After hurtling around Vegas the last few day in some fairly beat up taxis, I asked one of the driver's about his cab.
Over 300K on his Chrysler mini van, like all the Vegas cabs the suspension seemed prety shot judging by the movement and squeaks. I didn't ask which oil, which interval, and he didn't know if the engines get overhauled in order to reach 300K + to 500K.
But I thought about the engines making it to 300K and quite a few to 500K with lots of full throttle driving around a city with a good mix of short highway sections and congested roads and idling while in the taxi line.
The cabbie's main comment was that he thought the Chrysler mini vans were good because they never overheat or run hot.... kind of important in a town the reaches 115 F quite often and where the AC is always running.
I'm sure the fact that the engines are running close to 24 hours a day can help to reduce wear, at least startup wear. And the city is hot and dry so moist air, one of the components to cause sludge is not a factor.
And there are no hills, so the cabs drive around an essentially flat city.
And presumably the cabs get some sort of regular maintenance program.
But still I was impressed that the taxis were racking up that kind of mileage.
I know that there have been taxi test on oil and engine wear, including in Las Vegas....but certainly researching Vegas cab operation could show just how good modern oils and modern engines are.
I'd be curious to learn more about the driveline maintence of these vehicles. It seems that they don't put a lot of effort or money into the suspension and tires.
But maybe the engine, cooling system, AC, transmission, axle, and brake maintenance might be interesting.
Over 300K on his Chrysler mini van, like all the Vegas cabs the suspension seemed prety shot judging by the movement and squeaks. I didn't ask which oil, which interval, and he didn't know if the engines get overhauled in order to reach 300K + to 500K.
But I thought about the engines making it to 300K and quite a few to 500K with lots of full throttle driving around a city with a good mix of short highway sections and congested roads and idling while in the taxi line.
The cabbie's main comment was that he thought the Chrysler mini vans were good because they never overheat or run hot.... kind of important in a town the reaches 115 F quite often and where the AC is always running.
I'm sure the fact that the engines are running close to 24 hours a day can help to reduce wear, at least startup wear. And the city is hot and dry so moist air, one of the components to cause sludge is not a factor.
And there are no hills, so the cabs drive around an essentially flat city.
And presumably the cabs get some sort of regular maintenance program.
But still I was impressed that the taxis were racking up that kind of mileage.
I know that there have been taxi test on oil and engine wear, including in Las Vegas....but certainly researching Vegas cab operation could show just how good modern oils and modern engines are.
I'd be curious to learn more about the driveline maintence of these vehicles. It seems that they don't put a lot of effort or money into the suspension and tires.
But maybe the engine, cooling system, AC, transmission, axle, and brake maintenance might be interesting.
