The MW Automotive Thread Quattro SpecV

[Hiriyu]

Hills? What's a 'hills'?

I wish we had the kind of scenery vegas has to shoot pics at. Awesome pics vegas, nice car too!

BTW, great pics Dante. Looks like you had a good time there. Party on bro.

[Vegas]

Hills? What's a 'hills'?

I wish we had the kind of scenery vegas has to shoot pics at. Awesome pics vegas, nice car too!

well i wish we have those gran turismo cars here

[Vegas]

Vegas.. Does your hood not go down all the way? What's in there?

oh sorry i dont know, the car is not mine and i keep forgetting the owner to ask him that too

[reddsun1]

I Got an all acces pass to a race at the local track last weekend and though I'd share some pics.

The first one was already posted in the photography thread.

FIA-GT kicks a$$

As far as car fields go...

[emajnthis]

oh sorry i dont know, the car is not mine and i keep forgetting the owner to ask him that too

Intercooler on the front, so he either turbocharged the KA24DE or dropped an SR20DET in there, or if he had some real money he went with an RB series motor, but they're a lot more expensive and difficult to do. In any case, the hood shouldn't be raised like that (i've seen the RB swaps fit flush no problem), it's probably just a fitment issue or he didn't close it all the way.

Edited May 14, 2009 by emajnthis

[reddsun1]

Looks like the hood's raised more at the rear. Could just be a cheap/easy way to help evacuate hot air from the engine bay. AFAIK, Falcon owners down under used that trick a lot with their cars back in the day.

[Beltane70]

It always makes me sad to see people's 240SXs! Sad because I want one and can't afford to won 2 cars, as I definitely couldn't use a 240SX as a daily driver.

[chen]

The first car I ever drove was a red 89' 240SX and promptly drove into a ditch when going around a bend and hit a wet patch and the rear end came out on me, man I was 15 scared outta my mind and I just trashed my moms brand new car lol! She bought a 92' Maxima SE with the 190hp motor after which I rolled after doing 180km on a country road and hit black ice with a car full of people, last accident I've ever been in. Survived both without a scratch, she went on to buy another Maxima and then a Quest minivan, I guess she figured since I had a lead foot she either had a choice of keep buying Nissan's or a Abrams tank lol. By the way she drives a Altima now

[emajnthis]

I've loved the Nissan's i've owned, i've also fallen victim to the desire of owning a 240SX, i'm not in so much a pickle of not affording it as simply not having time for it. I would love to get an S13 240SX and then go all mad scientist on it.

Oh! to the unanswered question of the Mazda Speed3, that car is fantastic, they're fast out of the box but can be made faster and they're VERY practical. Only problem is they're FWD, so i hope you're used to torque steer, but even with FWD they still handle the curves really well. Ideally, it would've been great if Mazda put their 2.3 Turbo motor in a new SPEED Miata, or provided an AWD option for their 3 (since they discontinued the SPEED 6) but maybe they'll surprise us as the redesign gains some sales momentum. The best part of the 3 is getting this great package for a great price, you can pick up the speed3's for very reasonable prices (at least in my area), I say go for it... and attend some professional driving courses ;-)

Edited May 14, 2009 by emajnthis

[DJ Loe Kee]

^i want another 240sx. i had to sell my first one 'cause i was in college and i couldn't afford to get it running . i knew that it had a bad clutch when i bought it but the seller lied about it having a/c, power locks and windows (it was in florida and i had it shipped to me in texas). it's also needed a new clutch master cylinder and it had major electrical problems (the guy i sold it to emailed me and said what he had to fix in order to get it running again). the new owner was/is gonna put a rb series motor into it (i was just planning on dropping a s14's sr20det into it).

that's my slow ass corolla in the background.

what do you think of this? 10 cars that detroit should copy?

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_cont...it-should-copy/

Honda Fit

Volkswagen Tiguan

Infiniti EX

Honda Insight

Audi A4

Mazda MX-5

Volkswagen GTI

Hyundai Genesis

Mazda 5

Subaru Forester

i like the fit (too slow for men tho', i want a faster car), a4 and gti. they should add the wrx and evo to the list (and quit making all of their sports cars with v8's and bigger, speed plus somewhat good gas mileage ftw).

Edited May 15, 2009 by DJ Loe Kee

[chen]

I've loved the Nissan's i've owned, i've also fallen victim to the desire of owning a 240SX, i'm not in so much a pickle of not affording it as simply not having time for it. I would love to get an S13 240SX and then go all mad scientist on it.

Oh! to the unanswered question of the Mazda Speed3, that car is fantastic, they're fast out of the box but can be made faster and they're VERY practical. Only problem is they're FWD, so i hope you're used to torque steer, but even with FWD they still handle the curves really well. Ideally, it would've been great if Mazda put their 2.3 Turbo motor in a new SPEED Miata, or provided an AWD option for their 3 (since they discontinued the SPEED 6) but maybe they'll surprise us as the redesign gains some sales momentum. The best part of the 3 is getting this great package for a great price, you can pick up the speed3's for very reasonable prices (at least in my area), I say go for it... and attend some professional driving courses ;-)

Yeah if I had to choose to buy a Japanese car my first choice would be a Nissan. Maxima's have been like tanks and literally have saved my life and the old 300ZX Twin Turbo is STILL one of my all-time favorite cars with looks that still look modern.

As for the Speed3 yeah I'm pretty used to torque steer, I owned a 04' Monte Carlo SS with the supercharger that had torque steer up the wazoo plus living in Canada torque steer + snow = zero forward motion and going around corners it would understeer so much I became a snowplow lol. But yeah it would be nice if Mazda would spread the Speed treatment to other models but I fear in this economy the Speed3 is it for now and that's mostly because it has almost a cult following and IMHO is the true heir to the VW GTI legacy but I do have a bad feeling about RX-8 lasting much longer.

[chen]

^

what do you think of this? 10 cars that detroit should copy?

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_cont...it-should-copy/

Honda Fit

Volkswagen Tiguan

Infiniti EX

Honda Insight

Audi A4

Mazda MX-5

Volkswagen GTI

Hyundai Genesis

Mazda 5

Subaru Forester

i like the fit (too slow for men tho', i want a faster car), a4 and gti. they should add the wrx and evo to the list (and quit making all of their sports cars with v8's and bigger, speed plus somewhat good gas mileage ftw).

Honestly I think Detroit needs a car like the Fit and Insight, it already knows how to make good crossover's, suv's, minivans. The GTI and Miata sell in too few numbers and right now isn't worth it for Detroit while they already have cars that can compete and beat the A4 and Genesis. Hopefully the Chevy Volt and Caliber and those small cars from Chrysler and Ford (forget names) will help turn them around. Because if your a fan of the Domestics or not the Auto industry needs them.

[Beltane70]

As far as the 240SX goes, I should have bought a 1998 one when they were new and actually had the money to put a decent down payment on one. Then there was one that I passed up about 3 years ago because it was an automatic.

[emajnthis]

My brother is in the market to purchase a 89-93 as a project car. Him and I already made the list of things he has to do to it right away to make it a fun and acceptable ride and the list is pretty short:

Get rid of automatic seat belts/get better seats

Change out Rear Tail lights to the OEM JDM rear tail lights (it has a dual rear circles with center turn signal like 0|0 looks awesome)

Decide between turbocharging the KA24DE or dropping in an SR20DET or RB25DET

He's leaning towards the RB25DET swap since everyone does the SR20 and the turbo KA's, plus the RB block is invincible and the extra displacement is welcome. I'm going to wait five or so more years and then pick up an R32 GT-R since the 25 year rule will take effect and it will be considered an antique. I found the official way to work around the import problem, but it's a lot of hassle, paperwork, but most of all time, and i don't have a lot of the last one so i'm willing to be patient.

[DJ Loe Kee]

My brother is in the market to purchase a 89-93 as a project car. Him and I already made the list of things he has to do to it right away to make it a fun and acceptable ride and the list is pretty short:

Get rid of automatic seat belts/get better seats

Change out Rear Tail lights to the OEM JDM rear tail lights (it has a dual rear circles with center turn signal like 0|0 looks awesome)

Decide between turbocharging the KA24DE or dropping in an SR20DET or RB25DET

He's leaning towards the RB25DET swap since everyone does the SR20 and the turbo KA's, plus the RB block is invincible and the extra displacement is welcome. I'm going to wait five or so more years and then pick up an R32 GT-R since the 25 year rule will take effect and it will be considered an antique. I found the official way to work around the import problem, but it's a lot of hassle, paperwork, but most of all time, and i don't have a lot of the last one so i'm willing to be patient.

those are the kouki taillights that they used when they brought back the fastback for '96-'98 due to a high number of 180sx fastback fan requests (japan only).

a 1993 jdm 180sx.

http://www.batfa.com/offerofweek-180sx93.html

and a 1997 jdm 180sx

http://www.batfa.com/usedcar-180sx97silver.html

you can also get a kouki front lip spolier, rear lip spoiler and wing.

another '97

http://www.batfa.com/usedcar-180sx97white.html

my source

http://www.batfa.com/usedcar-nissan-180sx-stock.html

http://batfa.com

and here's some s15's that i can't import as a street legal car.

http://www.batfa.com/silvia2917103.html

http://www.batfa.com/usedcar-nissan-silvia-stock.html

[Vegas]

i miss my 240sx s14

yes we all drove s14's

Edited May 15, 2009 by Vegas

[VFTF1]

WARNING: The following is full of foul language, however, hopefully the mods will find it funny enough that I won't have to edit the foul language. If foul language offends you - I am sorry. Hopefully, you will laugh

BEGIN:

Graaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm studying for my driving exam. I have to go take the test on Weds. 18 questions out of 500 - randomly chosen.

Basically I have to memorize the answers to 500 fricking questions...

And no - it's not logical. It's not simple poo like "do you stop at a stop sign?"

It's assanine poo that MAKES NO fartING SENSE!!

Here's some examples:

QUESTION: If a person is unconscious after a car accident. Do you -

a) Shake him and ask "hey- what's wrong?"

b) slap him delicately in the face to see if it wakes him up

c) douse him with water?

The correct answer?...

Before I tell you - let me say that obviously - being an American - the FIRST thing that LOGICALLY enters my mind is "DON'T fartING TOUCH THE PERSON!!"

Because- hey - they could have spinal injuries - you're not a doctor - you don't have any knowledge - you could end up paralyzing them....

But clearly that isn't one of the options..

Douse them with water?

Well - poo - what if you don't have any water? So...I figured... that can't be the answer...

So...

I picked "slap him in the face" - thinking - poo - this has the least potential to do harm - although of course with back injuries or sprained necks - even the slightest movement could be fatal...

THE REAL ANSWER?

If you guessed A - YOU'RE RIGHT!!!

Yes - it's like taking your drivers exam in farting Borat Land!!!

The RIGHT ANSWER AND APPARENTLY LEGALLY OBLIGATORY THING TO DO is SHAKE THE fartING PERSON and say "hey, what's wrong?"

I'm not making this poo up guys - it's hilarious - but it's also just sooooooooooo stupid!!! I'm gonna have to turn my brain off to pass this exam...

Other brilliant farting examples:

Q: How do you try to re-animate a baby's heart?

a) with one hand

b) with two fingers

c) with one finger

Q: How do you try to re-animate a pre-schooler's heart?

a) with one hand

b) with two fingers?

c) with two hands?

....

There's a picture of a car driving on a three-lane road. All farting three lanes go STRAIGHT. THere are NO SIGNS anywhere indicating that the car can't be there...

The question is: This car is

a) breaking the law

b) should switch lanes to the farthest right lane

c) should switch lanes to the middle lane

ANSWER?

a) and b) together... WHY!?? What the fart law is it breaking!?!?

Or questions like this:

Q: If by chance you happen to take your foot off the gear pedal too early before pressing down on the break pedal then....

a) something something something which I don't give a frickin frack about because I drive automatics!!

b) something something something which I don't give a frickin frack about because I drive automatics!!

c) something something something which I don't give a frickin frack about because I drive automatics!!!

And there are like 600 farting road signs to remember - 590 of which don't make any farting sense whatsoever!!

Here's an example of some of them:

Now - granted - most of these signs are pretty self evident - although a couple of them are not...

But what is ANNOYING is that the questions to the signs are fartING STUPID!!

Take for example sign number A-11.

A-11 is a picture of two bumps in the road- right? Pretty straight forward - you see the sign - and you think - ok - un-even road, potholes - whatever...

But - the question is:

SIGN A-11 signals that:

a) Horizontal bumps in the road will appear

b) Vertical bumps in the road will appear

c) Man-Made bumps in the road will appear

And the correct answer is that HORIZONTAL bumps in the road will appear!!?!?

Why!??!

Because potholes ALWAYS go from left to right or right to left and NEVER straight ahead?!?

Is there a different sign for potholes that go straight ahead!??!

(and no- it's no A-11a - that's farting Man Made Speedbump!!)

Of course - my favorite is the sign or rather three different signs (not shown) which basically signal - NO PARKING IN FRONT OF THIS SIGN/NO PARKING BEYOND THIS SIGN/ NO PARKING IN FRONT OF OR BEYOND THIS SIGN.

For SOME farting reason - the sign that signals NO PARKING IN FRONT OF THIS SIGN ALSO suggests you CAN park in front of it "for under one minute."

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

There's absolutely nothing you can do except just memorize all 500 of these assanine idiotic questions and all of their god foresaken answers.

No point in even trying to think about what's going on.

Just remember folks - if you see a man sprawled in a pool of blood on the road in Poland - you MUST run up to him, shake him and say "are you ok!?"

Stupid wankers. They have all these crappy rules but not one damned highway in the whole country...

Pete

[areaseven]

Vorsteiner has a new carbon fiber bumper kit for the GT-R. The front fascia has larger air intakes for improved engine and brake cooling, while the rear bumper is designed to cool the exhaust system. Unlike other body kits, which are mass-produced, the Ventross kit is made-to-order per GT-R owner.

2009 Vorsteiner Ventross Nissan GT-R

[myk]

No point in even trying to think about what's going on.

Now you're talking...

[VFTF1]

I passed my drivers test! yippee!!

Now all I have to do is pass the actual driving test where you...er... drive But that should be a cake walk compared to the written exam which I ranted about a couple posts up.

Soon... I shall have a drivers license - and then - the galaxy will tremble before my power!

Pete

[Vostok 7]

There's a picture of a car driving on a three-lane road. All farting three lanes go STRAIGHT. THere are NO SIGNS anywhere indicating that the car can't be there...

The question is: This car is

a) breaking the law

b) should switch lanes to the farthest right lane

c) should switch lanes to the middle lane

ANSWER?

a) and b) together... WHY!?? What the fart law is it breaking!?!?

Um, maybe because in Europe and most everywhere else in the Civilized World it's illegal to drive in the left-most lane on a multi-lane highway unless you are actively passing?

Just a thought. I know the Germans are sticklers about that law especially.

I can understand the confusion since most of the US doesn't enforce it, but it is a law here too.

Vostok 7

[areaseven]

Ever since it was tested on Top Gear in 2004, the Ariel Atom has become the most badass machine on four wheels. Powered by a 2.0 liter Honda VTEC inline-4 (rated at 245 bhp standard or 300 bhp supercharged) and weighing only 1,400 lbs., the Atom does to Ferraris and Porsches what Manny Pacquiao did to Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. It does 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 2.7 seconds. And at $65,000, it's a bargain for an Supercar-killer.

2009 Ariel Atom

[VFTF1]

Um, maybe because in Europe and most everywhere else in the Civilized World it's illegal to drive in the left-most lane on a multi-lane highway unless you are actively passing?

From what I understand - it's not illegal. It's just a convention that those who want to go very fast drive on the left lane on a multi-lane highway, while those who prefer to go a tad slower drive on the right hand - and you generally aren't supposed to pass people coming in from their right -

But EVEN if you are right and it is a law - the picture (which, granted, I didn't post) shows only this ONE car on the multi-lane road (and it's not a highway because Poland has ZERO highways... well - ok - Poland has maybe 1 or 2 kilometers of "highway" ) - and no other cars.

So... who is he supposed to be "actively passing" ? What if you're alone on the multi-lane road on this picture ?

In any event - it's assanine and stupid.

I passed my exam today - and honest to God I don't even remember the questions. The exam did nothing to teach me about driving - in fact - it could actually make people worse drivers because they will start doubting their common sense instincts and having second thoughts about everything. Pesonally I think drivers licenses ought not be required and are an infringement on personal freedom. But IF we must have them then I prefer the way the exams were done in the USA from what I'm doing here in Europe - it takes like a year to compete everything...30 hours of practice driving... a couple months of courses (I took a "speed" course in one weekend - 9 hours a day of mind-numbing idiocy. A movie about people who were given whiskey, vodka and other booze and then put into cars on a crash course to "demonstrate" the ill effects of being smashed) - oh - and all of the lessons always refer to a) cars with stick shift - which I don't drive and don't wanna drive and therefore don't care about and don't need to know about and b) ALWAYS refer to old technology.

Things like anti-lock breaks, cruise control - these things don't exist in the courses because they are using material from the 70s and 80s when Poland had like no cars at all except for some crappy ones.

In any event - I also find it highly dubious that we are expected to learn all these rules and abide by them - but the people who make the rules can give us roads with potholes, idiotic logistical arrangements, crumbling infrastructure in general and - in the case of at least this country - no highways.

In short: I'm expected to know 500 traffic rules - but the guys who write the rules get away with doing nothing to improve infrastructure. But then again - I'm not surprised. That's usually the standard MO for states.

Still - happy I passed. Uff.. What a relief! One more to go - June 2nd - and then...then...

then I get to wait one month while they actually print the stupid license....so I'll have it in hand by...July? Hopefully.

Pete

[areaseven]

Last year, Volkswagen released its newly-resurrected Scirocco sport compact. Unfortunately, VW has absolutely no plans to release it in the U.S., as they fear it will cannibalize sales of the GTi. Pretty shameful, as majority of the first-generation Scirocco's sales were stateside.

Now, VW has unveiled its high-performance version of the Scirocco at the Nürburgring, based on the race-spec Scirocco GT24. The turbocharged 2.0 liter TSI inline-4 generates 261 bhp and 258 lb-ft torque. Perhaps VW should reconsider bringing it to the U.S.

2009 Volkswagen Scirocco R

[Hiriyu]

I have to say that I like the interior of the Scirocco posted above. It appears very "old-school" Teutonic in nature. Not a big VW fan, but I have to give them props.

[Smiley424]

The Scirocco is pretty sweet looking. The GTI and R32 are pretty meh looking to me.

[areaseven]

When Chris Bangle left BMW's design studios, it was believed that he took his ugly stick with him. Unfortunately, that is not the case for BMW's latest iteration of the 5 Series. Hell, it might beat the Porsche Panamera for Ugliest Car of the Year.

2009 BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo

[Chowser]

I agree, 5-Series Gran Turismo, sucks.

I was planning on getting a 535 next because my 325xi is too small, and was waiting for pics/specs on the GT. I will probably wait to see more pics of the other 2010 5-series before I decide to get one.

I just don't get the hatchback 5...

[chen]

I see no reason for this car to exist, if I wanted more cargo room I'd get a 5 station wagon, if I wanted a SUV I'd get a X5 or even a X6. But right now BMW is turning into a German Toyota with all these crossovers/SUV's/SAV's whatever and slicing a diminishing market even thinner. They should have spent the money and made a 5 series coupe to compete with the new E-class coupe, I know they have the 6 series but I personally think those cars are hideous and reminds me of a German Monte Carlo, big on the outside, tiny on the inside, and really no point to it other than a design exercise. At least BMW interiors are getting better and that Twin Turbo V8 is a real masterpiece.

[emajnthis]

I see no reason for this car to exist, if I wanted more cargo room I'd get a 5 station wagon, if I wanted a SUV I'd get a X5 or even a X6. But right now BMW is turning into a German Toyota with all these crossovers/SUV's/SAV's whatever and slicing a diminishing market even thinner. They should have spent the money and made a 5 series coupe to compete with the new E-class coupe, I know they have the 6 series but I personally think those cars are hideous and reminds me of a German Monte Carlo, big on the outside, tiny on the inside, and really no point to it other than a design exercise. At least BMW interiors are getting better and that Twin Turbo V8 is a real masterpiece.

agreed, their cars are getting uglier with each generation while their motors are becoming works of art

[areaseven]

Has anyone here been following F1 lately? Where did this Brawn GP team come from? I mean, they used to be the Honda Racing Team, which was always among the bottom of the F1 Manufacturer's standings. Yet despite not having as many sponsors as everyone else, Brawn GP is kicking everyone else's asses this season - including McLaren-Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. The team's already boosted the careers of Jenson Button (current leader, finished 18th last year) and Rubens Barrichello (2nd in points, was 14th last year and had always played second-fiddle to Schumacher while with Ferrari). How did they do it?

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

Has anyone here been following F1 lately? Where did this Brawn GP team come from? I mean, they used to be the Honda Racing Team, which was always among the bottom of the F1 Manufacturer's standings. Yet despite not having as many sponsors as everyone else, Brawn GP is kicking everyone else's asses this season - including McLaren-Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. The team's already boosted the careers of Jenson Button (current leader, finished 18th last year) and Rubens Barrichello (2nd in points, was 14th last year and had always played second-fiddle to Schumacher while with Ferrari). How did they do it?

Apparantly, it is due to the incessant tweaking of the 1001 rules for F1 almost every other year.

Last season, while Mclaren and Ferrari were dominating, Honda/Brawn decided that they had no hope against the big boys and focused their efforts on improving this season's car. This season supposedly had very different technical rules on the cars so Mclaren and Ferrari had to overhaul almost everything from their last seasons car.

I wonder if Honda is kicking their own arse now for pulling out now?

[areaseven]

Apparantly, it is due to the incessant tweaking of the 1001 rules for F1 almost every other year.

Last season, while Mclaren and Ferrari were dominating, Honda/Brawn decided that they had no hope against the big boys and focused their efforts on improving this season's car. This season supposedly had very different technical rules on the cars so Mclaren and Ferrari had to overhaul almost everything from their last seasons car.

I wonder if Honda is kicking their own arse now for pulling out now?

Right when we started this discussion, Brawn GP did it again. Button and Barrichello finished 1-2 at Monaco - formerly McLaren and Ferrari territory. And yeah, Honda's execs are banging their heads on the wall by now. But then again, perhaps the Mercedes-Benz engines are also a factor to Brawn GP's winning edge. If Honda did stick around, how would their motors perform this season?

[areaseven]

Meanwhile, in other motorsports news:

Helio Castroneves wins his third Indy 500. In case anyone still cares, Danica Patrick finished third.

Coming up: the Coca-Cola 600 (as soon as the rain dries up at noon).

[Agent ONE]

Worst 5 Series ever.