Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

[Redliner]

Wow the Camaro convertible weighs 4,116lbs.

/me checks weight of Palio.

Holy crap. That?s nearly twice what I drive.

 

[_HighVoltage_]

THE DMV STRIKES AGAIN!

I swear, this institution is designed with the sole purpose to give you headaches and be as difficult as possible.

 

[prizrak]

I'd say my car is perfect in size if you want five usable seats and lots of cargo space. The Superb simply has more of everything, that boot is insane. Hell, people have complained about the boot stating "I can't reach stuff that sits right behind the rear seats" :lol:

In fact, imo the Superb is the ideal Taxi. More space on the rear seats than an E-class, insane boot, reasonable price, good taxish looks.

Yep, I was in one in Greece, it was in fact a taxi, very very nice and roomy inside and huge boot.

 

[GRtak]

New Rule. If rickhamilton620 likes a car, don't buy it. Henceforth, this will be the official Final Gear litmus test to determine if any car is shit or worth having.

what if he likes something good?? Should we run on principle?

THE DMV STRIKES AGAIN!

I swear, this institution is designed with the sole purpose to give you headaches and be as difficult as possible.

You think a government agency is meant to be simple and straight forward? What universe where you born in?

 

[narf]

what if he likes something good?? Should we run on principle?

... as long as it's not a Skoda

 

[Lastsoul]

I'd say my car is perfect in size if you want five usable seats and lots of cargo space. The Superb simply has more of everything, that boot is insane. Hell, people have complained about the boot stating "I can't reach stuff that sits right behind the rear seats" :lol:

In fact, imo the Superb is the ideal Taxi. More space on the rear seats than an E-class, insane boot, reasonable price, good taxish looks.

Yeah, I agree. In a taxi I demand huge space in the back (that's why I once spent 45 minutes on Saturday morning 4AM to find W221 taxi), but for a family car the Octavia is just the right size. Overall dimensions are about the same as current 3er I used as an example, but of course because of FWD the Octavia offers more room, which is of course always good. I was only talking about exterior dimensions, big interior in a small car because of clever packaging is always great.

But still, I'll gladly lose some space for RWD

 

[Hbriz]

That Specsavers advert with the A6

They seem to have a thing with damaging cars in their adverts. The one they're showing here at the moment has someone trying to reverse park a Passat estate. The character in the ad stands there going "you're alright, you're alright" until the Passat backs into an E36 BMW parked behind. Guy runs off, "Should have gone to Specsavers", fin.

 

[public]

The Mondeo is bigger than almost anything else in this class, that's sold over here. At 4.845m length and a wheelbase of 2.85m, it's longer than the:
-Mazda 6 (4.755m long, 2.72m wheelbase)
-Opel Insignia (4.83m long, 2.73m wheelbase)
-Honda Accord (4.74, 2.7)
-Toyota Avensis (4.695, 2.7), Hell, it's even longer than the Camry at 4.815m / 2.77m wheelbase
-Subaru Legacy (4.73, 2.75)
-VW Passat (4.77, 2.71)
-Citroen C5 (4.78, 2.81)
-Hyundai Sonata (4.8, 2.7)
-Peugeot 508 (4.79, 2.82)

In fact, the only car in this class which is longer than the Mondeo is... You guessed it, the American Chevy Malibu, ticking the meter at 4.87m (that said, the wheelbase is the same length as the Mondeo). So my point remains

Heh, the bloat of new cars compared to 20-year-old ones is noticeable.

Looks like my Sapporo measures in at 4660mm, which is certainly long enough but somewhat shorter than those (which are a class lower, by the way). Wheelbase is 2600mm, which does give it a slightly overhangy appearance.

http://img715.imageshack.**/img715/7074/jamesmay1.jpg

Width is 1695mm and weight 1350kg, making it positively slimline.

 

[Blind_Io]

what if he likes something good?? Should we run on principle?

The chances of that is pretty slim, given his history.

 

[FDaihatsu]

If you try hard enough, it sort of has the profile of a shortened ute. And that is awesome by any scale, so overhangy it is

 

[Aston Martin]

Techically random 2-stroke strimmer thoughts...

My stepdad got the strimmer from his brother, the tank was dry. In my head a 40:1 ratio means fill the tank up with petrol and bang a capful or two in.
It wouldn't fire. This thing must be 15 years old, has 2 killswitches. The airfilter screw was stripped, I had a spark, but plug was dry.
3 levers on the carb, I then possibly spotted a ball in the fuel line that needed pumping.
It fired up, the dog tried licking the end. The garden looked like a SWAT team had thrown a few hundred smoke grenades. :lol:
Mum complained we were gonna poison the fish.

All-in-all a great afternoon.

 

[CAPT_Howdy]

Why are there so few sport wagons in the U.S.? Am I really that weird? (Don't answer that.)

I want something that can carry a bunch of my stuff cross-country, but still be fun to drive the 99% of the time I'm not carrying a bunch of crap. So far, the only car that meets my criteria (In my price range.) is the Dodge Magnum R/T or maybe the SRT8.

People here buy high-performance SUVs in respectable numbers, so why can't people step down to something lower and lighter that can actually, you know, go around corners?

I know there's the Impreza WRX wagon, but that has even less interior room than the HHR SS I checked out. The A4 Avant is not bad, but it's a little down on power unless I happen to luck out and find an S4 Avant. And the 3 series Touring is automatic only. And Volvo T5s seem to be as rare around here as S4 Avants. (Speaking of Volvo, who's the genius that decided to stop selling wagons in the US?) I guess I have to hold out hope that Volkswagen will offer a Jetta GLI SportsWagen R with the 260hp turbo 4, but I doubt such a creature will be built, much less imported.

 

[Spectre]

Why are there so few sport wagons in the U.S.? Am I really that weird? (Don't answer that.)

Per the market sales statistics, yes, you are.

One problem is that US roads are often in not great shape so a sport wagon tends to be a lot harsher than the typical would-be wagon buyer is willing to put up with on a daily basis. Another factor is that the SUV (while coping with the street conditions better) is also often quite a lot cheaper for equivalent straight line performance while having the same or more room. A third reason is that large sedans are cheap here and many things you would stuff in the back of a little sport wagon will easily fit in the cavernous trunk of one. I recently cleared all the stuff out of the Pathfinder and the Crown Vic's trunk swallowed all of it with plenty of space left over.

 

[narf]

Jetta GLI SportsWagen R with the 260hp turbo 4

Over here VW never puts really hot engines in the Golf Variant, we just buy the Octavia RS instead the hottest Golf V Variant was a 1.4 with 170hp.

 

[CAPT_Howdy]

Over here VW never puts really hot engines in the Golf Variant, we just buy the Octavia RS instead the hottest Golf V Variant was a 1.4 with 170hp.

Horsepower wise, that's the same as the 2.5 litre I5 that we get, although I'm sure the 5 has much more torque. And we also get the 1.8 turbo, but they're hard to find in wagons.

And Spectre, I hear ya on the bad roads - one reason why I'd pick the Magnum R/T over the SRT8. (That, and the 5.7 gets better gas mileage that the 6.1 Hemi without the MDS.)

Although the one thing that really grinds my gears is that I don't feel like I'm asking for much. A M3 Touring would be nutty, but I'd be perfectly happy with a 330 Touring with a 6 speed manual. But no. All we get is the 328 Touring with automatic only. Or a Legacy GT wagon with the 3.6 litre H6 from the Tribeca and a manual gearbox. Or a Cadillac CTS wagon with the 3.6 DI engine and the manual - that last one may be available however, I haven't checked yet.

 

[biggie]

Would say BMW wagon is another choice, haven't looked into them much.

Really wished the Infiniti M35 Wagon was over here.

 

[Adunaphel]

Horsepower wise, that's the same as the 2.5 litre I5 that we get, although I'm sure the 5 has much more torque.

The 1.4 is the twincharged TSI. Guess again.

 

[narf]

Horsepower wise, that's the same as the 2.5 litre I5 that we get, although I'm sure the 5 has much more torque.

the TSIs are quite torquey. In fact, both the 1.4 and the 2.5 produce 240Nm of torque, in case of the 1.4 it's available all the way from 1500 to 4750rpm.


...while browsing more I found VW actually sold a 2.0 Golf V Variant over here as well, 200hp

The 1.4 is the twincharged TSI. Guess again.

a supercharger to get you going and a turbo for the higher rev ranges, de-clutching the supercharger later.

 

[CAPT_Howdy]

I'm thinking Rick might have to give up his title. I'm starting to think that this might be a good deal. It's not an M5, but a torquey V8 could be kind of fun on the freeways and thanks to GM depreciation, it's half what it would have been 3 years ago new.

 

[Aston Martin]

^
Those Quattroporte vents looks soo tacky.