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It's a 2009 Saab 9-7x, identical to trailblazer.

Rubber is softer and prone to drying out and cracking. Polyurethane is a lot tougher and should last the life of the vehicle. The trade off is that rubber is better at absorbing vibrations and noises. The polyurethane ones will transfer more noise and vibration to the car. It’s not going be be a huge amount but if you’re used to rubber, you’ll notice it. It’s just something you’ll have to decide yourself. For suspension bushes I’d recommend poly, for motor mounts, rubber. The only time I would consider poly motor mounts is in a modified engine with high horsepower.

Yes it is stupidity and ignorance. Octane rating is the ability of the fuel to resist pre detonation and has nothing to do with power or economy. If you believe otherwise then I guess you fall into one of the categories I mentioned. Read this report from the American automobile association, http://newsroom.aaa.com/2016/09/u-s-drivers-waste-2-1-billion-annually-premium-gasoline/ Stick to the octane rating recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. Using anything higher is a waste of money. It will not produce more power or give you better economy.

Stupidity, ignorance, the belief that if it’s more expensive, it must be better. In reality, higher octane fuel is only needed in high compression and turbocharged engines. The purpose of higher octane fuel is to reduce the chances of pre detonation or “pinking”. Putting in the majority of road going cars is just a waste of money. Far better to save the extra cash and put it towards a box of beer.

lololol. Will see when you ride a manual in the desert long hill climb.

With regards to downshifting in a manual, heel and toe technique and rev matching are king. Once you master the art of proper footwork, the clutch pedal becomes redundant in situations other than starting or stopping. I can shift up and down gears flawlessly without using the clutch pedal. Experience I guess. But I think Saleem is right. This coffin can never be nailed down. Everyone has their own experiences and their own style of driving. IMO manual will always be king but I can see from the side of girls who can’t shift properly

But that is kind of the point. If you need to override the automatic function at any stage for any reason, then the system is inherently flawed.

With all due respect to your experience and knowledge, only 1 in million NEED to cross continents. I totally agree that in real hardcore sturdiness manual win hands down but our regular off-roader here doesn't take more than 100 - 500 km in a week. Nope, that's not the point. This manual selection is only needed in some auto box that automatically upshifts. In my ride 90% of my time I drive in D, even in steepest hill climb as it downshifts gear SUPER FAST to 1st when I need it the most.

Costs very little to polish headlight lenses if you’re willing put put a bit of effort in. Water and a few sheets of wet and dry sandpaper I used to split VW headlights to paint the reflectors black. I used to bake them in the oven for a few minutes. Softens the glue enough to separate them with no damage.

It's an amazingly genius find and share buddy, all my life I use to think that headlight lens is not removable and factory sealed. However, no one told or shared that there are ways to cut open these lenses and replace them too. WOW. People here spend 100'ssssss of dhs in getting them polished every year instead of replacing it. I like your new tag too: https://carnity.com/tags/letskeeptheforumalive/

That's really a genius product with smallest possible size to carry all around.

Gaurav, You are right that not many people NEED to cross continents. However, there is a REASON why those that do, never use automatics to do it with, and that reason does not primarily involve the poor reliability of automatics when they are pushed really hard. The primary reason has to with the fact that the driver needs to be in full control of the vehicle and its gearing at all times to make it to the other side of a sand trap or sand dune, or whatever the obstacle happens to be, which is something automatics DO NOT allow, no matter how near or far that driver is from home. Many people will disagree, but speaking strictly for myself, the fact that automatics are NEVER used in long overland expeditions settles this debate once and for all.