u/Myceilingpeedonme

Folks, I finally switched from a Jetta to a ‘27 Taos SE 4Motion. My main reason for switching was higher clearance, 4Motion and a taller trunk (although I had serious reservations about not having a secure trunk).

I got the car last Thursday and had a trip planned up to Yosemite/Eastern Sierra area the next day. I took it on a few dirt roads that were mostly maintained. Some small ruts that I would say my Jetta could have handled if positioned correctly. My biggest concern was the rocks and my tires. I have the stock tires 215/55R18, and I was curious what people’s experiences with “offroading” with the Taos were.

Before I get roasted, I know this is not a vehicle for serious overlanding. I needed a car that can handle my daily highway commute, city driving (LA) while also giving me a little more access to places my Jetta couldn’t. I’m a commercial outdoors photographer and being able to go a little further into the brush is a big plus. That being said I want to be smart about how much I push it when I’m not on pavement. I only have a spare not a full spare. So popping a tire on some volcanic rock doesn’t sound great.

I felt like I was playing it pretty safe by keeping my speed around 10mph on roads that also had rocks. If anyone in CA has experience with driving to Fossil Falls campground, Parker Lake Trail (by June), Mono Lake Navy Parking, Panum Crater and the first 2 miles of Log Cabin Mine Rd that’s the kind of terrain I got into so far. I want to be smart and safe but also know what my vehicle is capable of so I can make informed decisions before turning down a road - or at least know when I should turn around

TLDR: what can the stock Taos wheels handle rock wise. What’s your comfort level for what the Taos can handle with dirt/rocky/mountain roads?

Appreciated y’all!

I got an absolute steal on 2x Godox AD1200 packs that I wasn’t expecting to purchase at the moment. But they were basically 2 for 1 and included some extra goodies like the ring flash and AC adapters.

Curious what folks typically run for stands when they are on-location and what they use to attach the battery pack to the stand. I was thinking just a super clamp and a j-hook?

Any other good accessories to have or reasonably priced modifiers? I have the Godox reflector coming in tomorrow, going to try it out before I buy a second one.

Thanks yall!

Hi everyone, really glad I found yall cause I’m panicking slightly.

I’m in the process of being screened to donate for a family member. We live across the USA so I’ve been doing my tests through Quest.

Most of my bloodwork has been good. My first urinalysis the donor team thought I might of been dehydrated since I didn’t return the normal amount of liquid - which was true, I was caring for my gf who had an injury and wasn’t as good about drinking water as I normally am.

All that to say, I’m redoing my urinalysis. I was planning on starting that today and finishing Monday. My goal was to void into the toilet today at 5am and then collect the remaining until 5am tomorrow when I leave for work.

I overslept by 2 hours. I’m a contractor for food focused marketing agency, I can’t easily bring my collection kit with me and store it in a fridge since we have food that people consume and ironically limited storage in the fridges.

Normally I pee at 5am and don’t pee again until after 8 or 9 when I’ve been at work for a bit.

If I technically start today at 7am with a non collected void and then finish at 5am tomorrow will that lead not count as a 24-hour sample?

I really don’t want to wait another week as I feel like I’m already behind with my labs (had travel for work that delayed my starting).

The donor team is off on the weekends so I don’t expect a response to my message through the portal.

Thank you so so much.