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A case of Kirkland(WPP) HM, 5W-30.

Never had luck with OEM Goodyears. Their higher-end aftermarket line, I would consider. Now that my size is increasingly a Chinesium size, I’m not counting out the Reliant series.

I’ve been debating going to ESP x2 0W-20 for the RXh and a Subaru I maintain. Currently, the Subaru - 2019 Ascent, FA24F gets ESP 5W-30, the RXh gets vanilla M1 5W-30. I have M1 Hybrid 0W-20 on deck for the next OCI. My reasoning for ESP 0W-20? It meets API SP, and has Mercedes 229.72/Porsche...

OE Toyota. Had them on hand.

Compared to OEM Toyota, they feel a bit more firm. Stopping power is better. But where OE Toyota(or really, any OEM Japanese pad) shines is NVH and fit. Aftermarket pads don’t fit right in many cases and can be little noisy. I’ve had Wagner and Centric clunk around, Akebono pads don’t. The...

I’m sold on R&P and MaxLife EP. Regular MaxLife in the red bottle/label isn’t a bad pick for a syn blend at all.

Yea, my dad would spend time on the freeway and he would avoid Oakland/SF as much as he can. I still used 5W-30 and 0W-16 in the new Camry to try to provide a thicker film for stop and go. Now that he’s stopped driving for Uber, I’ll reconsider the 5W-30 in the RXh. It’s their “nice” car...

I’ve ran 5W-30 in an RX450h and 0W-16 in a Camry - both called for 0W-20 and 0W-8 respectively. My reasoning - both cars saw service as Ubers. Now that both cars are no longer seeing Uber(150K and 45K, respectively), I’m switching one back to 0W-20, and the other has been using 0W-8 since the...

Electronically controlled oil pump - it’s controlled by a PWM solenoid and an adjustable volute chamber. It’s still a mechanical oil pump at its core. But also, there are improvements in base engine design(bearings, piston coatings, offset crank, bore/stroke). Toyota designed the Dynamic Force...

It really depends on the Chinesium as I like to think about it. I wouldn’t let my enemies ride on LingLongs. ChemChina has their hands in tires(Pirelli), agrochem(Syngenta) and other things.

I’ve installed Duralast Elites in an old Sienna recently. Compared to the OEM Toyota “warranty” pads, they’re different in a good way. I suspect they are an AutoZone-specific version of Bosch QuietCast. The friction edge code is different(DLL 6201 FF, AFAIK) and there was a honeycomb pattern...

My parents have a 2025 Camry that calls for 0W-8 “officially”. The local dealer used TGMO 0W-8 for both of the ToyotaCare services. The printed weights are for the US/Canada but thicker oil is, of course OK in the rest of the world. Now that this car no longer sees gig work, I’m OK with the...

Aye. This is why I went OEM Toyota for the van. They weren’t much more than the aftermarket options. I have a feeling BPI/First Brands makes the GM aftermarket line, as well as Napa’s.

A few stops from 30-10MPH is what I do, followed by a few 60-40MPH stops in the slow lane. No issues since. I recently installed a set of Duralast Elite pads(Bosch made, I suspect they are the AutoZone rebrand of QuietCast but with a honeycomb coating on it them for branding). There was no...

Aye, I have to deal with drums on a K1500 Blazer soon. Having a friend order parts from the jungle store, Raybestos drums and Powerstop molded shoes. Will I be asking for trouble? I have a hunch all the shoes are made in China or India unless it’s GM OE and even so. Only DFC claims they machine...

LA Metro and Big Blue Bus in Santa Monica/Long Beach Transit aren’t going down the FCEV route. They have quite a few BYDs in their fleet(also doesn’t hurt they’re built just up the 5 in Lancaster). you’d think they would convert to FCEV given they already run CNG buses - LA by far has the...

I always see a Vine bus break down on 80 between Vallejo and Del Norte BART. But down the highway in Oakland, AC Transit is a big cheerleader for FCEVs. One of the first agencies to operate them as proof of concept. Their Emeryville and East Oakland yards have quite a few FCEVs and I always...

Hondas are usually rev-happy and love high RPMs to get moving. But that all changed with their TGDI 1.5L I4 that’s the base engine in the Accord/CR-V(you can get a hybrid, too) now. The times I’ve driven a Honda, they cruised anywhere from 2000-3000RPM. The V6s were towards the lower end of that...

The Honda 10-speed is back to a normal planetary gear setup. The 4-6 speeds were basically an automated manual, hence the Z1/DW-1fluids being a weird beast.