Car Enthusiast Thread

StevenK

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that god awful CVT

Did you ever get the toyota MMT gearbox in the US? It's a manual gearbox but with an electronic clutch so you just rev and go like an auto. It's without doubt the worst excuse for a gearbox I've driven in my whole life, a whole 1-2 seconds lag between auto gear changes at which point you all lurch forwards as the box searches for the next gear, everyone should get to drive one at some point just so they have a reference point for how bad something can be designed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimode_manual_transmission
 

sr20det510

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I'm a big fan of hatchbacks and a few years ago I was looking into getting an Impreza one, but yeah, just felt very weak. I never looked at suburu again after that.

I do like the new civic hatchback. I was looking for a car for myself and test drove a sport touring and liked it a lot. I ended up getting a bigger family car for my wife instead and I took hers. I'll stick with that for a couple of years but will definitely give the civic hatch another look when back in the market.

It doesn't really make sense since Subaru can easily throw a turbo engine into any of their cars.

I'd buy a Crosstrek if it came turbocharged.
 

wyo

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After a few weeks, what do you think?

I test drove a Q50, and really liked it.

Maybe it's a sign of getting older but I honestly think my 300C is the best car I've ever owned. Compared to the Infiniti it replaced, it's significantly bigger, more luxurious, quicker, and somehow gets better gas mileage despite having a 360HP 5.7L V8 vs the G35's 3.5L V6. Driving in Tampa Bay is generally unpleasant yet unavoidable. This car feels like a cocoon of sanity during rush hour and a genuine pleasure to drive when the roads are quiet. Despite the size, it handles extremely well. I can cruise around in comfort or put my foot down and feel it take off like an LS1 Corvette. Sure, it may not be cool with the hipsters or whatever but I'm very glad I bought it.
 

neo_mao

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It doesn't really make sense since Subaru can easily throw a turbo engine into any of their cars.

I'd buy a Crosstrek if it came turbocharged.

It's petty but I can't stand the look of Crosstrek wheels. My needs also changed which is part of the reason I didn't go back to Subarus. When I was looking at the Impreza I only had 1 kid, but by the time I ended up buying a car we were expecting our 2nd so we ended up getting a bigger SUV....and I don't really like the look of Outbacks or Forresters so I pretty much crossed Subaru off the list.

But I figure by the time I start looking at a replacement for my current SUV my younger one will be about 4 or 5, so I can be fine with a smaller car. Although I liked it a lot I'm not totally sold on the Civic Hatchback. When the time comes I'd also look at Mazdas. I'd also want to check out the Lexus hatch...not even sure what that is called. I've been driving SUVs for so long now I really miss the feel of a nice small zippy car. Between my wife and I our past 5 cars have been SUVs, jeez...
 

mmsadda

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An update on my winter tire situation on my 2018 STi: Went to the tire store near my apt, and there was no winter tire available for my car, only all season. It ended up being a bit over $1200 for a set of Continental 245/35/R19's.

It snowed pretty hard right before driving to work, around 5 in, car did ok. I was doing about 25 in fourth gear the whole way. No issues but, I probably could have pushed the car a lot harder. Snow makes me very nervous.

Jon

Jon, my dude, do I have to show you how to drive that thing in snow, too? :D
 

mmsadda

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Ive got an old BMW E36 with optional heated windshield squirters, but its a convertible and is stored away for the winter. So yeah, basically the only car Ive had with an answer for that is useless to me in the winter anyway...
Man, I need to come driving with you guys this year... maybe hit you up on the way to Deals Gap if I make it there!

Does Mike have anything fun these days? You primarily rocking the Sexus brigade still?
 

mmsadda

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How bad is salt on cars?

I've read that in places where it snows, salt used on the roads, can cause a car's undercarriage/ chassis to rust.

Have you ever had issues with that?
I have. It's terrible. Go to Craigslist for any Midwest city, and look at any Honda before 2000 or a Mazda Protege, or any older pickup... you'll see.

Our 3rd Protege was unrepairable 3 times over due to various issues stemming from rust; it was a Toledo car.

Jalopnik usually has articles about Carmax being a good place to buy Bimmers and Range Rovers, as NeoSneth said due to aftermarket warranties.
They don't do that the same way they used to, particularly on Land Rovers / Range Rovers
Haven't done much gaming lately since I got this beast. Early 40th bday present. 1951 Chevy 3100, 2" drop spindles and springs, subframed with power steering and power disc front brakes, 350 w/ th 350 trans, 18" wheels on front, 20" on back,
Shit that's clean! Not my style, but fuckin clean!
 

smokehouse

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I'm a big fan of hatchbacks and a few years ago I was looking into getting an Impreza one, but yeah, just felt very weak. I never looked at suburu again after that.

I do like the new civic hatchback. I was looking for a car for myself and test drove a sport touring and liked it a lot. I ended up getting a bigger family car for my wife instead and I took hers. I'll stick with that for a couple of years but will definitely give the civic hatch another look when back in the market.

I love hatchbacks...and so does my wife. We've owned 4 of them in the past 15 years.

One thing that I found to be fatal with the Impreza is the absolutely abysmal ride quality. I've said it before, my wife and I are not overly picky in that department...I drive a full size truck with rock hard 10-ply LT tires, and she drives a Chrysler T&C, not a vehicle known for its ride refinement. The Impreza took it to a whole new level...the seats were just terrible, the suspension was rock hard and the interior dimensions were beyond cramped. I'm only 6' tall, my left knee should have to rest against the door panel when driving. On any trip longer than 4 hrs, it was horribly fatiguing to drive, it just kicked the crap out of you the entire time. We barely owned it for 2 years when we shed the thing.

Did you ever get the toyota MMT gearbox in the US? It's a manual gearbox but with an electronic clutch so you just rev and go like an auto. It's without doubt the worst excuse for a gearbox I've driven in my whole life, a whole 1-2 seconds lag between auto gear changes at which point you all lurch forwards as the box searches for the next gear, everyone should get to drive one at some point just so they have a reference point for how bad something can be designed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimode_manual_transmission

I've had a few bad transmissions in my time, I've never come across the one you've mentioned though.

-Our '01 Mustang GT had a manual trans that was just plain dumb, it took a motor that thrives on high revs and turned it into a dog.
-Our '06 Ford Freestyle had an under-powered V6 mated to a god awful CVT. That combo turned what would have been a utility powerhouse into a complete turd
-Our '02 Protege 5 needed one more gear, or at least an OD. 70mph freeway driving would have the engine sitting at 3-4000rpm and the gas mileage would go to complete shit.

We've had a few good ones though...

-The auto trans in our '99 Taurus SHO was actually really well programmed and did a superb job of stretching that beautiful Yamaha V8
-The 8spd trans in my new RAM has been excellent to far, impressively so. It is intelligent and silky smooth, surprising for a truck.
-When you turn off "eco" mode in my wife's '15 T&C, it's actually quite responsive
-Our '09 Accord V6 was very nice as well...if only that fucking terrible VCM could have been disabled...

It doesn't really make sense since Subaru can easily throw a turbo engine into any of their cars.

I'd buy a Crosstrek if it came turbocharged.

I don't understand Subaru's stance with turbos. This isn't 1995, many (if not most) car companies are making turbo or supercharged vehicles that dip far down into their non performance lines. I said it earlier, with as horribly under powered as their cars are, there's no excuse why a turbo wouldn't be standard on all their boxer 4cyl engines.
 

lithy

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I've committed to driving my current daily into the ground. Basically willing to do the work on the car for anything other than engine internals or transmission repair. I work further from home now and that has seriously increased my annual mileage from about 12k to much closer to 20k.

2003 Taurus, just went past 255k miles. I'm wondering if it will make it to 300k. If it does and it is still running then I'll probably just move on to something else and give it a viking funeral.

It currently needs an oil change, and three of the four gauge cluster lights have burned out and they are a surprising pain in the ass to get to.

Other things like the ABS Module, an exhaust leak from either the rear manifold or maybe just the gasket, broken bits of trim here and there, and useless hood struts aren't really worth fixing. Hoopty still goes and stops fine.
 

NeoSneth

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There is an understandable reason to avoid turbo's. So many people are going that route to add power without sacrificing gas mileage. There's going to be unexpected maintenance in a few years when these cheap turbo's start having issues.

175HP isn't bad in the rest of the world. If outbacks go with bigger displacement , then the MPG is going to sink. It's already 20MPG city for the V6.
 

Lets Gekiga In

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If I had extra cash laying around I’d love a 2019 Ford Ranger. I really like the Wildtrak trim on the Aussie model.
 

smokehouse

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There is an understandable reason to avoid turbo's. So many people are going that route to add power without sacrificing gas mileage. There's going to be unexpected maintenance in a few years when these cheap turbo's start having issues.

175HP isn't bad in the rest of the world. If outbacks go with bigger displacement , then the MPG is going to sink. It's already 20MPG city for the V6.

I was pointing out the turbo deal because unes they rework their current engines, that’s about the only way they’re going to get more HP out of them. 20mpg and 175hp is pretty pathetic, really. I look at it this way, my wife’s silly minivan will get 20mpg and makes over 100 more hp.
 
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Man, I need to come driving with you guys this year... maybe hit you up on the way to Deals Gap if I make it there!

Does Mike have anything fun these days? You primarily rocking the Sexus brigade still?

I wish you would man. Bring all the cats too please!

Mike has a new FRS, still sitting stock. Ive got a lot done to that E36 in the last 6 months, ready for spring, and yeah there is always a whole lot of sexless in the driveway. Got another local buddy about to get a 370z.

We need to all go on a tail of the dragon trip.
 
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smokehouse

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I wouldn’t mind a 1/2 ton pickup, but with the urban area I live in being a little smaller is more of a plus.

Ill say this...even “light duty” trucks are large anymore. I was comparing my new Ram 1500 to our shops 2002 F-250...and in many ways, my 1500 is a larger truck...new F-2/350? They’re mammoth vehicles.

In tight/small areas? My truck can be a real chore.
 
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NeoSneth

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I was pointing out the turbo deal because unes they rework their current engines, that’s about the only way they’re going to get more HP out of them. 20mpg and 175hp is pretty pathetic, really. I look at it this way, my wife’s silly minivan will get 20mpg and makes over 100 more hp.

oh i agree. My 5.0L gets 20MPG city all day.
something in that system is not up to snuff, but it doesnt need to get that much bigger. It's just a heavy car.
 

Jon

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Jon, my dude, do I have to show you how to drive that thing in snow, too? :D

Tell you what: If you show me how to properly drive my car in the snow, I'll show you how to multiquote here. Deal?

Jon
 

Lets Gekiga In

Neon Night Rider
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Ill say this...even “light duty” trucks are large anymore. I was comparing my new Ram 1500 to our shops 2002 F-250...and in many ways, my 1500 is a larger truck...new F-2/350? They’re mammoth vehicles.

In tight/small areas? My truck can be a real chore.

Do you mean length, height, or width? I could be wrong, but I believe the Ranger is a bit more narrow than the F-150. That makes a huge difference here since the driveways and space between buildings is very small here.
 

smokehouse

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Do you mean length, height, or width? I could be wrong, but I believe the Ranger is a bit more narrow than the F-150. That makes a huge difference here since the driveways and space between buildings is very small here.

That's a completely different (and weird) discussion...the oddball "mid" trucks of late, I really do not understand the drive for the things.

Width speaking...the old S10 and ranger was typically 109-206" Long, 68" or so wide. Now?

Chevy Colorado: 212-225" long, 74-77" wide
Chevy Silverado (light duty): 206-240" long, 80" wide
Ford ranger: ?
Ford F-150: 209-251" long, 80-86" wide
Ram 1500: 209-238" long, 79-82" wide
Toyota Tacoma: 212-226" long, 74-75" wide
Toyota Tundra: 229-248" long, 80" wide

The Tacoma and Colorado are not cheap vehicles...honestly, with the discounts they give on full size trucks (well, on Chevy and Ram trucks), I'm not sure why one would want a mid size anymore, especially give their asking price.

I had my '14 Ram 1500, our CFO had a '12 Ram 1500. He just traded his in on a new Z71 Colorado, me on my '17 Ram 1500 Big Horn. Give or take, I'm pretty sure we didn't pay that much different from each other.
 

miisalo

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someone said snow? This is what our club does in the winter :)


And

 
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smokehouse

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Lame... Still fun.

Anymore, it just scares the shit out of me. People are idiots and often bad drivers, many of them also have poorly maintained cars. That makes for shit driving conditions when you have to get to work in 3-5" (or more) of fresh snow.

Add to that the nightmare of dealing with car insurance and having you vehicle fixed should you smash it yourself...or god forbid, someone else plow into you. A few years back, my buddy had a girl t-bone his few month old F-150. Girl was uninsured, driving on a suspended license, and the accident was her fault. He took it in the ass from his insurance.

Long story short...save on ice, I trust myself and my vehicle...but I don't trust others.
 
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