Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Crazyjeeper said:
I guess I need to pepper posts with more emoticons.
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Maybe that would be a good idea yes. I'm at work, it's damn early, migraine is playing up again and I forgot my painkillers. The last thing I need is some emo "boo-hoo euros don't understand me"-post.

Spectre said:
If only, I don't know, there were some sort of, maybe, policy that could and would be, perhaps, evenly enforced on all that would, possibly, punish those making excessive generalizations like this no matter what continent they're on. :p :mrgreen: :evil:
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You have no way of knowing how many people I negrep over other generalizations......
 
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I'm not seeking approval, just poking a little fun. If nobody over there can take it, they should stop dishing it out.
 
Adunaphel said:
You have no way of knowing how many people I negrep over other generalizations......
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Nope, I don't. No offense, man, but it doesn't seem to be helping. Maybe it should be run up the flagpole as a potential policy change for the forum to see what people think?
 
hiimandy1 said:
Well of course they do, if you survived, you would notice how there are cones on EVERY ROAD IN THE STATE. And behind these cones, there are no workers.
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The cone thing is totally true. Had to deal with a good 15 min of cones blocking off the left lane of I-81 for the past 5 days.....no one there at all.

Speaking of on ramp annoyances, my biggest gripe are the idiots that slow to a crawl or come to a complete stop right at the end of the ramp, before you merge. I can understand if they can't get over due to traffic but a lot of the time they'll do it if there are clearly gaps large enough for them to move into if they weren't poking around down the on ramp. With only 85 horsepower to play with, I need (or subliminally want) all the speed/momentum I can get moving down the on ramp so I can at least be at the same speed as traffic (65-80 usually on I-81) before merging into the right lane. Quickly accelerating from a standstill with the autotragic SL1 feels like an eternity when your trying not to get squashed by a tractor trailer in a plastic paneled car that's shorter in height than a freaking Yaris, but once moving it keeps up (and surpasses traffic as I found out yesterday on my way from Ship to work in Mechanicsburg on 81) quite easily. :)
 
Why is having enough/lots of power for merging suddenly such a big deal? I have (probably less than) 88PS at my disposal, and I have no problems reaching the required 120+ km/h to merge onto a motorway. I never had any issues with the 1.3, 75PS 323 HB either. Of course, the engines mostly need to haul 1000kg of car and 75kg of driver, no more.

captain_70s said:
You've gotta' love the fact the 1.0 would cost me ?2000 a year to insure for 3rd party only! :lol:
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According to my insurer's website calculator, a 1994 1.0 Micra would cost me 158,87 euro to insure per year. :p
 
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Right, I was bored so I had a look myself. It would cost me $3000 to buy a 1995 Nissan Micra 1.3, and it would cost me $417 to insure it for third party. So, in total, ?2064 for the car and insurance. So, to even out the costs, the Nissan Micra must cost ?64 in the UK :lol:
 
Our house chef took his 2005 Scion xB in for service to the local Toyota/Scion dealer. The only loaner car they could find for him was the new Toyota Sequoia. The one with the 5.7L V8.

I think the xB can completely fit inside that thing.
 
I test drove a MkVI GTI this morning... forgotten what a fun little motor it's got under the hood.

Anyway, I mainly went to see if FWD would be a deal breaker for me and I'm not sure it is. As I was saying previously my RSX never failed to remind me it was FWD, but with the GTI it's not always obvious. I wasn't pushing it especially hard but I don't drive very hard normally anyway.

Would I prefer RWD? Sure, but I don't think it's a deal breaker given the GTI is a pretty good fit for me otherwise. I looked at the CC as well, very nice car indeed and it's such a steal too. But even though it's a steal it's still somehow more than I want to pay for a VW... the GTI is a fair bit cheaper and that's kind of the most I'd pay for a VW.

Also took a look at the 1-Series, which incidentally has sat nav as an option in Canada, but is also considerably more expensive than in the US. A loaded 135i is well in excess of $50,000 in Canada so it's not even comparable to the GTI. Plus the rear seats are totally useless, they shouldn't have even bothered putting them in there. It looks good though and the cabin is nice from the driver's perspective, the GTI's econobox ride position is my least favourite aspect of the car.

So where does that leave me? With the overpriced Golf as my top choice. I'm 25, I'd rather buy something slightly reasonable now because who knows, I might be able to afford something properly nice in a few years' time instead of a Passat or entry level BMW.
 
Have you consider owning a CPO car. I could find 2 Mercedes C350 under 30 grand in L.A both silver/black with a sunroof. Service for a C-class shouldn't be all that more expensive than a service for the 1-series. And it's a 350 so a pretty agile merc.
 
Shawn said:
I test drove a MkVI GTI this morning... forgotten what a fun little motor it's got under the hood.

Anyway, I mainly went to see if FWD would be a deal breaker for me and I'm not sure it is. As I was saying previously my RSX never failed to remind me it was FWD, but with the GTI it's not always obvious. I wasn't pushing it especially hard but I don't drive very hard normally anyway.

Would I prefer RWD? Sure, but I don't think it's a deal breaker given the GTI is a pretty good fit for me otherwise. I looked at the CC as well, very nice car indeed and it's such a steal too. But even though it's a steal it's still somehow more than I want to pay for a VW... the GTI is a fair bit cheaper and that's kind of the most I'd pay for a VW.

Also took a look at the 1-Series, which incidentally has sat nav as an option in Canada, but is also considerably more expensive than in the US. A loaded 135i is well in excess of $50,000 in Canada so it's not even comparable to the GTI. Plus the rear seats are totally useless, they shouldn't have even bothered putting them in there. It looks good though and the cabin is nice from the driver's perspective, the GTI's econobox ride position is my least favourite aspect of the car.

So where does that leave me? With the overpriced Golf as my top choice. I'm 25, I'd rather buy something slightly reasonable now because who knows, I might be able to afford something properly nice in a few years' time instead of a Passat or entry level BMW.
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Has someone suggested a Mustang yet?


Adunaphel said:
You have no way of knowing how many people I negrep over other generalizations......
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Which reminds me. Do you know what I hate about Europeans? They all eat babies and sacrifice kittens to their god. Seriously people, here in America we do things properly. We do it the other way around.
 
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Europeans, I need a quick check on something. Euro-standard road advisory or caution signs are usually round, have a white background and have a colored border/edge, right?
 
Okay, just to confirm - the ones with contrasting borders are advisories or warnings, then? (I'm going somewhere with this...)
 
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We have roadsigns?
 
argatoga said:
Has someone suggested a Mustang yet?
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Yup.

I went to Ford too actually, mainly to look at the Taurus which they didn't have. I sat in a Mustang and while I was impressed with the quality of the interior, I didn't like the feel at all, feels kind of like a barge since I'm not used to driving that body style. Also, same with the Mini it has a way-too-funky interior for my tastes.
 
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I like the engrish on the packaging of these suspension mounts, due to be fitted on Tuesday. Getting the camcover gasket done then, too.
 
OMG KATWALK: http://jalopnik.com/5639387/for-500...urbo-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-that

I don't know why, but the "give the chick car HUGE BALLS" idea sounds like a winner.

- totally on ze crack pipe migraine meds (...close enough, whooooooooo!) today

katwalk said:
Has anyone informed Coco of this? This is useful info for her :lol:
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Labcoatguy said:
She has the 4-cyl with a tendency to self-grenade due to cruncy pre-cats.
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I need to wander in here more often. :3 Yep, mine's in the process of self-grenading right now. It should have 170 hp, but it's an ?berdurpy gutless turd at the moment, so...yeeeeaaaahhh nooooo. The leaky exhaust manifold probably doesn't help, but the engine's going to die before I even graduate, so I can't really see the point in putting any money into fixing it.

The V6 version of this car supposedly isn't a }*%! lemon, but the fourbanger is simply unforgivable. :mad:
 
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