deerhunter42

Okay guys, one of my favorite vehicles was a 49 Ford coupe I owned in 1959.

My various girlfriends and I would often park out in a remote area, "exploring life" while listening to the radio often for several hours at a time. The radio would last often for two hours or more. Only once do I remember playing it long enough for the battery to go dead. "we didn't really care."

Now this new $35000 pickup can't even play the radio for 2 minutes without turning off. THATS AND IMPROVEMENT OVER MY 49.

To me it is stupid.

joe mcmillan

My old '48 F1 had no radio. Just a flathead 6 and a 3 speed on the column. Its nick name was "old blue".
I don't remember "old blue" ever letting me down.
Isn't it the ****s about how some of the modern technology just defies logic and raises your temper.

joeuncool

Depends on what you consider improvement. Back in '59 the battery was running the radio and that was pretty much it. Now it seems as soon as you turn on the key, the vehicle's computer has to monitor absolutely everything even though you just want to listen to the radio. The computerization of vehicles has improved them greatly but we are getting a lot more battery drain as soon as we turn the key on. I do like that it is smart enough to tell you that the battery has had enough and you better start the engine before it leaves you stranded.

You should be getting more than 2 minutes though. I can run the stereo, charge a phone and a tablet and get about 30 minutes. I figure that is because mine is a factory battery that is now over 3 years old. They are expensive but I plan on replacing it with an AGM battery which is designed to power accessories.

mksmth

my 49 F1 3 speed with a flathead V8 gets almost the same city MPG as my 2011.