emajnthis

I just watched the first five episodes of M7 and i'm wondering why the mecha scenes are so poor yet the character scenes are so well done. It's almost as if they were done by two completely different studios it's like night and day. I am really not a fan of the guitar flying deal already, and the animation as a whole is fairly poor, but i'll reserve judgement for when i complete the entire series.

I could be wrong, but from what i'm aware of Nissan is partners with Renault not under any kind of ownership. Because Carlos Ghosn is still the head CEO of Nissan and (since he pulled Nissan out of the hole and back on top) has a LOT of swing with where the company goes. Plus i dont' think Renault is big enough to actually buy out Nissan even if they wanted to.

Bentley is a part of VW that was acquired from BMW several years ago. VW is one of the hugest and richest automakers in the world (hence why they can lose millions on making and selling the Veyron) and have a long list of companies affiliated which include: Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Bugatti. Other companies that are under an "Umbrella" so to speak would be BMW, Mini, Rolls Royce Fiat, Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo Ford, Jaguar, Lincoln-Mercury, Aston Martin, Mazda, Land Rover, Volvo Dodge, Chrysler, Mercedes, Jeep GM: too many to list, anything in America that isn't under Ford and Chrysler, plus they have Opel and Holden, and recently lost a stake hold in Subaru and i think they lost their stake hold in Lotus awhile back too. The Japanese companies are usually pretty easy: Toyota, Scion, Lexus Nissan, Renault, Infiniti, Honda, Acura Toyota has their hands in a little bit of every company, especially smaller up starts like Lotus, and they are usually responsible behind Hybrid projects for most companies (with the exception of American companies, and soon a few other Japanese automakers plan to develop their own Hybrid technology). I know there are a lot more Umbrella companies but thats what i could come up with off the top of my head, i forgot who owns all of the French companies (peugot, Citroen) but frankly who really cares.

VW/Audi make really awesome high performance Diesels (look at LM and you'll see what i mean) but I'm not sure how people would feel about putting an overengineered German motor in an American muscle car. I think for the most part it would just be more hassle than it's worth, but maybe when the models start to show age it won't be so far fetched. As for the Challenger, Dodge shows a distinct history of overpricing their hemi vehicles at least 5 grand over comparable vehicles. You can be sure the Challenger will be at least 45-50 otherwise they'll be cannibalizing on their Viper sales. GT500 is a great car, but i just got the latest road and Track, and the Rousch Stage 3 chimes in at 48k (delivered and fully equipped) with the same 0-60, .3 second slower quarter mile, but totally dumps on the GT500 on the track with a MUCH higher Slalom speed and almost 1g skidpad.

I love frameless doors, it's such a small thing, but it means a lot to me. Car looks great, the only thing that worries me is that it's a Dodge, so it will probably perform better but cost about 6 grand more than anything in it's class.

It's cool, but the RUF Cayman Kompressor is waay better at the same price (same 3.8liter flat but the RUF is supercharged), running times equivalent to the 911 Turbo.

The VF-2SS is a sleek design, and for the most part would not require a lot of engineering to transfer into a toy. I can imagine the VF-4 would require quite a bit of tooling to get proper proportions. Other than that, i think bad guys (power armor, regult, glaug) would be great since there are really none of those in toy form (from any company).

I don't think an automatic will do you much good in drifting; for one you can't use the heal toe method to power the wheels loose (well, i guess you could but it'd be a LOT less predictable) and if you're going to drift with your e-brake, then be prepared to replace the lines every couple track days. 500hp sounds like a lot, but considering the weight of the vehicle, it's really not as much power/weight wise as you'd imagine. Just look at the D1 vehicles and that'll give you an idea of the power to weight required for track drifting (350Z's, Mustangs, Silvia's, all have between 350 and 450hp but also weigh in at no more than 3000lbs). Don't take anything i say the wrong way, i would just hate for you to invest tons of money into a vehicle that is not going to suit your needs.

The car has a solid rear? Uh, have fun fighting to control that. 412301[/snapback] Actually I have no idea if it does or not, he did not specify what model or year of Chrysler he has. For drifting solid rears do quite well, just look at the Drift Mustangs. I did however read an article lately where for the American market, M3's make wonderful drift cars (since we don't get any of the good japanese cars... yet).

For drifting definitely go with 17's; Power to break the wheels is great, but it would work GREATLY in your favor if you had skinnier taller tires to throw around a solid rear. If you look around you can get a nice pair of 17's with rubber for $5-600 dollars shipped (at least that's the price i was able to find most recently).

You'd be surprised how well Wagons (old or new) do at the drag strip since that little bit of extra weight in the back helps keep the tires planted (which is why a lot of RWD sports cars are fast backs, so the glass and trunk provide more weight).

I think sleepers are dumb if your original plot was to make a sleeper, but people who end up putting a killer motor in what they got because it's cheap and effective (like the people who put turbo motors in their 80's volvos) is respectable. In regards to American sleepers, pretty much any high displacement V8 powered junker from the 60's and 70's is a "sleeper", and only the ignorant would not realize that they're fast.

because the trailers are raw footage it makes it look kind of cheesy but i'm sure the finished product will be a good popcorn flick. Good choice of cars, but my heart will sink everytime one of them gets hurt (there goes half a million dollars, oops i mean a million, err two million, sigh...).

more feasibly people jam V8's into 180/240SX, RX-7's and especially the old 240/80Z's and turn them into great machines (American motor into Japanese Chassis) i don't understand how doing the opposite is blasphemous. Furthermore, the RB26 posted way better times than the V8 Winsor with less HP, how can anyone with eyes argue with numbers? And the motor at 340hp is virtually stock, those motors are known to get in the upwards of 600 with ease on just bolt ons. It probably has a way better offset in weight with the Inline 6 also, so it'll probably hold better on a track for that matter.

I thought it was a great hybrid, the old 67 were light and the Winsor V8's (as you could see by the posted times) are heavy, even with the offset of horsepower. The RB26 as yellowlightman said is an amazing motor (more amazing than people realize or want to admit) which can pull a 3400lb car to sub 13 quarter miles with simple bolt on mods or in most cases, stock with a little tuning. I don't understand why people make such a fuss over success; stop being haters and start appreciating what motorsports is all about, or be more proactive and build a better car.

What could you possibly make it? You have Mazda for the Japanese market, Ford for the joe shmoe market, Lincoln for the luxury market, Jaguar for the high end luxury market, and Land Rover for the high end SUV Luxury market, then you got Aston Martin for the Footballer market. Mercury is selling grand marquis but only because they mark them down so much that they're in the joe schmoe category as opposed to the midsize luxury they're suppose to be in. Back when high end features differentiated Mercury and Ford, i could understand Mercury having a proper and much needed existence, but with Ford's recent acquisition of so many different brands to take its place, they're just eating up space, and cannibalising on Ford's own sales. Mercury and Jaguar are losing Ford serious money; if one of them were to be removed, that would allow Ford to focus their resources on one of the divisions to really bring it where it needs to be.

I think Ford should just cut Mercury all together. Mercury is losing Ford money and continues to be a thorn in their side. Ford also needs to start pumping up Jaguar the same way GM did with Cadillac, get some realy innovation into the brand. It seems like all Ford is using jaguar for is R&D.

great minds think alike I had the opportunity to purchase an old Datsun Z, even had my parts list ready, but the deal fell through. I would have loved to stuff an all aluminum 350 in it.

same, a third season would have been great.

To be fair to zee Americans, they rely heavily on their "luxury" counterparts to fulfill the V8 RWD sedan field (GM:Cadillac STS-V CTS-V, Ford:Jaguar SType R XJR). Not only are they V8 RWD, but the V and R for their respective companies are supercharged (or large displacement) and pull 0-60 in under 5 seconds.

looked a little too convenient to me; it was probably an insurance scam. If they had a fire extinguisher and didn't use it until the car was half way engulfed then obviously somethings wrong. If it is real they should have at least tried to smother the fire out, use dirt, or anything you can find, don't just stand their with your thumb up your A** with a camera.

Can't use the IRL V8, that's a purpose built 3.0liter V8 for Indy racing; that'd be like putting a Ferrari motor in your Honda. They're also built with parts that are meant to be replaced after each race, so really it's not economical which would put Honda's reputation at stake. The engineering involved in making an IRL V8 and a reliable sedan or truck V8 are completely different. Plus i don't think they make the V8's anymore, I thought Cosworth is doing that again. Also to fix a previous error, the new RL motor is the J35, not the C35, i got them mixed up (J motor is 60 degrees, C is 90).

The biggest motors they have are their C35 and J35 3.5liter V6's; the V10 is performance related, so definitely won't find its way into a run of the mill truck or SUV. They really need a well balanced V8 btwn 4 and 5 liters to really break into the Large Sedan/Truck Market. What doesn't make sense to me, is that Honda is one of the number 1 engine suppliers in the world, and yet can't come up with a V8 for their RL (at which time they can start using the C35 for the TL, and use the 3.2 in the TSX) and a larger torque V8 for a full size truck. A well engineered V8 could really help Honda progress further outside of the cracker box economic genre of vehicles.

Replacing H's with bent H's isn't the issue, it's the fact that Honda has no V8 to help lead its Luxury brand. Name any serious luxury brand on the market that doesn't have a V8 sedan to head their line up. Furthermore, Honda has two V6's built off the same platform, both of which are not class leading, and then a whole bunch of awesome Inline 4's, but there is no way anyone would take a luxury brand seriously with Inline 4 powerplants. For the sake of future success in the luxury market, Honda needs to create a V8 with some serious engineering involved before they can even have a real presence in the luxury market. To put some perspective on it, even Hyundai has a 4.6liter V8 that they plan to put into motion in their future vehicles; Honda really needs to kick it in the ass, an H and bent H can only carry a company so far before people realize they're getting shafted.

Acura's lineup is too small and stale to bring global recognition (realistically they only have the TL and RL, the NSX is more world renkown as a Honda, same with the RSX), they really need to develop more motors (V8 anyone?), and then start coming up with more than just leather and wood trim to distinguish their economy brand from their "luxury" brand. Also a bit OT, but did anyone see the Qualifying for Monaco, and how Schumacher totally cheated? I guess it's poetic justice that Renault ended up winning anyway.