. They give dates like when they started on it, when it left the factory, and when it was shipped off and arrived in USA. It might be fun to imagine Ford co. is a mommy to be with your Escape now. The sunburn is almost gone, just her feet a bit still. I did not see COTD from Friday when I clicked back this morning. Is that no more or a one time thing?
      Have a good one,
      5367
      PS: Some photos from trip:
      https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-s…
      https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-a…
      https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-p…
      https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-a…

      Reply
    17. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, msz, m&m………That barbecue looks absolutely delicious, and by the big grin on your face in that pic, you thought so too! How was the wedding, as weddings go? Weather good? Those terrible storms missed where I am in CO…….further South. We didn't even have a drop of rain……..some wind, but not bad. There's still COTD's, but just not last Friday. There is a new lady writer on J. now. She does the Morning Shift and will do other articles too. Her name is Micheline (Micki) Maynard. You should read about her qualifications in this morning's MS. I welcomed her and said that it was nice to have a lady around again since Murilee was gone. Also, Bill Caswell is going to do a weekly post about racing. He also had an article today.
      5368~~~~~~Later!

      Reply
    18. Alff Avatar
      Alff

      Hi guys! Hey, I recognize that place – glad you went to OK Joe's, MZS, it's my favorite here in town. Sorry to have missed you but it looks like you two had a ball.
      5369

      Reply
    19. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Alff!
      <img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IlpohnFfxaE/T9iSNaRzAWI/AAAAAAAADH8/18RTHg7whIY/s640/IMG_2435.jpg"&gt; It's okay, I bet we will go there again, this time with kids since there was so much for kids there and along the way. It really was a fantastic food at OK Joe's, thanks for the recommendation! My wife has a friend whose husband is now going 4-5 days a week to KC for work. She recommended for him to go as well. Here's another shot of KC: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uacsNRr4z6k/T9…
      Hi Skay,
      <img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zuWNLSv52PQ/T9iSL0kOsWI/AAAAAAAADHk/hpnwOP6ZoS0/s600/DSC03228.jpg"&gt; Okay full report time. So first was the trip to the wedding. We discovered that we were not going to make it on time to wedding. Michelle freaked-out about sleeping over at her friend's house, so we left 7:30 AM instead. We got into Topeka 4:45PM. On the way Poland was playing Greece in Eurocup, so we stopped at a Chilii's https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SHwOEWMhuu0/T9… The entire trip I was surprised all the places that Americans were watching soccer, it never was a trouble for me to see parts of games. So we got to hotel, changed clothes, and went to reception. We were the first ones there, ha! So we explored the Kansas Historical Society museum. Some photos:
      https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ZUP6iwZ1gEY/T9…
      https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K_4eDvYb-dw/T9…
      https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Qtvhx__sXIY/T9…
      https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GJpkz-l8LfQ/T9…
      This photo cracks me up: <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wEVDuArZn_E/T9iR2oCkn1I/AAAAAAAADG0/69k1cj7PU4A/s1200/DSC03188.jpg” target=”_blank”>https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wEVDuArZn_E/T9iR2oCkn1I/AAAAAAAADG0/69k1cj7PU4A/s1200/DSC03188.jpg

      Reply
      1. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
        mr. mzs zsm msz esq

        The reception was pretty good my US standards. The beers were excellent in particular, and the food was BBQ, which was great. But there was not all the silliness that Eastern European ones tend to have. Things like silly games and dances and what not. There was dancing though, I danced a lot, loved that. The new couple were very happy as well, this was nice, and I saw some people I had not in years. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FedH2zixuJI/T9…
        So then the next day we drove by the capitol in Topeka (I think, kind of a blur, no photo evidence, maybe I'm confusing Des Moines now) and then onto KC. We first stopped at the WWI memorial and museum. Was great, then we went to OK Joe's, really great. Burnt ends are the best thing, thanks for Alff to recommend them for me. They are very fatty, Aga did not like them, but I loved them because of that. So then we headed off to Des Moines. I already showed the canoeing photo, we canoed there for an hour, only trouble was that on the way back the wind kicked-up and it was hard to get back. After that there was a cruise in right by out hotel. So after the spa and pool, we went there: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.8528084… The best part was that the owner of the drag racing Mustang did not know about the cruise in. He just happened to be leaving a meal from Texas Road House across the street, and yes he was driving his pro stock, ha ha ha 🙂
        <img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-tNOWnhcsU9A/T9iSUjSezjI/AAAAAAAADIw/w3YLBKgmOn4/s640/IMG_2555.jpg"&gt; So then supper. We went here. It was fantastic! They had burnt ends quesidilla with mangoes on top! I had brisket, again fantastic, with grits and cornbread. Ags had catfish and ribs. The ribs in particular were really great, like smoked first I think. Alff, if you are ever out there, worth it to go. Make a reservation though like we did. Oh and like most nice eating places in Des Moines, they are closed on Sundays. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-OYzKyyUhdAg/T9… There is also this photo of me, but Aga wanted me to smile like I did at OK Joe's. It did not work out, that look on my face in KC was really genuine happiness 🙂 https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5-7V9LerIoA/T9…
        <img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7Ewp_jqDTb8/T9iS1AvhMNI/AAAAAAAADLk/YvRNZSDPxww/s640/IMG_2635.jpg"&gt; Then the next day we left, but first explored Des Moines some more. The French bakery we wanted to go to was closed on Sundays 🙁 Oh well. We went to some rose gardens near to the Art Center first:
        https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-HzgjaAgWsfM/T9…
        <a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Cawq1-VF6yM/T9iSqQabPVI/AAAAAAAADJ0/_OZXSMz_dKc/s912/IMG_2594.jpg” target=”_blank”>https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Cawq1-VF6yM/T9iSqQabPVI/AAAAAAAADJ0/_OZXSMz_dKc/s912/IMG_2594.jpg

        Reply
        1. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
          mr. mzs zsm msz esq

          Then we went to the Pappajohn's sculpture park. That's where the above photo is from, which I probably don't have to say it, my mind thinks is hillarious. Anyway, Aga especially took some great photos there:
          https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lxZyZ96Z4gQ/T9…
          https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Br1hpiJIUk8/T9…
          These next two are pretty funny as well:
          https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-bm0GF8bUBok/T9…
          https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-qSA895BVALs/T9…
          And then when we were leaving Des Moines we saw this: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-smWysoTa71s/T9…
          So on the drive we stopped at a Bass Pro shop called Adventure World. We wanted to eat there, but really the seafood place was not all that great. It was the best bowling alley in the world though, with an ocean theme. There were like sharks and all sorts of other sea creatures hanging over you. But the cost was $26/hr plus $3 per shoes! Whoa! We skipped bowling, though we did explore the store. It was awesome. You can get a really nice trailer, motor, and water ski boat for like $25K, want to send me the cash Skay? But this store had neat things like archery range and even fishing for dads and kids indoors. I also now know I could get trailer tires and wheels for the Volvo and have the right aspect ratio. They are even sidewall reinforced radials available. I'm tempted, but they are expensive, and probably would not have great traction. But man could I haul a lot of sod I bet! Here's a photo: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-doq022XhYYQ/T9…
          Then we stopped at a place to eat I want to say Okipolkie Grill or something like that. It's a small chain only in Iowa and was recommended as one of the back-ups when we were leaving. It was great actually. The deep fried cheese curds, not only did they squeak, but the beer batter was the best I have had. Also the tortilla soup was actually spicy. The baked potato soup was good, but not as good as in other places. Aga disagrees, thinks it was the best, go figure. She had a tuna sandwich, I gave her my salad since they make their own dressings there, the dressing was honey mustard, good for Aga, but not spicy enough for me. Now I had the Iowa style pork chop, since it was what I had read online as recommended. I think this thing must have been a pound of first cured then baked while basted in bourbon splendidness, yum! With it I had garlic/cheese mashed potatoes, which I loved, but Aga said they were not home made, still filling. That was the trouble though, one of the reasons we stopped there was for the pies, and in the end we had no room 🙁 Same thing happened after the Flying Mango, the deserts looked great there too. Oh well, a reason for another trip!
          Have a good one,
          5370

          Reply
    20. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Dang nabbit, some links were messed-up:
      https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wEVDuArZn_E/T9…
      https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Cawq1-VF6yM/T9…
      Here's a bonus, from one of the conferences I was at this week, will write about it someday, those wacky Canadians:
      https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tafpgCZgX7s/T9…

      Reply
    21. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      msz, zsm, dry………..Your trip sounds like it was a lot of fun with lots of good food and neat things to see. Your pictures are great, as usual. Yeah, that sculpture looks very provocative to me too. Too funny! I love museums……..there's so much history there. 😉 I doubt if you went to Topeka, as it's West of KC, but then I don't know what route you took either.
      This is a busy Thursday for me, but a good kind of busy. I'm leaving pretty soon for out-of-town appointment which includes Chinese buffet. Oh, yum! I hope your day is going well.
      5371

      Reply
    22. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skay,
      Whoops, I must have written something wrong. The reception was in Topeka, the next morning we drove to KC. GIS tells me I did see the Topeka capitol building: http://www.undergroundvaults-topeka.com/media/hom… That neat one on the edge of Des Moines was the Iowa one too. Nice to read you having good busy day. I had crazy morning. Found-out that the soccer coach will not be coach next year for boys but for girls instead! See I had planned to coach Kevin since one of his coaches was leaving. I found another mom to assn. coach with Jill. The deadline is Monday! Now I do not know if I can find two coaches for the younger boys in time, or even if Karen will like to do it with me instead of Jill if I end-up to coach Jake again. So don't know anything, what's new about that for me really 😉
      The week was neat so far. See on Monday I had that meeting, then there was a symposium at work. Some of the talks were very neat, history of the lab. I might have written this before, but David Kesttlebaum from NPR worked here almost 30 years ago I think it was now. He was the MC and did a great job. Also there were a lot people here that had left over the ten years I have been here, was nice to meet them again. So that was fun.
      Then there was a QNX conference nearby. I ended-up there about 4PM. QNX is a realtime embedded OS. I use vxworks and psos here. Was thinking about changing path though for various reasons. Here's the neato thing, lots of car companies use QNX, and there were a bunch there. I got to talk to some engineers. The one thing that explained a lot to me was that Audi depending on what it is requires things to be designed to last an average of 6-7 years. That completely explains my VW experience. That Porsche had a demo one big LCD does everything instrument cluster. It was pretty prototypy though. Anyway that conference was until yesterday, today I did work again.
      Have a good one,
      5372

      Reply
    23. Alff Avatar
      Alff

      Thanks for the advice about Des Moines, MZS. Our family goes there a lot – the family farm is about a half hour west. We never go to restaurants in DSM, though. Usually we have big family potlucks.

      Reply
      1. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
        mr. mzs zsm msz esq

        I have a feeling your family potlucks are incredible! You all enjoy your summer! Oh and you're onto me with the caption contest comment 😉 Notice how I misspelled Dodge twice, and omitted my usual punctuation to make it look like I rushed. But then you had to go and notice I went with a comment that could be interpreted both ways as a reply to myself and an honest to goodness caption, teeheehee. Yes I am very proud of it, the little things in life, though it will not win cause Tempesjo, Irishman's, and yours (dejavu) were really hilarious. Oh and a very happy Father's day to you Alff!

        Reply
        1. Alff Avatar
          Alff

          Happy Father's Day to you as well. I'm sure your clan will treat you well!

          Reply
    24. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, szm, IAC………….I see now why you were in Topeka. You typed too fast, I read too fast, and I got confused, which is nothing new. It makes for a few laughs anyway! I hope you can get the coach situation worked out. There again, I'm a bit confused.
      You know, my Explorer hasn't given me one bit of trouble in the ten years I've owned it. Until yesterday. It died on me two different times as I was turning corners. Then, when I pulled it into my garage, it kind of chug chugged, and when I put it in Park, the engine raced. So, early this morning, I went on an errand, and it died turning a corner again. So, I went to the Ford Store and told them what was going on. They took it for a test drive, and it died three times on them. It needs a new Idle Air Control (IAC) valve. It will be here from Denver later this afternoon. Why couldn't the Explorer lasted a few more weeks until my Escape comes in? I'm glad I was home when it happened.
      What's your weekend bringing? TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      5373

      Reply
    25. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skay,
      I say your Explorer is pretty upset with you, the impending abandonment you know, and can probably tell your thoughts are wandering and the whole lusting after another deal. There was the battery recently too after all. Astrid leaked all over the garage floor recently, I still haven't figured-out what I did that upset her. Maybe Aga said something? Anyway, I misunderstood part of the coach situation, even worse. I only have a coach lined-up for next spring, ha ha ha! Oh man, whatever turns-out I have another week to work things out. I'm sure it will be fine, things always work out in the end. Like on the trip I made a wrong turn and it delayed us, then we drove past a terrible accident which just happened on our correct path, spooky right?
      Did you know Aga's sister will be here in US in about three hours? Well she is, so that's the stuff that's happening. Also it's father's day. So we have a big party on Sunday, for Gosia, my dad, Michelle (her recent birthday – family party belated by all the stuff that was going on before), and me, yippie! On Saturday Agnes is going to help one of her friends with a birthday party for her daughter. It's at a pool, should be great. Problem is it's at the same time as Poland v. Czech Republic match. So I don't know what will happen there. I hope we all go swimming and then come back and watch it on replay. Our DSL provider bundles in ESPN3, which is pretty slick. You can watch up to 4 things at a time. Speaking of slick:
      http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/06/14/203223…
      Skip to 5:19 for the start of the neat-o animation. This is the same Musk guy that Wort always ragged on. I never really got that. Anyway the whole stages returning like that is pretty brilliant. Oh and Racin will be at the dirt track again, wish him luck! And I hope you have a great weekend too Skay! Is your father still with us here? Regardless, happy father's day to him.
      Have a good one,
      5374
      <img src="http://images.forum-auto.com/mesimages/857669/POLSKI_FIAT_125P.jpg"&gt; PS: Not only did Fodder inspire me (his inadvertent double meaning caption contest reply once before) but you as well. It's my FiL's birthday, I sent him a trophy. Hope you you don't mind 😉

      Reply
    26. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      $kaycog…
      I agree with mzs…your Explorer is upset with you. Car's have that 6th sense. For example, one time I was helping a friend wax his car. My Camaro was right behind watching the whole thing unfold. Then she got jealous and started pouring coolant all over the driveway, a green puddle of sadness. At least yours happened near home. I bet you are even more excited to be getting the new car though. What's up for your weekend?
      5375

      Reply
    27. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      mzs…
      Excellent synopsis of your trip! That was pretty cool! I haven't been to Des Moines much by I always hear my girlfriend talk about it. And that sculpture park looks like a hoot (the picture of Aga is cracking me up)!
      This time in Dubuque my girlfriend made a pizza loaf. It's several layers of crust and in between the layers you put cheeses and meat (pepperoni in this case). Then you bake it in a meatloaf pan. It was really good!
      My girlfriend and I also spontaneously went out to eat Tuesday after work and found a neat Albanian restaurant. I had a beef and lamb sausage platter. Those were some of the best sausages I've had. And I found out that you can order them and take them home to grill yourself…I will be trying that!
      Have fun with your international visitor this weekend!
      5376

      Reply
    28. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      TowerofPower…….Yes, I think my Explorer was upset. The part came in from Denver at my Ford Store late Friday afternoon. BUT…..they sent the wrong part. So, they put the old valve back in so I'd have wheels over the weekend, but I'd just have to put up with the engine dying. I decided I didn't want to do because I was fearful that it would die and not restart in the middle of a corner or something. Friends picked me up yesterday to take me to a cookout……..they didn't want me to drive it either. Today, I skipped church and am getting housecleaning done. Tomorrow I'll drive it to the Ford Store………three minutes away. Cookout was hamburgers, Italian sausage, potato salad and that spaghetti salad. I made gooey walnut brownies as a dessert.
      I hope you had a nice weekend!
      5377

      Reply
    29. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, szm, ooh……Happy Father's Day to you! I know you are having all sorts of fun with that. I hope Aga's sister made it there okay. How long will she be in the States? Is she staying with you guys? You talked about making a wrong turn on your trip and avoided a terrible accident by doing so. They say that everything happens for a reason.
      My Dad passed away three years ago, and my Mom passed away three months after that. This was three years after my son's passing. Thankfully, I have a strong faith and incredible friends.
      5378

      Reply
    30. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Alff,
      Father's day was grand! I hope you had a great one too. I took the kids and Aga's sister to a place called Funway. It has go-carts and the like. I had a blast in particular racing Kevin 🙂 Then it was a car show at the VFW. I saw a Shark nose Graham. Never seen one before, very pretty car. Though this one had SBC transplant. Then it was the party after soccer watching. It was great too. I went swimming with my kids during it. I got a Duvel for father's day gift from my kids, shared it with every dad at the party. It might explain the swimming during the party.
      Hi Tower,
      Wow layered pizza is a great sounding thing! I finally weighed myself after all the recent damage, only 208lb, so I need to lose 4lb or so before I go crazy again. This morning I had grits and waffles though, so maybe I am not really doing that right. Also on Thursday I am supposed to go out for lunch. How'd the grilled sausages go? DId yo make them for father's day?
      Hi Skay,
      I think Aga's sister will be here something like 2-4 weeks, I honestly don't know. Man in some ways I am not too practical, sorry. Anyway, she leaves and then FiL arrives. The brownies remind me, Aga made coffee chocolate cookies. They were great, had real coffee beans in them, but somehow they sort of crumbled when you chewed them. I have to ask how she did it now. This morning I showed skitter around Fermilab. What a very nice person and smart as he is polite too! I made him the breakfast, made the grits for him since I assumed he was from Georgia and would love them, ha whoops. Oh well, still was very privileged to have met him.
      Have a good one,
      5379

      Reply
      1. $kaycog Avatar
        $kaycog

        smz, zsm, dad……….I test drove a '13 Escape yesterday. It had the 1.6L EcoBoost engine like mine will have. I have been a little concerned about going from a 4.6L V8 to that engine, but I was very impressed with its performance! Now, I'm even more excited for mine to get here. I cleaned out the "stuff" from my Explorer Sunday in readiness for the switch, so I'm ready.
        The coffee chocolate cookies sound really delicious! Caffeine and sugar……..yum! It's nice that you got to meet skitter and make him breakfast.
        Happy Taco Tuesday!
        5380

        Reply
    31. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skay,
      Very impressed with the performance of the smaller one huh? Stop the presses it's not the size of your piston but… I'm going to hell right? Anyway I'm so glad you are pleased with your car. I always seem to leave something in ours when selling it, even though I try so hard not to forget. One time it was the radio code card from the radio I took out, argh! Never did get that radio to work again, and now I could use it, oh well. Tomorrow is bring your kids to work day. Jake is coming since the older two are in a musical and have practice. Also Aga is taking her sister to go zip lining, it's a surprise. Aga and her sis were already at dagger points yesterday for a while. She's 16 and can be pretty annoying sometimes for Aga. Things good again, man the teenage years are going to be hard for us as parents.
      Have a good one,
      5381

      Reply
    32. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      mzs, szm, stp………….I'm so glad the week is a half over. Summer is definitely here…….100 degree temps this week. Today is supposed to be cooler at 85. How was the ziplining for Aga and her sister? Gee, she's only 16? I remember that age and what a snot I was to my parents. Thankfully, I grew out of it. An elderly man in the neighborhood died yesterday. He was a sweet old man, and he'll be missed. Nothing new with me……..patiently waiting for my new car.
      5382

      Reply
    33. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      [youtube pKg6CxnlpHE&feature=youtu.be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKg6CxnlpHE&feature=youtu.be youtube]
      Hi Skay,
      They had a great time, that's them above. So did Jake and I. He got the puppy balloon animal that came out of the vat of liquid nitrogen. I was going to take Jake to an old cemetery that was found on the lab site back in the '60s. Yesterday evening around his siblings he was all, "That's nothing, I can't wait," but then when I was putting him to bed he said he was scared, so we skipped it 😉 We played in the pool after walking Max instead. One of the guys I work with, his mom passed last week. Sorry about the sad news in your neck of the woods too. They have this thing going on here now called Swedish Days, hope to get some Swedish pancakes this weekend.
      Have a good one,
      5383

      Reply
      1. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
        mr. mzs zsm msz esq

        Well that didn't work above, sorry: http://youtu.be/pKg6CxnlpHE

        Reply
    34. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      szm, smz, toe……….That zipline ride looks like a lot of fun. I'll have to try that sometime. Jake being afraid of going to that cemetery is so cute, especially telling his siblings otherwise. Sweet. Are there a lot of Swedish people around there to have a Swedish Day? I don't know a dang thing new I'm putting the word out that my Explorer is for sale. I don't want to list it anywhere because I don't want guys coming over to my house nor do I want to meet them anywhere. If I can sell it word-of-mouth via friends, fine. If not, I'll take whatever they give me for a trade-in.
      Ciao!
      5384

      Reply
    35. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skay,
      I keep forgetting to write stuff when I reply, so this will be disjointed, all the stuff I forgot, sorry. Did you hear at all about Racin this last weekend? He did very well, here's a photo: http://photosbylu.smugmug.com/Fairburyspeedway201…
      The STP was great combo (you psychic) after mzs, etc, the tickets for the STP400 came in the mail! We have pit passes too 🙂 Also here are some more Volvo meet photos of Astrid: http://juddsphotos.smugmug.com/Events/Car-Shows/V…
      http://juddsphotos.smugmug.com/Events/Car-Shows/V…
      Hey now vast majority of guys are really nice, maybe a friend can meet potential buyers with you, or just even instead of you? I've found Carmax gives really good trade ins, except for the MPV, that was crazy. Carmax offered a lot, the VW dealership ended-up offering more, then my uncle offered more, then the VW dealership offered even more. They really liked that MPV. So yeah I guess even there Carmax offered a lot.
      There are a lot of Swedish people in Geneva IL, they even have the Viking ship at a camp site for Swedes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/karlasfotos/sets/721…
      I had lunch with Jake, Aga, and her sister. Sister was upset about something again, argh! Man teenagers can be moody. Jake really liked the place, they brought a bread and cracker basket. It's the place I like on Thursdays cause of the creamy rice and chicken soup. Had that with a gyros platter. Tomorrow my two older kids are in that play, going to try and catch it, though it's during work. Been kind of stressed about work recently, almost affected my commenting yesterday, I made one that I edited cause it was not my usual self.
      Have a good one,
      5385
      PS: http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs545…

      Reply
    36. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      $kaycog…
      We did cleaning too last weekend. My girlfriends mom came to visit for the day/night and that was fun. I got to make one of my brandy Old Fashions for her! Sunday we did big father's day family gatherings. Nothing else new in the last week We could use some rain though!
      Good luck selling the Explorer. Most people are nice but you don't want to meet the one that isn't. Just bring a really big guy friend with you if you have to meet someone.
      Have a good weekend!
      5386

      Reply
    37. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      mzs…
      I haven't made the sausages yet. Father's day was already planned out as a big family event, and both my mom's and dad's families are pretty big. I will save them for when I visit my parents next.
      I told my girlfriend how you went to the I-80 truck stop. She got all excited and said it was one of her favorite things from when they would go to the quad cities. It must be an Iowa thing. I'm sure she will show me all about it soon thought.
      Aga's sister is only 16! That sounds like it going to be interesting.
      That Swedish camp site reminds me of Little Norway which is in Mount Horeb where I grew up. Lots of Norwegian lineage in Mount Horeb, including me! Looking at the pictures made me wonder…you see a lot of the same things when you tour old houses. I wonder if there will be tours of old houses in the year 2200 where all of the homes from the early 2000's have these big computing devices in them and huge, bulky televisions instead of big wood stoves and manual sewing machines like old house tours now.
      Have a good weekend!
      5387
      http://www.littlenorway.com/the-stue-at-little-no…

      Reply
    38. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      TowerofPower………CO really, really needs rain. I hate that our wildfires are so big that they're on the national news everyday. Another one started (hiway crew mowing) in the SW mountains a couple of days ago and, thankfully, they now have full containment and reopened Hiway 50. Hiway 50 is beside the Arkansas River and helicopters were dipping into the river for water.
      If I were to show my car to somebody myself, I would definitely have a guy friend with me, but I still plan on just trading it in. They're my friends at the Ford Store, so I feel comfortable doing that.
      Have a great weekend!
      mzs, szm, car…………Sorry you're having stressful time at work. That's worse than any amount of physical labor, IMO. I'm sure having a 16-year old, moody girl around at home is contributing to a little stress for you too. At least, that's not forever. YouTube emailed me with Racin's videos from last week, but I haven't viewed them yet. I'm sure he's having the time of his life. That's a really great photo of you and your Amazon……..it looks very professional.
      Hope you have a good weekend!
      5388

      Reply
    39. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Tower,
      It was Polish father's day on Saturday. I went over to my parents' house and moved a bunch of furniture around. It was a lot, and a lot of trying this and that. Also was my mom's birthday. I've never been to Little Norway, we went to this place called New Glarus north of Beliot in Wisconsin when I was a kid. I always liked that, I think it was suppose to be Swiss. I liked the museum the best where they had people in character living like how they did more than a hundred years ago.
      Hi Skay,
      The photos are professional, there was a photographer taking pictures when you rolled into the show – Judd's Customs Photos I thing it was. He has very nice photos on facebook, but I don't think the one of Astrid turned-out so well. What did you do on your weekend? We went to the Swedish days a lot. They had various things various days and times, I would say the best was Geneva's Got Talent. We got pizza, bread stick, etc and watched that on the lawn. The only thing was that a girl from Geneva won, and really she was far from the best act there. I think there was some hometown favoritism, but it was silly fun.
      Have a good one,
      5389

      Reply
    40. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, szm, bro………It sounds like you had a nice weekend with Swedish days' events. Good food, of course! My weekend was very different watching TV coverage of Colorado Springs' Waldo Canyon fire. It started Saturday (arson is expected) and Hiway US 24 is still closed. There are still 6000 people evacuated. It's killing the tourism….Pikes Peak Highway is closed, as well as Garden of the Gods and Cave of the Winds. Manitou Springs was evacuated but not that has been lifted. There are like 500 firefighters with ten aircraft fighting the fire. At noon, red tape was finally taken care of for four USAF C130's to drop retardants. It's really sad, but at least, so far, no injuries and no structures have burned. I did go out to dinner last night……..taco salad.
      Monday…….:(
      5390

      Reply
    41. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skay,
      Ha bro! Remember broday on oppo? That was a funny theme day 🙂 I had no idea there was wildfire there, whoa… I remember once in the past a person started the fires to get work putting them out! It's in the area our vacation is going to be. I hope nobody continues to get hurt. I hope you had a great day, I sure did! We went to a water park. Well at first I went to work because I had an early meeting, I had to miss the one last weeks since kids had so much going on. And then it was cancelled since two other people were on vacation, but no one told me, so I went to my boss and he said I can go, yippie! See Aga got this deal online for the water park some time back, but we had to go this week. The kids got some tickets from reading and attendance at school, but we screwed-up and it was the same week Kevin is at summer camp. (Oh BTW Kevin is at summer camp). Anyway, I used Gosia's ticket and she used Kevin's. I love it when days are surprising and funny like this 🙂 Now we are watching Despicable Me, more fun, great day, but work tomorrow again 🙁
      Have a good one,
      5391

      Reply
    42. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, mzs, hot……..That CO Springs fire got worse yesterday early evening during a press conference. The wind came up in a different direction. Thousands more were evacuated, but while watching it live on TV, homes that are scattered on the hillside caught fire. I cried. That location is on the NW end of C. Springs city limits. The South end of the Air Force Academy has also been evacuated. They haven't said how many homes were destroyed yet. There are now 600 firefighters, plus the aircraft fighting it.
      What are the dates of your vacation? Hopefully, by then, they'll get this fire contained.
      Your trip to the waterpark sounds like a lot of fun. That would be a welcome activity in this 100 degree temps we're having now.
      Happy Hump Day!
      5392

      Reply
    43. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      szm, smz, hot……..I call BS on that Craigslist listing. How ridiculous! What an a**hole! There is still not a count on homes that were burned in that flare-up Tuesday night, but they said on TV this morning that it was in the hundreds. *tears* There are 1200 firefighters on the ground now. Today, the weather isn't going to be so radical, so they should get some containment. The Pikes Peak Hill Climb (scheduled for 8 July) has been postponed until later in the summer. Your August dates for your CO vacation should be good.
      Why did your last comment appear four places below 5356? I'm not going to contact Tonyola. It's just one of those things I don't do.
      New comment system at Jalopnik today. I haven't made a decision on if I like it or not as yet. I think it has some good points and some bad points. I'll get used to it the same as I have every change in the last four years.
      OH YEAH!…………..I pick up my new Escape at noon today!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!
      5394

      Reply
    44. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skay,
      Whoohoo soon you get your new car! You should do this, get a photo of it just covered in all your GT and GT40 stuff 🙂 Also remember how you wanted it to be a different color but you could not get it with light color interior then, get a wrap! I suggest Gulf livery 😉 That fire is really heartbreaking especially if arson turns-out to be the cause. I also think it would be inappropriate to contact tonyola, I really do hope he is okay though. This morning my neighbors are having a new roof put on, they said I could use the dumpster for all the hay that was on the yard from when they put new electrical lines in the neighborhood last year. I over did it, I felt I was going to throw-up. I worked from 6:30AM until 9:15 and it got hot. I filled maybe a fifth of that dumpster, but it's all gone now. Starting to feel better now, I drank a lot.
      I went to jalopnik to see the new stuff, well it's all broken here at work. I can't see any comments what so ever there (jsut get that progress bar temporarily and then it disappears with no comments anywhere) or on kotaku, but gawker works for whatever reason. In the past gawker was blocked at work, you would get this policy violation message on the screen, so it just makes no sense to me. Oppo did work though, or so I thought. I tried to make a comment there that it's not working for me, made the burner account and everything, but my comment never showed-up. Oh well.
      Have a good one,
      5395

      Reply
    45. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      msz, smz, pod……….My new Escape is absolutely beautiful, and I love it. I have a lot of manual reading to do to figure out how everything works, but I'm getting that done. The SYNC will be the last thing I learn. It's a bit overwhelming right now, but I'll get it all figured out. The two-tone tanish and charcoal black interior is stunning! That EcoBoost engine is really snappy……..I'm really impressed.
      Oppositelock format is different than the front page, and is no problem. But the front page is the most dumbest, idiotic format I've ever seen. I can't spend all that time trying to read comments, so I've almost quit trying already. I'll read a new post, maybe comment and not go back. You can answer any replies you may get directly from your "inbox". You can imagine the negative comments about the front page commenting. I haven't said anything yet, but will voice my opinion next week. I've never bad-mouthed any new formats there in the four years I've been there, but the 6.0 on the front page is asinine.
      Yay Friday!
      5396

      Reply
    46. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skay,
      First a message from Racin:
      "Have you heard anything out of skaycog?  I've been seeing the stories
      about these fires in her neck of the woods.
      If you see her online, let her know I was asking about her safety,
      please."
      Anyway he was worried about you, aww… that's just the sweat guy he is 😉 I told him that you are fine, that you are getting new car, and that we are here. Tomorrow he is racing again, and I am going with Jake and Gosia. Man I bet that sync thing is just full of complicated possibilities. When I was a kid I wished that car radios did way more, now grown-up not so much, ha. It's funny for the Amazon it took me a while to figure-out the three clearly labeled levers AIR VENT HEAT or something like that. The manual was pretty good over all but for this they pretty much had, operate levers, and an image of the car interior with arrows. It took me also a long time to figure-out that the fan works at two speeds, if I only pull it out slightly, then it's high vs low when I pull the knob out all the way like I had always been doing. Anway, I'm really happy for you that you have a great new toy!
      <img src="https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/406078_10151076668795030_390849576_n.jpg"&gt; Pssst… Tower… This happened all over Northern IL. I think this pic was over Rockford, I saw people writing they saw it over DeKalb, Evanston, and Glenn Ellen. I saw it here at work. It was odd, moved over very quickly, but that clear part had a wall of rain, was windy but not too bad, but I heard other places it was. Then shortly after the rain was over. Whole process took twenty minutes to cloudy to this scene in the image to rain to sunshine.
      Now that I have everyone's attention, I need ideas stormies! Wedding anniversary is on July 8th, Aga's sister can watch the kids. What should I do? Racin had a good suggestion, but Aga did not like it. Other people at work had some, but all were too far away for a Sunday and there is some kid (can't remember now which or what) that needs to get places on Monday morning. Oh wait I bet that is Agnes and Jake are going to summer camp.
      Have a good one,
      5397

      Reply
    47. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      $kaycog…
      I'm glad to hear you are not suffering from the wildfires in CO. They are all over the news now and it is certainly a terrible thing. In regards to the dryness, it seems to be encompassing most of the country now and it's been so persistent in some areas, especially south of you. Certainly some cause for concern.
      <img src="http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/12_week.gif&quot; width=500>
      In good news though, you got your car! That's fun! Sync has created a lot of buzz. It would be neat to play with some day and figure it all out. I'm sure you will have lots of enjoyment with your new car! I hope some rain finds itself your way!
      5398

      Reply
    48. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      mzs…
      Nice shot of a shelf cloud. I saw that on radar earlier today, it went just south of us. Those clouds form when the cooled air from the rain spreads out along the ground and starts moving horizontally. It creates a mini-cold front which forces warm air up in front a storm and you get the clouds you saw.
      New Glarus is a neat place. And also a producer of one of the favorite beers in WI, Spotted Cow. It's not sold outside of WI and there are stories of people coming into the state to buy hordes of it and take it home. It's good!
      I'm definitely not liking the new commenting system on Jalopnik. I get the conversational idea behind it, but I love to brows through comments and that's just not possible anymore. I find myself ready way less comments than I was…which might be a good thing.
      I'll get us started on a new page!!
      https://hooniverse.com/2011/02/05/hooniverse-weeke…
      5399

      Reply
    49. Buickboy92 Avatar
      Buickboy92

      @Skaycog, Hello Skaycog! You must be loving your new Escape 🙂 How does she drive compared to your old Explorer? Anyway I can't seem to log into Jalopnik anymore. I tried converting my account, but the site doesn't recognize it. It's frustrating. Is our Stormchaser thread still there or has it been wiped out? and yes the site seems to be unreadable now.
      5400

      Reply
      1. $kaycog Avatar
        $kaycog

        Hi, BB! I think you and TowerofPower posted about the same time. He's directly above you here with a link for the new place. I tried to get to stormchasers earlier today with no luck. It was fun while it lasted, wasn't it? My Escape drives as well as the Explorer, and it has a better ride. Too bad you can't get to Jalopnik. You might try emailing help@jalopnik.com with your problem I had joined Google (not Google+) quite some time ago when Leeeeena started that map of where commenters lived. I started signing in via Google when they started telling us to some time ago. I HATE the front page. I don't know why they can't make it like Oppo is. Good to see you!

        Reply
  2. Rick Avatar
    Rick

    A twin-turbo V-6 Vette? Fine in my book. I don't care how it gets down the road as long as it does it with authority. How about an Ecotec 4 Turbo with electric for torque? Works for me.

    Reply
    1. thomasmac Avatar
      thomasmac

      I do not even know if you would need the electric, that 2.0L LNF ecotec GM puts in the Cobalt SS is one hot little motor. Its a 2.0L with 260hp at the crank. I was trying to find the dyno chart I saw before and I think the torque line was pretty flat across the RPM range. They should jam that motor in everything they can.

      Reply
  3. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    I once worked with someone that had one of those V-8-6-4 Cadillacs, probably the only one in which all that goofy Eaton valvetrain hardware actually worked. He liked it, and said it got in the low 20s on the highway.

    Reply
  4. nofrillls Avatar
    nofrillls

    Not at all, as long as the rest of what matters adds up: Handling, throttle response, desired fuel economy, good torque at slow and freeway speeds, etc.
    The exception comes in when concerning towing. Not a big fan of towing more than a few hundred pounds with a 4 cylinder–even when turbocharged.

    Reply
  5. NefariouKunk Avatar
    NefariouKunk

    Engines are kinda like sex and pizza to me. Even when they aren't exactly what I want, they are still engines, sex and pizza. You know?

    Reply
  6. chrystlubitshi Avatar
    chrystlubitshi

    my parents have the 'multi-displacement hemi' in their magnum… i never noticed a difference while driving…. i think the only time it cut fuel to any of the cylinders was while speeding down the high way… always felt like an 8 to me…
    on the other hand… i've driven just about every type of engine configuration in production (for 4 wheel vehicles) in the last 30 years…. nothing beats the smoothness of a 12 cyl……. the 8s & 10s have some damned good power… some sixes work pretty well…, i like me some torque… diesel… diesel is good…. what makes my head, heart, and olfactory sense ache are those v3s, v5s, and v7s that i see/hear/smell running around (they seem to be GMs… most of the time..) (those would be any V engine misfiring on one or more engine)

    Reply
  7. engineerd Avatar
    engineerd

    I drive a V6 Mustang, so the answer is no.

    Reply
    1. chrystlubitshi Avatar
      chrystlubitshi

      i'm half tempted to go with "my chevy v6 is bigger than your ford!" but mine is in a white astro… and doesn't sound as good as yours.. and if it were a panel van.. it'd be just creepy enough that it'd be labelled as a pedo-van… but there are windows… thank god for windows… (i almost bought a full sized utility van… wife wouldn't let me though)
      and yes, you do care… all the performance (body wise), less weight, better mileage (fuel efficiency), and you look just as cool….. you care… you're not driving a bubblegum bodied altima 4 banger slow machine… are you?

      Reply
      1. engineerd Avatar
        engineerd

        Oh, I care about the car I drive, but I tend to care less about how many cylinders it has…to a point.
        Would I rather have had a GT with a V8? Absolutely, but I didn't want it bad enough to pay an extra $5k plus the difference in the insurance premiums. The V6 in the Mustang, while not the greatest V6 ever, is decent and considering this is my daily driver it does its job well.
        It would be different if I was buying a toy. However, even then the number of cylinders wouldn't necessarily matter. Only that the engine be well executed. In certain cases this might mean making a determination based on cylinder count. I'd rather have a XJ12 than an XJ6. I'd rather have a 750iL than a 740iL. At the same time, though, an A-Series 4-banger in a Sprite is just as acceptable.
        The number of cylinders is often times a byproduct of an automotive choice and not the determining factor.

        Reply
      2. engineerd Avatar
        engineerd

        Oh, I care about the car I drive, but I tend to care less about how many cylinders it has…to a point.
        Would I rather have had a GT with a V8? Absolutely, but I didn't want it bad enough to pay an extra $5k plus the difference in the insurance premiums. The V6 in the Mustang, while not the greatest V6 ever, is decent and considering this is my daily driver it does its job well.
        It would be different if I was buying a toy. However, even then the number of cylinders wouldn't necessarily matter. Only that the engine be well executed. In certain cases this might mean making a determination based on cylinder count. I'd rather have a XJ12 than an XJ6. I'd rather have a 750iL than a 740iL. At the same time, though, an A-Series 4-banger in a Sprite is just as acceptable.
        The number of cylinders is often times a byproduct of an automotive choice and not the determining factor.

        Reply
      3. engineerd Avatar
        engineerd

        Oh, I care about the car I drive, but I tend to care less about how many cylinders it has…to a point.
        Would I rather have had a GT with a V8? Absolutely, but I didn't want it bad enough to pay an extra $5k plus the difference in the insurance premiums. The V6 in the Mustang, while not the greatest V6 ever, is decent and considering this is my daily driver it does its job well.
        It would be different if I was buying a toy. However, even then the number of cylinders wouldn't necessarily matter. Only that the engine be well executed. In certain cases this might mean making a determination based on cylinder count. I'd rather have a XJ12 than an XJ6. I'd rather have a 750iL than a 740iL. At the same time, though, an A-Series 4-banger in a Sprite is just as acceptable.
        The number of cylinders is often times a byproduct of an automotive choice and not the determining factor.

        Reply
        1. chrystlubitshi Avatar
          chrystlubitshi

          yes sir. i understand… if i need to buy a reasonable family hauler
          in my price range… i would not have bought an astro van…
          in the end, as long as it serves the purpose needed… it doesn't
          matter… at least you look cool in your car! and it doesn't matter so
          much that you care what you drive as it does that you care FOR what
          you drive… the chrystlubitshi (eagle summit) is a case in point.
          glad you follow me again though… was feeling kinda lonely on
          hooniverse… since most of us ol' time jalopers seem to limit their
          interaction….

          thanks again!
          joe

          Reply
    2. chrystlubitshi Avatar
      chrystlubitshi

      *EDIT* aww crap… i'm not "intensedebate" savvy… i don't know how to send you a personal message…….
      does this mean i have to keep looking over my shoulder?? please keep to the right… i'm kinda sore on the left side because of my photography/lack of quality tripod…….

      Reply
      1. Black Steelies Avatar
        Black Steelies

        You… reply like… William Shatner…
        sorry, couldn't resist.

        Reply
    3. Alff Avatar
      Alff

      Do you give perms? 😉

      Reply
  8. CaffeineFuelled Avatar
    CaffeineFuelled

    Thanks to your little comment about the Nissan inline 4 with a man-tran, I now have to clean coffee off of my laptop screen and keyboard.
    Great analogies though!

    Reply
  9. M44Power Avatar
    M44Power

    I really don't mind how many there are (with some Suzuki 3-cylinder exceptions), as long as they are arranged properly. Fours and sixes in a line, and eights in a vee.

    Reply
    1. engineerd Avatar
      engineerd

      What, no V4s? No Saab for you!

      Reply
      1. scroggzilla Avatar
        scroggzilla

        No Lancia Fulvia's either!
        <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2726/4388164710_b38c12b443.jpg"&gt;

        Reply
        1. engineerd Avatar
          engineerd

          Or Ford Capri
          <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Heyer%2C_Hans_-_Ford_Capri_-_08.07.1973.jpg"&gt;

          Reply
          1. M44Power Avatar
            M44Power

            Or Mercedes C-Class! Oh, wait. That was a good thing.

    2. regalregalia Avatar
      regalregalia

      No straight eights?

      Reply
      1. M44Power Avatar
        M44Power

        Or radials… I am starting to see my error here.

        Reply
  10. tonyola Avatar
    tonyola

    I love the meaty, burbling sound of big old Straight Eights, like in Buicks, Chryslers, and Packards.

    Reply
  11. joshuman Avatar
    joshuman

    Engine choice is important to me but I don't care what the configuration is long as it gets the job done. My Mom's old Justy 3-cylinder did the job it was intended to do. My family's automotive history includes a 2-stroke Saab, 5-cylinder Volvo, flat-fours, NA fours, turbo fours, V8s and a V6. I'm not too picky as long as the vehicle does its job well.
    When buying my 2002 A4 I could choose between the 4-cylinder turbo or the NA 6-cylinder. The turbo is easier to tune and gets better gas mileage so it is what I wanted. In the end, the choice was made for me as finding any used Avant with a manual transmission is a challenge. When we purchased our XC90 the engine choice was between a V8 and a 3.2 NA 6-cylinder. The gas mileage is almost equal but the power and torque sure isn't. I looked at a used turbo 6 but the transmissions apparently self-machine. The correct answer is V8.

    Reply
  12. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    It matters in that I'm not working a bigger engine as hard on my daily drive. To get the same throttle response out of a 4 cylinder as I do a V-8 I might have to use 75% throttle instead of 25% throttle, I have to rev the engine to 5,000 rpm instead of 3,000 rpm. Since I'm making the engine work harder it probably won't last as long. An engine is only good for X number of revolutions, it doesn't matter how many miles it takes to get those revolutions
    Also, on the daily drive, not steady state cruising, if I have to push the engine harder most of the fuel economy advantage disappears. Again, if I am used to getting up to speed or getting from point A to point B in X amount of time I'm going to push the car hard enough to do it, if that is 2/10ths in a V-8 or 7/10ths in a 4 cylinder.
    That being said, all three vehicles currently in the fleet are NA I-6s.

    Reply
  13. CaptainZeroCool Avatar
    CaptainZeroCool

    I have a 2 cylinder EX500, 4 cylinder Astra, 6 cylinder Camry, and a 8 cylinder F100. I think I'm covered.

    Reply
    1. engineerd Avatar
      engineerd

      You need a 3 cylinder Metro, a 5 cylinder Volvo, and a 7-cylinder radial-engine powered aircraft to fill that out.

      Reply
      1. mdharrell Avatar
        mdharrell

        Plenty of one-lungers out there to choose from, too.

        Reply
  14. regalregalia Avatar
    regalregalia

    I happen to really enjoy the sounds my 3800 makes.

    Reply
    1. tonyola Avatar
      tonyola

      Yeah, by the '90s, GM had managed to smooth out the rough edges pretty well. My '94 LeSabre's engine is quiet and smooth enough that I really don't miss having the two extra cylinders.

      Reply
  15. mdharrell Avatar
    mdharrell

    The current car accumulation contains two slant ones [F], two slant threes [S], two straight fours [GB], one straight six [USA], and one vee eight [US], so clearly if I cared about this I'd be shopping for something with two cylinders. Hmmm, maybe a Panhard Dyna Z….

    Reply
  16. SSurfer321 Avatar
    SSurfer321

    So long as the vehicle performs to my standards, it does't matter how many under the hood.
    My F150 would be anemic with the V6 for as much hauling as I do. The 4.6L was good but chipping it is better.
    The flat 4 in Mrs._Ssurfer321's Subaru is fantastic for what we use it for (DD). Although I wish we could have afforded the turbo 🙁

    Reply
  17. lilwillie Avatar
    lilwillie

    I have a bunch of everything, V8's, inline six, V-6, 4cyls……So I'm not overly concerned with what configuration I have but I am concerned if it is the right one for the car. A '69 Camaro with a six???? you don't see many often. Some are done well but is one of those accepted things that they will have a V8. Same for everything else. Some things just fit and should be.

    Reply
  18. discontinuuity Avatar
    discontinuuity

    Cylinders? We don't need no stinkin' cylinders!
    <img src="http://reedmantoll.us/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/rotary_engine.jpg"&gt;

    Reply
  19. Kogashiwa Avatar
    Kogashiwa

    I want a V12 just so I can go to the parts counter and say "ah, yes, give me TWELVE spark plugs, that's right TWELVE."
    I love the sound of triples and fives. Plus you always have an extra spark plug. Odd numbers are generally good. There's a lot to be said for the purity of a big single thumping away, or roaring if you spin it up enough (want: Ducati Supermono). And they only take one spark plug!
    V6s are usually designed devoid of passion to power appliances, and sound utterly unmusical. And a transverse V6 is normally impossible to change spark plugs on the rear bank. Verdict: garbage. Exceptions: NSX, Dino, and anything with a big enough turbo that it sounds like a jet instead of a piston engine.
    Anything with dorito-shaped pistons is win. 20B mmmmmmm
    (what is it with me and spark plugs today)

    Reply
    1. P161911 Avatar
      P161911

      A lot of V-12s have two plugs per cylinder so you would get to buy 24 spark plugs!

      Reply
    2. CptSevere Avatar
      CptSevere

      I completely agree. Whenever someone says "I wanna put headers on this!" I remind them that they'll have to go through hell to replace the plugs. Screw that. Whenever I'm dicking around with spark plugs, I think about how cool it would be to own something with a flathead. Ever seen a Packard straight eight? Those sparkplugs are just begging to be changed. R

      Reply
  20. KAH Avatar
    KAH

    Oh, the pain!(said like Dr Smith) you made me look at a 1981 Cadillac Fleetwood there should have been some kind of worrying before that image loaded now I will have to shun GM cars for anther decade and they were just getting good. Damn Hoons
    It's not about the number of cylinders its about feel if it feels right its a winner sounding right helps too.

    Reply
  21. Tomsk Avatar
    Tomsk

    I guess I don' t, really. Of course, I have a 5-cylinder diesel, so take my opinion with a grain of salt…

    Reply
    1. smokyburnout Avatar
      smokyburnout

      I have a 4-cylinder diesel, so I must really not care…
      It would be interesting to see if people could tell the difference between 4, 5 and 6 cylinder diesels just by listening.
      "OK, that one… sounds like a school bus."
      "That one… sounds like a garbage truck?"

      Reply
  22. dwegmull Avatar
    dwegmull

    I don't but then again one of my cars has 5 cylinders, the other has none… I've been in cars with 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 12. I guess I need to talk myself into a ride in a 10 and a 16 so my life will be complete. Although those would be hard to come by: Audi R8 being the most "accessible" 10 cylinder car I can think of (in the USA)… As far as 16 is concerned, there's the Bugatti Veyron and a few even rarer older cars (Cadillac, Marmon etc)…

    Reply
    1. Tim Odell Avatar
      Tim Odell

      Dodge and Ford have you covered for cheap on that V10.

      Reply
      1. Tomsk Avatar
        Tomsk

        Or if he's feeling particularly masochistic, a he could build a twin-engine Audi 5000 Avant, aka "Quattro the Hard Way."

        Reply
        1. Black Steelies Avatar
          Black Steelies

          I think Red Green beat him to that
          [youtube 9-JhnIcZ6UQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-JhnIcZ6UQ youtube]

          Reply
        2. Black Steelies Avatar
          Black Steelies

          I think Red Green beat him to that
          [youtube 9-JhnIcZ6UQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-JhnIcZ6UQ youtube]

          Reply
        3. Black Steelies Avatar
          Black Steelies

          I think Red Green already beat him to that
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-JhnIcZ6UQ

          Reply
  23. AteUpWithMotor Avatar
    AteUpWithMotor

    Not really, as long as it has the number the engine originally came with — I would object to a four-cylinder running on only three…

    Reply
  24. scroggzilla Avatar
    scroggzilla

    As long as they're all working, no I don't care.

    Reply
    1. chrystlubitshi Avatar
      chrystlubitshi

      AMEN!

      Reply
  25. ptmeyer84 Avatar
    ptmeyer84

    I have often wanted a Jag V12, against all logic, just for the exhaust note.

    Reply
  26. jim-bob Avatar
    jim-bob

    It all depends. Certain cars have a sense of tradition about them that requires a certain number of cylinders, like a Corvette or Mustang GT. For a more normal car though I prefer to just use what works. A V6 is not something that is Corvette or Camaro material, but in a different car with a different name it is just fine. Then again, Corvettes and Camaros are not relevant new cars to me as I can’t even afford a new Yaris. As such, I am fine with the idea of buying a very small, cheap new car with a 2 or 3 cylinder engine and a manual trans-so long as it is a 2 door hatch that has a good turning circle, is reliable and has excellent fuel mileage.

    Reply
  27. ptschett Avatar
    ptschett

    Every car I've ever owned was a V8, but it actually doesn't matter to me. For example I'm seriously thinking about the 2011 Mustang V6 as the next daily-driver/hoonmobile. Or maybe I'd be happy with a Mazda3 and its I-4 and why-so-serious schnozz.

    Reply
  28. Melvina Devot Avatar
    Melvina Devot

    Exactly the details that i was interested in. Really need to examination my personal circumstances soon.

    Reply