Project Car / Motorbike thread. Let's see 'em.
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udi
swiss cheese
Dropped on coilovers with undersized tyres stretched over huge rims with ridiculous amounts of negative camber does not equal handling.
Let's not confuse getting around a corner fast with showboating in a stanced out vehicle that looks exponentially better than it handles.
brisneyland
Likes Dirt
Elbo
pesky scooter kids git off ma lawn
Looking great Ziggy, love the colour.
Mine got new window seals all round last night, no more duct tape or wet carpets whenever it rains now :high5:
floody
Wheel size expert
You wouldn't get far in any sort of drift event with a car set up like that. Most of the competitive 'drift' cars can and often have run very competitively in supersprints, hillclimbs and stuff too (comparing apples with apples, e.g. with other non-downforce production based cars). The reality is a drift car needs a surprisingly high amount of grip, good front end geometry, chassis stiffness etc to work well if you're doing anything more intense than playing around at a practice day. Alignment settings, tire choice, spring rates etc can all be adjusted on those cars just the same as on a decent circuit car to suit use and conditions.
What you're describing wouldn't be capable of holding speed, wouldn't be controllable or stable and would lack the necessary mechanical grip, but lets not let reality get in the way of a good story...
chinski
Likes Bikes
my "other" bike , 2010 675 Triumph Street Triple R, Hyperpro steering damper, Translogic Quickshifter, Full Arrow 3-1 Lowboy Exhaust & tune to match, Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa tyres, shorty levers, headlight cowl, bellypan, radiator covers, seat cowl, tail tidy, sag / rebound / compression all set for how i like it. Such a fun bike, faster & more fun than 1000cc, 1125cc, 1200c bikes i've had, so light & fast in corners & loves to wheelie whoooooooo !!
udi
swiss cheese
Agreed for sure - just not in the amounts that some people seem to run on the street, where 1/4 of the tyre wouldn't contact the ground even under the hardest cornering.
I was just referring to how a lot of people choose to set up their cars these days (looks > performance), I'm sure professional drifters don't fall into the same boat.
redbruce
Eats Squid
On Simmons (B45's)?
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floody
Wheel size expert
Yet1
Likes Dirt
Nah, similar though - they are ROH Monaco's, so a three piece wheel similar to the Simmons. Dont think ROH make them any more though, which is a shame as they are a nice wheel. A couple years back I got the centers painted black and the outers polished up. Gave the ute a whole new look.
Joel O
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Can anybody give me a rundown on the head gasket problems commonly experienced with the 2.5L subaru engines?
I'm looking at foresters in the 2003-2006 range and have read a lot of conflicting information about whether these years were prone to head gasket failure.
Edit: after staying up all night scouring the various subie forums the consensus seems to be that whilst somewhat improved, the problem is still around. The cause seems to be a less than ideal execution of the open-deck engine design. Think I might cross the forester off the list...
I'm looking at foresters in the 2003-2006 range and have read a lot of conflicting information about whether these years were prone to head gasket failure.
Edit: after staying up all night scouring the various subie forums the consensus seems to be that whilst somewhat improved, the problem is still around. The cause seems to be a less than ideal execution of the open-deck engine design. Think I might cross the forester off the list...
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Sam.
Eats Squid
Are you looking at n/a or XT model? My research indicated most head gasket issues were with n/a models. I recently purchased an MY05 XT, no issues with the head gasket but it does chew oil like it's going out of fashion which apparently is the case with all of the turbo models. I wouldn't be discouraged from purchasing one, I love mine!
It's pretty straight forward to get the under tray off to check out under the car and for any coolant or oil leaks anyhow.
udi
swiss cheese
If your car is a 'boulevard cruiser' then by all means, but otherwise, that kind of setup is exactly what I was referring to.
An ideal square profile on a 9" wide rim would involve a ~255 tyre (a far cry from 215), and -4.5° static camber on the rear isn't going to yield a particularly high grip setup in any scenario I can think of - at least not any that would get away with that tyre/rim combo.
From what I've seen plenty of amateur drift cars get away with similar setups, but in my book that'd be a rookie mistake for even low level circuit racing.
BLKFOZ
Likes Dirt
I've got an 06' XT that I've had since new (up to just over 180 000km) and it doesn't really use any oil. I checked it 2 days ago before a trip and it was around 2mm under the full mark (half way point between services).
MasterOfReality
After forever
Ok so the daily 2003 XC Barina is shitting itself and I'm getting sick of minimum $900 repair bills every 6-12 months.
Want to stay with a hatch as this will be wifey's car for the shopping and our daily commuter (I have my own 4wd and v8 in the shed), but this time want something with a bit of pep. Looking to buy second hand around $35k give or take a few k. Don't want anything older than 2011.
Narrowed it down to Mazda 3 MPS, WRX hatch and Ford Focus ST.
Wifey likes WRX and Focus ST. I'm not fussed either way although the WRX does look like its been smacked with a massive ugly stick. I like MPS, Golf GTi and the Megane but worried about potential service costs if something dies. The same probably could be said for the Focus as its made in Germany.
Bottom line - i need something that will be able to comfortably last past 120,000km without things falling off it and incurring big costs, like the Barina. I tend to keep cars until they cost too much to maintain relative to their worth but want to get more than 10 years out of it.
Want to stay with a hatch as this will be wifey's car for the shopping and our daily commuter (I have my own 4wd and v8 in the shed), but this time want something with a bit of pep. Looking to buy second hand around $35k give or take a few k. Don't want anything older than 2011.
Narrowed it down to Mazda 3 MPS, WRX hatch and Ford Focus ST.
Wifey likes WRX and Focus ST. I'm not fussed either way although the WRX does look like its been smacked with a massive ugly stick. I like MPS, Golf GTi and the Megane but worried about potential service costs if something dies. The same probably could be said for the Focus as its made in Germany.
Bottom line - i need something that will be able to comfortably last past 120,000km without things falling off it and incurring big costs, like the Barina. I tend to keep cars until they cost too much to maintain relative to their worth but want to get more than 10 years out of it.
The Duckmeister
Has a juicy midrange
Subarus can be expensive if things go wrong too. The plus side is that things rarely go wrong with them. The 100,000km timing belt job is more expensive than the same job on other cars because of the flat-four engine, which makes it a bit of a pig of a job. My '98 Outback has done over 330k km & is still going like a trooper.
A friend has had enormous troubles with a Renault (I think it was a Megane too, but the earlier one with the ugly arse, not sure if they're different under the skin now). Purely on his experience I'd be steering away from that one.
Mazdas are good; my parents have owned them for over 40 years (6 in that time), and none have had any major troubles.
A friend has had enormous troubles with a Renault (I think it was a Megane too, but the earlier one with the ugly arse, not sure if they're different under the skin now). Purely on his experience I'd be steering away from that one.
Mazdas are good; my parents have owned them for over 40 years (6 in that time), and none have had any major troubles.
MountainBikeMike
Likes Dirt
I just got myself a Skoda Octavia VRS 2008 wagon, in a 2lt turbo manual. Theyre the same as you see in the TDF (I havnt looked at this years though). They go 7.3s/100k stock, 7.5L/100km, very deep boot and I think more space than a commy, even a vz. Has all the mad electronic stuff you take for granted like heated seats, mirror defrosters, in car tire pressure checker, front n back sensors also connected to the radio for auto mute, auto dimming rear view mirror, half leather bucket seats, etc. They really do seem like more of a luxury car than their reputation acheives. Cost me $16.5k @ 101,000km, which I reckon is really good. It seems a bit niche to me.
A work buddy who also rides heaps is now looking at the less sporty 2012 1.4 turbo auto, and is super keen. Not as many features, but runs about 5.8L/100km. Its brand new and hes found one for $22.8k :bounce:. Amazing from a wagon... They are more or less a Golf chassy, Passat looks, at general VW group engine.. Just have to look out for a handful of dsg engines that were recalled, but they are hard to come by with Skoda
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=skoda+octavia+wagon+vrs&qpvt=skoda+octavia+wagon+vrs&FORM=IGRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNunotJ14o8
This is a good laugh (if I got the right video! No flash player on this laptop......)
Elbo
pesky scooter kids git off ma lawn
What about a Polo GTI or new Toyota Corolla?
I have a bias towards VW, not sure about the new ones (with costs of servicing and parts, etc) but that's a myth as far as old Golf's are concerned. The Polo GTI is more bang for your buck; as much fun as a Golf GTI for less.
Toyota Corolla is a sensible option, but pretty bland if you're looking for something different.
A friend's mum has a WRX hatch, she's not overly fond of it anymore, says the quality of the interior isn't up to scratch.
I also know someone with a new Ford Focus and they love it. Really solid car, drives wonderfully.
sawtell
The Great White Rooks Hunter
125,000kms for a 2.5ltr turbo subaru now, was 100 for the 2.0ltr .. assuming that WRX have the same service intervals as a GTb and a XT. Being technicaly the same engine. but still, buying a second hand car which probaly has 20-30km on it, he is likly to have to pay for the major service in the time he owns the car!
Are you auto or manual bias, that will make your decision easier, its basicaly impossible to get a second hand auto WRX.