rotorhead Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 Re: RX-7 To me, the RX-7 was originally the embodiment of fun, sporty, simple, light, and inexpensive. It was the everyman sports car. Each redesign took something from that. They were all great in their own ways, but lost a bit of that carefree 1st gens spirit in the name of bigger, better, faster. That also meant more expensive. That said, I look at the Miata as the continuation of that same spirit. It is all of those things I found endearing about the SA/FB, and I would love to have one some day. I guess were it up to me, I would've named the FC and FD as the RX-8 and RX-9 respectively, and yes, each were fantastic in their own right. When I said to rotorize a Miata, it wasn't meant literally. Perhaps a factory made hatch powered by a rotary sharing components of the Miata. Hot hatches are still popular, hence the success of the BRZ/FRS. My belief is that Mazda could it better. Quote
SchizophrenicMC Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 The Subuyota BR86 isn't a hatch. It has a trunk like any 3-box. Also I think the ND chassis is frankly too small to turn into much else. Of course, that might be Mazda's takeaway from the Toyota-Skyactiv deal. We'll see what happens. As for the RX-7, I had an FC. That's the most basic car I've owned. Naturally aspirated, manual everything (down to the steering), 143bhp. It was not any faster than an SA22C/FB, but it did out-handle and inspire more smiles than the FB did for me. And it truly felt like an extension of RX-7, and not a new kind of car. I can't claim to have driven an FD, but everyone I've spoke to who has, says it's an even more back-to-basics ultralight performer than the FC was. I should also mention that my FC was something like $14k new. Hardly more expensive than the SA/FB. Now, sure, the TurboII and GL existed, but those weren't the basic car. And the jump from FB to FC to FD wasn't nearly as big as any of the RX-number jumps. RX-4 was a Luce with a rotary engine and RX-5 was either Cosmo or REPU depending on your market. RX-3 was a Familia Rotary, and RX-8 was a 4-door 4-seat sport gran coupe. FB, FC, and FD were all consecutive iterations of a dedicated sport fastback. Of course, the RX-VISION represents a car separated from the RX-7 by another model, and 25 years of development. There's no way it could be an RX-7, and there's no reason it should try to be. Quote
areaseven Posted November 3, 2015 Author Posted November 3, 2015 One of the most unscientific comparisons between two performance cars. Quote
spanner Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Sensational Sauber Mercedes C11 in action! Skip to around 1:40 to where the action begins and then just soak in that sweet engine roar! Quote
spanner Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Enjoy a lap onboard the Sauber C11 at Lemans! Quote
spanner Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 This has most likely been posted before but definitely deserves a re-post! Mazda 787B at Lemans.. You're welcome! Quote
spanner Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo awesomeness! In car footage starts about 5:35.. Quote
reddsun1 Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 (edited) Swear to God; I'm pretty sure there's a Camaro in this picture... Edited November 5, 2015 by reddsun1 Quote
spanner Posted November 7, 2015 Posted November 7, 2015 (edited) De Tomaso Mangusta Great V8 Sound On Hillclimb - Crank up the volume! Edited November 7, 2015 by spanner76 Quote
areaseven Posted November 9, 2015 Author Posted November 9, 2015 And now for some car-related comedy. Here's a classic clip from The Dave Allen Show. Quote
spanner Posted November 9, 2015 Posted November 9, 2015 not sure but this may have been posted before.. still a great video showing the driver wrestling this awesome car around what is probably the best track in the world! Quote
spanner Posted November 9, 2015 Posted November 9, 2015 definitely want one of these things! interesting concept and driving position! Quote
reddsun1 Posted November 10, 2015 Posted November 10, 2015 Hehe, that Honda looks like a good a$$ way to get yerself maimed or killed. Quote
areaseven Posted November 12, 2015 Author Posted November 12, 2015 Another look at Tamiya's 1/1 scale Aero Avante Mini 4WD. Quote
areaseven Posted November 12, 2015 Author Posted November 12, 2015 (edited) When life gives you lemons, you make a music video out of them.This Guy Is Taking Revenge on Jeep for Selling Him a LemonOr you can simply do what this guy did. Edited November 12, 2015 by areaseven Quote
spanner Posted November 12, 2015 Posted November 12, 2015 When life gives you lemons, you make a music video out of them. This Guy Is Taking Revenge on Jeep for Selling Him a Lemon Or you can simply do what this guy did. I have to say that every single person I know who has bought a Jeep of some kind has experienced some sort of trouble either minor or major. And the majority of them have said they were treated with disdain by the dealers. Even one of my co-workers who test drove a Grand Cherokee SRT had the car he was test driving break down! 100% I kid you not! It overheated so they had to pull over and the dealer had the car towed back. He bought a Toyota Kluger Grande instead.. This video is brilliant! Quote
SchizophrenicMC Posted November 12, 2015 Posted November 12, 2015 Who really wins? The guy who trashes the car he paid for, or the manufacturer who has sold hundreds of thousands of that car? Me, I'm gonna keep driving my Grand Cherokees. I hope the WK2 gets an undeserved reputation for being a lemon, honestly. It'll bring the used market price way down. I'd love to get one of those for the stable. A facelifted Overland 4x4 Hemi, oh man. Get the price down under 20 grand, I'll be all over that. Quote
areaseven Posted November 12, 2015 Author Posted November 12, 2015 Who really wins? The guy who trashes the car he paid for, or the manufacturer who has sold hundreds of thousands of that car? Me, I'm gonna keep driving my Grand Cherokees. I hope the WK2 gets an undeserved reputation for being a lemon, honestly. It'll bring the used market price way down. I'd love to get one of those for the stable. A facelifted Overland 4x4 Hemi, oh man. Get the price down under 20 grand, I'll be all over that. He is sending a clear message. According to his most recent videos, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) stepped in and imposed sanctions on Fiat Chrysler Australia, but their actions are not guaranteed to do anything significant. I'm surprised Australia doesn't have a lemon law yet. Quote
spanner Posted November 12, 2015 Posted November 12, 2015 Personally I have no beef against Jeeps and I do really like the current generation Grand Cherokee and I'd totally go for a SRT if the price came down enough for sure! Yes Australia doesn't yet have a lemon law but it looks like it may be introduced after local production ceases in 2017. Australia is a bit funny (backwards is actually the correct term) when it comes to certain things.. Quote
areaseven Posted November 13, 2015 Author Posted November 13, 2015 Just one of the many reasons why Aston Martins (and other luxury cars in the same class) are astronomically expensive. Quote
SchizophrenicMC Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 The simple fact is the majority of these Jeeps are perfectly reliable. We've all heard anecdotes of broken ones, but they've sold hundreds of thousands of the current Grand Cherokee alone, to say nothing of the last-gen Liberty/Cherokee, or the last 3 generations of Grand Cherokee. (The first two of which sold over a million each) Of course a handful of units of a highly complex product mass produced by the hundreds of thousands are going to be defective. There are so many levels of production for something to go wrong. Something will go wrong. That's why they have warranties, and in most countries, lemon laws. Of course, if it takes 3 years for your car to go wrong enough that you start whinging about it on the internet and have it crushed for shock factor, that's not really a lemon thing, that's just bad luck. Let's not forget the KK ended production in 2012. And for the man with the broken WK2, let's not put too much stock in the $60,000 figure. That's 60,000 AUD, which is $42,000 US, and just about every car has a huge shipping and tax markup in Australia, which is historically why domestics and Japanese imports have been the most popular vehicles in Australia. They cost the least to get to the dealer. A Jeep made in Graz, Austria on the other hand, costs heaps more to move. It's not really Jeep's fault he spent so damn much money on his car. All that said, it's easy to make Chrysler, and especially Jeep, a pariah. It's a well-recognized brand with popular vehicles, but it doesn't have the scale or unavoidability of the larger manufacturers, like GM, Ford, Toyota, and VW, who all have much higher failure numbers, but not on easily-recognizable models. Nobody ever cared about the Chevy Cobalt or VW Jetta, but those are two of the least reliable cars ever. Even my Jeeps have treated me better than that. Quote
areaseven Posted November 13, 2015 Author Posted November 13, 2015 Toyota's S-FR Concept is a lightweight sports car that weighs just 2,160 lbs., which is within Mazda MX-5 territory. The engine is a 1.5 liter 4-cylinder that generates 125 bhp and 109 lb-ft torque. It is also rumored to cost roughly US$12,000 if it were to be mass-produced, meaning it undercuts the MX-5 by almost half. 2015 Toyota S-FR Quote
SchizophrenicMC Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 There's no way it'll be able to come in at $12,000 with a RWD platform. It can't share many parts with other cars, so the unit development cost will be higher. I expect low to mid 20s if it makes it to production, which is still dubious. Quote
spanner Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 (edited) Cool looking little car and a interesting concept to rival the Mazda but i think the $12k price is a bit optimistic.. even if they kept it as bare bones as possible then around $20k is more realistic price and it'll still be cheap. Edited November 13, 2015 by spanner76 Quote
spanner Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 (edited) R.I.P Georg.. Edited November 14, 2015 by spanner76 Quote
Sildani Posted November 15, 2015 Posted November 15, 2015 There's no way it'll be able to come in at $12,000 with a RWD platform. It can't share many parts with other cars, so the unit development cost will be higher. I expect low to mid 20s if it makes it to production, which is still dubious. Agreed. What platform is this using? I can't see too many uses for a rear-drive compact car platform, so I don't see many economies of scale. I'll say, since Toyota is a BIG car maker and they'll pull absolutely as much as they can from the corporate parts bin to keep costs down, that the base model of this car will run $18,000. Don't expect A/C or power windows at that price, either. Quote
spanner Posted November 15, 2015 Posted November 15, 2015 the A/C weight penalty on a small car in particular I'd be happy to go without but what car these days doesn't come with power windows? Haven't seen a new car with manual windows in ages! Problem with the parts bin thing is many of those parts won't have been designed with a micro sports car minimum weight in mind. I'd say many of the components will be bespoke for this car. Quote
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