Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

The guys at vovlospeed.com are building their own Volvo S60R for racing purposes :)

Back to the 850 Estate - back in 1995 (or 94) when it was introduced in the BTCC, it was embarassing for the other cars on the track that an estate could keep up with them (and sometimes even overtake them). Before its introduction everyone laughed at TWR and said they are crazy to race a wagon, but soon during the season it turned that the 850 Estate was not bad at all and could keep up with the others.
For next year, the BTCC allowed the use of aerodynamics, which was not a direct move towards Volvo, despite what some might say. Volvo just seemed to be most affected by the new rules, because they were racing a brick.
Soon enough though, TWR came up with the 850R Sedan and it proved that Volvo know a thing or two about car racing. It had 5-6 wins during the season and was constantly in the top positions.
 
As promised, pics of the broken thing:

http://img21.imageshack.**/img21/8529/11apr0001.jpg
http://img21.imageshack.**/img21/7958/11apr0002.jpg
http://img6.imageshack.**/img6/7342/11apr0003.jpg

This used to be part of the gearbox :p

As usual, bonus pic:
http://img18.imageshack.**/img18/2483/p1040582m.jpg
 
You know, after sleeping on it I don't think that X-Terra is right for me. It's a great car, but there are too many "ifs" in the equation.

Back to looking at older 4Runners, Tacomas (still haven't found one) and Rangers.
 
Blind_Io said:
You know, after sleeping on it I don't think that X-Terra is right for me. It's a great car, but there are too many "ifs" in the equation.

Back to looking at older 4Runners, Tacomas (still haven't found one) and Rangers.
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Frontier! Frontier! :D
 
Spazatao said:
As usual, bonus pic:
http://img18.imageshack.**/img18/2483/p1040582m.jpg
Click to expand...

There was a GT-R there? That means someone has a GT-R in Brazil?!?:blink:
 
Spazatao said:
^Spectre, how exactly it happens with the Mitsus? A crack leading to failure or too much stress?
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Both. They also suffer from defective castings.

Basically the DSM Mitsus all have transmission casings that shatter, no matter what you do or don't do. Lots of different reasons.
 
Went for a drive in my friend's Cobalt SS for the first time today (first time in a cobalt ss). That thing is fan bleeding tastic for driving. Couldn't even tell it was fwd when driving (for the most part). he even got the back to kick out a bit (fishtailing i guess). I kinda regret not getting one. but then I see the current future of GM...
 
I went and saw a great '04 Ford Ranger today. 4x4, custom wheels (tasteful), mud terrains, spray-on bed liner and only 41K miles.

Then the dealer got spooked by the fact that I had my instrument cluster replaced because of a bad speedometer, so the odometer reading is off. I had the work order faxed from the Honda dealer and the car has the sticker on the door frame. He said that just because of that he could only offer me $5,000 for my pristine car! He was a younger guy and the word came down from the head of the dealer, he seemed almost as disappointed as I was.

This makes me severely pissed at Honda. My car should be worth at least $8,000, but in this area it's more like $9K or $10K. Because of a manufacturing defect, covered under warranty and fixed by Honda my car is practically un-sellable and un-tradable.

I may call Honda North America and ask them to track down the truck I need and give me fair retail on my car. Their fuck-up is going to stick me with my Honda until the fucking wheels fall off.
 
I loved mine...right until I rolled it.

I do miss that truck, though. :(
 
I am going to do 800km in a Passat tdi 4-motion today... Horray.:yawn:
 
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NecroJoe said:
I loved mine...right until I rolled it.

I do miss that truck, though. :(
Click to expand...

Oh, come on, it's literally the same truck from 1982. You can swap the bodies from an 09 and an 82 and the 82 will fit right onto the 09 frame with only one or two bolts not lining up. It has the narrowest track and worst handling of any of the compact trucks in its class.

Break, new random topic. Should I post a how-to for WeatherPack connectors down in the Q&A section for those of us building/rebuilding/repairing cars?
 
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Karoug said:
I am going to do 800km in a Passat tdi 4-motion today... Horray.:yawn:
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what's so bad about that? AFAIK the 4motion is really neat on such a car... even if it isn't the quickest thing out there...

if it's a TDI, 800 kms won't even need one full tank, which is also handy
 
is it weird that I'm comparing secondhand cars to replace my current one with, while I have no real reason to do so?

I just thought it'd be fun to compare a couple of my favourites and see how they all stack up, cost wise (I'm using ?/km here, since there's a lot of variables like fuel cost, insurance, tax, maintenance, tyres)

thing is, i'm actually convincing myself I should go for something less expensive than what I have now, which is almost all of the car's Ive selected...

My Opel Astra : 0.148?/km
Citroen C1 diesel : 0.113?/km
Smart Roadster : 0.126?/km

and for comparison : a comparable car to what I have now:

BMW 118d : 0.210?/km


I don't see how a Smart roadster, which uses more expensive fuel, has similar fuel consumption, a "rape without lube" insurance premium, and similar running costs can be that much cheaper...

(FYI this exercise is only in my head, I have no *real* intention for buying any of these)
 
I taught my mum to use one of those digital tyre pressure machines at a service station yesterday. I wasn't aware that she had never checked or topped up tyre pressures herself before, ever. Instead she's been waiting until the shop checks the tyres pressure when they do a twelve month inspection. Okaaayy. :blink: I check my tyres every three weeks, or whenever I'm taking the car out of town.
 
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Which tuner makes bodykits for Bentleys that look like these?
DSC04062-1.jpg
 
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