Car Chat....

[Frandy]

so to the kid that reckons he wants to put a $15,000 twin turbo kit and do fully hektic burnouts in a commodore its not an acheivment any1 who has ever driven a car can do that so feel real cool buddy,


u rock my world

ohh and for my first car sprinter with a 20 valve, quads ,bored, 288 degree cams with massive lift

Na, the Twin Turbo is for a statesman when im about mid to late thirties and have a family. Im not going to be doing burnouts in traffic, that is just a recepie for death!! I have seen people spin out and almost go off the side of a bridge around the corner from my house cause he wanted to do a fishy down the main road, i know how people lose it, and i know a few people who have lost their lives in car accidents, friends friends, cousins friends, no-one directly but i do know how devistating it is to lose a family member or friend because of death Im not gonna say any more, just use this thread as it was intended, ask questions about cars, car parts and what you have done to it

CHeers

 

[Arete]

B4 i fell in love with bikes i got myself 150 posts on a Commie forum that has taught me alot about stuff to do with them, so im not completely flippin stupid.

"Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken"
Does the number of posts you make on farkin make you a better rider?
Reading about driving teaches you nothing about driving. In fact stuff read posted by commodore enthusiasts enacted by a completely inexperienced 15 year old in a V8 is really really bad thing IMO.

Drool over the V8's, and wait til you can afford a hot monaro/ss or whatever, and are a better driver (please don't turn into one of those middle aged wankers who thinks everyone else on the road is in the way of his personal mission though). Or get into karting. For around 2-3K you could get into clubman Karts. Keep the "fun" involving loss of traction at speed off the roads please.

That being said, winding down the windows, cranking up the stereo and going for a whip down a twisty section of Old Pacific Highway is great fun. However it does have a limit of 80-100km/h which is plenty fast enough to have some fun, without pushing the boundaries of traction.
I have also through work and uni had the occasional opportunity to drive in National Parks with locked gates at both ends and done a bit of silly stuff.
Cars are great fun.

This thread really does serve to reinforce my belief that Aussies in general are tightarse, holier-than-thou wowsers with an absolute obsession with telling other people what to do. OH MY GOD A BURNOUT HOW COULD YOU EVEN CONCEIVE OF SUCH AN EVIL, DANGEROUS ACT! CHUCK HIM IN JAIL!

Whilst a burnout at the lights is just smoke and noise, delibrately losing traction whilst negotiating a corner (as was suggested by the OP) is probably beyond the safe capabilites of most drivers, especially P platers.

I see your point which you've made in countless other car related threads but the truth of the matter is driving a car is probably the most dangerous thing we all do on a regular basis, and the general public, especially overconfident/inexperienced teenagers don't know what's good for them.
It's illegal to wire your own house if you're not a professional. Why? cause it's dangerous and some idiots would undoubtedly try if they weren't discouraged by the law (I'm sure some try anyway, but at least some discouragement is in place).

I have tonnes of respect for your knowledge on physics and stuff of that nature (you probably know a billion times better than I do how a car works), but I think your point on vehicle restriction is a bit naive.

any way i have to admit this thread is pointless...
(ps if any one knows any one selling an older model lib wagon, manual gx gen1 series2 , let us know.. or anythign similiar.)

Late model subies hold their value rediculously. I was looking at one until I discovered that I'd still be paying $10k for one with 150-200k on it. That said my mum will not drive anything but a subie and now drives an Outback 3.0ltd and it's a damn nice car that bugger all goes wrong with. Check out the Toytoa 4wd wagons - toyota styling at it's most hideous but a bulletproof reputation.

 

[$h0rty]

Late model subies hold their value rediculously. I was looking at one until I discovered that I'd still be paying $10k for one with 150-200k on it. That said my mum will not drive anything but a subie and now drives an Outback 3.0ltd and it's a damn nice car that bugger all goes wrong with.

Tell me about it!
Looking at getting my own first car soon, really want a liberty wagon, but doesnt look like I'll be able to afford one.
My parents drive nothing but Subaru's now, Dad's currently in a new 3.0 R-B, Mum's got her '98 Liberty Heritage (only done 50,000k's), which I'm currently driving.

I'm 18, and looking to get my own car at the end of september, but not quite sure what to get, and whether I should/shouldnt get a loan. Any advice? I was thinking of getting a $5000ish loan, on top of my $2000ish, I dont think servicing the loan would be a problem, as I'll be working full time come december this year.
Or should i keep saving til I can afford the car without a loan?
Any advice?

 

[Arete]

I had 10k, and bought the MX6 as previously mentioned. With 7k, if I was dead set on a wagon I'd probably have a look at the 4wd toyotas or (heaven forbid) a Camry. Toyota priced servicing and reliabilty, shit boring everything else, but a comparably priced subie is going to be a lot older and a comparably pirced flacodore is going to be older and have more stuff go wrong with it.

I'm going to be looking again in a year or so I guess, and being 25 and hopefully having a little more to spend I'm currently keen on a Stagea wagon

 

[donthucktoflat]

it might only put out the same amount of power as a new V6, but the Alloytec dont hav as much torque nore the sound and street appeal The Alloytec is 190kW/330Nm, whereas the 5lt V8 is 168kW/395Nm, i think thats lyk 17% more torque which means alot more fun and burning rubber

Cheers

buddy believe me, the new alloytechs are PLENTY good at burning rubber and are CERTAINLY no slouch off the line (0-100 in 6.9secs? yes please) not to mention more fuel efficient and less likely to get pulled over (new commys arent cop bait unlike VS, VP and now VTs and VXs)

also, for anyone loving crazyness.. http://www.sxoc.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=219069

CA18DET in a morris minor.. or a morris minor on an S13 chassis and running gear or S13 running gear and chassis in a morris minor, i dont exactly know but HOLY CRAP!! 400bhp in an 800KG car=mucho funo

 

[W2ttsy]

i saw the new SS last night on the way home, and i think ill drive into the dealer on sunday and check it out! it looked way better in the flesh than in the photos.

as for the subarus, be prepared to get reamed by the insurance man. i was looking at 1996 RX wagon, and insurance was still in the $1900 mark

W2ttsy

 

[Dozer]

i saw the new SS last night on the way home, and i think ill drive into the dealer on sunday and check it out! it looked way better in the flesh than in the photos.


W2ttsy

I got the call from the dealer this morning and I'm booked in to test drive the new SS at lunch time today......
Holding my breath......

 

[W2ttsy]

I got the call from the dealer this morning and I'm booked in to test drive the new SS at lunch time today......
Holding my breath......

let me know if its worth $53k. might just have to swap the VY for one.

W2ttsy

 

[MasterOfReality]

Right,

I got a VP HSV with the 180kW 5 litre in it. Yeah, its got 400Nm of torque which makes it easy to drive, and I drive it everyday in town.

However, unless you got yourself a decent job to pay for the fuel, i'd stay away from one. According to my trip computer, my average speed and fuel consumption for a tank of fuel is around 30km/hr and 23L/100km respectively. Now if more freeway driving is involved and the average speed increases to around 35km/hr, then the fuel consumption drops to around 16-17L/100km.

Now, since fuel is never going to get cheaper, you might want to consider this. Personally, the price of fuel is not an issue for me because I have a good job, but for a lot of people, it is.

Another thing is insurance. I pay about $1500 a year comprehensive with Shannons, and I'm 27 this year. You can easily double that figure for yourself. Is it worth forking out $3000 a year for a car worth less than 10 grand?

Another thing, I used to have the same mindset as you. I couldn't wait to get a V8 and all that sort of shit. My old man convinced me to wait until I was at least over 21 because by that time, I could afford one and won't get ripped by insurance.

Now, I'm over the whole Commonwhore thing now, aussie made cars are garbage. Keep in mind, you will be driving a car with a shit gearbox, IRS that destroys rear tyres, a cabin that rattles its guts out and a power steering pump that will shit itself.

Like I said, I know where you are coming from, I was there myself, but I'm just trying to illustrate to you what its like. You will have fun when you first get the car, but it quickly wears off.

 

[S.]

Whilst a burnout at the lights is just smoke and noise, delibrately losing traction whilst negotiating a corner (as was suggested by the OP) is probably beyond the safe capabilites of most drivers, especially P platers.

I see your point which you've made in countless other car related threads but the truth of the matter is driving a car is probably the most dangerous thing we all do on a regular basis, and the general public, especially overconfident/inexperienced teenagers don't know what's good for them.
It's illegal to wire your own house if you're not a professional. Why? cause it's dangerous and some idiots would undoubtedly try if they weren't discouraged by the law (I'm sure some try anyway, but at least some discouragement is in place).

I have tonnes of respect for your knowledge on physics and stuff of that nature (you probably know a billion times better than I do how a car works), but I think your point on vehicle restriction is a bit naive.

I'm not questioning the fact that it's more dangerous to drift a car on the street than it is to drive like a grandma (unless you drive like a grandma in front of me, then it becomes very dangerous ), I simply don't think it's our ("our" including the government's) place to tell other people what to do just for the sake of protecting them from themselves.

As far as driving being the most dangerous thing we do on a regular basis, statistically speaking that's probably correct (since young, fit, healthy people generally aren't at great risk of dying from heart failure, degenerative diseases etc), and that's why we already have regulations in place to ensure that you have to demonstrate at least a basic ability to control a motor vehicle - ie get a licence. P-platers already HAVE a whole host of extra restrictions slapped on them (zero BAC reading, only 5 demerit points instead of the usual 12, and in NSW you have those absofuckinglutely retarded laws about only being limited to 80 or something even on freeways) in acknowledgement of their relative inexperience and whatnot, why do we keep needing to scream out for harsher and harsher rules about things to prevent ACCIDENTAL deaths? No matter what anyone does - and believe me the various governments of Australia are aware of this - the road toll will NEVER drop to zero until and unless we stop using transport at all. And what the hell is the point of that? The reason we HAVE cars that can do 100km/h, 200km/h, whatever is because we need them to cover long distances quickly (unless of course we want to go back to the standards of living experienced before motorised transport). Obviously there are risks involved, but that's always the tradeoff, and at some point we DO have to say "yep X hundred/thousand people dying per year is an acceptable risk for the benefit this provides". Yeah it sucks when it happens to you or someone you know/love, but that's life. If you're that scared by the odds of getting killed or injured in a car crash, walk everywhere. Don't ride your bike, a V8 piloted by a drunken P-plater might run into you because you'd be on or near the road most of the time. Don't get the bus, those things roll over easily. Trains... well don't you know that electricity is conducted by metal, and electricity kills you, and trains are made of metal? That's a big risk to be taking!


Seriously, my objection is more on the ideological grounds. I don't WANT to be protected from myself, and I don't want to subject other people to that either unless they seriously are too young to have any concept of the consequences, like a small kid sticking a knife in a toaster - this is already catered for by the fact that you're not allowed to drive until a certain age anyway. In fact, I find it insulting that anyone would try and control my life to such an extent as to try and remove responsibility for my own life from my own hands.

 

[brisneyland]

This thread really does serve to reinforce my belief that Aussies in general are tightarse, holier-than-thou wowsers with an absolute obsession with telling other people what to do. OH MY GOD A BURNOUT HOW COULD YOU EVEN CONCEIVE OF SUCH AN EVIL, DANGEROUS ACT! CHUCK HIM IN JAIL!

I guess this is inkeeping with the idea that we're well on our way to becoming the most over regulated country on earth. It shits me.

I'm all for a bit of anarchy and civil disobedience.

FWIW, when I was 17 I frequently drove the old man's car, that would hit 100k in less than 5.5 seconds (and boy did I take advantage of that), never pranged it or even had a close call.

To all you naysayers: just cause you didn't have a flash car when you were young doesn't mean others can't.

 

[wombat]

Seriously, my objection is more on the ideological grounds. I don't WANT to be protected from myself...

What if I want to be protected from you?

 

[S.]

when a p plating hoon wipes out and puts you in a wheelchair you will sit back and think, gee i wish there werent as many hoons out there.

W2ttsy

hahahaha. That's the single worst argument anyone's made in this thread.

 

[S.]

What if I want to be protected from you?

When you ride a bike, do YOU wear a helmet or do you pad the hell out of all the places you ride?

 

[Binaural]

When you ride a bike, do YOU wear a helmet or do you pad the hell out of all the places you ride?

Now you're being a bit silly. Trees are not much the worse for being run into with a bike; rbeing hit by an out of control car while you are driving along is a lousy experience for both parties.

 

[wombat]

When you ride a bike, do YOU wear a helmet or do you pad the hell out of all the places you ride?

When you walk down the street do you wear a bullet proof vest, or do you hope that our laws and their enforcement prevents anyone from using objects near you as target practice?

 

[S.]

Now you're being a bit silly. Trees are not much the worse for being run into with a bike; rbeing hit by an out of control car while you are driving along is a lousy experience for both parties.

I think you're missing the analogy here. When you go riding, you accept there's a multitude of risks, which you can't control all of. Sometimes you will stuff up and crash, other times something will go wrong that you couldn't foresee (mechanical problems, stick in spokes, or if you're in the start gate at thredbo you might get a 100kg rock roll over you).

When you walk down the street do you wear a bullet proof vest, or do you hope that our laws and their enforcement prevents anyone from using objects near you as target practice?

ahahaha. Your arguments are just getting worse and worse. When I walk down the street I don't see any potential reason for me to get shot, hence I don't bother. You drive a car on the road where there are other cars and a long long list of examples where something has gone wrong (be it driver error, mechanical failure, whatever) and caused a crash, then you KNOW there's a risk and you implicitly accept that, whether you like it or not. What you do to minimise the risk to yourself should be up to you.

 

[ajay]

why do we keep needing to scream out for harsher and harsher rules about things to prevent ACCIDENTAL deaths?

They're not "accidental, they're always avoidable and they're always a result of someones stupidity and/or lack of skill or attention.

In fact, I find it insulting that anyone would try and control my life to such an extent as to try and remove responsibility for my own life from my own hands.

Responsibility has been removed from your hands. Nothing is your fault there is always someone else to blame.

It seems that way these days anyway...

 

[S.]

They're not "accidental, they're always avoidable and they're always a result of someones stupidity and/or lack of skill or attention.

Something being "accidental" means that it was not intentional. It does not exclude somebody from fault, negligence, stupidity, avoidability etc. People who say "it's not an accident" are full of it, because it IS an accident. For example, the way culpable drink-drivers are accused of being murderers - can you really compare somebody who unintentionally caused the death of somebody else, to somebody who deliberately murders somebody out of malice/revenge/anger/whatever? End result is the same, both people are at fault, but one person did it intentionally and that is a huge difference IMO.

 

[Binaural]

I think you're missing the analogy here. When you go riding, you accept there's a multitude of risks, which you can't control all of. Sometimes you will stuff up and crash, other times something will go wrong that you couldn't foresee (mechanical problems, stick in spokes, or if you're in the start gate at thredbo you might get a 100kg rock roll over you).

You control almost all your own exposure to injury and pain when you go for a ride, but driving on the road is a totally different game of dice. If some pin-eyed individualist decides that they don't do red lights then it definitely affects me, and I'd say that is is entirely reasonable of me to want to minimize my exposure to risks imposed on me by this sort of driver. You will always have to accept some risks you can't control, but that is very different from fatalistically accepting them.

When you're using common resources like roads, you should be willing to accept that reasonable common standards should apply. It's all fine and well to say that people can choose their own risks, but realize that role models for total individualism and zero rules include countries like Iran, Malaysia, China and Thailand. Having driven in the eye-bulging madness of two of those countries and seen the carnage on the roads there, I state with authority: having road rules and an system for enforcing them is a very good thing compared with the alternative.