Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

A local engine machine shop has started making billet alloy blocks for some awesome jap engines. So far they do sr20, 2jz, rb26 and 4g63.

This is the sr20 block....

More here Bullet cylinder heads.

I don't get it? If you're going through the trouble of developing engines and machining blocks from billets of aluminum, why not start from a far better design than engines that are over 20 years old?

Especially if it's going to be limiting power by what they can muster from a stock cylinder head? Makes more sense to me to start from scratch on the head to be strapped to a factory bottom end.
 
^ They already do cnc machined heads for a lot of engines, now they just started to do the blocks. Of course you wouldn't bolt a stock cylinder head on one of these blocks, why would you even assume that?

The idea is that these billet blocks are an improvement on the originals, not just a copy. Besides, people are already making 1000hp out of standard sr20 blocks and 2000hp out of 2jz blocks. Titan motorsports ran a 6.4sec 1/4 with a standard 2j block and stroker crank. How is that a bad design?
 
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They should have adopted that styling then instead of waiting ten more years.

Yeah, but a lot of the time they can't though. Cars are usually designed years in advance of when they're actually put into production. So I'm not really surprised at how early that Volvo concept is, although I did guess 1995 in my head.
 
calculated the T bird's MPG's for the first time today (ironic I'm used to MPG being Canadian)

turns out 400kms out of my 68L tank is 14.5 mpg and That seems about right.

anybody else with less than 150hp enjoying the drinking? :lol:
 
hahah wow! That's pretty bad! Was that city/mixed/mostly highway?
 
I've been averaging well over 30mpg in the Civic since I bought it. Maybe as high as 32-33mpg on a tank. Which is surprising, considering the EPA rates it at 20city/29hwy and I do quite a bit of city driving and rush hour traffic.
 
My Volvo is rated 19city/29hwy.

I've been getting satisfactory figures. In my daily driving, I've observed 21-22MPG. That's mainly short (less than 5 mile) trips with lots of hills and stop-and-go's.

When I go on long trips, I've been getting as much as 31MPG if I cruise at 75mph and don't apply The Heavy Foot.
 
Oh, almost forgot.

I sat in the BMW 5GT at the auto show, and it was really really comfortable. More so than the 750 they had on display. I also got a good first hand look at the dual-action boot. I'm really really hating myself for this, but I actually kinda like the thing.

Porsche Panamera is a pig though, to the extreme. So much worse in real life that no photo can give justice to.

You're not the only one. When I went to test the 5GT in Hong Kong I actually thought it wasn't a bad car. I wouldn't buy one, but I can understand why someone would. Those seats were just so comfortable.
 
Are you suggesting that the seats in the 5GT are better than the seats in a regular new 5-er?

And even if they are...surely there must be an option to have these seats in a 5-er.

If that doesn't work...wait a few months, someone is bound to to crash a 5GT (BMW drivers...) and then buy the seats from the junkyard.
 
My driving was/is entirely in town. mostly 5 minute drives/freezing temps as well so it's kind of justified, I believe it's rated for 17/26 or somewhere around there.
 
Anyone driven a 190E Sportline, or indeed any straight-six 190E? There are two of them for sale around here, though both with high mileages, and am wondering what they're like.
 
Anyone driven a 190E Sportline, or indeed any straight-six 190E? There are two of them for sale around here, though both with high mileages, and am wondering what they're like.

How small of a car are you looking for? Those are only 10 inches smaller than an XJ.
 
Not as cool as an XJR.

.... it had to be said :p

Very little is as cool as an XJR. :( It just deserved better than life in Cambridge surrounded by disapproving hippies in the parking garage and rarely getting out on the open road. Though the guy who bought it did have to scrape for the cash, so it may be in for a worse fate mechanically speaking.

How small of a car are you looking for? Those are only 10 inches smaller than an XJ.

Ten inches? Wiki says over 20 inches. The W124 E-class is 10 inches shorter, but I'm not looking at those. Size isn't the primary concern; I just didn't want to be paying off a car through this summer and with the risk of repair (body dings rather than mechanical issues) bills pushing the limits of my budget.
 
1992!!
That predates even the earliest 850!!

I saw that concept in a book a few years ago. I said the same thing to a friend, "guess the year", and he said 1991. Didn't go the way I was hoping there :lol:.

But then again, I always do that to people to annoy them. "Guess how old I am" "50" "no, I'm 40." "Oh, I thought you would only be saying that if you looked young for your age. No, you look about right then".
 
Ten inches? Wiki says over 20 inches. The W124 E-class is 10 inches shorter, but I'm not looking at those. Size isn't the primary concern; I just didn't want to be paying off a car through this summer and with the risk of repair (body dings rather than mechanical issues) bills pushing the limits of my budget.

The W201 190E six cylinder is a personal favorite in smaller cars; I think they're the best 'small' car ever made. It has some minor flaws, but I can't think of any small car before or since that puts together a package as good as the W201.

This thread
, this thread and these posts may be of interest to you.
 
Anyone driven a 190E Sportline, or indeed any straight-six 190E? There are two of them for sale around here, though both with high mileages, and am wondering what they're like.

I have, and I'm with Spectre on this one, even though I'm currently in the process of trying to sell mine (trust me, my heart hurts, but I need something bigger with a lower fuel bill).
 
My Volvo is rated 19city/29hwy.

I've been getting satisfactory figures. In my daily driving, I've observed 21-22MPG. That's mainly short (less than 5 mile) trips with lots of hills and stop-and-go's.

When I go on long trips, I've been getting as much as 31MPG if I cruise at 75mph and don't apply The Heavy Foot.



Anyone who knows how to drive efficently, and no I don't mean hypermileing just good smooth driving, should be able to beat the old EPA estimated by at least 10%. I can beat the new EPA estimates by as much as 20% under the right conditons.


Are you suggesting that the seats in the 5GT are better than the seats in a regular new 5-er?

And even if they are...surely there must be an option to have these seats in a 5-er.

If that doesn't work...wait a few months, someone is bound to to crash a 5GT (BMW drivers...) and then buy the seats from the junkyard.

The 5GT is actually buit on the new 7 series platform. A friend of mine went to the 5GT launch where they went over that. Also if you compare the wheelbase and overall length of the new 7, 5GT and regular 5 it is pretty obvious that the regular 5 series can't be stretched that much.
 
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