2012 Chevy Volt - kids drive free!

mazdeuce - Seth said:

I'm pretty sure they won't run without the battery. At it's core it's an electric car, just with a generator that it lugs around. Sort of. I'm a bit sad that they discontinued the Volt but I accept the idea that fully electric cars with a 200+ mile range are cheaper to engineer and sell than ones with 40-80 miles and a gas engine on board, and that most people want one or the other, but not both. 

Will it be a collectors item? I doubt it, certainly not mine which is among the rougher examples that I see. Looks like we'll keep it and keep driving it for the foreseeable future

As I recall,  there are two more siblings that might answer the call to learn to drive....perhaps someday soon....can't think having read all this, of a more appropriate vehicle for a beginning driver....good on you and Ms. MazD for keeping this further up the line in the 'stable'.....thou I know yur achin' to global500rallycross the 'Subie'.....remember , One Lap is not far off....focus.... g'night  

Rmazdeuce - Seth said:

I'm pretty sure they won't run without the battery. At it's core it's an electric car, just with a generator that it lugs around. Sort of. I'm a bit sad that they discontinued the Volt but I accept the idea that fully electric cars with a 200+ mile range are cheaper to engineer and sell than ones with 40-80 miles and a gas engine on board, and that most people want one or the other, but not both. 

Will it be a collectors item? I doubt it, certainly not mine which is among the rougher examples that I see. Looks like we'll keep it and keep driving it for the foreseeable future. 

My Navy buddy Joe who bought his Morris Minor Woodie back in the 1980’s only paid $400 for it. It too was a rougher example with dents and scruffy interior not to mention sun bleached wood.  

Long story short over the decades he’d find a bit here and there, and sorta improved it.  He liked getting 30+ MPG  taught his boys to drive on it and one at a time they used it to go to college. More dents but easily fixed or replaced. 

A few years ago he was in a tight spot financially and just mentioned at a club meeting it was for sale.  That week he got all sorts of offers and by the weekend he was $20,000 to the good.  

The point is, common old stuff becomes valuable over time.  

A Model A Ford roadster was $50 or less when I was a kid, at one point they were selling well above $10,000 and even today it’s doubtful you can find one much under that.  

Definitely agree that it's the best GM product of its era. The EV1 was probably the best GM in 1995 too, but i couldn't say firsthand. 

As far as it being as nice as the Cadillac you had, I actually think the ELR was one of the overall nicest things Cadillac had at that time too. I've driven one briefly and liked it quite a bit, but the resale on one of those vs a Volt makes me lose all interest. A car like that can only command a real premium in my mind when its dynamics are at a high level. An i8 at least does 0-60 in the 4s and handles like a mid engined car and it's still considered left field at its price. The new EV supercoupes have pretty epic specs in proportion with their price tags. The ELR was almost an idea ahead of its time, but mostly a victim of its pricing given the specs it had to go with.

Pulled the wheels off to get the new tires mounted. The inside edges were worse than the outside. Oops. First set of tires I've ever corded autocrossing. I blame it on the kid. 

I guess positive camber means less rolling resistance?

 I think it's pretty neutral camber wise, it's just that we over-inflated a bit to try and protect the outside edge (as is tradition) and it doing so we were dragging the inside edge. It happens. You can see the age cracks in the middle of the water grooves, so these weren't exactly spring chickens as tires go. 

impressive... but they were not young ones to begin with... as you said..