Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Shawn said:
Yeah, it's nice now... that heatwave a couple of weeks back was killer, assume you guys had it too.
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It sucked, but it didn't last long and it was a dry heat.
 
argatoga said:
It sucked, but it didn't last long and it was a dry heat.
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True, it got really hot really quickly but compared to last year's heatwaves it died down quick at least.

I'm just anticipating the next one with glee... :rolleyes: I could actually look forward to hot weather like most people but I dunno, I truly can't function when it's that hot.
 
http://img23.imageshack.**/img23/2691/500xetypeexploded.jpg


Aaaaaand that's the sound Spectre makes when he's excited
 
eizbaer said:
i've had a quite similar alpine for 3 years or so now. without the usb, but with MP3-CD support, and i like it a lot...
so a definite yay from me :p
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Difficult to install? I've never done an install before, so yeah...

If anyone can help that would be great. I have a toyota yaris.
 
That's an S3. It came from the factory misshapen. :p
 
Comparing to the similar disassembled modern engines I saw, it looks fairly simple.
 
Evel said:
But if they make even the slightest mistake while putting it back together, you'll be hearing the sound of Spectre getting angry. Very angry.
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:evil:

Redliner said:
Comparing to the similar disassembled modern engines I saw, it looks fairly simple.
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Evel said:
Compared to a modern engine, it probably is. No variable valve timing and what not on this, just simple mechanics.
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It's not even DOHC; Jaguar tried a DOHC layout as an experiment and concluded that the performance enhancement (which was minimal at the time) was not worth the extra weight, expense and complexity. It's a SOHC 2v/cyl engine.

This also explains why it doesn't blow up like the Merc and BMW V12s.
 
Bah, catching fire is just blowing up without enthusiasm. Didn't the Jag V12 make basically the same amount of power as the Merc and BMW ones of the same generation?
 
Merc and BMW didn't start making 'mainstream' V12s until about 20 years after the Jag V12 appeared (1968). The Jag V12 was rated at a nominal 272-313 horsepower through it's run and it didn't change all that much.

If Ford hadn't killed it, it might have soldiered on for another decade without too much issue. And you could seriously push a Jag V12 - the BMW and Merc V12s of the time were failures at racing, where the then-twenty year old Jag V12s took LeMans two out of the last three years they ran before being banned. There were later developments of the Merc and BMW engines that did better, but their original versions were garbage and they're *still* not as mechanically reliable as the Jag was. There are 200,000+ mile Jag V12s running around; I have yet to hear of a BMW or Merc V12 doing that.

The closest contemporary from BMW was the M70B50 engine introduced in 1988 (20 years after the Jag V12 appeared..)... which was a hunk of junk - I had one. The production M120 from Mercedes, first appearing in 1991 was a reliability disaster as well, with maintenance figures of $10K USD per year seen as 'getting off lightly' or 'doing well'. (Seen any W140 S600s around lately? Now you know why; that's three times what the V8 version of the car requires.) E32 V12's are known to cost about that much if not more in an average year.

Meanwhile you can run an old XJS V12 around for $5K/year or less in maintenance costs without any trouble. You tell me which is a better choice. :D
 
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nsx_23 said:
Difficult to install? I've never done an install before, so yeah...

If anyone can help that would be great. I have a toyota yaris.
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i'd say that depends 100% on the vehicle. if everything works the way it's supposed so (fingers crossed, i had to improvise a little bit), it should be really easy to do.
what you'd have to find out is whether the cabling is all standard in your yaris, or whether someone at toyota's done the ole switcheroo. i remember the old mk4 golf my mum had: they had mixed up all the cables so you wouldn't DREAM of replacing anything yourself... if that's the case you'd simply have to change some cables around, no big deal really, but good to know in advance. somehow manufacturers don't like you doing stuff yourself, really annoying this.

i just did a quick google search for the yaris... if it's a mk1 it does look a bit complicated just to change the stereo :? later models should be similarly horrible... (see here).
also, with such highly integrated stereos, you nearly always have to get some kind of install-kit or something so you won't have a huge hole around your shiny new unit, or even to make it fit / hold in the first place.
probably best if you google for step by step instructions for your particular model. there's bound to be something around somewhere and you can then decide whether it's worth the trouble :)
 
Spectre said:
Merc and BMW didn't start making 'mainstream' V12s until about 20 years after the Jag V12 appeared (1968). The Jag V12 was rated at a nominal 272-313 horsepower through it's run and it didn't change all that much.

If Ford hadn't killed it, it might have soldiered on for another decade without too much issue. And you could seriously push a Jag V12 - the BMW and Merc V12s of the time were failures at racing, where the then-twenty year old Jag V12s took LeMans two out of the last three years they ran before being banned. There were later developments of the Merc and BMW engines that did better, but their original versions were garbage and they're *still* not as mechanically reliable as the Jag was. There are 200,000+ mile Jag V12s running around; I have yet to hear of a BMW or Merc V12 doing that.

The closest contemporary from BMW was the M70B50 engine introduced in 1988 (20 years after the Jag V12 appeared..)... which was a hunk of junk - I had one. The production M120 from Mercedes, first appearing in 1991 was a reliability disaster as well, with maintenance figures of $10K USD per year seen as 'getting off lightly' or 'doing well'. (Seen any W140 S600s around lately? Now you know why; that's three times what the V8 version of the car requires.) E32 V12's are known to cost about that much if not more in an average year.

Meanwhile you can run an old XJS V12 around for $5K/year or less in maintenance costs without any trouble. You tell me which is a better choice. :D
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A few Bmw's I found with 2 minutes of searching:

http://www.nettiauto.com/bmw/750/3356943?sitelang=1
http://www.nettiauto.com/bmw/750/3331071

http://www.nettiauto.com/bmw/750/?page=&sortCol=mileage&ord=DESC&id_make=8&id_model=3034&sitelang=1
 
None of those are actually at 200,000 miles yet. Close, but not yet. The other thing is, how many engine rebuilds have they had? How many times have the heads been off? My E32 was a pretty terrible car, and it was about average for the type per the Roadfly forums. I can't read Finnish so I can't tell, but do they mention rebuilt engines at all?

Meanwhile, there are XJS V12s with more than 200,000 miles on them happily running around that have never had the heads off and never had the engine rebuilt.
 
Spectre said:
None of those are actually at 200,000 miles yet. Close, but not yet. The other thing is, how many engine rebuilds have they had? How many times have the heads been off? My E32 was a pretty terrible car, and it was about average for the type per the Roadfly forums. I can't read Finnish so I can't tell, but do they mention rebuilt engines at all?

Meanwhile, there are XJS V12s with more than 200,000 miles on them happily running around that have never had the heads off and never had the engine rebuilt.
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Yeah, but those are just the ones for sale here atm, Im sure there are quite a few BMW V12's well past the 200 000 mile mark here.
 
Posmo said:
Yeah, but those are just the ones for sale here atm, Im sure there are quite a few BMW V12's well past the 200 000 mile mark here.
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I strongly doubt you will see many, if any, 5.0L BMW V12s make it that far without a rebuild - even with the most careful of owners. The later 5.4 is a different beast entirely and isn't the engine I'm referring to.

public said:
Well, the first ad says "Have spent a lot" :p
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That is truly not surprising in the least. :p
 
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eizbaer said:
i'd say that depends 100% on the vehicle. if everything works the way it's supposed so (fingers crossed, i had to improvise a little bit), it should be really easy to do.
what you'd have to find out is whether the cabling is all standard in your yaris, or whether someone at toyota's done the ole switcheroo. i remember the old mk4 golf my mum had: they had mixed up all the cables so you wouldn't DREAM of replacing anything yourself... if that's the case you'd simply have to change some cables around, no big deal really, but good to know in advance. somehow manufacturers don't like you doing stuff yourself, really annoying this.

i just did a quick google search for the yaris... if it's a mk1 it does look a bit complicated just to change the stereo :? later models should be similarly horrible... (see here).
also, with such highly integrated stereos, you nearly always have to get some kind of install-kit or something so you won't have a huge hole around your shiny new unit, or even to make it fit / hold in the first place.
probably best if you google for step by step instructions for your particular model. there's bound to be something around somewhere and you can then decide whether it's worth the trouble :)
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Mine's more like this:

Toyota%20Echo%20hatch%20interior%202002.jpg


But its difficult to find much info on how to install....
 
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