Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Redliner said:
Is it still possible to rent a car with a manual transmission in the USA?
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I'm sure there's a few, but I'm pretty sure most would be autotragic.
 
Redliner said:
Is it still possible to rent a car with a manual transmission in the USA?
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It's pretty hard to find a manual here for two reasons. Many would rent to learn which resulted in trashed clutches and gears. Also Americans in general prefer automatics so manuals tend to collect dust on the lot.
 
If all goes well my family could pick up a new Daily driver/project, looks like a beater, is mechanically sound,I wish it'd have a center diff.
 
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argatoga said:
Obviously the sensible solution is to remove your head, neck, feet, hips, or knees. :p
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Step 1 of Lancia Stratos ownership :p

Redliner said:
Is it still possible to rent a car with a manual transmission in the USA?
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:lol:

But, there are specialist places that will rent you higher-performance vehicles, some of which would be equipped with a manual, although most likely only if that is the only transmission offered.
 
prizrak said:
Yeah w/e hoonage we, as an online community, do we seem to keep under wraps for the most part. I certainly won't be showing you videos from when me and my friends went down to "Mexico" and did some parking lot "drifting" :p
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Hooligan. I had a damned good time on the "Virginia International Raceway" a few months back, teaching some motorcyclists that a properly driven car can do.
 
Redliner said:
Is it still possible to rent a car with a manual transmission in the USA?
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A friend of mine who went to San Fran actually had to upgrade to an automatic rental. Very unusual considering that there are lots and lots of hills there...
Hooligan. I had a damned good time on the "Virginia International Raceway" a few months back, teaching some motorcyclists that a properly driven car can do.
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Hehe :)
 
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Topgearfanatic said:
I want to drive a Smart just to see how easy it is to tip over!
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I want to drive one because, whenever I see people starting from a dead stop they get thrown forward and then back. Is the transmission really that bad?
 
argatoga said:
It's pretty hard to find a manual here for two reasons. Many would rent to learn which resulted in trashed clutches and gears. Also Americans in general prefer automatics so manuals tend to collect dust on the lot.
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Der Stig said:
:lol:

But, there are specialist places that will rent you higher-performance vehicles, some of which would be equipped with a manual, although most likely only if that is the only transmission offered.
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Hmmm...
I am planning a trip to the USA and teaching a friend how to drive stick seems harder than I thought.

Thanks for the input, guys.
 
Troubleshooting on my moms Mercedes was trickyer then i thought. It's a W124 250D from 1993 and the last week it have been impossible to shut it off with the key. Knowing that the vacuum lines usually is the problem, i went to work and changed them all, also changed the vacuum part on the ignition lock. Now she can turn the car off... when it's cold. As soon as the engine is warm it's a no-go. Anyone heard of a similar problem before?
 
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Weren't those the ones that had a stop handle in the engine bay because of that?
 
Hemihead said:
Troubleshooting on my moms Mercedes was trickyer then i thought. It's a W124 250D from 1993 and the last week it have been impossible to shut it off with the key. Knowing that the vacuum lines usually is the problem, i went to work and changed them all, also changed the vacuum part on the ignition lock. Now she can turn the car off... when it's cold. As soon as the engine is warm it's a no-go. Anyone heard of a similar problem before?
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gaasc said:
Weren't those the ones that had a stop handle in the engine bay because of that?
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Yup. Big stop lever with a red label declaring what it was for. My W123 had to have that handle engaged more than once when I had it.

The problem won't be in the engine bay, especially after you changed all the vacuum lines there. It is more likely to be further back in the car - remember, the door locks and sometimes the windows were vacuum operated as well on many Mercedes diesels (bad design) and leaks are more prone in components that move, like the doors.

Also, see this post: http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showpost.php?p=407330&postcount=4 - you should check all underhood vacuum components for cracks or leakage, apparently.
 
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Spectre said:
Yup. Big stop lever with a red label declaring what it was for. My W123 had to have that handle engaged more than once when I had it.

The problem won't be in the engine bay, especially after you changed all the vacuum lines there. It is more likely to be further back in the car - remember, the door locks and sometimes the windows were vacuum operated as well on many Mercedes diesels (bad design) and leaks are more prone in components that move, like the doors.

Also, see this post: http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showpost.php?p=407330&postcount=4 - you should check all underhood vacuum components for cracks or leakage, apparently.
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Awesome, thanks! I called my father and he will look up if the vacuum capsule is shoddy.
 
I just caught the most recent post, but it could also be the solenoid that shuts the fuel supply off.
 
Spectre said:
Yeah, you keep thinking it's hard and that it can't be traced. Good luck with that; you seem to think that other people might not have already figured out what works and what doesn't, but you can go ahead and keep pushing your luck.

I'd also point out one hole in your theory of 'they have to prove I was there' - no, they don't. Assuming they don't roll the driver (and chances are they would be able to), it doesn't matter. The charge would be accessory after the fact, have a nice day. You need to talk to a competent attorney and not a police officer about legal matters. As any good attorney can tell you, quite often the police don't know the law. Strange but true.

I commend the study of the current state of the art in video forensics to you and wash my hands of the matter.



Skipped it because I couldn't believe the frankly weak excuses that you were giving that would never stand up in court and decided to devote effort to that instead. But if you insist; you are perpetuating the stereotype that all F-body drivers are mouth-breathing morons that don't engage their brains before speaking, writing, driving or using the horsepower that GM unfortunately bestowed upon them. Who then wonder why the world has landed on them after they've gotten hammered/ticketed/busted, etc. All you have to do to see where that comes from is watch an episode or three of COPS. "Whuh? Waddayamean Ah cahnt rayce through a school zone full of kids wid muh cuzin Billuh Bawb?" All while scratching his back through his wifebeater shirt and wondering if the cops might find the gun he chucked under his seat or the open container of alcohol shoved down next to the seat. Almost invariably, the would-be street racer is driving an F-Body. (Mustang owners have their own stereotypes, too, but that's not germane to this.)

Maybe you fit that stereotype. Maybe you don't. Either way, you're certainly not helping your own cause. And, I believe, you're one of the first if not the first person to apparently promote his own street racing on FG.
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:lol: Yup, you never see anyone doing anything retarded in any other car. Only F-bodies....sigh, I forgot how much you despise GM and want so desperately to make me think the brand I follow closest is shit. Try a little harder next time, when shooting at an easy target, be sure to make your examples stand out rather than poor, rehashed stuff. :D

EyeMWing said:
Every other time I've seen it, it's been in the "look at these morons" context. Oddly enough, the vast majority of the population here doesn't seem to have any problems finding a responsible outlet for their hoonage - be it real racing, drag strips, autocross, rallycross, private property, or the tried and true 'man up and accept the consequences' method.
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I know (and obviously accept) the consequences of what I'm doing/creating.
 
katwalk said:
No I seem to recall someone making a thread about their awesome street racing (a noob iirc) and everyone laughed at them and then they were banned for stupid.
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Different strokes for different folks. I mean, I get a chuckle out of how many people worship the Miata here, but I try to stray away from insulting people for what they like/prefer. Oh well, can't change a judgmental person's mind...
 
Adunaphel said:
No, it's worse.
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yes this is true. I have to admit that I can think of no situation where it could roll by normal or even severe driving. I took it around some sharp bends at around 100 kph and aside from tyre squeal and massive understeer (skinny front tyres = fail) nothing happened

OTOH I understand why Spectre hates them and thinks they should all die :p
 
Bad Bowtie said:
Different strokes for different folks. I mean, I get a chuckle out of how many people worship the Miata here, but I try to stray away from insulting people for what they like/prefer. Oh well, can't change a judgmental person's mind...
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What do miatas have to do with illegal street racing?
I assume the reason it is frowned upon to post that shit here is it is basically promoting illegal activity and the site doesn't want that association, which is why there are no torrents hosted here.
 
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