emajnthis
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Posts posted by emajnthis
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It IS a cool lookin car, if I were lookin for a 2+2 coupe however I'd get a Maserati. About the same price.
The Skyline is going to be half the price of a 911 with comparable performance (much like the Viper Vs. Vette argument) whether or not it delivers on this claim is to be seen, but judgining on Nissan's history with performance and meeting those demands, i dont doubt this to be too far off. Last time i checked i don't think the newest GT-R had a backseat... and if it does it'll be historically as big as it was before which is the size of a breif case, much how much my Supra's "backseat" was.
There's a Ferrari/Maserati dealership in my neighborhood. The more i see Maserati's the more i hate them, they're just wannabe Ferrari's. Most of which were made because certain Ferrari's couldn't qualify for the racing class, so they built a Maserati in its place. The quality is definitely there, but performance is not.
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If Hollywood remade Fast and the Furious i wouldn't really care because it doesn't have any stake holding in my influence toward motorsports or the automotive world. Sure, it's fun to watch, but shallow acting, and 5 minute overexaggerated quarter miles kinda take away from the luster of what i really watched the movie for... sweet cars. Then i find out that the cars are just prettied up and have stock motors, so then i'm really disappointed. I'm actually more looking forward to what they do with F&F3 because it's exploring a genre of motorsport that has picked up tons of fame in recent years, and it has a good director. As long as things stay consistent like if the car makes a blow off noise and you open the hood and there actually IS a turbo in the car (unlike the green Eclipse in the first movie), because to me those little details make a world of difference for the movie experience. It's kind of like when you count rounds in a gun fight and see if the person actually reloads when he's suppose to.
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I disobey traffic laws, and get my thrills on wooded back roads. The people that attend my track have a combined IQ of 50 and tend to have little to no ethics when it comes to 1/4 mile or running the track. If the track environment where i lived was more friendly and by far more intelligent, i would deifnitely go.
hmm... Skyline Powered 67 Mustang... that's a good sleeper combination, but wouldn't do much for the sake of drifting (AWD Drivetrain attached to the RB is the best in the world).
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In defense of A7, i think he was stating it was to replace the Echo in terms of being in the Toyota Line-up. Eventhough Scion is Toyota, most people are going to differentiate the brand and quality of the car. It's kinda like how there's an Integra Type R and a Civic SI. Effectively they're the same car, but because one is Acura and one is Honda, they keep them both around so both sides have a bottom of the line pocket rocket. Much like Scion having bottom of the line xA and xB, Toyota still needs a bottom of the line car to appeal to the market that specifically wants "Toyota" on their car and not "Scion" on their car.
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I managed the Regional Internet Sales for the number 1 East Coast Toyota dealership, and it's true that probably a good amount of the xA's and B's were sold to older people (most xA's were sold to women, and B's to broke teenagers, or the older demographic), but pretty much all of the tC's were sold to the pocket rocket 18 - 30 crowd.
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They're also planning to bring in the Cube to compete with the Scion xB. Let's hope Honda doesn't follow suit by importing the That's (Yes, That's is the name of the car.).
That's awesome, I'm glad that most of the euro/jap cars are finally making their way to America. It's a shame it happened after a good amount of cars were discontinued in Japan (FD RX-7, Supra TT w/VVT, Silvia's, etc.).
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That's a little unfair considering that most cars being used for racing are Twin Turbo, and turbos are way more likely to have maintenance issues than superchargers. Though I'd agree that the 5.4 is probably not the best motor used for racing, I can't agree with the maintenance involved on any supercharged motor, supercharging is the safer alternative to turbocharging.
So what do you do? Go to a n/a engine? Ideally, I'd say use the Ford powerplant that's currently in the Saleen S7's. It's already proven and well developed in competition, and it's a real hoss of a motor [there's no mistaking that rip snorting fu--er for anything else in the pit lane]. Coincidentally it's a 427 c.i., and that'd be good for Ford, considering how significant that number is for the racing history of the original cars--hey, since they're on this whole "heritage" kick anyway, milk it for some press.That's an awesome idea, except the S7 motor is now Twin Turbo also, and is in the midst of getting an upgrade to twin intercooler (which will give it a horsepower figure in the 1000's) and even though the soul of that motor started as a Ford, Saleen basically took the design, ripped it to bits, and then built his own motor in its shadow. IIRC, Saleen has the exclusive rights to that famous 7.0 liter, and i doubt he would be willing to let it go, even to Ford.
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the funny thing is, in japan they make the vitz fast
also for competition i heard Nissan was bringing the Micra, aka the March in Japan, a small car which also has a cult following. -
Yeah, the front end looks a bit oddball, but the Zephyr's otherwise a good-looking car. The Ford Fusion also isn't bad at all. The Mercury Milan looks nice as well.
BTW, all three cars share the same platform with the Mazda6, a car I'd choose over them.
you're right, the Fords don't look terrible but they shamelessly ripped off the last generation of Audi A4's and their new A6's in the styling department. they've been doing it with a variety of other cars as well like their wagon and the AWD they promoted on the Five Hundred.
That's going a bit overboard... i could carve head lights and tail lights into a brick and it'll look like an Audi/VW. When it comes to German styling, it all pretty much has the same cues, you might as well say it looks like an early 90's BMW or Mercedes.
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My old line of work (Administrator/Manager East Coast Internet Sales System) allowed me to collect higher up contacts in the auto industry. I live in Northern Virginia, and one of our clients who was the General Manager (it's a franchise, so GM also means CEO/part owner) of most of the Ford dealerships in the area (along with various other brand names) knew of my idolization of the GT and gave me the rare privelage of driving his. He's been known to let people drive his cars, among them being a 360 spyder and at the time a just delivered Carrera GT, so it wasn't unusual for him to let me drive his car, but never the less i was still in great awe of the opportunity. Basically just drove it up and down the toll road (the air port portion so there were no tolls) and then up and down 28 (another long strip of very clean road). It was quite a joyful ride. There aren't any really wnidy roads unless i go to a portion more out in the country, but for reasons of curteosy, stuck to the highways, and thus didn't get to test how well it handles (though specs showing it can pull 1.0g in the skidpad, i probably didn't have to). I can definitely say that it pulls like total hell in a straight line. Faster than ANYTHING I have ever owned or built, you can really hear that supercharger spool up, and just every grunt of the motor screams American. The growl of the motor is either a good point or bad point, for some who are bigger fans of a Porsche's smooth crisp wind up, you'll find the Ford GT's sound barbaric. For those who are fans of hearing the motor even when it's choking, you'll appreciate the thunderous roar. All around it was just an amazing drive. By the end of the ride, your jaw just unwillingly hangs to the floor. I loved it, but I'm sure anyone with the privelage of driving a super car would love it too.
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whats the word...
oh yeah... shelby
anybody ever seen the "king cobra" in real life? I saw it in dupont when shelby's wife was selling it... now thats a car I'd like to drive... somewhere straight with no speed bumps.
then again I think it would be fun to drive a 73' plymoth fury III from one end of the m1 to the other... C'mon... police roadbloks would be like speed bumps with the puny little british cars. The fun you could have with a hummer with a snowplow
. I remember a warhammer gaming center manager in southampton showing me his super cool mucle car... a 3.9 litre capri six cylinder 
d-type jag... yeah... but a capri
Shelby did it for a lot of manufacturers, I did see the Cobra at the detroit auto show,,,,kinda more bubly looking compared to the photos, I just wish I could go down the street and check out the GT's and Cobra in Dearborn, I see them (GT's) on I-75 all the time (typical engineer road testing) I think everyone of them is friggin grey though
I drove & rode-in a Red GT, and have seen two blacks and a yellow, all of them with striping and premium wheels.
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whats the word...
oh yeah... shelby
anybody ever seen the "king cobra" in real life? I saw it in dupont when shelby's wife was selling it... now thats a car I'd like to drive... somewhere straight with no speed bumps.
then again I think it would be fun to drive a 73' plymoth fury III from one end of the m1 to the other... C'mon... police roadbloks would be like speed bumps with the puny little british cars. The fun you could have with a hummer with a snowplow
. I remember a warhammer gaming center manager in southampton showing me his super cool mucle car... a 3.9 litre capri six cylinder d-type jag... yeah... but a capri
what a joke -
said a1 to every hooker who ever gave him a hand job
my mom thanks you for the tips by the way
gt-40 vs ford gt... lets see... one was built to be a race car and did it's job well... the other was made to be able to go over a speed bump...
All I can say is drive one... if you can't drive one at least ride in one... you'll see where the "heritage" part comes in. The thing is really a true bread race car, and it still can't go over a speed bump. Sounds like you have a jet engine behind your head, and when you stand up next to it, it rides so low you forget it's next to you. The body has a more similar resemblence to the unsung Mk III GT40 with the headlights of the Mk II so people will recognize it. Personally, one of my all time favorite cars and a big tribute to the fact that Americans can make cars if they try (which i must admit they hardly ever do). They still are contendors in the super car market though, especially with cars like Saleen's S7 whose awesomeness is only inferior to that of AgentOne, and the GT who STILL beats the pants off of Ferrari's newest track car, it's very impressive to see American companies stand up against the Italian and German super car giants, and in most cases win.
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All I can say is: DAMMIT! That was my idea!! Looks like someone's in the process of trying to get the Ford GT homologated for competition, in Speed World Challenge? One of the backers includes Sammy Hagar and his Cabo Cabo(?) restaurants. The subtle aero refinements--at the nose, in front of the rear wheel arches and with the rear wing are nearly exactlywhat I had in mind, albeit with an original [i.e. smaller, lighter, purpose built for racing] GT40 chassis, maybe a Mk I or Mk II tub? I still say the new GT is too much of a pig to make a truly good race car. In fact, [no one would ever believe me, probably sound like a ranting fu--wit] I've got some .bmp's of GT40 line blueprints from a couple of years ago that I played around with in MS Paint that look very similar. Very. I even went so far as to contact a kit car company in Oz as to whether such mods would be feasible with the original bodywork. *sigh* I'm a misunderstood genius, I am....
Okay, maybe just a ranting lunatic....
I think that's an awesome idea. Everyone has their preconceived notions of the GT, but its numbers speak for themselves, and since it STILL beat the Ferrari F430 (and the Ferrari was built AFTER the GT) in all categories, that says a lot. I would love to see another Ferrari vs. Ford shoot off, even if Ford isn't specifically backing up the car.
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Some comments about Mercedes and AMG, as I'm quite familiar with their virtues and "problems".
Since the late 1990's, the electronics in Mercedes cars have become more complex. At the same time, there were some cost cutting measure taken in the production side of things. They stopped "overengineering" their cars, as was the case beforehand.
The combination of these 3 factors has resulted in cars which have had below average initial quality and long term reliability. While their motors have remained rock solid, almost all of the problems relate to electronic glitches and bugs. The biggest "glitch" has been their SBC (fully electronic, no hydraulics) braking system which is offerred in the current E- and SL-class cars. Because this system was found to fail occasionally, they had to spend big $$$$ for a massive worldwide recall of all the cars affected. After this fiasco, they've dropped this SBC braking system for the future models. The upcoming redesigned top of the line 2007 S-class sedan will not even offer this as an option.
Many of you probably have read about Mercedes' fall in the JD Powers surveys (initial quality and long term reliability). The negative press that Mercedes got and the relative lack of new exciting models in the last 2-3 years has really hurt Mercedes in terms of sales and profits. In 2004, the people in charge in Stuttgart made a new committment to increased "quality" for Mercedes. Their efforts have paid off to some degree as Mercedes jumped from very low to among the top 3 or 5 manufacturers in the JD Powers survey for initial quality. Time will tell if long term reliabilty will improve.
With regards AMG, I agree that most AMG models are not very flashy in terms of exterior appearance. I believe this is deliberate to appeal to customers who don't want to stand out more than a typical benz. For sure, the BMW M models (their direct competitors) have relatively more road presence and seem to turn heads more with flared fenders and more aggressive bodywork. AMG cars are about effortless speed and acceleration with a sleeper look. All of their cars have immense torque figures very low in the rpm range due to the use of high displacement engines +/- forced induction with supercharging or turbocharging. HP numbers are insane for their top models. This is in contrast to BMW M, who produce high reving lower displacement engines whose peak torque comes at much higher engine speeds (like Honda). In other words, you have to work harder in an M car to get the massive acceleration compared to an AMG car. Different approaches for different customers.
Germans in general have never had reliable electronics. Just look at BMW and their "i-drive" system, it's total crap. Have you ever tried to use the Navigation on any german car? it's total crap, and hella freakin annoying. Personally, I think German's should just stick completely to mechanics and get all of their electronics from Japan. Germans have NEVER had a good track record for their electronic equipment, it's never user friendly to start, and then it will most likely fail by the time your car hits 50,000 miles.
When it comes to Mercedes Vs. BMW and their approach to sports cars, i hardly consider Mercedes to be in the Pure sports car market. The first thing that annoys me about all AMG cars, is that Mercedes has never been able to make a decent manual transmission, so they stick that dated 5 speed automatic in everything. Aside from that, they kind of cheat when it comes to pumping horse power out of cars, and like stated above, they stopped over engineering awhile ago (hence why their coveted 55AMG motor is only single overhead cam) and rather than engineer and tune the horsepower out of their cars, they just stick a bigger super charger with a shorter pulley and crank more boost. Not to mention Mercedes has been foolish in creating new motors, but then not using them to replace any of their old ones (like creating the new 63AMG V8 but not using it to replace the 55, not to mention having two different v12 twin turbos) which is giving them tons of overhead production costs. BMW on the other hand gives all of their hot sports cars six speeds, or at least the paddle shift, and has now added variable valve timing to their Inline 6, so you know their still keeping up to date. Also incorporating their Formula 1 V10 into some of their new cars, and are specially creating a manual transmission to be linked to that motor in the next few years (since the only thing that could handle the V10 power was their 7-speed automatic before) so you know they're at least trying.
Merecedes AMG cars are great and all... if you're retired. But for someone who truly loves the power and the pavement and the oneness that is acheived in a true sports car, the AMG just doesn't deliver.
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Except the 240SX came with the KA24DE, while in Japan the 180SX and Silvia came with the CA18DET and later the SR20DET. There is a reason why so many people do the SR20 swap...
but the SR20 swap is also overrated because most people do it wrong. A lot of people grab the SR out of the S13/14 Silvias and not the S15 Silvias and the S15 is the one you want for many mechanical and design reasons. The big points are the S15 SR20DET has Variable Valve Timing also a bigger ceramic ball bearing turbo and it had a small change in compression. Not to mention it had 280bhp (but with Nissan's reputation that's probably a lie to meet the now lifted Gentleman's agreement) but you'll often see SR20 240SX's on ebay, and the reason they suck is because most people use the old SR20 which requires a hell of a lot more work and money to make it up to snuff. And if you do the smart thing with the 240SX and just buy the S15 front clip, you also have the privelage of having a 6 speed rather than 5 (but if you're drifting the 5 speed is more efficient) and also you can buy the after market fenders and hood for the S15 front end to replace the dated 240SX front end. This was a project car i had in mind a long time ago, but now due to the absence of time in my schedule i just hope someone intelligent will put a 240 together that actually works the way it should.
In defense of the KA motor, there really is nothing wrong with it (aside from it being a truck motor) and you'll find lots of motorsports companies that make awesome turbo kits for this motor and tuner magazines that have guides to juicing this motor to crazy numbers.
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that's friggin' awesome
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I've never tried it, but i've heard Trend Micro has a good AV program. I know MSN switched over to it and stopped using McAfee to filter e-mails. I've used their free online system scan but i'm with JBO when it comes to avoiding virus'. I have no AV software on my computer and have never gotten a virus ever, spyware is a different story, but that is removed with different tools. (namely spybot and a MS' new free anti spyware program)
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That's why my wife has taken a proactive approach to learning about cars. When i start talking about them and all she can do is look at me with a blank stare she started to get the idea that this would be a pattern. So since she started to educate herself, she's spotted a Bentley GT, a Ford GT, a DB9, and a Gallardo. I'm mighty proud
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Another weird thing about Mercedes, to me, is that their hopped-up AMG versions are almost identical appearance-wise to the standard model. If I'm going to drop $165k to get the SL65 12 cylinder twin turbo, I want it to look a lot different than the $80k SL500. But they don't unless you're a Mercedes enthusiast who knows the small cues to look for.
Well, i would say as a motor enthusiast a lot of cars are that way, even American cars. As i told my wife, the only difference that is obvious to most people between the V6 and GT mustangs are the fog lamps in the grill. I understand the point though, in that you're basically doubling your money to get a car that most people won't notice. I figure if you're going to buy the top of the line model of a sports car, you're only doing it to impress yourself or other motor enthusiasts who know what they're looking for. If someone wants to drop 200,000 to turn heads they would just buy a playboy car like a gallardo spyder or F430 Spyder, because eventhough they're fast, no one really cares what's under the hood, they just know you have a "Ferrari" or a "Lamborghini". Where as the motor enthusiast would laugh at anyone buying a convertible sports car; the average onlooker will think it's cool purely out of ignorance.
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Anybody know where there may be more photos from the SEMA show? Particularly the customized Dodge Charger? It looks like West Coast Customs has finally created what consumers have been begging Chrysler for since day one: a two door coupe ver. of the Charger. Up til now, it's only been seen as the digital imaginings of Photoshop artists, but now it seems it's been shown to be possible. You've got to hand it to Chrysler, they've got some of the most aesthetically pleasing and most customizable cars on the road today [somewhat tacky customizers' paint choices notwithstanding]. But some of the auto rag pundits still proclaim it a company in the red? Go figure. But I guess all of the big 3 are in somewhat shaky conditions. They can't do any worse than GM, whose cars are some of the fugliest on the road. They seem to be kept afloat by fleet sales and older consumers who remain doggedly brand loyal.
I think I'm liking the idea of a 2-door Charger--ugly ass truck grille or no...c'mon Dodge! Get with it already!
Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep isn't really in the red. It's actually the company that recently partnered with them that is going under... you guessed it, Mercedes. And it's not a wonder why, off the top of my head Mercedes makes 13 motors (if you include both NA and super/turbocharged versions of the same platform) and an endless amount of different bodies with any 3 digit combination of horsepower that you can imagine. The cost of production for mercedes cost them 2.2 billion dollars in overhead last year. i guess that isn't much considering that's how much GM paid Ford not to buy out Fiat (in fear of them picking up Ferrari and Maserati along the way).
The CEO that was borrowed from Mercedes to bring Dodge/Chrysler out of the dumps has now been appointed back to Mercedes to redeem them of their losses. At some point, they need to hire more competent CEO's and get with the program... and i agree that dodge needs to make cars that don't have the aerodynamics of a brick, everything looks like a truck, or a wannabe truck.
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Ive ridden in a RUF (1989) and those cars are EXTREMLY underated in the supercar catagory, they definatly tweak in the right areas and make a really good car REALLY great,,, I see you had a Miata, I was looking for one with a lot of mil;es to do the 5.0 conversion, but they hold thier value too well
yeh no kidding, i was lucky and got mine private party from someone in the newspaper. He sold it for KBB trade in value at the time, which if i can remember was around 2 grand. I was going to do the monster miata, but after reading some people doing it and basically the conclusion being that the car is only driveable in a straight line, i opted to just lighten the crap out of it the best i could and turbo the motor. By the end i had someones custom integrated headlight kit so i could save some weight on the pop ups, also had the hard top and some other weight saving materials (carbon fibre hood, aftermarket wheels, etc.). The car had a roll cage which always made me feel a little safer about getting into an accident, but then after a good day at the track, someone came up and gave me an offer i couldn't refuse, so a week and a fat check later it was gone. I couldn't complain, I'm 6'2" and it had a big interior but it was just slightly too small for me. It was just small enough to make me feel a bit clostraphobic, but big enough to where i wasn't banging my knee into the dash.
I completely agree with you about the RUF, everyone has the idea that Porsche's are great out of the box, but RUF obviously proves this theory completely wrong. All of his cars are in short... perfect. He really sticks to the power to weight philosophy and really gets every extra ounce of juice he can out of the motors. If you buy one, he won't deliver it to you unless he takes you out onto the autobahn and tests it's 0-60 1/4 mile and top speed, so you have it for your records to make sure you're satisfied. Talk about service, his cars are worth every penny.
The MW Automotive Thread
in Hall Of The Super Topics
Posted
IMHO Maserati's style and design is just a body with the interior raided from a Ferrari parts bin. There really isn't a lot of thought put into the Maserati line if you've ever had the chance to sit in and critique one. Plus if i can roll up in a Nissan and rock the poo out of a Maserati in all categories, then I have a lot more to smile about than the person who spent 100k on his Maserati. Kind of like why the new ZO6 is getting so much press, since it's 1)American, 2)Suddenly got super car fast, 3)Is half or even a third of the price of cars with similar performance (Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, etc.). I'm a much bigger fan of performance in mediocre design compared to mediocre performance in modern design. But with the Skyline's reputation, i know i won't be specifically let down in either, and i'll save 40,000 bucks compared to the Maserati.