Fifty150

I don't think the market would ever be there. Anyone who is interested in a tow vehicle, would look at a pickup truck. How nice it would be to have a multipurpose tool. The Leatherman or Swiss Army Van. Fuel economy. 3 rows X 3 passenger bench seats + 9 passenger seating. Large payload. Nimble handling characteristics. 4 wheel drive. LED lighting all around. Low profile roof mounted refrigeration system for crisp air conditioning. Individual climate controls for all passenger positions. 12 volt power, USB ports, and 110 inverters for all passengers. Individual flat screens at all passenger points with onboard in-vehicle high speed WiFi. Massage seats. Enough HP & torque for 12 second quarter mile times with a trailer in tow. Helicopter rotors for vertical takeoff to skim over traffic congestion. 50 caliber machine guns mounted at each sliding side door. Built in loading ramp, strap down points, and higher roofline for motorcycles. Amphibious rudders and props for water crossing. And last, but not least, a deep fryer because I really enjoy chicken wings.

In my local market, all vans have doors, and wagons have the option lift gate or door. I personally feel that doors allow for better access for loading and for roof access. My dad likes the lift gate because it's what he is used to with SUVs.

I don't know what "invoice" really means. It sounds like everyone is buying "below invoice". How can it be that dealers are losing money? And I doubt it that everyone is such a great negotiator that we're really beating the dealership. That's like marking everything at the ninety nine cents store to five dollars, then letting you think you got a deal for two dollars.

Ford must have figured out that the extra money spent on a smaller turbo engine, did not merit such a small and seemingly insignificant net in performance. I wouldn't mind spending more, if it actually made a difference. But 9 HP?

So in short, there is no development project.

He said that nobody has been interested except for you.

I have been lobbying Victoria's Secret to pay me for a wrap advertisement. When they finally come to their senses, I will post pics of my Panty Mobile.

I believe that the Transmission Temperature is available on the paid $5 version of Torque app. It's only $5. If you get it, keep us up to date on your results. Write a review of the app.

This forum is a bit pedestrian compared to other car forums. However, that just may reflect on the demographics of ownership. Younger guys with fast cars, are just going to do more to their cars and are more apt to be involved in posting on the internet. Like my Dad is really going to spend his time online, writing about how his latest mod, a pillow, makes his butt feel so much nicer when he sits on it. While there are many of these vehicles on the road, and I see them everywhere, most are probably driven by employees. Employees who don't treat the company car as their own. Employees who are now driving this, as opposed to the big V8 that the company used to buy for them. Employees who will routinely overload the vehicle, then complain about how terrible it drives......no power! Employees who have no interest in investing in the vehicle, or modifying it. It's up to us, the owners, to create a demand for the aftermarket to fill. And I doubt if the aftermarket will be in performance upgrades, since no matter what you do, you're not going to raise the horsepower and torque to make this a 12 second car. There is already an aftermarket of sorts, that most of us aren't using. At least you don't see a lot of buzz on the forum about it. Since day one, plenty of companies have been in production of tool boxes, ladder racks, and other industrial mods. Now that there are more people purchasing the wagons, maybe we'll see more accessories for camping, road trips, and turning your van into the ultimate love machine. I'm just a love machine, and I won't work for nobody but you. That's right. I'm taking advantage of all that head room by hanging a disco ball.

FlowMaster is in Santa Rosa. I live in San Francisco. Since I'm close enough, I'll volunteer my car as a test vehicle. I'll let FlowMaster do dyno runs, rip out my OEM exhaust, and reconfigure the system any way they want.

If you slam on the brakes real hard, it will prevent your Chihuahua flying through the windshield. Seriously, you've never seen a headache rack on a pickup truck? It's obvious what the intention is. Now, does it work?

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FZ1JS5Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

From the owners manual telling you not to tow, to the owners manual recommended the maximum loaded trailer weight. I guess that means we can tow now.

My, how things have changed.

Just don't end up with your van sounding like an anemic Fast & Furious Honda. And if you put stickers all over, I will slap you. Stickers do not increase horsepower.

As with every car, the first attempt at increasing performance comes with cold air and better exhaust flow. More in, more out. Since there isn't a drop-in intake, you could probably fabricate your own. Perhaps disconnect the mass airflow sensor, remove the factory airbox, and disconnect at the hose clamp. Then get a pvc tube of the same diameter, and adapt the mass airflow sensor. Now you can get an aftermarket CUSTOM MADE cone filter from aFe that fits over the tube, and attach it with hose clamp. It all needs to be supported, so a bracket could be fabricated to attach to OEM mounting points for the air box. Any good muffler shop should be able to cut off the factory exhaust from the catalytic converter on back, and fabricate something with larger diameter pipe plus a small glasspack and either dump it at a 90 degree angle or route it any way you want. Please excuse my kindergarden drawing. Build Your Own Filter 0% Complete *Units measured in inches Flange Diameter Base Diameter Filter Height Flange Length Inverted Top Top Diameter Filter Media Top Diameter Filter Height Flange Length Flange Diameter Base Diameter

You're right about that. If I need something with better payload, I would surely buy a van with more payload. If I want more power, I would buy a car that is faster. In my case, I knew going in, that I was not getting a quick car. Test drives confirmed it's lack of pedal power. It suited my needs to carry more than 2 people (i.e. cab of pickup truck or little Honda which nobody fits in the back seat), and the little four cyclinder was sure to be more fuel efficient than other multi-passenger vehicles with bigger engines. Of course being frugal, the pricing appealed to me as well. If I had wanted something nicer, I could have spent a lot more money. So shortcomings aside, I sort of got what I paid for. It's like eating in a cheap Chinese restaurant. You don't expect or get 5 star service or food.

Interesting. It did not look like a lot of damage. But it was totaled. Van was about 1 year old. How much was the repair estimate? Can it really cost more to fix than what the van is worth? I guess that is one of the issues with modern vehicles.

Let's see some photos of this mod.

Here is the part that I don't get. Why would you go back to the dealership to have your plates installed? Every car I've ever bought, came with a license plate frame with the dealership name, and a paper "plate" with the dealership logo. The license plates comes from the Department of Motor Vehicles. They are mailed from DMV to my house. I remove whatever screws are holding the dealership advertising, discard the paper plate and plastic frame, and use the same screws to affix the license plates sent from DMV. It would never be in my thought process to go to the dealership to have plates installed. And how could the salesman install the wrong screws? Why didn't he just use the same screws that were already on the vehicle? Where did he even get the wrong screws from? Why would someone take the screws off the van, then decide to put different screws on?

That gear shift lever should be column mounted. A column mount gear shift opens up the entire center console. It can be done. They do it for the police package cars to make room for the MDT, radio rack, and lights & siren controls. I'm currently driving my vehicle with the front passenger seat folded forward, middle row seats folded down, with my dad sitting in the 3rd row passenger side because that is how he likes it. Sort of gives him a very unique view and ride. He likes to look over his shoulder and guide me into parking spaces. Human backup camera and sensor. The owners manual says not to do this. But he doesn't care. In some vehicles, you can get an aftermarket fuel tank for extra capacity. I don't know what the sales numbers are for the Transit Connect. However, in my area, everybody is driving them. City & County, corporate fleet, private service contractors, livery, and me. So it seems like a lot of units are selling. I am wondering why there isn't more of an aftermarket. Popular cars tend to have a lot of aftermarket support. Weren't there tricked out Transit Connects @ SEMA? Somebody should contact one of the fuel tank vendors to see if they can start production on something for us. After all, they have already redesigned a mobility ramp and fuel tank combo. Perhaps we can get something with 25 gallons. Transfer Flow’s engineers designed the fuel tank, drop floor and ramp assembly for the Ford Transit Connect mobility van. I think Ford engineers should spend a little more time driving the vehicles they design. Then there wouldn't be junk like the Fiesta, or that dual clutch transmission. Maybe we will get an Ecoboost V6 in the Mustang that will go faster than the 5.0. Has anyone else seen the Ecoboost V6 build in a Pantera by Gas Monkey Garage? I would like to see the LWB be able to carry a 4'X8' piece of sheetrock or plywood between the wheel wells, front seats, and rear door. Maybe even a roof rack system that can accommodate more than 165 lbs.

Well, the aftermarket will have to adapt and catch up. I'm sure that an entire industry is not giving up. The future technology may make it even easier to upgrade our electronics. The aftermarket may provide simple flash loading upgrades to factory installed head units, or perhaps even easier to install "plug & play" replacement head units. Head units of tomorrow may very well provide the nexus of your driving experience. I want a car that I can lock, unlock, start, and provide entertainment, navigation, and peripheral support via a smartphone. Your smartphone should be a wireless key. Surely, the technology exist to integrate our phones to our cars. I can recall the days when you actually had to figure out which wire went where, then splice and connect everything. In today's world, I only have to use an OEM compatible harness. Aftermarket electronics are not going the way of Disco & Quaaludes.