Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

i would kill a man for a Ford Falcon XC Cobra
Ford_Cobra_no.66.jpg


i would also accept a XB Falcon GT hardtop... sweet god damn they are such sexy looking cars




They are hardly attainable here now due to heaps of people from other countries going OMG MAD MAX INTERCEPTORRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.


So, they're really expensive here now, which is fucken gay.
Which pisses me off, cos I'm a Ford man through and through.
 
So, they're really expensive here now, which is fucken gay.
Which pisses me off, cos I'm a Ford man through and through.

True. :( A lot of them went to America.
 
I accidently powerslid my Merc around an intersection...just gave a bit of throttle and the rear-end came out. I was really shocked, wasn't driving fast or anything. I'm guessing it hydroplaned?

I actually did that in my car when I hit a slush patch a few years ago. :blink::lol:
NEEDS MORE SPECIALLY PLACED SLUSH
 
My Dad always finds a way to act like a rally driver in winter, it's fun but my Mom usually freaks.
 
Well, yes, and your Merc isn't fail wheel drive. Though it's less hydroplaning and more just skidding/sliding because of reduced traction on the roads. I'm guessing you have the stock size skinny tires?

I never thought my car had skinny tires, def bigger than the old van.

This isn't a bad thing; it's part of being able to steer with the throttle. If you'd applied more throttle, the rear would have swung out more - less and you slow or stop the skid. Take your car out to a big parking lot one day when it's raining or snowing and learn how your car does it. It's lots of fun and quite educational; and since you're up in the land of ice and snow, you'll be better able to cope with winter driving.

I'm guessing you only had a FWD car before?

I drove both of the Caddys in the snow before, and nothing came CLOSE to getting loose like this did, it just really caught me by surprise as I gave it almost no throttle at all.

Edit: That reminds me. You'll want to keep a couple of bags of sand in the trunk during the winter months - both for ballast (to increase traction) and if you do get stuck, to be applied to the ground as traction increasing materials.

We have salt up here for that, at least that is what my dad gets. I will probably just end up leaving my hockey bag in the back too.
 
Sand is better. It won't melt the ice (and turn the surface into mud, which makes it worse) or, if you have a spill, won't rust out your trunk. And if you do have to use it, spraying salty water crystals into your wheelwells isn't great either.

As for the Cadillacs - they weigh more, so they have more traction. And yes, 195/65-15 is rather skinny by today's standards. Even my little truck has 235s.
 
When I first moved to Sacramento after 12 years of being carless in San Francisco, I bought myself a 1988 Lincoln Town Car.

One rainy morning on my way to work, I was accelerating to merge onto the freeway when I hit a patch of wet concrete and the tail slid out a bit.

It caught me by surprise, because I didn't think the 160hp (!) 302 had enough guts to break the rear end loose, but spending my formative driving years in Maine winters kicked in and I kept the skid under control.

In my 20s, I worked for a car dealer in Virginia Beach, VA and used to drift our courtesy shuttle (a 1986 GMC Safari) around corners after it rained. The 4.3 liter V6 had enough torque that it was pretty easy to break the rear end loose.

I'm going to have to start doing some powerslides now that I have a rear wheel drive car again.
 
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I'm going to have to start doing some powerslides now that I have a rear wheel drive car again.

If conditions are right (and that's not hard to do) you can powerslide just about anything that's RWD.

Remember the old mail Jeeps, the DJ-5s? Made somewhere around 80hp or so? These things?

AddamsFamReunionPostal.JPG


Or the old RWD Starlet, which produced all of 58hp?

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You can even powerslide those cars. Which is why FWD will forever remain fail wheel drive. :D
 
That's somewhat impressive for a fail wheel drive, but pretty pathetic overall. :p
 
If conditions are right (and that's not hard to do) you can powerslide just about anything that's RWD.

Remember the old mail Jeeps, the DJ-5s? Made somewhere around 80hp or so? These things?


Or the old RWD Starlet, which produced all of 58hp?

You can even powerslide those cars. Which is why FWD will forever remain fail wheel drive. :D

Only redeeming feature of a Chevy Chevette... it's RWD :mrgreen:

Also, powerlsiding my Jeep is scary. However powersliding my Dad's Jeep was super fun, and my El Camino was EVEN MORE FUN!!!
 
Only redeeming feature of a Chevy Chevette... it's RWD :mrgreen:

Also, powerlsiding my Jeep is scary. However powersliding my Dad's Jeep was super fun, and my El Camino was EVEN MORE FUN!!!

Yeah, CJ5 would have an 84" wheel base. That would be bloody terrifying.
 
Fail wheel drive is relatively easy to do oversteer in, if the conditions are right and you know what you're doing.
I've done tons of em in my wife's 1.0 Corsa. Don't tell her that though :p
 
That's somewhat impressive for a fail wheel drive, but pretty pathetic overall. :p

:lol: Indeed. We play with what we have....
 
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