have computer, will travel

"Based on engine operating
conditions and accumulated engine
revolutions, the onboard computer in
your vehicle calculates the remaining
engine oil life." - Civic Owners Manual

With the emergence of fuel injection and consequently the Engine Control Unit as the standard method of "making it zoom", we have at our fingertips a heretofore untapped wealth of digital information that can be used to retire the mileage-based maintenance schedule along with those defunct carburetors. The raw data is available - drive-by-wire throttle inputs, engine temperature information, accumulated number of RPMs, even calendar time. (Shoot, instead of trying to hold it in your brain how long it's been, since your last oil change, why not let some computer do it?) And all of these inputs may be correlated to estimate how hard the car is being driven - patterns of hard acceleration, long periods of steady throttle, stop-and-go ... it's all there, being stored away in a memory chip. The car remembers how you drive. While it can't test its own oil any more than we can test our own blood, it gives us the best estimate yet of when the oil might be worn out. Honda's Maintenance Minder (not a very sexy name, but it is what it says) taps into this capability to simplify life. There are seven maintenance operations designated A, B, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. When the computer has counted enough RPMS and enough time has gone by, one or another of these lights up on the dashboard to say "hey, I need an air filter and spark plugs" or "oil change".

So yay. We don't need a computer to tell us when to change the oil, right? Well, remember that oil-change time is a guesstimate anyway. People say that oils these days last between 5,000 and 7,500 miles. But unless you pay to have an oil analysis done after three or four oil changes to determine the correlation between mileage and oil life, you won't know and you'll probably change the oil more often (and spend more money) than necessary. And even then, your estimate is based on mileage, inherently less useful in determining oil life than RPMS. The same mileage driven hard will wear out the oil faster than an identical mileage driven gently, given daily operation. In fact, if one has to choose a single criterion to base maintenance on, an RPM based maintenance schedule is probably the most accurate, even more so than hour-based maintenance.

The one factor, of course, that RPM based maintenance doesn't consider is how loaded or unloaded those RPMS are. A lot of hilly driving will put more stress on the oil for the same RPM than driving on level ground. However, a temperature data line (greater engine temps on hills) ought to weed out some of that variable. And of course there is to consider how dirty the air intake is.

In the end, service intervals are all estimates and must be treated as guesses. The question is, how can the most accurate guess be achieved for people who aren't into pulling plugs to look at the soot deposits, or analyzing their oil? Honda's answer seems to be pretty well thought out.

(p.s. Also, the Civic averaged 32 mpg on its fifth tank of gas in ordinary stop and go driving. That ought to improve as it breaks in)

just sneaking by, nobody notices the perfect finish, right...

Okay, okay. Don't hate me....

It was an experiment, really. Does making lease payments in exchange for a fridge that gets 35 mpg work out as a good idea in real life? I mean, what I already said about the Enabler, you know?

But now I have two, because the Suzuki hasn't started giving me any problems yet.

Well, if it keeps the fiancee happy, it's worth it. I took an honest look a the purchase cost of a 1967 Ford Falcon station wagon, the amount of garage space and wrenching facilities available to me, and the amount of sheer time I had available to me, and it added up to "no".

Don't get me wrong. The love of my life understands and entirely sympathizes with the fact that I have 30weight in my blood; and that I will always own and regularly use a motorcycle, at least for commuting.

But one just doesn't live as a normal member of society with grocery bags and driving friends to the Getty Center and going out for coffee on dark and stormy nights without a car. Sorry. I've tried it. It doesn't work. You have to be either single or weird - preferably both.

So given: car. Also given: reliable car. Well, old simple car or new (relatively simple) car? Old simple car: cheap. Requires time, tools and more time. Usually involves some frustration. Adventures, loving and hating. New car: expensive. None of the above stuff involved, if leasing. Set it and forget it. Honda pays for all oil changes for 3 years, warranty, etc etc etc. Not much of an adventure, not a whole lot of emotional attachment. Yet.

We'll see how this works out.

Also, part of the experiment is sheer geek-out curiosity. How do they MAKE cars these days? All this new stuff; drive by wire throttles (no more cables), oil life tracking (a computer tracks engine temperatures, load, and total revolutions to extrapolate oil life), five-speed automatic with overdrive (yes, I count six shifts) ...does all this shiny stuff do what they say it does? Does it really work? I'm kinda curious about this end of the vehicular spectrum, the bleeding edge of Honda's genius. What have they done to make my life simpler, easier and less expensive at the pump? Are new cars any good? If so, how?

Stay tuned.

Cheers

Guess that winter wasn't as bad as I'd expected. It's starting to warm up again, and I've already logged 450 miles on the Triumph during the past month. Upon filling the tires back up to 40psi she handles beautifully, still with more power than I deserve.

I've been using KBC's VR2 for about the past year now, and liked it fairly well. My only complaint was addressing the way it rubbed on my forehead towards the end of a day-long ride. So, while I was down at Jeff's place last week, I decided to put a new one on order. I chose Sparx' S-07 and it came in today. After spending just 12 miles in it, the old VR-2 has achieved strictly-loaner status. The Sparx is quiet and comfortable, yet still drafty enough to stay cool in the summer. The padding has cavities on either side that accept big ears comfortably, even with earbuds. There are little elastic straps at the back to route the wires, too. Keep it in mind if you're looking to buy a new bucket with a hundred bucks.

And keep Jeff in mind too, should you find yourself owning a Ducati one fine day; he's running one hell of a good business out here.

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted here. But to prove this blog is not dead, here's my latest project: a wood car for Charlie!

Everything except for the wheels was built from scratch. (BTW, it is only sitting on that stick so the paint on the wheels can dry---I just finished it a few minutes ago).