Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Nah. RH will run the Saturn until it dies in three days.
 
Surprise enthusiast bargain?

Yes, I know it's a Camry with lipstick, but hear me out on this one:
-pillarless windows
-based on the most reliable of Camries...in the world. Ever.
-most importantly, the drivetrain: the incredibly overbuilt iron block 3VZ-FE combined with a manual transmission. This thing will will outlast a cockroach, be crazy economical to live with, and actually provide a tiny dollop of fun to go with everything else. And because it's a manual but FWD Lexus, there's no drift tax.
 
Holy shit, I just saw an ad for the Mazda6....during America's Got Talent no less..:blink:

Never thought that would happen but good on ya Mazda.

If you are selling it, where's the Craigslist ad? :p

I'm working on it in Word...:)

It's on Rickslist, a site dedicated solely for soon-grenading Saturns.

I've captured the domain name! Can't wait....I got a built in audience. :cool:

Nah. RH will run the Saturn until it dies in three days.

Nope, not running it. I'll use it for work tomorrow and driving my mom to the restaurant opening in my Grandfather's honor Friday evening, but it'll be dormant over the weekend save for vacuuming and washing it at the car wash.
 
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One more gripe I have with the Honda Motor Company. This time with their more grown-up cousins over at Acura.

Let me ask you, what is one of the only benefits of having a FWD drivetrain in a sedan? The lack of of a driveshaft going to the rear wheels. Why is this a benfit? No driveshaft means no hump in the floor which translates to actual legroom for the rear middle seat.

I was driving our new TL today, and I noticed something. There is a hump in the rear floor, and a rather high one at that. I figured this is for the AWD models, and was done to save costs by only designing one floor. But common, they're a luxury car company that should at least pretend they care about the customer. If they can afford to produce such useless things as the ZDX, surely they can engineer and make the FWD TL with a flat floor in back. I can't imagine it would cut into their profits so much.


Sorry I'm in such a complaining mood lately.


Also woo 6000th post :dance:
 
Let me ask you, what is one of the only benefits of having a FWD drivetrain in a sedan? The lack of of a driveshaft going to the rear wheels. Why is this a benfit? No driveshaft means no hump in the floor which translates to actual legroom for the rear middle seat.
These days, that's where the exhaust goes.
 
One more gripe I have with the Honda Motor Company. This time with their more grown-up cousins over at Acura.

Let me ask you, what is one of the only benefits of having a FWD drivetrain in a sedan? The lack of of a driveshaft going to the rear wheels. Why is this a benfit? No driveshaft means no hump in the floor which translates to actual legroom for the rear middle seat.

I was driving our new TL today, and I noticed something. There is a hump in the rear floor, and a rather high one at that. I figured this is for the AWD models, and was done to save costs by only designing one floor. But common, they're a luxury car company that should at least pretend they care about the customer. If they can afford to produce such useless things as the ZDX, surely they can engineer and make the FWD TL with a flat floor in back. I can't imagine it would cut into their profits so much.


Sorry I'm in such a complaining mood lately.


Also woo 6000th post :dance:

The humps are also used for exhaust and stuff. My Civic has a flat floor in the rear though, so maybe it does have something to do with the AWD thing.
 
These days, that's where the exhaust goes.

What? Why?

I just had a look under the car, and just from a quick glance (apart from being a stupid setup) its all fit nicely under the car and it doesn't look like it extends up much. The pipe from the engine is mounted low under the car, as is the cat, and the two pipes heading from it to the back. I see no need for that hump other than to standardize the production process.
 
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One more gripe I have with the Honda Motor Company. This time with their more grown-up cousins over at Acura.

Let me ask you, what is one of the only benefits of having a FWD drivetrain in a sedan? The lack of of a driveshaft going to the rear wheels. Why is this a benfit? No driveshaft means no hump in the floor which translates to actual legroom for the rear middle seat.

I was driving our new TL today, and I noticed something. There is a hump in the rear floor, and a rather high one at that. I figured this is for the AWD models, and was done to save costs by only designing one floor. But common, they're a luxury car company that should at least pretend they care about the customer. If they can afford to produce such useless things as the ZDX, surely they can engineer and make the FWD TL with a flat floor in back. I can't imagine it would cut into their profits so much.


Sorry I'm in such a complaining mood lately.


Also woo 6000th post :dance:
IIRC the FWD A4's have the same hump as the AWD ones, I think it would cost too much to build two separate platforms.
 
Well the fact that its not just Acura/Honda trying to be cheap makes me a little less annoyed.
 
If you watch the R8 episode of Super Factories, you'll notice that its chasis is completely symmetrical, to make it easy to assemble LHD and RHD versions.
 
Calling to see if this car is still for sale tomorrow morning and how low I can get him. Thoughts?
How can you go wrong with a black, manual-equipped C5? $16.5 sounds pretty good too. Seems like C5's in that kind of shape usually cost more.
 
A friend of mine bought a similar C5 for that price. He has had no problems with it.
 
One more gripe I have with the Honda Motor Company. This time with their more grown-up cousins over at Acura.

Let me ask you, what is one of the only benefits of having a FWD drivetrain in a sedan? The lack of of a driveshaft going to the rear wheels. Why is this a benfit? No driveshaft means no hump in the floor which translates to actual legroom for the rear middle seat.

I was driving our new TL today, and I noticed something. There is a hump in the rear floor, and a rather high one at that. I figured this is for the AWD models, and was done to save costs by only designing one floor. But common, they're a luxury car company that should at least pretend they care about the customer. If they can afford to produce such useless things as the ZDX, surely they can engineer and make the FWD TL with a flat floor in back. I can't imagine it would cut into their profits so much.


Sorry I'm in such a complaining mood lately.


Also woo 6000th post :dance:

Actually the hump is also for chassis rigidity, not only there for the possible drive shaft and exhaust. That's why almost every single FWD-only sedan/hatchback has that. Another benefit of the FWD is transversely mounted engine, which saves a lot of space and allows bigger interior. Of course you can just fail and sell longitudinally mounted engines in FWD cars as well...
 
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