Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

EyeMWing said:
For all this discussion of just how much a ton actually weighs, nobody has yet asked the question "What the hell weight system do pickup truck manufacturers use?
F-150/1500-series = "Half ton"
F-250/2500-series = "3/4 ton"
F-350/3500-series = "1 ton"

Payload on an F-150 is 3030lbs. Tow capacity is 11,300lbs. Curb weight is 4743lbs. GVW is 6450lbs. None of those are ANYWHERE NEAR half a ton.
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You remind me of myself about a year ago, However I still don't know the answer to the confusion, lol
 
Alright I got a quick rant on motorcycle riders. Any of you that agree with the notion below can fuck off, those of you that don't, are cool. I sense this post will garner quite a bit of Neg repping, even from those that don't normally neg rep, but this discussion I had today really got under my skin, damn near ruined my fucking day.

WTF is with you guys thinking that all entertaining/scenic roads belong to you? I was enjoying a drive in my freshly aligned and balanced miata, pulled over for a bit talked to some guys and they had the audacity to basically say "GTFO until night fall." They promptly went on to bitch about being scared by on coming cars and how it's OK for them to do 100+ on a 50mph (windy) road because they have a lot more room to work with. Then went on about retards drifting and double laning (neither of which I do).

My counter point, I pay more in gas, therefore taxes, to keep that road in paved. I drive in a manner that keeps me entertained but doesn't put others at risk, if you got a problem with it, fuck off. I'm not going to drive practically blind (at night on an unlit road) just because you want the road to your god damned self.

If you don't want to get hit, don't ride the yellow line then lean your ass across it putting your skull right where I can smash it with my fender... those fenders are $200 a piece and about that much to get painted and will never match the factory red.

Fuckers remind me of the skaters that got us BMX riders banned from the public skate parks.

/rant

freeferrarisdonotexist said:
Yep, one of the ways I kept weight down was switching to manual steering- great at track speeds, a bit annoying in town, but nothing that can't be dealt with unless there's a tiny steering wheel installed.

Ah damn, you've got better distribution than I do, at last measure it was 52:48.
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I'm keeping the power steering rack, but going to (properly) convert it to a manual rack. I just have to get around to pulling it, buying new tie rods, and cutting out the seals.

I need to shave off 65lbs off the left side of my car, as I sure as hell am not going to add that much to the right side (especially with a turbo usually mounting on the left as well)... perhaps I should find 1 carbon fiber front fender and pull the windows out of the drivers side, not as if I ever put that one up anyway :)
 
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bartboy9891 said:
How's the maintenance and does it get driven on a daily basis?
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This is a really weird car. The Rolls did NOT come with a service history, not because of neglect, but simply because it hasn't been serviced throughout its 7 years and 8000km of life before.

So we gave it its FIRST oil change in 7 years after we bought it, some general inspection and servicing, fixed some minor faults here and there, changed all the front lights, all done by the official RR dealer, and the total bill came up to be a whopping SGD$9000!

So we're expecting this repair to be at least SGD$5000.

Other than that, fuel consumption is good, and it hasn't been serviced much. And also, this car only gets driven when the boss comes for a few days once in a few months, and on Friday/Saturday nights when we take it out to exercise the mechanical parts abit. It now has 10000km, after 4 months of ownership :D
 
thedguy said:
I need to shave off 65lbs off the left side of my car, as I sure as hell am not going to add that much to the right side (especially with a turbo usually mounting on the left as well)... perhaps I should find 1 carbon fiber front fender and pull the windows out of the drivers side, not as if I ever put that one up anyway :)
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You could always loose a dangerous amount of weight. Do your legs NEED to be as long as they are now? Ditto for your arms. Toes, just dead weight.

Also look at extraneous organ matter. The appendix is an easy one, but you can go further than that. You don't need two kidneys, nor a full sized liver to live. Lobotomy shouldn't be ruled out either. You don't require complete language skills to drive. Basic grunts and finger gestures should be sufficient.
 
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^^Make it your DD and roll back the odo. :wicked:
 
thedguy said:
Alright I got a quick rant on motorcycle riders. Any of you that agree with the notion below can fuck off, those of you that don't, are cool. I sense this post will garner quite a bit of Neg repping, even from those that don't normally neg rep, but this discussion I had today really got under my skin, damn near ruined my fucking day.

WTF is with you guys thinking that all entertaining/scenic roads belong to you? I was enjoying a drive in my freshly aligned and balanced miata, pulled over for a bit talked to some guys and they had the audacity to basically say "GTFO until night fall." They promptly went on to bitch about being scared by on coming cars and how it's OK for them to do 100+ on a 50mph (windy) road because they have a lot more room to work with. Then went on about retards drifting and double laning (neither of which I do).

My counter point, I pay more in gas, therefore taxes, to keep that road in paved. I drive in a manner that keeps me entertained but doesn't put others at risk, if you got a problem with it, fuck off. I'm not going to drive practically blind (at night on an unlit road) just because you want the road to your god damned self.

If you don't want to get hit, don't ride the yellow line then lean your ass across it putting your skull right where I can smash it with my fender... those fenders are $200 a piece and about that much to get painted and will never match the factory red.

Fuckers remind me of the skaters that got us BMX riders banned from the public skate parks.

/rant



I'm keeping the power steering rack, but going to (properly) convert it to a manual rack. I just have to get around to pulling it, buying new tie rods, and cutting out the seals.

I need to shave off 65lbs off the left side of my car, as I sure as hell am not going to add that much to the right side (especially with a turbo usually mounting on the left as well)... perhaps I should find 1 carbon fiber front fender and pull the windows out of the drivers side, not as if I ever put that one up anyway :)
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The fender sounds like a good idea; never thought of that. I need to get a bit better balance, slightly too much front-weight for me (50:50 ftw).


And as for the rider rant, I get your point- I'm assuming they were riding Harleys or crotch-rockets? Generally those "groups" tend to be a bit more arrogant about "their" roads.

However, there is a point in all of this- I've been riding for years, and though I doubt you are the sort of driver to run someone down or any other irresponsible action around people on bikes, alot of old-time riders have "driver trust-issues"- and for good reason. You may not run us down, but there are plenty of people who do. Ricers drifting and double-laning, people in large vehicles, people with lots of cargo, being next to cars on twisty roads, and plain driver incompetence/failure to be aware of us are all very frequent- and for the motorcyclist very dangerous. I agree that if someone wants to be a dumbarse and hug the yellow line that's a chance they have to take, but too many defensive riders are killed by incompetence, accident (or on purpose) for them not to be cautious of cars.

And while they aren't correct there is also a point in saying sometimes motorcyclists can get to places faster than cars by the nature of their vehicles- lane splitting comes to mind, particularly in stopped traffic.
 
Homer_Bart said:
:lol:

Story:
My dad let one of his employee, the company's account manager, drive it around for the boss (while he is here for a few days) because it is tiring work to drive such a big car.

Just even before the accounts manager piloted the car completely out of the parking lot, he turned the wheel too quickly, and the car grinded against the pillar adjacent to the car! :|

No insurance claims, since insurance premiums without bonus discount is nearly SGD$20,000 a year, and no claims bonus transferred from my dad to the car is 50%.

So in the near future, it will pay a visit to the Rolls Royce workshop, where the car will hopefully be restored to its former pride, albeit at extreme high price (think about the paint, which is two-tone) :cry:
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You guys have a Roller?
 
^They are the caretakers of a Rolls for some rich businessman who visits Singapore once every millennia and needs a plush ride.
 
Lupin_IV said:
^
Originally ?-ton, ?-ton, etc. referred to the axle rating, but somewhere along the line "half-ton" just became synonymous with light-duty pickup.
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This. Once upon a time the 1/2-ton, 3/4-ton and 1-ton ratings actually meant something. Now, they're just an arbitrary name that's carried over since that time. A 3/4-ton will haul more than a 1/2-ton and a 1-ton will haul more than a 3/4-ton. That's all it means now. It has absolutely nothing to do with the actual payload capacity.
 
Spectre said:
It's taken you this long to realize this?
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I've never used it until today. I figured I might as well because its free because I'm a student. My parents drove me around until I got my license, then I just drove myself around. On the ride back, my back was screwed over because the shocks were bust.
 
It's not too bad until you need to correlate two different vehicles...bus transfers, taking a bus to a train station, etc. Pain in the ass. Hurry up and wait...then run to be late...or early...you never know. I didn't mind it when I had a car and could just drive to the train station. 19 minute train ride for a drive that would take 45 minutes, and it dropped me off 3 blocks from work...no risk for parking tickets.

When I had to catch buses to the train station however...long story short, sucked ass.
 
argatoga said:
You could always loose a dangerous amount of weight. Do your legs NEED to be as long as they are now? Ditto for your arms. Toes, just dead weight.

Also look at extraneous organ matter. The appendix is an easy one, but you can go further than that. You don't need two kidneys, nor a full sized liver to live. Lobotomy shouldn't be ruled out either. You don't require complete language skills to drive. Basic grunts and finger gestures should be sufficient.
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... I think a diet would be easier guys :lol:



Actually I should do that, I could probably lose 20 or so and be ok, or at least 10.....
I hate that everything in my car is electronically attached to everything else and makes error lights happen if I take things out :cry:
I don't need 2 front seats but they are attached to airbags and I can't take them out or replace them with something not compatible :cry: I hate airbags. I wonder how much the stupid soft top motor weighs that is broken anyway...
 
katwalk said:
Actually I should do that, I could probably lose 20 or so and be ok, or at least 10.....
I hate that everything in my car is electronically attached to everything else and makes error lights happen if I take things out :cry:
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If I'm not mistaken (it's been awhile) the first generation Touregs WOULD NOT START if the radio was removed or inoperable. VW has a fetish for idiotic dependencies.
 
What D:
What the hell is with that.
 
EyeMWing said:
If I'm not mistaken (it's been awhile) the first generation Touregs WOULD NOT START if the radio was removed or inoperable. VW has a fetish for idiotic dependencies.
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I never cared much to verify it but...

I've been told that there is a certain VW that had a fuel pump cut off switch wired to the door. People would try and start their cars with the door open and couldn't get it to start, and would never realize that the door was open. Not sure if it's true, as there is 0 logic in having a fuel pump wired to switch on via the door.

freeferrarisdonotexist said:
The fender sounds like a good idea; never thought of that. I need to get a bit better balance, slightly too much front-weight for me (50:50 ftw).


And as for the rider rant, I get your point- I'm assuming they were riding Harleys or crotch-rockets? Generally those "groups" tend to be a bit more arrogant about "their" roads.
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This particular group were crotch-rocket riders that openly admitted to rarely driving "slowly" (near the speed limit) on the roads.
However, there is a point in all of this- I've been riding for years, and though I doubt you are the sort of driver to run someone down or any other irresponsible action around people on bikes, alot of old-time riders have "driver trust-issues"- and for good reason. You may not run us down, but there are plenty of people who do. Ricers drifting and double-laning, people in large vehicles, people with lots of cargo, being next to cars on twisty roads, and plain driver incompetence/failure to be aware of us are all very frequent- and for the motorcyclist very dangerous. I agree that if someone wants to be a dumbarse and hug the yellow line that's a chance they have to take, but too many defensive riders are killed by incompetence, accident (or on purpose) for them not to be cautious of cars.
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I can understand this. There are certain elements that are just out of your hands. It's a risk you take getting on a bike, or in general on the road. The risk is greater on a bike for obvious reasons. People who drive in a manner that put the riders at risk also put other cars at risk (drifters).

I may not ride a motorcycle, but I'm quite sympathetic with them as I've grown up around them all my life, and my dad always made it a point to have his bikes setup for ME to ride bitch, even as a small child.

What set me off was that these guys felt that because some guys are idiots and drift when riders are out in full force that any car, regardless of it being a family coming from/going home, spirited drivers, or the retards should all only be out on these roads at night after all the riders are gone. I don't agree. As first the idiots shouldn't be on the road at all, except maybe a closed sanctioned event, and the rest of us law abiding drivers should be able to enjoy the roads we pay for as much as anyone else.

And while they aren't correct there is also a point in saying sometimes motorcyclists can get to places faster than cars by the nature of their vehicles- lane splitting comes to mind, particularly in stopped traffic.
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I'm all for this, in fact a few members of this forum and I have had a discussion on it in the IRC channel where I defended it. I actively watch for these guys when stuck in traffic, though the fact that few are willing to give me a courtesy "thanks" wave when I make it a point to clear EXTRA room for them is getting a bit on my nerves.
 
katwalk said:
... I think a diet would be easier guys :lol:



Actually I should do that, I could probably lose 20 or so and be ok, or at least 10.....
I hate that everything in my car is electronically attached to everything else and makes error lights happen if I take things out :cry:
I don't need 2 front seats but they are attached to airbags and I can't take them out or replace them with something not compatible :cry: I hate airbags. I wonder how much the stupid soft top motor weighs that is broken anyway...
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How did you broke it? :|
 
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