The Thread We Talk About Cars In

Post Reply New Topic

I agree the suspension was awesome, although I changed the springs and shocks out right away, lower and firmer. Too bad the engine couldn't match it. That's why I got the turbo now.

Cars I?ve driven and liked, Bmw 3 sports coupe, Impreza, Civic, Lexus is250... fun, fun, fun, Merc S class (wow), Bmw 5 and 7, Range Rover... comfort.
Fantasy/maybe someday, VW Scirocco, Mini John Cooper Works GP, Lotus Exige, Aston Martin db9, Audi r8, this is a never ending list...
I don?t look under the bonnet except for basic maintenance

I'd like to drive either an 3 series or an Altezza (Lexus IS). Not every day, but if I build a drift car both will be considered.

If I was restricted to a small car I'd get a Focus ST. There's one on display in my local shopping centre at the moment and it's noooiiice.
VW Scirocco's look good too, but that DSG transmission...... (which I heard is unreliable). Thankfully I'm not restricted to a small car so my next one is going to be a 5.1m long barge.

I'm not really knowledgeable about cars beyond what I've learned by lurking on auto forums and through my own shopping. I have learned a lot from a consumer perspective but I'm still clueless when it comes to mods and stuff.

Funeralxempire, yeah both those cars were a fun drive, steer & accelerate the car did the rest, stuck like glue to corners, stiff suspension, impressive tiptronic gearbox/thrilling 6 gear shift stick and the acceleration pinned me to the seat.
I?ve never drifted on purpose, more counter steer experiences, but understand the oversteer principle, do you practice it much, as in have access to a track/empty car park? It looks like good fun.
blue_bean I like the the Focus ST too, plus the RS despite the color options.
Also, just out of curiosity, does anyone hyperfocus when driving? I don?t know if that?s what I?m doing, but I almost feel like the car is an extension of me, nothing else exists.

the citroen ds is indeed the softest ride i have ever experienced in a car. my friend's father had one ( a 1968 model) when i was a child and i rode in the back seat of it once and it was astonishing. the rear seat was mostly very soft foam rubber (with no springs inside or vinyl covering), and i sank well into it and it hugged me comfortably. as he backed out of his driveway, i could feel no rumble or bumps at all, even though his driveway was very rocky and undulating.
the downside was that it had the least powerful engine i have ever experienced in a car, and when his father selected "drive" after backing on to the road, he floored it up the shallow gradient hill, and he kept it floored all the way, and the thing just ambled along with no push or urgency at all.

i owned 2 mercedes. my first one was a 1988 500 sel, and it was a very nice car, but i soon got a 560 SEL because i always wanted one. it was vastly superior to the 500 SEL.
it was a very smooth car and it had an exceptional poise about it that made it feel "chariot" like to ride in.
one could feel how extremely heavy the car was, yet marvel in the lightness of touch it took to manoeuvre it deftly in all manner of driving dynamics. the suspension was hydro-pneumatic and was a pain to maintain because few mechanics in australia were familiar with how to service it, and the ones that were charged exorbitantly.
however the ride was as plush as a cushion in a straight line, but once even the slightest body roll came into play around a corner, the suspension would jack up the pressure on the outer side (imperceptibly except for the progressive harshening of the ride on that side of the car), and the car would maintain a level stance through the corners to a surprising degree.
acceleration was very smart, but one had to push the pedal fairly firmly even to get the car to roll slowly away, and that gave it an initial impression of gutlessness to some of my friends who drove it, but it quickly becomes apparent that further pressure on the pedal rapidly results in a flooding surge of a launch to rapid speeds, and even more pressure results in a frightening scream of the engine in an emergency power application that pushes one back hard in the seat.

the seats were rather firm and not as comfortable as others i have ridden in, but they did not cause postural fatigue after many hours of sitting in them.

here is a video that shows some of the characteristics of the cars ride (the sound is boomy due to poor recording device) in a normal "town driving" setting. disregard my chattering and forgive the graininess of the clip. i hope the clip is not jerky in motion however because that is the most important aspect of the clip. the smoothness of ride.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSOUElKcdjA&list=UUpB1H594Ek2H_hWBxJ7ja7g[/youtube]

here is a clip of portion of a rapid drive into town which shows the cars characteristics at higher speeds. at the beginning of the clip i am going at about 40kph on a downhill ramp where upon i immediately depress the throttle to wide open for a small while before i have to repress myself and ease into the 100kph traffic in a sensible manner. i was rather late for an appointment at the time, but i nevertheless decided to film a few minutes of the trip.

(it is unfortunate that the microphone type is a condenser microphone which raises it's gain steadily in periods of silence and then makes the car sound like a hurricane is sweeping around it, but in reality it is almost totally silent inside the car except for the distant whirr of the engine when under hard acceleration.)

notice the brown car in front of me bouncing up and down in some road undulations whereas my car is only minimally affected.

part 1.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUdK2vJDcA0&index=89&list=UUpB1H594Ek2H_hWBxJ7ja7g[/youtube]
part 2.
after paying the toll, i set off again, this time only partially depressing the throttle (about .75 of the way) and i let the throttle off at 95 kph and then throttle up mildly again to 140 kph and idle along until i am on the straight where i press the throttle very mildly (about 1/2" (1.75cm)) and the car sidles up to about 160 kph in a languorous manner, and into town i went.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD_yqCWgLYc&index=88&list=UUpB1H594Ek2H_hWBxJ7ja7g[/youtube]

here is a flat out 0-170 kph speedo shot. i did not have any more room in front of me on that freeway to go faster.


i wish i had done some much faster clips of the car before i had to let it go.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3Lk0URbVIw&index=124&list=UUpB1H594Ek2H_hWBxJ7ja7g[/youtube]

I do this. It's part of why I find driving calming, nothing else in the world exists.

I am the opposite in that driving for me is a mission, one fraught with pitfalls and stress in general. I make a much better passenger.

I had my licence for years before I started city/urban driving, and I still get really anxious about it. If it?s an unfamiliar route my digestive system is in knots the whole time, it?s not relaxing, even with a GPS I get lost regularly, freak out and need to take breaks.

i have found that the best "GPS" is a nice friendly helpful passenger with a good map.

That would be more pleasant.

just as long as they didn't have any "suri" in them

Best Honda Civic is RWD Honda Civic.

I wonder how they managed to put a rear axle, drive shaft, and RWD transmission into a car that was never designed for any of that.

If I were to get a Honda, I would like a Del Sol. I have good memories racing that car in Gran Turismo 3. I would also be satisfied with an all original Honda CRX or even an NSX.

Did you see the whole video that still was taken from?

No, a V8 sometimes is the WRONG answer... The poor sap trying to pilot that POS spent more time doing donuts and sitting parked backwards offtrack...

It would be a handful for someone that KNEW what they were doing with a highly unbalanced dorifto machine..

>>LINK to the Youtube video.<<

I have always wanted to do the AWD swap. I did also entertain the idea of converting to electric. Hrmm, Super light AWD hatch that runs on batteries.. 100% torque from 0-RPM. Could be fun

Turbo K20 + AWD in a hatch looks like fun too, but I do not think it would all fit in a 3G.

Nope, I will have to stick with my 1300CC's of raw power, all 48HP of it. Though I think I will have a set of bike carbs and a manifold ready to go by spring.

Im happy with my 250 hp rwd V-8 police interceptor its cheap solid and a lot of fun! If I had the money I would convert my engine from SoHC to DoHC like a Maurader with an AEM air intake, chang my 3.55 gears with 4.10 gears and then add an intercooler and twin turbo along with full borla or magnaflow exhaust followed by a superchip. OMG *droool* Id be taking on Ferraris in that monster hehe! Heres one keeping up with a skyline! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9L9ktCfalM[/youtube]