Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

[CrazyRussian540]

There's plenty of car related news out there that doesn't deserve its own thread, but at the same time you want to share it and not have it get lost forever in the complete randomness of the Off-Topic Random Thoughts thread.

So I decided to make a Random Thoughts thread for automotive stories/news bits/links.


Heres my little bit of news..

I found a really interesting website while looking at 4 door convertibles yesterday.
http://www.bentleyspotting.com/
Its a spotting/fan site for Bentleys and Rollers, but the person running it knows what hes talking about (or rips off people that do)
Took me about 30 minutes to browse through their whole archive, and they have some very very interesting cars and stories in there (along with a fair amount of Bentley carbage).

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Interesting thread idea....

[LeVeL]

I got one from yesterday:
Ive been looking at diesel pickups this whole week (dont ask) and realized that its fairly easy to get some insane numbers from those motors. 600hp/1000tq is very doable with just an engine programmer and a good tranny that can take the torque. There are a good number pickups out there that run 11s; high 12s is pretty easy. This got me thinking - what if you put one of those motors, say a 6.6L Duramax out of a silverado HD, into something that doesnt weigh as much as the moon, eg a Camaro? Did some research on this and turns out it has been done a few times with some really really good results.

[Spazatao]

^It's not a bad idea, actually. It won't sound as good as a petrol equivalent but the monstrous torque won't let you even think about that.

As we are speaking of Diesels, a more technical doubt I have. With commom rail, piezzo injectors and other efficiency-improvements things, is there any reason to think of a non-turbo'ed Diesel in production cars, that is still good enough to rival the petrol counterparts in performance but still beat them in fuel consumption?

[Cobol74]

Check the balance tho'.

[Labcoatguy]

A McMerc SLR passed by me today, and it's surprisingly small in person. It doesn't have that "Look At Me, I Am Supercar" presence of a Lambo or even a Ferrari.

[FATMOUSE]

I had to look twice when I saw this thread pop up in Gen. Automotive.

[Shawn]

So is this only for automotive news?

I saw my first IS-F on the road yesterday... I think it's safe to say this car has already failed pretty badly. I saw at least 8 of them lined up at the dealer in May, and it wasn't until late August 'til I saw one driving.

As much as I like my car, I can't blame peeps for buying an M3 or RS4 over the F.

I wonder if the GS-F will ever come out?

[klankymen]

Originally Posted by LeVeL

I got one from yesterday:
Ive been looking at diesel pickups this whole week (dont ask) and realized that its fairly easy to get some insane numbers from those motors. 600hp/1000tq is very doable with just an engine programmer and a good tranny that can take the torque. There are a good number pickups out there that run 11s; high 12s is pretty easy. This got me thinking - what if you put one of those motors, say a 6.6L Duramax out of a silverado HD, into something that doesnt weigh as much as the moon, eg a Camaro? Did some research on this and turns out it has been done a few times with some really really good results.

Diesel in a light car? Think Audi....

[SL65]

Originally Posted by Shawn

I wonder if the GS-F will ever come out?

How about an ES-F Oh God, could you imagine that, haha.

Oh and Shawn - what ever happened to your IS paint dramas? I remember you were left with a bit of a dilemma and I never saw a conclusion to that.

[Shawn]

Ah, the ES is such a barge. I get it as a loaner sometimes, it's pretty crazy to drive though because it has 270hp in a car that handles like a Buick.

Nothing happened with my car, thanks for asking though. I just learned to live with the fact that my car was not going to be like it was before the accident. I'm still pissed about it though... 4 month old car and an accident I had no way of avoiding.

[SL65]

Ah tough break Well I'm sure your happy you got a cool car nevertheless. Got the right colour/rims combo

[fbc]

Saw a billboard for the BMW X6 today, tag line was "No Precedent"

Which gave me two thoughts:
- No shit
- Maybe there's a reason for that eh BMW?

[KaJuN]

As some of you may know from the thread about my Land Rover the cooling system isn't happy with me and I think I finally found out why. It turns out the water pump is in the middle of a slow and painful death. Basically the pulley mounted on the pump wobbles around like a drunk Irishman. But I wasn't discouraged because I like to do my own wrenching and the Disco has been very easy to work on. So I ordered a replacement and it arrived Friday. I thought to myself "Changing a water pump...how hard could it be?"

Very. Unlike most cars I've worked on I can easily get to everything. The problem I had was that the bolts are in tight spaces so there's no room for ratchets. A few have enough room for ratcheting wrenches but for the most part I had to loosen the bolts with a normal wrench by turning them fractions of an inch at a time. On average it took me 10 minutes to remove each of the 8 bolts holding the pump on. Needless to say I got frustrated and the job will (hopefully) be finished tomorrow.

[LeVeL]

Originally Posted by klankymen

Diesel in a light car? Think Audi....

Not exactly... Im thinking more along the lines of a work-truck motor. 500lb/ft (stock) is the ante Although I hear BMW's new 3.0 diesel will be rate at 265hp and 425lb/ft
Audi/VW make good diesel motors but I want monster torque levels

[Labcoatguy]

I test-drove a 1984 Mercedes 500SEC today. That thing reminds me of nothing so much as a train...heavy, powerful, and smooth as all hell. Apart from some minor electrical glitches and rust bubbles, it's perfect. Veeery tempting.

[tigger]

Originally Posted by LeVeL

This got me thinking - what if you put one of those motors, say a 6.6L Duramax out of a silverado HD, into something that doesnt weigh as much as the moon, eg a Camaro? Did some research on this and turns out it has been done a few times with some really really good results.

For a time (before it randomly burst into flames) I owned a '84 Monte Carlo. My end goal for that car was a Duramax/Allison combo drivetrain. I got the idea when I found out that some of those cars (or the Cutlass?) originally came with the horrible NA 350 diesel. Anyway, I'm just in love with the idea of a 3,400lb cruiser that eats highway miles, gets 25mpg and has 600+lb/ft of torque.

[LeMans GTR]

Originally Posted by fbc

Saw a billboard for the BMW X6 today, tag line was "No Precedent"

Which gave me two thoughts:
- No shit
- Maybe there's a reason for that eh BMW?

Something thats been bugging me for a while about BMW is that they know how to make a good looking and great performing car at the same time even with Bangle yet (Z4, 3er, Coupe, E46) they keep pushing out pieces of crap

Its part of the reason why I've been driven away from BMW. They used to be my favorite car company in the world but now everytime I see one I
just feel really disappointed.

Little Known Fact: Bangle was actually the one who designed the E46 3series, so I guess he's a pretty good designer if you strip away the flame surfacing crap, though you could argue that Bangle's just a talented but lazy person who doesn't put any effort into his designs and then says that it's bold so that he can get away with it.

[fbc]

Originally Posted by LeMans GTR

Little Known Fact: Bangle was actually the one who designed the E46 3series, so I guess he's a pretty good designer if you strip away the flame surfacing crap, though you could argue that Bangle's just a talented but lazy person who doesn't put any effort into his designs and then says that it's bold so that he can get away with it.

I wouldn't say Bangle's lazy - quite the opposite in fact, he's a passionate designer who pushes for change. Unfortunately some of his work doesn't quite gel, or is just downright unfortunate.

[chaos386]

Originally Posted by Spazatao

As we are speaking of Diesels, a more technical doubt I have. With commom rail, piezzo injectors and other efficiency-improvements things, is there any reason to think of a non-turbo'ed Diesel in production cars, that is still good enough to rival the petrol counterparts in performance but still beat them in fuel consumption?

Why make a naturally-aspirated diesel, though? Their compression ignition takes away most of the trouble petrol engines have with forced induction (like knocking), which is why turbo-diesels are so common.