I am selling my 2010 Mercedes E350 4matic sedan. It has 167k miles on it but runs and drives great. There is a slight whine in the drivetrain that has been there for years. The rims have curb rash and some are somewhat bent but it does not cause any problem. It was hit in the back in 2019 but there was no structural damage and we had it repaired at Benishek & Will which is a very reputable body shop. Current Kelly Blue Book value is $5,782 - $8,569. I will sell it for $6,000 or best offer.
I bought this car in 2015 from Autohaus in Peoria. We took many road trips in this car, especially between 2015 through 2018 so many of these miles are highway miles. The car has had very few miles since 2021. It has always been kept in a garage. This is the first year of the W212 body style and these have been great cars.
I now have over 350 miles on this bike, most of that off-road. This bike has been great for my riding style. I have the optional range extender battery which allows me to ride about 75 miles off-road on a charge. My riding includes many long hills and loamy conditions that burn through power too.
I have had some creaking noises which sound like they are coming from the handlebar area and possible the motor area. I checked and rechecked everything and all is tight.
When I bought this bike they offered several upgrades. One of which was a $300 Wren hub upgrade. I passed on it thinking why would I need that? Well, I found out why. I was up at Little Red Rock on a loamy hill. I hit the throttle and heard a snap and then the cassette just spun, no longer driving the wheel.
Luckily I was up hill so I was able to coast down to a main road and get picked up. I got home and took the hub apart and sure enough the ratchet teeth had sheared the ends off.
Now I decided to get the upgraded hub.
If you have an electric mountain bike with a high torque motor like this Bafang Ultra M620, best to also get a hub that can support it.
This bike is heavy but I used to ride dirt bikes back in the day so I don't mind the weight. The bike alone (no batteries) is 72lbs according to Biktrix. The main battery weighs 10.3lbs and the range extender weighs 7.6lbs. Total weight is about 90lbs.
Here is a video that shows the use of the throttle for some steeper or loamier bits in the beginning of the video. Watch for my left thumb applying motor power (throttle). Starting around the 5 minute mark, I begin the downhill portion that shows the suspension soaking up the terrain at around 20mph.
This next video shows a steep but short hill when I use the throttle to climb at about 25s in.
We were looking to replace our Mercedes GL450 as it was accumulating miles and it does not get the best fuel economy. As we really loved the GL450 we were looking at newer Mercedes GLS and GLE vehicles to replace it. We drove many of both the GLS and GLE but could not find one that really worked for us. The newer Mercedes seats were an issue, as was the overall feel of the vehicle. We decided to look at Porsche Cayenne and drove a couple of them. We liked the vehicle better and ended up with this 2021 base Cayenne.
We had driven Cayenne's in the past (at least a decade ago) and never really liked them much so we didn't expect to like the newer ones either. However, Cayenne's changed substantially in 2019. Back in the day, the base Cayenne V6 was anemic too. This new turbo V6 is much better. I really wanted the hybrid version but cars are hard to find right now. Also, the Cayenne Hybrid is getting an upgrade for 2024 so maybe in a few years we will upgrade to one of those. For now we are getting used to the Cayenne.
I went to Dream Racing at the Las Vegas Motorplex to try out the new C8 Corvette. I have been interested in the C8 since they announced it would finally be a proper mid-engine car. I drive a Porsche Cayman S which is also mid-engine and it is the best layout for a sports car in my opinion. I like the looks of the C8 Corvette as well.
The experience starts with a short video to set expectations and orient you to the track and performance driving. That is followed by a ride around the track in an SUV. One thing unique about Dream Racing versus Exotics Racing or Speed Vegas was you don't wear helmets in the street cars. Helmets are only required in their race cars.
Seated in the car I adjusted the seat and wheel to my liking. I am not a big fan of the large center console but it did not bother me as much while driving either. I could get used to it. The feel behind the wheel was centered and good. As we pulled onto the track and gave it full throttle and the traction control kicked in for a bit. The traction control intervenes a bit more than I would like but still better than many other sports cars. It's hard to beat Porsche traction control on the track. I only bought 7 laps and that is not even enough to really get consistent with the line as you can see in the video, I am a bit sloppy and inconsistent. The engine makes 200HP more than my Cayman S and that was very nice. It also has a wide powerband but drops off earlier than what I am used to in the Cayman S. It took a bit to learn to shift earlier. The sound is very different than the Porsche but it is a good sound. That comes through pretty well on the video. The transmission was also very good. The handling is also good and pretty neutral. I did not understeer like the Ferrari 488 did.
My biggest complaints with this car is the brakes. Dream Racing even upgraded to some slotted rotors but they were a bit warped when I started, and very warped by the end of my session. The chassis could easily handle a serious brake upgrade and if I was going to track one of these, a brake upgrade would be a must. I suspect the Z06 will have solved this issue.
The car is clearly heavier than my Cayman S, by about 650lbs. You can really feel it too. The center of gravity is also noticeably higher. The chassis gets more upset when switching directions than the Cayman S. The car feels like it is sitting higher, based on the handling. I felt like I could not push it as hard in the corners. Dream Racing uses Pirelli P Zero tires and maybe they are not as good as the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires I have on the Cayman S. The feedback was good and with some more seat time on the track I could work around this. It was certainly a fun drive.
The C8 Corvette is a great car and Chevy has done a great thing here delivering a car like this at the price point they are asking. Most owners will likely never track this car hard and they will be very happy with their purchase. Those who do want to track it should consider a brake upgrade first, or consider the Z06. If Dream Racing or Speed Vegas get a Z06 I may just have to try that.
So far the cars I have tried at these track venues are the Ferrari 488, the Porsche GT3 RS, and this Chevy Corvette. The GT3 RS was the best track car. The next car I want to try at the track is the Porsche GT2 RS.
I have now driven 3 different venues as well. Speed Vegas has been purchased by Exotics Racing so now that is at the Speed Vegas facility south of town. I drove Exotics Racing back when it was at the west edge of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway area north of town. Dream Racing is in the center of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval track.
We had a SunPower solar system installed on our house. It consists of 20, 400W panels, 14 on the East roof and 6 on the South. The total system generating capacity is 8kW. Since the panels are on different roof angles, it is unlikely to get that 8kW since they will reach peak output at different times.
We still have net metering here so we did not install a battery system yet. Net metering allows us to sell our excess power back to the energy company and accumulate a positive balance with the utility. During the times of year with higher solar generation than consumption we build up a credit which can be used during the summer months to pay for the usage that exceeds our generating. Basically, you somewhat use the grid as a enormous long-term battery. I believe as more solar powers the grid, these net meting plans will go away so I wanted to get in while they were still available. The 30% tax credit was also a huge incentive. Our system went online in April, the same month the utility raised the rates over 6% making the value prop that much stronger.
Utility power meter for solar showing energy sold back to the grid (arrow left)
Here is what the dashboard shows for a full day.
The system requires changing your power plan and your house power meter with the utility. The new meter shows which direction power is flowing. You can also see the daily summary on the utility website.
The grey shows the amount of energy the solar generated and the house used. The green shows the net power we sold back to the grid. The black shows the amount beyond what we generated in solar that we had to buy from the grid. April 12 was a cloudy day and April 13 was sunny. Even on that cloudy day we generated most of what we used.
Our system is sized to deliver 100% of our annual electric energy needs based on prior power consumption. It does not generate 100% of our peak power needs. The system also does not supply power if the grid goes down. We would need a battery system for that. At some point it will make sense to add a battery system but right now with net metering and a very stable grid here it does not seem cost effective. I do expect the cost of home energy storage to drop and the systems improve going forward.
I like to ride my mountain bike up in the mountains. Sometimes I am in canyons between mountains where there is no cellular reception. I decided I needed a satellite messenger so I could always communicate, and for safety. I already have a Garmin fenix 6X Pro Solar watch, and a Virb Ultra 30 camera so I decided to stick with Garmin for this as well. As I was looking, they just introduced this InReach Messenger device so I bought one.
This device integrates with the Garmin ecosystem so the watch can trigger tracking and well as SOS and other features. This device also pairs with my smartphone so I can use the smartphone UI to create, send, read messages and other functions. Using the smartphone is very handy as it has a nice big screen and I am very used to interacting with it versus learning a new UI that is far smaller. The device uses a Messenger app to connect and interact with the device. The device can be used stand-alone though which is great. If for some reason I did not have my phone I could still communicate.
I had read some reviews about this device as it was just coming out. One of the pro's was great battery life. I have found the battery life to be stellar actually. I am writing this article in April and I have not charged it since last year. It is still over 70%. I use the device about 3 hours a weekend most weekends, year round.
Messaging is pretty simple and it can automatically switch between WiFi, Cellular, and Satellite as needed to minimize satellite charges. I have never used all my messages in a month. It also sends my location every 10 minutes so my family can see where I am regardless of cellular connection. This is great for safety.
Overall I would highly recommend this device for people who like to go places where there is no cellular.
I enjoy real off-road mountain bike riding in places where full suspension is a must and fat tires are needed to get through the soft loam. Much of my riding includes long steep hills, some in loamy terrain. I often ride Jeep trails as well as dedicated bike trails.
I started with a very inexpensive mountain bike with full suspension and 2-1/4" wire tires. The narrow tires would sink in to the gravel and sand I often encounter. Even on hard pack trails, the long steep climbs were exhausting. I realized I needed a fat tire bike with full suspension. Once you get that, you have a heavy bike so I decided to go electric as well (which of course add even more weight).
I have been riding my Rurui XT10 rear hub drive electric mountain bike over a year and over 1,100 miles. In that time I failed 2 controllers due to overloading them on long steep hills. Since the motor must handle the wide speed range with no transmission, it is very poorly suited to low speed riding. On PAS 1 it would go about 12mph where assist would then taper off. Below about 10mph the motor was just turning too slow and was very inefficient. Electric motors may produce high torque at low speeds but they cannot sustain that very long. The long steep hills were too much for the hub drive system. The hub drive I have in this bike is geared which helps but it was not enough of a gear ratio for the riding I was doing. Freewheeling the bike would reach 39mph top motor speed. I never needed to motor to 39mph. 25mph would have been much more applicable to my riding. A hub drive with much high gear ratio could really help.
However, the other issue is how and when power is applied. The Rurui had what is called a "cadence" sensor which measures the crank speed. In reality it seemed to only measure if there was crank speed or not. If you were pedaling, it applied power assist based on your PAS level selected. It makes for a strange riding experience since the motor power applied is independent of your pedaling force. There is also a delay in reading pedaling speed (cadence) and applying power. If you wanted to ride slow through some technical bits, you really had to cut the motor power. I would often do this by just pulling a brake lever far enough to cut the motor. There are now hub-drive bikes that use torque sensors.
I think hub drives are a decent approach for road bikes or at least when riding on well developed hard trails with gentle slopes.
I analyzed many approaches to augmenting the Rurui to better suit my riding. I could add a front hub drive and I have seen some bike like that on the market. However many of the downsides would still exist, now with the added weight of another motor and a whole bunch of added complexity.
I could add a mid-drive. This would give the benefit of mid-drive but also keep the hub drive. It could more than double my power. I could switch between as needed or use both. Again, weight and complexity were concerns. Another big concern was how low the add-on mid drive systems hang. I already had problems smashing my pedals on rocks I did not want to smash a motor.
It was time to just upgrade the bike. I needed a powerful mid-drive bike with more speeds to handle tougher off-road situations. I needed to be able to crawl along at lower speeds through the technical stuff. I needed to be able to climb much steeper and longer off-road hills. I needed better suspension to keep the pedals out of the rocks. I needed a drive system that would work better at low speeds and higher loads for long periods. I wanted less un-spring mass on the bike for improved suspension performance. After many months of research, I decided on the Biktrix Juggernaut Ultra FS Pro 3.
The differenced was stark and immediate. The very first thing I noticed was the power delivery. It is pretty much immediate assist when you start pedaling. I can start off up a fairly steep hill with no problem. It is like having bionic legs. Since it is sensing the pedaling force to apply power, the response of very controlled and natural. Here are some video clips from my first off-road ride on the bike.
I have ridden this route before on the Rurui several times. I normally have to get off and push the bike up the steep parts. Not on the Biktrix. I did push through a few very steep technical bits but that was not because the bike could not climb it. This ride was a breeze on the Biktrix.
The mid-drive system takes advantage of the narrower pedal cadence speeds versus wheel speeds. The motor is geared to apply much more torque since it does not have to deal with very high pedal speeds. It takes advantage of the bike gears to support a wide range of bike speeds.
As with everything, there are of course some trade-offs. When shifting gears motor power is interrupted to protect the gears from damage. As with a non-electric bike, when shifting you should reduce pedal force until the sift is complete. This of course does interrupt power delivery for a second. Another trade-off is that this total power from pedaling plus the motor power now goes through your chain and gears. This will be very hard on them. Even if I have to change the chain, chainring, and cassette every year it will be totally worth it.
If you enjoy real off-road riding, the mid drive with many speeds (11 in my case) and wide speed changes (42t-11t) is the way to go. Hub drive could be fine in flatter and hard-packed terrain where you plan to be at speeds greater than 10mph at all times.
