What kind of car/truck/motorcycle do you have or want?

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not really all that cheap, either. i've never even seen that kind of money much less had anything close to it. but if i WAS rich, i'd prefer a spaceship.

Woohoo I found a topic I can REALLY enjoy

First of all, let me say I don't really like motorcycles....I do but you honestly have to have a deathwish to drive them on public roads at least in Florida. The statistics aren't that great either....8x more likely to die and they are HOW much faster than my dream cars?

I personally drive a 1994 Nissan Maxima GXE. Stripped down as far as I can (2nd lightest known Maxima). There are cars out there that have tens of thousands of dollars invested in them that see more racing than my car does but they don't have my meticulous attention to detail reducing their weight to nearly nothing.
Old picture (click)
Engine bay picture
Plans (money permitting) include a NOS sniper kit, rear disc brakes, full 2.5" exhaust, wider tires (from 205 to 235 width), 17" aftermarket wheels, 4 piston aluminum 300ZX TT front brake calipers, 5 speed transmission (maybe 6 speed if I get my engine swap), VQ30DE or VQ35DE engine swap, racing seats, etc.
Goals: 40+mpg and 12.00- 1/4 mile

I want (for my dedicated drag car) a Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX / Eagle Talon TSI. Plans for it would involve a bigger turbo, 10.00- second 1/4 mile, etc. Lots of money would be required since the drivetrain would be damned with the kind of power I'd be putting down.
Picture

If I ever get rid of my Maxima (which if I did it would likely end up getting passed down to whichever of my brothers appreciates it more) I'd be getting...
1992-1995 Honda Civic Hatchback
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Plans would include similar goals speedwise to my Maxima using a B16A2 engine.

1990-1996 Nissan 300ZX
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Plans for this one would involve a complete drivetrain swap out of a 350Z, plus an extra 300-400hp for good measure. This would be my show car, pride and joy, etc. The thing I would use to rub in my dad's face that I know my way around a car.

2003-2004 Infiniti G35 Coupe
Picture
This would be my "luxury" cruiser, and also one of the few cars I wouldn't have any desire to tear the engine out of cause it already has the VQ35DE. However I would IMMEDIATELY get the front seats ripped out and replaced with cloth racing seats cause I hate leather with a passion

Other cars that I wouldn't mind having include (but are not limited to, sadly)
First Generation Lexus GS300
1995 Nissan 240SX (w/ VQ35DE)
Honda Del Sol VTEC
E46 BMW M3 CSL
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
97-04 Chevrolet Corvette
74 Chevrolet Corvette (w/04 engine & transmission)
80s Toyota MR2
90s Toyota MR2
Pontiac Fiero GT
Pontiac Firebird Trans Am WS6
93 Mazda RX-7 (w/ Corvette engine & transmission)

Last edited by Pistonhead on 27 Jun 2010, 6:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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I have a 1991 Chevy Camaro RS convertible. (305ci V8, 4-speed auto)

In retrospect I would not have bought it due to maintenance issues that ended up putting the overall cost way over what I was wanting to spend on a car. (Moral: If you're buying a nearly 20-year-old car, expect to pay much more than what you're buying it for). But now that it's how it should be, it is worth what's been put into it and I'm glad it's mine.

My Camaro just about does it for me as far as cool, reasonably powerful cars, so my "want" would probably be a small pickup for going places and hauling things that my car doesn't allow. My girlfriend is considering buying one at some point to replace her car, so that will work well for both of us.

Edit:

CHARLES!! ! Good to see you on here, I was surprised when I saw that familiar screen name.

Not really... I accumulated all those vehicles over the past 15 years, and just keep them in good shape. Since the cars and street bikes are all over 25 years old, the insurance is only $48 each per year for full coverage as collector vehicles, and they upkeep is my hobby so I don't have to pay anybody to do it. Bottom line is that I probably paid less for that whole collection, than buying one new Toyota truck.

I buy them in crappy condition. The Camry, I bought non-running for $150 with a smashed fender, and the red truck I got on eBay with a blown engine. And the Cadillac was all run-down with the interior all ripped up, etc for $800. I got another Eldorado with a perfect interior, but had flunked inspection, for $350 and swapped over the whole interior.

Charles

This is a "before" picture of the little red truck:




Good to see you here too! I haven't seen you lately on the Siren Board... I wonder if Adam P. is here?

i like the old rolls royce's for style.
they are the most beautiful cars in my mind.
i like the 1972 rolls royce silver shadow.
it is gorgeously crafted.

there is no better looking car than this in my simple mind.

anyway, i have a mercedes 560 sel, andi like it. it was very expensive when it was made, but i bought it for $24,000 about 7 years ago. when it was made it cost about $225,000.




some people may be thinking "what a w*ker" but i posted these pictures for the car buffs, and not for the general forum population.
the car buffs may also think it is crap but that is ok.

anyway, it is a 5.6 litre V8, and it is exceptionally powerful, and i bought it for it's smoothness of ride as well as it's engine performance.
it has a pneumatic stabilization system in the suspension, so it remains level even in tight corners at high speed, but it is also feather smooth and has a "boulevarde" type of ride. it is very heavy, but it is well poised.

here is a video of the takeoff performance.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3Lk0URbVIw[/youtube]

here is a video of a 160 kmh (100 mph) trip on a road to an appointment.
it is so easy to go that speed in that car.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD_yqCWgLYc[/youtube]

i wish i could say i could drive such a car. such luxury. the muted engine growl is so refined. i want one. maybe in the next life i'll be rich enough for one.

You'd hate my car lol
this is a video of one of my races (please excuse me and my overly excited girlfriend's language)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Qm4f45QpY[/youtube]

Yeah I got beat pretty good, that's what happens when you race a guy with 300-400hp in a car with half that. But I launch like a bat out of hell and have and will smoke a stock Mustang, even a GT if it's of similar vintage.

[quote="PistonheadYou'd hate my car lol this is a video of one of my races (please excuse me and my overly excited girlfriend's language)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Qm4f45QpY[/youtube]

Yeah I got beat pretty good, that's what happens when you race a guy with 300-400hp in a car with half that. But I launch like a bat out of hell and have and will smoke a stock Mustang, even a GT if it's of similar vintage.[/quote]

speed racer, YOU!

That track looks wet.

Nope completely dry, covered in a decent layer of VHT and burned rubber as most drag strips are. No way I could launch that hard wet. I have experience with torque steer.....yeah driving in Florida in the summer sucks. Hit the gas at a stop sign and your car pulls to the right because the road is wet, I did that so many times I can actually drive the car straight while it's torque steering because the steering correction angle is embedded in my brain.

Whether the VHT has any reflective properties I don't know, here's the wikipedia entry for the stuff.
Wikipedia
probably does, it is a resin and I've seen epoxy reflect light.

The time I went to the track before that though it was awful. Track had been underwater a week before and chunks of the track were loose and you could hear them pounding the wheel wells and undercarriage. Car was noticeably slower, launch was worse than you'd expect on an old cracked public road. There was a guy there who's car can do 9.50 or so and it was lucky to do 10.78

B9 - Nice Benz. What year is it? I came very close to buying a 600 SEL a decade or so ago, but decided not to. I was very concerned about repair costs. Do you do your own work?

Pistonhead - If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious why you choose FWD imports for drag racing? I understand that it is challenging to take something which is not particularly fast, and make it fast. It's common knowledge, tho, that there are domestics which offer a better platform to work with (RWD rather than FWD), and that you can usually get a better "bang for the buck" with them: IE, it cost less to get the same increase in performance.

Even if you simply "just like" the imports better, why not work with a platform that is better suited - that is to say, RWD, so there is no torque steer, and so that the weight transfer doesn't work against you? I used to have a '93 Lexus LS400, and I always thought it would be interesting and fun to swap in a turbo Supra motor. Something like that might fill all your "needs": Import, but RWD, a motor with readily available parts to reach pretty much any power level you want, and (with that much power) you could actually KEEP the creature comforts that make a car enjoyable to be in when you're stuck in traffic on I-4.

Might be something you can't really explain, and that's cool. It's just something I've never understood about the import scene, but if you try to ask somebody IRL, it generally just turns into domestic-bashing, or they think you're hating on imports.

it is very luxurious, but it is not very expensive these days. i think you would be able to get one now for about $5000 US.

anyone who wants a mercedes for status is certainly not going to get an old one like mine.
the performance is stunning, but those type of cars were never known for their performance, so they have no reputation. no one wants them so they are cheap, but it will easily outpace a muscle car at top speed, and it will keep close by to them on the takeoff, so they are an extreme bargain in my opinion.

no one will race me off at the lights because they would think i have no chance of keeping with them. they think it is a geriatrics type of car.

it would be fun if i was 80, and for some reason some young guy got on the inside lane at the lights in his GM V8, and had to accelerate in front of me to get into my lane before a parked car, and said to his girlfriend "i'll just blow pop off and get in front of him". i would floor it and he would not be able to do it. i would also pretend that i am reading the newspaper while i am driving, and that i had not noticed him revving his car beside me.

it is a 1991 model. it is also a euro spec which means it has no emission controls that the US imposed in it's imports. the US ones are disappointingly reduced in performance, and they also have different headlights, and protruding bumpers which detract from the aesthetic look of the car.

no, i do not work on it myself. it is horribly complicated and there are pipes everywhere, and the engine is so large that i could not get my hands down the sides between the engine and the engine bay.

as you can see, to get to anything, you have to take everything else off, and i have not the tools or the time.

they are expensive to repair, but i have had no problems with it yet.
they say that a part for a mercedes (when they were designed by engineers and not by marketers) costs twice what a similar part for GM or ford would cost, but they last 4 times as long.

i have been told and read that the engine and body should last for 1 million km before they are not worth fixing.


here is another car i would like



it is called the "bluebird" and it reached 440mph.

I'm open minded. My main issue is fuel economy. You can buy a car off a dealer lot that runs 12s and gets 12 mpg or you can buy one that runs 20s and gets 40mpg. You can't find a car that gets 35mpg and is in the process of being modified for more while being modified for more speed like mine.

FWD is a limitation, but there are less drivetrain losses than RWD or especially AWD. Ideally the best compromise would be a mid-rear layout but that's just wrong for a 4 door car. If you look at import drag racing there are 9 second Honda Civics out there, I have personally watched a Central Florida Turbo built Civic run 9 seconds easily, on a good day I think it could have ran 8s. Handling is my main enemy with a FWD car, but I figure it's probably better than me shredding through tires intentionally oversteering.

There are also RWD imports: Nissan 240SXs, Nissan 300ZXs, Nissan 350Zs, Mazda RX-7s, Mazda RX-8s, Toyota Supras, etc. Domestics aren't as great as they are cracked up to be. Foxbody Mustangs for example may have the advantage of a solid rear axle and 5L of displacement but head flow is crap. You'd be lucky to get as much out of a 5.0 as you would a 240SX's KA24DE.

If you want to know a big domestic secret here it is: Cadillac 500ci. This motor currently holds the gasoline powered land speed record. Relatively easy to acquire compared to all the fancy pants GM/Ford crate motors and what not and if you can find the parts for it it will roar. It also will suck down gas, not to mention they way a ton as do most domestic engines prior to the LS1.

I actually USED to like turbos and have an account on one of my favorite car forums under the name "turbodreams" but the thing about turbocharged motors especially Toyotas is they emphasize the wrong things for my goals. Turbos require a spool time, you also have to have a lower static compression ratio. Right now I have stock 9:1 compression which is actually low enough that I could put a turbo on my car give it 1 bar of boost and have 400hp easily on pump gas. However I'm planning on swapping in a VQ35DE money permitting which has around an 11:1 compression ratio, this and turbocharging would end up in detonation and the associated destroyed pistons and rods. High compression ratio is why diesels can be so much more fuel efficient than gas engines, where a typical gas engine these days is 10-11:1 a typical diesel is 16+:1 from what I know, I've even heard of 20:1. The way I see it a turbo engine is inefficient out of boost and even more inefficient in boost. Back to spool, I like my instant power. If I can make my horsepower goals without a turbo, I will.

I actually don't like creature comforts (especially not when I have to pay money to fix them). I am looking into removing my power steering now just because it would be one less thing robbing power from my crankshaft and because I might have a bad pulley bearing. I'm comfortable in 100 degree whether with nothing more than my blower going

Fuel economy for domestics is not anywhere near as bad as some think. Can't say I'm up to speed on the latest ones, but the previous generation Camaros/Ta's, with the LS1 motor, regularly pulled low 13's, some 12's, off the dealer floor - while also getting 30 or more MPG. A couple of free mods + a CAI, coupled with an aggressive weight-reduction effort, and you could have one in the low 11s or high 10's - without hurting your mileage OR turning it into a hand grenade. That's pretty hard to beat. You must admit that, while it may be possible, it's extremely difficult to manage that kind of performance AND that gas mileage in an import (or a domestic, for that matter) - most cars that run those kind of numbers are so tweaked for performance that the mpg is horrible, regardless of the engine size.

Re: Caddy 500: "horsepower is for bragging, torque wins races," and Daaaaaamn that thing has torque for DAYS! Abysmal mileage, though.

As far as turbo lag is concerned, why not a Whipple supercharger to give the low rpm boost, and a turbo for higher rpms? It's been done before with VERY impressive results. Difficult to set up, though - tuning's a right b!tch, from what I hear. You also comment on turbos being inefficient. I'm not sure I entirely agree with this - although I may not be looking at "efficiency" the same way you are. Using the exhaust to drive the intake compressor seems quite elegant, but it isn't particularly suitable for drag racing. More appropriate in road races/rallies, where you can keep the motor in a high-revving sweet spot all the time, I'd say.

You might want to look into turbodiesels, too. They have the torque to get you off the line impressively, and the turbo keeps the momentum going when you get the revs up. Most of what you find nowadays are trucks, though, and the mileage is pretty close to that caddy motor. You seem to like a challenge though! Maybe find a smaller diesel, and add a turbo yourself?

What I would like changes day to day,but right now I think It woulld be cool to
build a model A sedan or a 27 model T sedan. Probably power it with a big block
chev and some type of four or five speed standard.
I have always liked the colour Kelly green
For suspention I would use a 46 to 48 front axle with the buggy spring
Oh old cars have been my main obsesstion since I fininaly realised I
could never own a railway with a mess of locomotives