Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

If I'm somehow killing discussions, it would stand to reason that sections I don't post in would be bustling, no?
You (as in ya'll. Not you you) are not killing. You already killed.
This is aimed at everyone:
I think the main problem is we are tired of the same old shit happening.
Someone posts about something car related and SURELY a discussion will follow, with the topics:
1-It's a particular brand someone HATES (sometimes just being European is enough) and therefore THAT'S the whole issue.
2-Poster is stupid.
3-Obama.

@katwalk has a punctured intercooler. This is a fact. The comment about it being an FCA product was on-brand for Spectre. He could just say "Geez. That sucks. Upgrade for a better one if possible".
But no.
We must go on and on about the differences between USA and Europe.
GEEZUS FUCKING CHRIST

It always ends up as a USA x Europe pissing match. This is really tiresome and counterproductive.
 
So why you still doing it? :p

On a more serious note, why does an opinion of some asshole on the internet bother you?

When you’re legit asking for help and think maybe this time you’ll get an educated response and it’s a disappointment again, that’s when it gets frustrating.
 
So why you still doing it? :p

On a more serious note, why does an opinion of some asshole on the internet bother you?

Maybe you should ask yourself the same question.
 
Maybe you should ask yourself the same question.
What makes you think I do? I enjoy having discussions about subjects that interest me, which is kind of the whole point of a forum.
When you’re legit asking for help and think maybe this time you’ll get an educated response and it’s a disappointment again, that’s when it gets frustrating.
I could see if it were done out of malice but if that’s a person’s honest opinion, it is what it is. This is just the nature of the beast that is human, we all have opinions that we believe are correct. Hell I had a tuner argue with me over what final drive ratio my car had, despite literally looking at the original window sticker with the info that I was giving him.
 
I am in the US right now. The amount of tires and other shit at the side of the highways is amazing, it's like nobody cares. Potholes in the cities that you can hide a whole Golf into. But then again, maybe we in Germany care more about the state of our roads because we are allowed to drive faster than walking speed and don't waste all our taxes on the military.
Right. You’re not trolling at all for a response with this. I don’t recall anyone else bringing politics into this discussion, either....

Regarding the spectre issue
There is no Spectre “issue”. If you have a problem with the man, at least be grown up enough to address him like he’s present.

he has spamming half-assed knowledge from Wikipedia for years, one of the reasons I stopped visiting the forums for sure. There is no more interesting discussions going on that don't immediately get torn to shreds by the holy trinity of Level, Spectre and prizrak. So yeah, have fun with your echo chamber.
1) What sort of “interesting” discussion can you have when everyone agrees with each other?

2) an echo chamber of three dissenting voices (the ones you names) amidst a majority (or at least, significant plurality) Euro-centric forum? “Euro-centric” in this case not referring to location, but rather shared points of view. FYI to anyone upset, that’s not even intended as an insult. It’s like saying gaasc or myself have an “America-centric” view, which I believe would be accurate (though I don’t want to speak for him).

To me, despite having only seen one real life picture of spectre so far, to me, the mental image of him is best described by what I see here in the US: some old guy with a VETERAN hat who did one thing in his life and keeps repeating the same stories over and over again to try to stay relevant in times that don't care any more, while all his relatives secretly wait for him to pass so they can have peace.
What part of ^^this^^ is the civil discussion you claim you are seeking again?

The way you three are ruining the forums experience for everyone else, driving people to leave Finalgear or move discussions elsewhere is a disgrace to Viper, this was his lifelong project and you are ruining it. Why don't you just take a dump on his grave while you are at it.
You do not get to speak for the deceased, and your comments about the grave are a disgrace.

Spectre actually does have a breadth of knowledge, that he himself (I can say this because I recall him typing it) admitted can be superficial level for certain topics, obviously deeper for others. I can also attest that when he isn’t certain of something, he either reads about it, or he asks someone that is an expert for their advice. Can he come off as authoritative all the time? Sure! Is that a flaw? Fair.... but we all have them. And despite Beni’s (repeated) whinging about Spectre, I don’t see the latter engaging in mudslinging, all the while still helping out anyone here with car related issues who asks him for it.

Outside of the political section, Level is as pleasant as anyone here.

Prizrak, ironically, in the political section tries better than anyone else to look across the aisle. In here? Yes, he can be a troll (sorry, bruh, it’s true).

Are they mildly flawed or deeply flawed? It doesn’t matter, because as far as I’m concerned, they are certainly no more flawed than myself or anyone else on this forum. “There but for the grace of God go I...”

For you to accuse them of trying to destroy a forum shows a lack of knowledge of said forum. They’ve all been here longer than I, and I’ve been here (mostly) for eight years. In that time, they have been fairly consistent in their posting, and I have never seen this place lacking in traffic or vibrant discussion until the server issues began to crop up (which of course was for good reason). So that refutes your summary.

In fact, it is an easy argument to make that these three, along with most everyone else, helped to make this the thriving forum that it became, because of the differing opinions shared, fostering a lively discussion.

Anyone who demands this trio, as you put it, leave because they don’t like their viewpoints doesn’t reflect poorly on said trio, it reflect poorly on those making the demands.

If you can’t counter something that was put forth in good faith, then get a better argument.

I for one won’t say I’d miss you if you were to leave, but I will say that about nearly everyone else, including those who I know disagree with me (and vice versa) on a regular basis. So what if I don’t like the cars/viewpoints/politics put forth by certain members? So what? This place is better for allowing everyone to express them without trying to turn it into a personal attack, or in your case, some deferred group victim status.

Chill the fuck out.
 
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@katwalk has a punctured intercooler. This is a fact. The comment about it being an FCA product was on-brand for Spectre. He could just say "Geez. That sucks. Upgrade for a better one if possible".
But no.
We must go on and on about the differences between USA and Europe.
GEEZUS FUCKING CHRIST

It always ends up as a USA x Europe pissing match. This is really tiresome and counterproductive.

At no point did I say it was an FCA specific problem and I sure as hell didn't start it this time.

I remind you that this was my post, the entire post. I've not edited the original, so you can go check my veracity for yourself. Let me highlight the important part that you, and so many other people that have attacked me for this "US v. Euro" thing seem to have missed.

It's a matter of luck and FMIC construction quality/strength. Guess what quality the Fiat (and to be fair, no few other stock OEM) FMIC is.

Guess what? There's a lot of crap (in the experience of the US market) stock/OEM turbo car FMICs running around out in the US. They're lightweight, cheaply built, and the kind of thing that happened to katwalk's intercooler is far from unknown on the recent influx of smaller turbo cars/engines in the US. There are reasons the US OEM replacement/upgrade FMIC market is booming these days and it's not just because people want to go faster. The only reason I said "the Fiat" is because that's the make of the car under discussion!

And then we automatically get the kneejerk reflex:

Ah, so it's less of a FCA build quality problem and more of a "Shit American Infrastructure" problem.

How, exactly, was the above and the ensuing shitstorm justified by the plain, black and white text of what I posted?
 
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It's overly simplistic to think the mess that's been going on for the past few pages has anything to do with Fiat FMIC discussion.

Your heavy-handed presence on whatever thread that’s not strictly related to how-to photo guides keeps bringing the threads down. The discussion, no matter how it starts, goes toward Manufacturer and its clients are DUMB - or then there’s a page long post with data to back up whatever beef there is. A number of people on this forum vouch for how great a guy you are IRL, so it baffles me how much of a net negative force you have been on this forum, making people just leave left and right. There’s no real inner drive to go through any meaningful discussions, since they just get dumbed down to anvil-dropping or airstrike-ordering level to please you – debates are simply a matter of who wins or who stops posting.


You know, only you would take something I said in jest and spin it around to your ends, sounding the social justice warrior you more than likely abhor.

Go fuck yourself, Spectre. You are mainly the reason I have been partially absent on this board. Everything to you is something political to spin to your own ends, endlessly parsing the the words until you win. You have sucked the fun out of here by making it your own personal playground. By people resounding to you, you remain relevant...it's like you are a plague, a virus jumping from host to host.

I am not going to put you on ignore, because by doing that, you win.

Five years ago, Jay quit the forums with this post that still rings true. Your reply was to belittle him and the mental health shit he had been going through.

Nothing has changed since, except more people giving up. I don’t intend to.
 
Right. You’re not trolling at all for a response with this. I don’t recall anyone else bringing politics into this discussion, either....


There is no Spectre “issue”. If you have a problem with the man, at least be grown up enough to address him like he’s present.


1) What sort of “interesting” discussion can you have when everyone agrees with each other?

2) an echo chamber of three dissenting voices (the ones you names) amidst a majority (or at least, significant plurality) Euro-centric forum? “Euro-centric” in this case not referring to location, but rather shared points of view. FYI to anyone upset, that’s not even intended as an insult. It’s like saying gaasc or myself have an “America-centric” view, which I believe would be accurate (though I don’t want to speak for him).


What part of ^^this^^ is the civil discussion you claim you are seeking again?


You do not get to speak for the deceased, and your comments about the grave are a disgrace.

Spectre actually does have a breadth of knowledge, that he himself (I can say this because I recall him typing it) admitted can be superficial level for certain topics, obviously deeper for others. I can also attest that when he isn’t certain of something, he either reads about it, or he asks someone that is an expert for their advice. Can he come off as authoritative all the time? Sure! Is that a flaw? Fair.... but we all have them. And despite Beni’s (repeated) whinging about Spectre, I don’t see the latter engaging in mudslinging, all the while still helping out anyone here with car related issues who asks him for it.

Outside of the political section, Level is as pleasant as anyone here.

Prizrak, ironically, in the political section tries better than anyone else to look across the aisle. In here? Yes, he can be a troll (sorry, bruh, it’s true).

Are they mildly flawed or deeply flawed? It doesn’t matter, because as far as I’m concerned, they are certainly no more flawed than myself or anyone else on this forum. “There but for the grace of God go I...”

For you to accuse them of trying to destroy a forum shows a lack of knowledge of said forum. They’ve all been here longer than I, and I’ve been here (mostly) for eight years. In that time, they have been fairly consistent in their posting, and I have never seen this place lacking in traffic or vibrant discussion until the server issues began to crop up (which of course was for good reason). So that refutes your summary.

In fact, it is an easy argument to make that these three, along with most everyone else, helped to make this the thriving forum that it became, because of the differing opinions shared, fostering a lively discussion.

Anyone who demands this trio, as you put it, leave because they don’t like their viewpoints doesn’t reflect poorly on said trio, it reflect poorly on those making the demands.

If you can’t counter something that was put forth in good faith, then get a better argument.

I for one won’t say I’d miss you if you were to leave, but I will say that about nearly everyone else, including those who I know disagree with me (and vice versa) on a regular basis. So what if I don’t like the cars/viewpoints/politics put forth by certain members? So what? This place is better for allowing everyone to express them without trying to turn it into a personal attack, or in your case, some deferred group victim status.

Chill the fuck out.

Thank you for that wall of text which probably took you some time to write. Sadly I didn't have time to read it.

I was stuck in traffic because apparently Americans can't keep their cars working.
 

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Thank you for that wall of text which probably took you some time to write. Sadly I didn't have time to read it.

I was stuck in traffic because apparently Americans can't keep their cars working.
And thank you for proving that you have no intention of discussing anything if it challenges the narratives you took upon yourself to bring forth.

Meanwhile, I live north of the US border and am not troubled by the issues you brought up re: American roads. Feel free to criticize my country, too, if you happen to pass through. I do it all the time myself.
 
As far the intercooler, apparently something stabbed a hole in the bottom of the bumper, I'll guess one of the poorly placed metal plates or similar from the absurd amount of roadworks going on here (my idiotic town is having like 4 going on at once ?). I am generally really good at dodging that shit but in some areas it's the whole road. Both "the roads are absolutely shit" and "the bumper is useless" are true.

As for everything else, it is probably true people are being chased from here by the bad political shit, I appreciate everyone taking the time to yell at it. I am too tired to argue with people who clearly are never going to listen. Do believe though, if these politics start effecting me? I will be blunt about it.

But as far as actual car stuff goes, and wrt ME specifically, I am not going to be phased by "your car is crap". My cars ARE crap. I don't care! I love my garbage cars. I am team "soul and passion". Spectre can say whatever he wants, I don't have to listen to him if I don't want to.

I am the queen of negativity, I am immune. I have spent 8 years on tumblr scrolling past exausting posts about how xyz was inherently evil and how anyone who disagrees is an abuse apologist or something. This feels pretty tame in comparison
 
Well, I guess it's good to talk about it after it has been brewing for so long "behind the scenes".

I can distinctly remember two defining moments, first when Spectre joined and I thought "why is this guy suddenly replying to all the threads" and then some time after when someone was asking for buying advice on a Jaguar XJS and got a lengthy reply about "this will explode and that will catch fire" after which another expert signed up to prove him wrong on most accounts and offer a much more nuanced view and more details. And that made me realise how simplistic and straight out wrong those posts usually are.

It's interesting to see people deem the posts well researched because they have long and random links thrown in, I guess once you see the the pattern you could mostly write them using predictive text though. After Katwalk posted the problems with the car I caught myself sighing for the inevitable Spectre wall of text that didn't tell me or anyone else anything new (unless you haven't been paying attention for the last 10 years). It's like an old uncle at a party you try to avoid because he'll always tell you the same stories whilst you'd rather talk to other people.

I don't see the point in making personal insults and my gripe is not that he's offending me (I wouldn't trust a small turbocharged Fiat for various reasons and I don't think there's lots of soul and passion left) but that he's taking up so much space whilst being so predictable and lazy. He's got the ability to lead discussions and impress certain people with perceived knowledge but he doesn't have a lot of interesting things to say. My point is not to make stop posting but just to keep it concise and not just post for the sake of it and out of reflex triggered by certain words.

It's sad to think we've lost more colourful people like Jay to this and that many other people stopped caring because of all this schlock.
I guess "newbies" like JimCorrigan don't know it any better...

Have a good day :)
 
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Yes, he can be a troll (sorry, bruh, it’s true).
It’s accidental believe it or not, I have some strong opinions about certain things (FWD, convertibles, autos) that aren’t likely to ever change, maybe that comes off as trolling sometimes.
 
It’s accidental believe it or not, I have some strong opinions about certain things (FWD, convertibles, autos) that aren’t likely to ever change, maybe that comes off as trolling sometimes.

It does, and we've heard them plenty of times before. Double posting for no reason is also annoying.
 
At no point did I say it was an FCA specific problem and I sure as hell didn't start it this time.
You in fact did not said it was a FCA specific problem. I reacted based on your known disgust for the brand and I unfairly accused you.
I apologize. ?
 
It does, and we've heard them plenty of times before.
And I’ve heard a ton of other stuff I find annoying before from the same people but you don’t see me bitching about trolling or ruining forums.
Double posting for no reason is also annoying.
Then rewrite the forum software to be more intelligent, posting from a phone makes it difficult to do proper edits.
 
Thank you for that wall of text which probably took you some time to write. Sadly I didn't have time to read it.

I was stuck in traffic because apparently Americans can't keep their cars working.

You do know that's the accident logo, not "car not working" right?
 
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