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Re:Flood of Oil Is Coming, Complicating Efforts to Fight Glo... by toast0 on Monday November 04, 2019 @07:40PM (#21448442)
Most of those features don't have a lot of negatives though. More ground clearance is hard to be a negative (I wasn't able to use the front bumper as a snow plow?)

A towing capable engine is a negative if you're not using it, because MPG; but you can get small engined trucks too.

Re:Flood of Oil Is Coming, Complicating Efforts to Fight Glo... by graycat on Monday November 04, 2019 @09:37PM (#21449090)
> A towing capable engine is a negative if you're not using it, because MPG;

If want to pull a 30' boat or a trailer big enough for a family of four up the Rockies, then, sure, can want a big engine. Otherwise two of the main things about a "towing capable engine" is (i) a bigger radiator and (ii) an engine oil cooler. The main issue is that when towing the engine can run at relatively high power levels for minutes at a time instead of the usual just seconds; then discover that the radiator is not big enough and the engine oil gets hot. The radiator never was "big enough" it's just that the high power levels lasted only for seconds instead of minutes, and the seconds were not long enough to overheat the coolant.

Re:Flood of Oil Is Coming, Complicating Efforts to Fight Glo... by toast0 on Monday November 04, 2019 @11:18PM (#21449565)
Sure. The big radiator and oil cooler (and transmission cooler) is nice to have, and is probably not a negative (additional maintenance maybe, though).

But if you intended to tow frequently, you're probably not opting for the 4-cylinder econobox light truck package.