"Let it snow" indeed.

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
01/11/2018 at 16:12 • Filed to: None

Freezing rain all night. Woke up to a sheet of ice covering the car and all the roads. Good job Wichita, salting for a 30 degree evening totally unnecessarily but doing absolutely nothing to prepare for something we knew about two days ago. Oh well. How does the XJS do on ice? Surprisingly well owing to the LSD and long wheelbase and a lot of right-foot control.

Here’s a neat thing! My 2011-era ASUS Transformer Pad TF101. Thanks to the wizards on XDA-Developers this thing is rooted running Android 6.0 (up from Android 3 stock). I installed Android without any Google apps (play store, maps, chrome, etc) instead opting for far lighter-weight open source alternatives from F-Droid to be as easy on the ancient 1GHz Tegra chipset as possible. Loaded up a PDF reader and the Jaguar service manual and this thing is good to go as my shop bitch!

DISCUSSION (16)

JGrabowMSt > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
01/11/2018 at 16:22

TF101. Twinsies...jesus IT guys have a lot in common.

I don’t have the keyboard dock though.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > JGrabowMSt
01/11/2018 at 16:25

They were so close to nailing it with these. If only they didn’t use the stupid proprietary charging port. Proprietary dock connector? Knock yourself out but for the love of god give me a USB port for charging.

Montalvo > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
01/11/2018 at 16:26

I have one of those too, never really upgraded it though. It was good for what I was using at the time though.

Jayhawk Jake > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
01/11/2018 at 16:29

The city claims they did prep roads but the rain washed it away. Dubious.

3point8isgreat > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
01/11/2018 at 16:41

There were some spots on K-96 that were downright stupid. So many cars and trucks in the ditch. My tires would lock up as soon as my foot so much as brushed against he brakes for at least one decent stretch (no ABS). Was weird being pushed sideways by the crosswind and not having the grip to do a whole lot about it.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > 3point8isgreat
01/11/2018 at 16:48

Yeah I avoided Kellogg entirely today.. just crawled my happy ass all the way down Central at 25mph laughing at the CUV owners getting in trouble because they think their 4x4 makes them invincible.

Urambo Tauro > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
01/11/2018 at 16:52

Dedicated garage laptop FTW! I’ve got a PDF service manual on mine too, along with a USB scope, and web browsing for parts, YouTube vids, forums (and of course Oppo).

Next thing ‘d like to do is figure out a way to use it as a scan tool. The tricky part is, my vehicles are both pre-OBDII. So even if there is a way to hook it up, there probably isn’t going to be very much data to monitor. But it would be nice to at least pull codes without doing the paperclip thing.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > 3point8isgreat
01/11/2018 at 17:07

Is your username a reference to 3800 V6s? I just realized I had no idea there was a Wichitoppo on here I didn’t know.

3point8isgreat > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
01/11/2018 at 17:11

I had a pretty good laugh at a Bro-dozer blasting down the highway. Oblivious as can be to how much worse their modifications would make their truck in those conditions.

3point8isgreat > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
01/11/2018 at 17:13

Close! Ford 3.8, rather than GM. I’m pretty sure we have seen each other at autocross last spring. I drove a ‘97 green mustang (3.8 of course!) a few times before my differential decided it was done going fast. I think my most recent pictures of my car are actually ones you posted on here from one of those races.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > 3point8isgreat
01/11/2018 at 17:17

Oooh. Yeah. I had a fox body with a 3.8 TBI for a while. Seemed like a stout torquey engine. Had an S197 with a 4.0 V6... that was a less stout engine. Any plans for fixing the differential? Going to go with an LSD of some kind?

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
01/11/2018 at 18:04

I get how an LSD keeps you from getting stuck, but wouldn’t it make actually driving harder since it’s easier to break traction on both wheels?

MM54 > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
01/11/2018 at 18:17

Two wheels trying to spin gives you more go than one whirring away on the ice, also much more controllable.

3point8isgreat > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
01/11/2018 at 18:18

It’s definitely a stout and sturdy engine. I remember thinking it was going to die a while ago. Nah, it just keeps going. Doesn’t make for a fast car, but it’s still fun to just thrash around.

Probably try to get the diff fixed this spring or summer. It actually has an LSD already. Or it technically does. It no longer limits slip though. Pretty sure a dealership put in fluid without the friction modifier so the clutches got burned up a lot faster. So it’s fine for driving normally, but autocross feels unsafe with how much it slips. Probably going to go with an Auburn diff since Ford quit making the 7.5" T-lok that I have.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
01/11/2018 at 18:47

Easy conversion of understeer to oversteer for maximum hoonigalism.

Kiltedpadre > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
01/11/2018 at 19:44

If it starts as a heavy rain there’s little they can do. Whatever you put out just gets washed down the sewers.

All you can do is send out trucks as soon as it turns to ice and burn through a lot of salt hoping to keep up until things stop.

I’m glad the Jag did well. I bet the weight of that car didn’t hurt either.