Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Ride in a V8 Commodore rally car = Epic win

Had great fun at a rally today - Snapped some good photos, got to see a wide variety of cars and meet and chat with Neil Bates :D

All I can think about now is getting a rally car...
 
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I think its a copy. There is something wrong with it, but i just can't put my finger on it, beside the front bonnet and the the grill.
 
OK, so dad told me he saw an old Volvo estate(he said it was boxy so it was an 80s-90s model) that had 5 seats and the trunk was turned in a pick-up bed. Was there anything like this factory made(I doubt that) or was it custom? He was driving so he couldn't take a pic.
 
I kind of want a Mazda2... I imagine it would be great fun at an AutoX or RallyX
 
I haven't driven one, but I did get to examine one on the showroom and at the auto show. It's a nice little car but I prefer the Ford Fiesta for the interior.
 
I haven't driven one, but I did get to examine one on the showroom and at the auto show. It's a nice little car but I prefer the Ford Fiesta for the interior.

Yeah i quite like the fiesta as well but my Mazda brand loyalty is such that i would choose the Mazda over the Ford (inb4 incorrect same company remark). My real hope is that Mazda Racing Development will make and release a reasonably priced track kit for the mazda2 in the same way that Ford has a spec kit for the Fiesta to get you into S2000. Granted all of this is a pipe dream since i certainly don't have the money for even a base Mazda2 at this current juncture but still i love the idea of Mazda2s buzzing all over the track.

basically i really just want to be able to buy this:
mazdaspeed-2b-sema010.jpg

mazdaspeed-2b-sema007.jpg

mazdaspeed-2b-sema012.jpg
 
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Not trying to stir up a shitstorm but when I look at the above Mazda 2 I can't help but feel I'd much rather an MX-5.

what is it these days with little hatchbacks getting all the motorsports attention? high gas prices can only sway enthusiasts so far.
 
Not trying to stir up a shitstorm but when I look at the above Mazda 2 I can't help but feel I'd much rather an MX-5.

what is it these days with little hatchbacks getting all the motorsports attention? high gas prices can only sway enthusiasts so far.

Oh i will be the first to say that are inumerable better cars out there to use for entry level motorsports (a number of which are made my Mazda themselves) but for whatever reason i just love hot hatches. There is just something about them that i find highly entertaining. As for why they are getting so much attention is that by and large they tend to be the cheapest NEW cars you can get and use in motorsports. Yes i can go buy a used spec miata for 10Kish and pay less than a brand new Mazda2 but if for whatever reason i wanted to buy a new car to go racing it doesn't get much cheaper than a Mazda2/Fiesta/etc/etc
 
OK, so dad told me he saw an old Volvo estate(he said it was boxy so it was an 80s-90s model) that had 5 seats and the trunk was turned in a pick-up bed. Was there anything like this factory made(I doubt that) or was it custom? He was driving so he couldn't take a pic.

he saw this thing?
volvo_xc70_pickup_truck04.jpg
 
Not trying to stir up a shitstorm but when I look at the above Mazda 2 I can't help but feel I'd much rather an MX-5.

what is it these days with little hatchbacks getting all the motorsports attention? high gas prices can only sway enthusiasts so far.

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blind_io/2011/02/12/the-dude.jpg

That's just, like, your opinion, man.

Seriously, that's cool. I don't think anyone would fault you for wanting the MX-5. I think one of the cool things about hatches getting more attention is that they are practical cars you can use for the school or grocery run but can fill the back with tires and drive to your track day with relatively small investments of money and time.
 
I'm going to attend the next local HAM radio club meeting so I can get my license. Now I just have to start saving for a mobile mount for the XTerra.
 
Just browsing through my local "Daily Mail" and they have done a story about Jaguar E-type. I was looking at the picture and it looks to me strange, the head lamps and the grill seem different from other E-types, is it fake or some custom?: http://www.iltalehti.fi/autot/2011021113156569_au.shtml

Any Jaguar experts?

It is sitting way too low, the curves around the headlamps are all wrong and the grille isn't wide enough. I also think its a 3d model, the interior definitely isn't a Jag unless its been stripped out for some reason, and if its a copy its a poor one.
 
Yeah i quite like the fiesta as well but my Mazda brand loyalty is such that i would choose the Mazda over the Ford (inb4 incorrect same company remark). My real hope is that Mazda Racing Development will make and release a reasonably priced track kit for the mazda2 in the same way that Ford has a spec kit for the Fiesta to get you into S2000. Granted all of this is a pipe dream since i certainly don't have the money for even a base Mazda2 at this current juncture but still i love the idea of Mazda2s buzzing all over the track.

basically i really just want to be able to buy this:
mazdaspeed-2b-sema010.jpg

The problem is you can't buy that, do you know how slow a mazda 2 is? we are talking barely faster than my car. You live in Massachusetts where everyone goes 20 over. Do you know how many years I lose off my life when I try to merge onto a highway? It is fucking horrifying to have a 1-60 time in two digits when when traffic is going 70.
 
The problem is you can't buy that, do you know how slow a mazda 2 is? we are talking barely faster than my car. You live in Massachusetts where everyone goes 20 over. Do you know how many years I lose off my life when I try to merge onto a highway? It is fucking horrifying to have a 1-60 time in two digits when when traffic is going 70.

Two words: 85 Horsepower.

If I can survive flooring it to get to 75 mph in any reasonable amount of time than I'm sure the 2 can't be dreadfully slow. :p
 
The problem is you can't buy that, do you know how slow a mazda 2 is? we are talking barely faster than my car. You live in Massachusetts where everyone goes 20 over. Do you know how many years I lose off my life when I try to merge onto a highway? It is fucking horrifying to have a 1-60 time in two digits when when traffic is going 70.
So accelerate before you merge? Trucks seem to be fine so I don't see why you wouldn't be if you go WOT.
 
Two words: 85 Horsepower.

If I can survive flooring it to get to 75 mph in any reasonable amount of time than I'm sure the 2 can't be dreadfully slow. :p
I believe the time when I looked it up for my aunt was 10.6 seconds? That is a decently scary amount of time

So accelerate before you merge? Trucks seem to be fine so I don't see why you wouldn't be if you go WOT.
Unless you are for example on rt 1 where there are no on ramps, or the retarded old person in the corolla in front of you decided to stop at the end of the ramp. Let the record show I often hit the ramp very slowly then floor it so anyone who got on it before me is already gone when I hit the end of the ramp. The way the roads are set up around here you don't always have time to build up speed. The exit I have to take onto rt 495 from school for example requires me to merge into the middle lane because the right hand lane branches off and ends immediately, to make things even more fun you are merging onto a road above you so you can't see the traffic you are merging into until the last second. Because you can't see the traffic most people approach slowly or stop at the end (it's happened more than once the person in front of me did that) which means I am forced to stop, hopefully at the entrance to the ramp or I am stuck there for a very long time.
 
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