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Yup. My 1987 Toyota pickup contains no digital computer whatsoever. It's so mechanically simple. I'm pretty sure I could do or have done any major repair (e.g.,

Yup. My 1987 Toyota pickup contains no digital computer whatsoever. It's so mechanically simple. I'm pretty sure I could do or have done any major repair (e.g., full transmission replacement, major engine overhaul) for less money than the cost to replace a just-out-of-warranty computer module in a newer vehicle. I realize that computers enable better fuel efficiency, but I just don't see how all that added complexity is worth it in a gasoline-powered vehicle. I'll willingly part with it only when all-electric becomes economically viable.

dboreham 9y ago
If it has a carburetor it isn't mechanically simple.
- nikofeyn 9y ago
  lol. when i bought my first motorcycle, i explicitly avoided any motorcycle with a carburetor and only looked at fuel injected engines. there's no point in not having FI. and modern cars aren't just mechanically "complex" for the sake of being complex. they are safer in crashes, safer when driving, more comfortable, and are some of the most reliable machines we make. you basically change the oil often and tires every now and then, and that's your maintenance. i drove my last car for 13 years and well over a 100,000 miles (not a lot really), and yet basically zero problems with that maintenance. that's pretty insane reliability for something used everyday.
  - dboreham 9y ago
    You either have no computer but rather complex mechanical things (carburetor, mechanical ignition) or you have computers and quite simple mechanical things (EFI, Electronic Ignition). The computers actually make the car more reliable because there are fewer mechanical things to tweak, tune and fix.
  - lultimouomo 9y ago
    I have nothing against FI, but on my previous motorcycle I could (and did) take apart the carburetor, fix whatever needed to be fixed (old sealings in my case) and put it back, just by reading some stuff on the internet. It is not something very complex. I don't think I could do anything like that with my current fuel injected bike. But then again, I never needed to, because it is objectively more reliable. There is a lot of charm in a computer-free car or bike, but I think most of the aversion people have to electronics is due to the fact that vehicles went through an "uncanny valley" of computerization, where reliability was not substantially better than previous models, yet repairability was substantially worse. I would say we've bridge that already.

dboreham 9y ago

If it has a carburetor it isn't mechanically simple.

nikofeyn 9y ago
lol. when i bought my first motorcycle, i explicitly avoided any motorcycle with a carburetor and only looked at fuel injected engines. there's no point in not having FI. and modern cars aren't just mechanically "complex" for the sake of being complex. they are safer in crashes, safer when driving, more comfortable, and are some of the most reliable machines we make. you basically change the oil often and tires every now and then, and that's your maintenance. i drove my last car for 13 years and well over a 100,000 miles (not a lot really), and yet basically zero problems with that maintenance. that's pretty insane reliability for something used everyday.
- dboreham 9y ago
  You either have no computer but rather complex mechanical things (carburetor, mechanical ignition) or you have computers and quite simple mechanical things (EFI, Electronic Ignition). The computers actually make the car more reliable because there are fewer mechanical things to tweak, tune and fix.
- lultimouomo 9y ago
  I have nothing against FI, but on my previous motorcycle I could (and did) take apart the carburetor, fix whatever needed to be fixed (old sealings in my case) and put it back, just by reading some stuff on the internet. It is not something very complex. I don't think I could do anything like that with my current fuel injected bike. But then again, I never needed to, because it is objectively more reliable. There is a lot of charm in a computer-free car or bike, but I think most of the aversion people have to electronics is due to the fact that vehicles went through an "uncanny valley" of computerization, where reliability was not substantially better than previous models, yet repairability was substantially worse. I would say we've bridge that already.