Car Chat

[12,000 RPM]

CTR vs G70 is an interesting comparo. If not for the looks I'd def do the CTR

[CALL_911]

Yup, they have always seemed great on paper but criminally under-delivered.  That 2.0T has been a disappointment since inception not backing up its performance or fuel economy promises in anything they've put it in.  But man, as a package the G70 just works.  Here's to hoping reviews are solid.

Yeah, I'm hoping its as good as it sounds (and looks)

[GoCougs]

G70 = incandescent blinkers = ginormous fail. But they're getting the infotainment right - no joystick or touch pad nonsense (just buttons and touchscreen).

[12,000 RPM]

Control wheels are good

But truthfully steering wheel controls rule all. Thats the only saving grace of MFT2

[CaminoRacer]

What is a CTR?

[BimmerM3]

What is a CTR?

Civic Type R, I think.

I dunno what MFT2 is though.

[12,000 RPM]

Yes

MFT2 = My Ford Touch 2, in the MKX

[FoMoJo]

The Genius Way They're About to Reinvent the Camshaft



Another approach to a camless valve train, 'digital valve train'.  Interesting read.

[shp4man]

Driving and maintaining a 54 year old vehicle gives me a unique perspective on just how far automotive technology has come in a half century. Emissions, performance, durability, fuel economy, safety.....It's huge.
Still like old cars, though. There's a little old lady owned '62 Rambler I'm currently lusting after. 

[CaminoRacer]

Driving and maintaining a 54 year old vehicle gives me a unique perspective on just how far automotive technology has come in a half century. Emissions, performance, durability, fuel economy, safety.....It's huge.
Still like old cars, though. There's a little old lady owned '62 Rambler I'm currently lusting after. 

I love the simplicity of old cars. And old thing in general. Digital things are great, but the ingenuity behind analog problem solving is cool to see.

[FoMoJo]

I love the simplicity of old cars. And old thing in general. Digital things are great, but the ingenuity behind analog problem solving is cool to see.

The sounds, the smells, the feel.  Air sucking through the carburetor, that mix of raw gasoline combined with hot oil and those vibrations on the pedals, shift lever, steering wheel and the seat of your pants.  Just a greater visceral experience.

[CaminoRacer]

Engine Masters did a video comparing carbs vs fuel injection to see which made more HP. Carbs win.

(carbs have a huge benefit of cooling the air charge vs port injection)

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

The sounds, the smells, the feel.  Air sucking through the carburetor, that mix of raw gasoline combined with hot oil and those vibrations on the pedals, shift lever, steering wheel and the seat of your pants.  Just a greater visceral experience.

Yup.....

[12,000 RPM]

I love the simplicity of old cars. And old thing in general. Digital things are great, but the ingenuity behind analog problem solving is cool to see.

It's cool when new cars have a kind of old simplicity. My Civic was like that. G37 was not. Optima is

[MX793]

Engine Masters did a video comparing carbs vs fuel injection to see which made more HP. Carbs win.

(carbs have a huge benefit of cooling the air charge vs port injection)

This was a thing when motocross bikes started to transition to fuel injection.  A guy who was good at dialing in carb jetting could get more power out of a carb'ed bike, but they were far less adaptable and as races moved from locale to locale, things like altitude, temperature, and relative humidity would all require the mechanics to have to re-jet the carbs, whereas the FI machines are largely left to their own devices.

[AutobahnSHO]

This was a thing when motocross bikes started to transition to fuel injection.  A guy who was good at dialing in carb jetting could get more power out of a carb'ed bike, but they were far less adaptable and as races moved from locale to locale, things like altitude, temperature, and relative humidity would all require the mechanics to have to re-jet the carbs, whereas the FI machines are largely left to their own devices.

computers are amazing!!

[GoCougs]

Engine Masters did a video comparing carbs vs fuel injection to see which made more HP. Carbs win.

(carbs have a huge benefit of cooling the air charge vs port injection)

Absolutely love Engine Masters, but a lot of their tests are sorta bogus. Which heads make more HP? Uh, you don't test that by using the same short block and cam. It's a holistic approach - different heads begat different cams, compression rations, etc. Same with FI vs. carbs. The primary benefit of FI is it enables higher compression ratios - finer atomization = less prone to detonation.

[cawimmer430]

Two things.

First - Holy shit! A Lexus GS with Austrian plates!


Second - I finally spotted one of these elusive Jaguar Z Type-R's!

[giant_mtb]

Whyyyyy do people do such things? 

Yeah, let's put a Jaguar badge and a Type R badge on my Nissan Z...makes total sense! 

[cawimmer430]

I have no idea. It looks STUPID. 

[Morris Minor]

Driving and maintaining a 54 year old vehicle gives me a unique perspective on just how far automotive technology has come in a half century. Emissions, performance, durability, fuel economy, safety.....It's huge.
Still like old cars, though. There's a little old lady owned '62 Rambler I'm currently lusting after. 

I can always tell when there's an old car somewhere close... by the aroma of unburnt hydrocarbons.

[Galaxy]

They are really cranking out different variants of MQB.






Apparently good for loading 2200lbs.

[BimmerM3]

Whyyyyy do people do such things? 

Yeah, let's put a Jaguar badge and a Type R badge on my Nissan Z...makes total sense! 

I have no idea. It looks STUPID. 

That combination of badges on that car makes so little sense that I guarantee you they did it just to bother random internet people. Mission accomplished, I guess.

[Galaxy]

An Ed Roth custom.














Not my cup of tea at all, but beautifully executed.

[FoMoJo]

Weird setup.  I wonder if it's driveable.

A couple of Ford FE engines each connected to a separate differential?  Must be fun if it works.

[MX793]

Paralleling engines like that has certainly been done before (tractor pull rigs may have 4 V8s linked together).  A former neighbor who has a Leno-esque collection of cars has/had some kind of custom, pre-war Rolls/Bentley hybrid with a "U16", which was two straight 8s paralleled together to a single driveshaft.

[Soup DeVille]

Weird setup.  I wonder if it's driveable.

A couple of Ford FE engines each connected to a separate differential?  Must be fun if it works.

Yes, it runs. And if I recall correctly, its all controlled by a single joystick.

[Soup DeVille]

Paralleling engines like that has certainly been done before (tractor pull rigs may have 4 V8s linked together).  A former neighbor who has a Leno-esque collection of cars has/had some kind of custom, pre-war Rolls/Bentley hybrid with a "U16", which was two straight 8s paralleled together to a single driveshaft.

He has a Bugatti-King Moteurcanon?

[MX793]

He has a Bugatti-King Moteurcanon?

I don't believe so.  The whole car was somebody's custom build and I'm pretty sure the engine was a pair of automotive straight-8s paralleled through a gearbox.  Been probably 10 years since I saw it, so my memory is a little hazy.

[12,000 RPM]

Man shit is grim for domestics.... 97% of FCA's global profits came from its NA operations (aka RAM and Jeep); Ford dropped to 1 notch above junk status.

Planet Money has an interview with Jim Hackett.... I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but so far he is kind of the idiot everyone is proclaiming him to be. I'm about 1/3 in and he's going on and on about developing a "Vehicle Operating System".... hopefully at some point soon in the next 2/3rds he'll explain how Ford is going to survive between now and then, whenever then is. Because the bridge is looking shakier by the minute.