Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

narf said:
Send one of those flying cars my way, please.
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I don't know what is worse the HDR or the camber.

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FruityLexia said:
Would have been booked for being much too low.

The lowest unsprung part of your car here is 100mm from the ground.
So that's like exhaust or anything underneath.
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Probably another fine because the top of the rim sticks out from the wheelarches. And I'm not sure about that 100mm thing though, many cars come from the factory with the exaust that far from the ground. I know that's what VicRoads or whoever does that down there says, but I don't know if they mean it. Just look at the number of lowered cars getting about, all of which are roadworthy. None of them are 10cm off the ground.
 
Dammit, there's a dead bug on my bumper! Now I gotta break out the Quik Detailer again..

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So tomorrow is part Deux of the Gann Academy snow day extravaganza. It's just me, the subie and miles of slippery goodness.*











*Yes, I will stay safe. but not for me. This car is an investment and must be protected as such.
 
Blind_Io said:
It often bugs me that, of my close friends, I'm the most mechanically inclined. I know people who are far more proficient with motorcycles and scooters, but they aren't really the friends that will come over and help rebuild something when I'm in over my head.

Most of my close friends call me when they need help, even when they are in another state. It kind of sucks when I'm trying to sort out stuff on my own.
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I'm in this same situation. It really does suck.
 
argatoga said:
No Ford GT? I am outraged. I shall unsubscribe from your newsletter forevers.
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Ford GT is planned for the carmaker wallpaper for Ford :p Also i can always use another 4 supercars with that wallpaper
 
I snuck off to Waco to sell a textbook (w00t, $50!) and make a quick stop in at one of my favorite coffee joints there this afternoon. Every now and then on Baylor's campus, I'll see an incredibly expensive vehicle that makes me think, "holy crap, your parents are nuts." The Saleen Mustang comes to mind. I'm no huge Mustang fan, but I wouldn't subject that to the woes of collegiate parking.

Every now and then, though, I'll see something there that makes me think "your parents are nuts...erm, would they like to adopt me?" Today:

:motherofgod:

Someone actually let their kid loose on campus with an Aston Martin Rapide.

It's a bit big for my tastes, but...zomg. Envy. Lots and lots and lots of envy.

And they're absolutely bat-guano-crazy for bringing that gorgeous thing near the demolition derby that is Baylor's campus. :drool:I think it's prettier in person than it is on TV, which is saying a lot because it's freakin' gorgeous on TV.
 
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Mom - No you cannot have an Aston Martin. Not after what you did with your last sports car.
Son - But mom its an 4 door saloon! Its very safe...
Mom - ohhh....

:p
 
Coco asked me about the selling of my Dodge. There's a little story to that.

Early last year my dad got it into his head that he wanted a fun car for the whole family to enjoy (even mom likes a sports car). We searched for a while, we looked at Mazdas, Fords, Chevys, BWWs, anything with a sporting reputation. There's a thread in the Q forum detailing my frustrations with that. Dad's not a very good shopper. Case in point, the one he fell in love with, the 370z, was a little out of his price range.

Then along rolls November and my 21st birthday. Dad says he found a car he wants to go see. Turns out, he actually took me to see a Miata, which he doesn't fit in - but I do. It was old and high mileage and banged up and the clutch was slipping and I loved it, but there was no way I was going to let him buy me a freaking car, even a cheap one. Which is a good thing, because apparently my mom hadn't signed off on this idea and no doubt would've been pretty pissed if we'd brought home a car.

He was (is) committed to buying a car, but that means getting rid of at least two of the 5 cars we had at the time (one nonfunctional). So I elected to put my Diplomat up on Craigslist. I rarely drove it, it was in fair condition and I figured it would turn a profit. It attracted a buyer within about 3 hours and the deal was done that weekend. I bought the car for $100, and I ended up making $1900 off the sale.

The next one to go is gonna be the truck that my dad's been driving around in misery, but only after we get the Honda roadworthy again (the brake light, of which a 2nd, non-broken replacement is coming). Then we'll be able to buy a car. But he's a bad shopper and he can't make decisions, so that won't be a quick or painless process. Hopefully he'll love the 2011 WRX I'm going to take him to see. But I don't see how anything will trump that 370z. At least the WRX is way cheaper, and I know he loves Subarus.

Incidentally, I think the WRX/STi's lack of engine cover is just the most sexy thing since, well, sex.
 
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Archie411 said:
Hey coco how about this for the Landoomer :p

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Ha!

...no.
Runs_And_Drives said:
This is why I'm sometimes thankful for my hand-crank windows. I don't think I ever have to worry about them not working, no matter how many miles go on my Truck, or how many times they go up and down.
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Now I'm wondering what GM's window hardware looks like. It seems like every GM car I've known with power windows has them get stuck, quit working, or completely lose contact with the switch at some point in time. My guess is that the whole thing must be made of Swiss cheese, and for the lulz, GM left a few hungry mice in the doors to eat away at it.

Those cars made me appreciate low-tech roll-up windows.
EyeMWing said:
At least they didn't turn it into neo-patriot tacky:
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For reference, this piece of tasteful metal stamping was what we had before:
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Neo-patriot tacky notwithstanding, at least the color palate is better. I did like Maryland's old plates, though. Why are license plates all over going to vomit-worthy designs that look like they were done by first graders who just discovered clip art? Simpler is better.

This is the image of the new plates that was passed around the internet when they came out:

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It's...revolting. What's with the mountains? Ours are nestled waaaaayyyyyy out in the Western part of the state. Worse yet, these look completely generic, as if those mountains could have been shot out the side of a plane in Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, or...who cares? How many freaking states have mountains on their plates? I liked Texas' previous design for highlighting some of what makes the state unique with a mostly unobtrusive design. See:

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Spaceship, cowboy, oil rigs--hell yeah. All rendered in a tasteful two-tone color scheme of dark blue and bright red. Unless your car is Barbie pink, it's probably going to look okay with this.

The new one is "oh, great, another state with freakin' mountains." Perhaps they realized that this was a boring idea that's been done on almost every other state's plate in the history of the United States, so to add insult to blandness, they threw up some clip art nonsense in the corner. It doesn't even match the style of the rest of the plate, for crap's sake. It looks like something that was stolen off of a mid-90s visitor's bureau's frame-addled homepage. The kind of godawful creations that equated simulated brush patterns with...hell if I knew. They looked tacky in the 90s and now they look dated and tacky.

For some reason, this design got voted as the lesser-of-all-evils when they opened it up for an online vote. Either the other options looked even worse, or we're a state full of people with bad eyes and/or bad taste. At least the color palate of the proposed design looked mildly inoffensive. Lo and behold, when they got around to printing the damn things:
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MY EYES. THEY HURT. They're freaking turquoise. Look, if the sky is ever turquoise, I'm staying inside for fear that a radioactive beam has hijacked our planet and is towing it into the sun for some alien species' amusement. That's just not natural.

Worst of all, it looks freaking hideous on my car.

Perhaps the powers-that-be over custom plate designs must've rigged the vote or fiddled with the brightness and saturation settings before printing. They've given us a damn fine reason to get something that's not...this. :puke:
2Billion said:
It'll be weird if rickhamilton gets a good car. Would the inexplicable optimism about things that are probably awful go away with the Saturn?
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I've never heard of anything like that happening. Not on FinalGear. Nope, never. :whistle:
rickhamilton620 said:
This...I'd never feel good selling the car on, I wouldn't have wanted to be sold a car like that...karma, morals and all that jazz
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Au contraire! I don't think LeMons racers care about crazy things like "working odometers."
That American Girl said:
Or was it:

I'm on campus in (my dads) Aston! Please Lord, don't let him find out!
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I saw the student sticker on the back. The depressing part is that it's probably just another tool to one-up the Land Rovers on the lot. :( 'Tis a pity. I'd beat on that like a drum. Terrifying four passengers in impeccable style? Yes. Yes, please.
 
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What's better than a Reliant Robin?

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How about...

... a Reliant Robin MPV?

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Now you can take all your family for a ride on your brand new Reliant Robin MPV, equipped with 4 doors for easy access to the back seat and extra headroom for easy roll-overs.
 
who knows, the added weight might make it actually stable :D
 
Oh, SK plates, don't ever change:
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