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Automotive Discussion Thread | OT2 | Zero to pointless fighting faster than a GT86

No Love

Banned
I'm actually a lot more surprised about the Evora 400. Talk about a dark horse coming out of nowhere! There's actually a sentence in the review where one of the editor's says "the Lotus Evora 400 is actually the best driver's car here" and everyone agrees with him!

With Lotus being perennially on shaky footing and the Evora's not so strong start it is sort of amazing that the 400 is now among the world's best pure sport's cars. I'm seriously impressed.

Also, linked next to the PCOY article was a blurb about Geely being interested in Lotus next. They are the Chinese group that bought Volvo and London Taxi. They have huge resources and, if it happens, could really revitalize Lotus.

I've actually been thinking about Evoras for a while now. They are such a unique, simple car that ticks all the boxes for me. And I'm sure reliability is insane with that Toyota powerplant. It's not the fastest car but I want an amazing driving experience like my M5, and something special to boot.

Really glad to see Lotus killin' it again.
 

Pinewood

Member
I'm actually a lot more surprised about the Evora 400. Talk about a dark horse coming out of nowhere! There's actually a sentence in the review where one of the editor's says "the Lotus Evora 400 is actually the best driver's car here" and everyone agrees with him!

With Lotus being perennially on shaky footing and the Evora's not so strong start it is sort of amazing that the 400 is now among the world's best pure sport's cars. I'm seriously impressed.

Also, linked next to the PCOY article was a blurb about Geely being interested in Lotus next. They are the Chinese group that bought Volvo and London Taxi. They have huge resources and, if it happens, could really revitalize Lotus.

The Evora felt really great in Driveclub
lol
 

Futaba

Member
Yooooo...I'm fucking PISSED right now.

Picked up my car from the dealer. Exhaust sounds sick as fuck. I thought I noticed a dirty windshield, but figured I must've cleaned the car and forgot to wipe down the windshield? So I had to jet home, parked the car and went straight to work again. Now mind you, I cleaned the car up nice the day before the dealer visit. But I left the rear bumper alone since my exhaust be worked on back there anyway. My porter knew this. He saw how clean the car was. He wrote out a NO WASH sign.

So hours go by, I go into my garage to throw out the trash and noticed how fucking dirty my whole car is. What the hell? There was a sign there that specifically said "NO WASH". My car had water spots all over it. Dirty, hard ass water spots. As I walk around the car, I fucking noticed a few scratches and one big one that's catching my nail, but could be polished away. Swirl marks on the car too.

I'm fucking pissed right now. Took pictures and sent it over to my friend. I'm going there tomorrow to resolve this, because I spent $500 for a fucking detail that made the car look ace just 4 months ago and it's all gone to shit. They're paying out of pocket for another one while I get an F-Type loaner. Fuck that.
I know its not really applicable for every situation but this is one of the reasons I do all work on my car myself, the ONE time I put the care of my vehicle in someone else's hands this happened:

m0HztJo.jpg


I don't trust a goddamn soul with my vehicles anymore.
 

AlphaSnake

...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
I know its not really applicable for every situation but this is one of the reasons I do all work on my car myself, the ONE time I put the care of my vehicle in someone else's hands this happened:

m0HztJo.jpg


I don't trust a goddamn soul with my vehicles anymore.

Man, I've never had an issue before with the dealership. They always do the right thing. The service advisor is a personal friend and someone I hang out with, including his wife. I hope they make right by me. He's told me before they've paid for details in the past.
 

Pinewood

Member
This is not a lie. It is actually one of my favorite cars to drive in Driveclub.

While these games no way give you an accurate represantion of driving these cars, I guess they can give you a rough estimate of how they behave.

In other news, the US car market might be the next economical bubble (piece form a local business newspaper) so get your wallets ready for some great deals in the next few years
 
While these games no way give you an accurate represantion of driving these cars, I guess they can give you a rough estimate of how they behave.

In other news, the US car market might be the next economical bubble (piece form a local business newspaper) so get your wallets ready for some great deals in the next few years

Me and my 200k mile E36 are ready.
 

mkenyon

Banned
While these games no way give you an accurate represantion of driving these cars, I guess they can give you a rough estimate of how they behave.

In other news, the US car market might be the next economical bubble (piece form a local business newspaper) so get your wallets ready for some great deals in the next few years
Any way to link that? Definitely interested in reading it.

FWIW, truck sales are crazy right now. I bought my 2500 Cummins for almost 10K off MSRP, and I am currently sitting at the dealer (free oil change + few service issues) and there's one here with 13K off MSRP. On the sticker.
 
Any way to link that? Definitely interested in reading it.

FWIW, truck sales are crazy right now. I bought my 2500 Cummins for almost 10K off MSRP, and I am currently sitting at the dealer (free oil change + few service issues) and there's one here with 13K off MSRP. On the sticker.

What location?
 

Pinewood

Member
Any way to link that? Definitely interested in reading it.

FWIW, truck sales are crazy right now. I bought my 2500 Cummins for almost 10K off MSRP, and I am currently sitting at the dealer (free oil change + few service issues) and there's one here with 13K off MSRP. On the sticker.

Unfortunately its not in english and I cant find it online, but the jest was that US dealers are giving away leases more easily and a lot of lease payments are falling back. I will read it more thoroughly tomorrow at work.
 

AlphaSnake

...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
Jaguar dealer gonna' do right by me. They will have the car re-detailed. And if I'm not satisfied with their detailers, they will pay for my detailer to redo the work.

On the other hand, dat exhaust? Oooof.jpg. It sounds more Aston than Jaguar now. Sound below 3500RPM is brash and yet not offensive. It sounds exotic.

I need to do some driveby videos because it sounds so beastly. Revving in park or neutral just doesn't do this justice, although I do have a pair of audio clips. The pops and cracks and the burbles sound incredible. And because they're also not programmed to the car (like the F-Type), the naturalness of when it happens is blissful because it's so unexpected. Love that.

And as an added bonus, there's a noticeable increase in low-end power. This car's never had any problems making highway passes in any gear, even cruising in sixth, but downshifting to 5th and making a pass at 2500RPM is even more brisk than before, even on this 88-degree day.
 
We having a nice chat with a japanese friend earlier today about car modification, the general theme seemed to be that most modders here are content with adding lights and bling rather than improving or changing performance and handling, hell he was showing me a slideshow of his diy 3.5" LCD install... Into his tail lights, and just as I was getting my head around the redundancy of that, he pulls out another picture of little LCD screens showing a music video.. mounted on his brake calipers.

My mind went blank, it really did, felt like I was watching n early episode of pimp my ride.

Completely random question but how many of you peeps do the majority of work on your car yourselves? (Anything from swapping wheels to full engine rebuilds)?

Bolt-ons, I can handle. Coming from a S Chassis background, I'm not scared to wrench. That being said, my sweat equity is low, so I'd rather spend time with the little ones, and friends so I take my car to a trusted shop.
 
Yeah. Unfortunately, I don't have one. Anybody wanna donate to the cause? :p

You can get a GoPro Hero, which is what I have and is plenty good enough, for like $200. And that was last year, could find a used one with suction mount cheap I bet.

Completely random question but how many of you peeps do the majority of work on your car yourselves? (Anything from swapping wheels to full engine rebuilds)?

Oh I missed this. Fun topic!

I do almost everything I can, depending on how much time I have. I've rebuilt my 944's engine, redone the timing and changed out tensioners in my 911, swapped exhausts, replaced clutches, swapped transmissions, welded rusty body parts back together, rewired my entire track car, etc. All sorts of stuff. Some things I leave in the hands of professionals, basically specialty stuff where you need fancy tools and the right experiences for the work, for instance transmission rebuilds (on cars I care about) or engine tuning where I simply don't have the equipment to get it right (like carbon monoxide sniffers or alignment tools).

Oil changes and the like? Yeah all the time. If I can get a good deal and it's cold outside I'll have an oil chnage done by someone else, but typically I do it myself.

Now that I think of it, I totally want to get tools for doing alignments.

Also a lift. Mother of god I want a lift.
 

AlphaSnake

...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
You can get a GoPro Hero, which is what I have and is plenty good enough, for like $200. And that was last year, could find a used one with suction mount cheap I bet.

I don't need suggestions. Are you contributing or not?

:p LOL

I'll check out both recommendations. :)
 

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
African Dictator's son's supercars get seized:
A Lamborghini Veneno and a Koenigsegg One:1. The Veneno Roadster is chassis #7 of 9 cars built, finished in Bianco Isis & Avorio, the One:1 is one of 7 cars built – chassis #111 finished in blue and tan colors.
In 2011, the French police seized 11 of his cars in Paris, including two Veyrons, a Maserati MC12, a Porsche Carrera GT, a Ferrari Enzo, a Maybach, a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a Ferrari 599 GTO. In total, there was about $4.1 million worth of cars. Later on in 2012, Obiang Mangue’s Parisian mansion was seized by police as well.
Stuff of dreams (the cars, not the part where they got seized).
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
I wonder how much the hatred for electric steering just comes from the enthusiast resistance to change? I've enjoyed Audi, BMW and Porsche iterations because of results. I got plenty of usable feedback on all three albeit synthetic. I mean, it's not like laptimes are getting worse.

In particular when my A4 hydroplanes I get the perfect blend of tight control and "pay attention motherfucker."


On the flip side I've driven plenty of cars where the transmission of road surface to fingertips was fussy and exhausting.
 

No Love

Banned
I wonder how much the hatred for electric steering just comes from the enthusiast resistance to change? I've enjoyed Audi, BMW and Porsche iterations because of results. I got plenty of usable feedback on all three albeit synthetic. I mean, it's not like laptimes are getting worse.

In particular when my A4 hydroplanes I get the perfect blend of tight control and "pay attention motherfucker."


On the flip side I've driven plenty of cars where the transmission of road surface to fingertips was fussy and exhausting.

Uh, why would your A4 hydroplane? Don't you mean lose traction?
 

mkenyon

Banned
I wonder how much the hatred for electric steering just comes from the enthusiast resistance to change? I've enjoyed Audi, BMW and Porsche iterations because of results. I got plenty of usable feedback on all three albeit synthetic. I mean, it's not like laptimes are getting worse.

In particular when my A4 hydroplanes I get the perfect blend of tight control and "pay attention motherfucker."


On the flip side I've driven plenty of cars where the transmission of road surface to fingertips was fussy and exhausting.
You don't find that in anywhere else, so why would that be a thing in the first place?

I mean, there's definitely a specific type of enthusiast that wants every car to be a pushrod muscle car, but that's a minority.

Part of being an auto enthusiast is getting excited about engineering and technological advancements. That pretty much flies in the face of resistance to change, doesn't it?

This advancement in particular is done for the sole purpose of increasing efficiency. It's not even an instance similar to manual vs auto/automated manual, where the latter is faster in most situations.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
I've actually been thinking about Evoras for a while now. They are such a unique, simple car that ticks all the boxes for me. And I'm sure reliability is insane with that Toyota powerplant. It's not the fastest car but I want an amazing driving experience like my M5, and something special to boot.

Really glad to see Lotus killin' it again.

The Evora 400 is coming to the states I believe. I thin the Lotus dealer in Orange County is getting em?
 

boltz

Member
Completely random question but how many of you peeps do the majority of work on your car yourselves? (Anything from swapping wheels to full engine rebuilds)?

I do simple maintenance and modding stuff like swapping fluids, brake pads, and bolt ons. One thing that I've learned is how much easier the process is when you have the right tools for the job. Like just using sockets instead of whatever wrench you have handy can even make the job enjoyable.

Also just got this in and can't wait to install it this weekend:

 

Pinewood

Member
Man going to look at a car 600km away is such a pain in the butt. Obv I can only go on the weekend, but then other stuff creeps inbetween, bleh.
 

Futaba

Member
I do simple maintenance and modding stuff like swapping fluids, brake pads, and bolt ons. One thing that I've learned is how much easier the process is when you have the right tools for the job. Like just using sockets instead of whatever wrench you have handy can even make the job enjoyable.

Also just got this in and can't wait to install it this weekend:


Nice!, I've got a Tomei UEL, berk high flow center cat and some bracing pieces to go on when I next have time, though this weekend almost the entire interior of my car is being pulled off and shipped to the US for some custom work, will be using that time while it's all off to button up some minor rattles, install nicer speakers and lay some sound deadening in the wafer thin doors too!
 
I wonder how much the hatred for electric steering just comes from the enthusiast resistance to change? I've enjoyed Audi, BMW and Porsche iterations because of results. I got plenty of usable feedback on all three albeit synthetic. I mean, it's not like laptimes are getting worse.

In particular when my A4 hydroplanes I get the perfect blend of tight control and "pay attention motherfucker."


On the flip side I've driven plenty of cars where the transmission of road surface to fingertips was fussy and exhausting.

This is exactly what I want though. My 911 has manual steering and it's like I can feel the slip angle in the tires. Yesterday I was out for a hot drive and turning into a corner I could feel the pavement slipping underneath the tires like I was running my hands over the asphalt.

Electric steering can emulate the feedback forces, but not that same level of tactile detail.
 
Almost crashed on the way to work today...

A white 718 Boxster S was barreling down the on-ramp on the highway and my God, it was fncking sexy.

I chased it down until we hit traffic and I exited off the highway lol.
 
Just bought the gears to rebuild the recline in my passenger seat in my E36.
I swear to god with the amount of work I have poured into this car in the last six months, it better last me another 5 years.
 

Denali

Member
Looking for some opinions on the Jeep Cherokee. Going to go test drive one tomorrow I think. Looking to stay around $25k, so I know that might make locking down the V6 model a bit difficult. Is the 4 cylinder horrible? Also thinking about going to look at the Mazda CX-5, but I prefer the look of the Cherokee a bit more. Anything else I should check out at this price range?
 

mkenyon

Banned
Looking for some opinions on the Jeep Cherokee. Going to go test drive one tomorrow I think. Looking to stay around $25k, so I know that might make locking down the V6 model a bit difficult. Is the 4 cylinder horrible? Also thinking about going to look at the Mazda CX-5, but I prefer the look of the Cherokee a bit more. Anything else I should check out at this price range?
I just had one for a weekend, drove from Billings, MT to Ekalaka, MT and back.

The 4cyl is anemic and the car starts to vibrate at 80mph through 90mph.

It kicked ass on mud roads though. It got through some spots that I'd feel iffy in my 2500. Legit great off road performance.

Seats were super super comfortable, and my 2500 made me familiar with UConnect, and it was great as always. I would absolutely require the V6 if I was looking at it seriously. Buy used if you need to.
 

No Love

Banned

Obviously I know what hydroplaning is. And if your A4 were to hydroplane, you'd lose traction on all four wheels which means you'd lose control of everything, not to mention hydroplaning is very uncommon, it's not like you'd be hydroplaning every week. That's why that statement makes no sense.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Obviously I know what hydroplaning is. And if your A4 were to hydroplane, you'd lose traction on all four wheels which means you'd lose control of everything, not to mention hydroplaning is very uncommon, it's not like you'd be hydroplaning every week. That's why that statement makes no sense.

I'm not being pedantic here. Driving through, for example, a sheet of inches thick water on a poorly drained highway, can, will and does result in a loss of friction between tires and road surface, and that feeling of traction-loss is often accompanied by an abrupt change in vehicle handling.

I'm not saying it happens every week, but I can tell you a couple of spots on the 520 westbound currently, here in Seattle, where you will encounter that road condition every day there's heavy rain. They're also accident black spots, for what it's worth.

If you're defining it as a fatal end condition or that it requires permanence or goes on for hundreds of yards, then I'm not going to bother arguing with you.

And frankly I'd be astonished if AutoGaf that drives in the rain a lot, hasn't encountered those conditions many times.
 

Futaba

Member
I wonder how much the hatred for electric steering just comes from the enthusiast resistance to change? I've enjoyed Audi, BMW and Porsche iterations because of results. I got plenty of usable feedback on all three albeit synthetic. I mean, it's not like laptimes are getting worse.

In particular when my A4 hydroplanes I get the perfect blend of tight control and "pay attention motherfucker."


On the flip side I've driven plenty of cars where the transmission of road surface to fingertips was fussy and exhausting.

HPS/EPS doesn't really change anything about hydroplaning over a static rack, there is no benefit for that specific situation, and frankly if you're noticing a significant change in handling feel as a direct result of hydroplaning, you're going too damn fast for the weather conditions, or running tires that don't have the displacement capacity to cope.
 

Pinewood

Member
HPS/EPS doesn't really change anything about hydroplaning over a static rack, there is no benefit for that specific situation, and frankly if you're noticing a significant change in handling feel as a direct result of hydroplaning, you're going too damn fast for the weather conditions, or running tires that don't have the displacement capacity to cope.

Isnt that what happens when you hydroplane?
 

Futaba

Member
Isnt that what happens when you hydroplane?

Hydroplaning is a complete loss of control, so the steering type wouldn't matter at all, so i'm trying to understand just what the heck he means by "I get the perfect blend of tight control and "pay attention motherfucker.""
Because, by nature, there is no control to be had, if he regains tight control then he's no longer hydroplaning.

I suspect, as No Love has mentioned, that he's simply mistaking loss of traction with hydroplaning.
 

cube444

Member
Have a 2017 GT350 and love it. Such a track worthy car and for the price it is hard to beat. Happy to answer any questions.

Nice to hear man. I've seen quite a few YT vids on them so I know about the light feeling clutch, the great Tremec six-speed gearbox and of course that beautiful exhaust note.

How long have you had it for and what pros and cons in your opinion?
 

mkenyon

Banned
HPS/EPS doesn't really change anything about hydroplaning over a static rack, there is no benefit for that specific situation, and frankly if you're noticing a significant change in handling feel as a direct result of hydroplaning, you're going too damn fast for the weather conditions, or running tires that don't have the displacement capacity to cope.
Or he lives in Western Washington in October/November. People there do not give a fuck if it's raining or not. A lot of the roads are very pitted out and grooved too, since crazy western washington people put on studs for winter despite it only snowing once per year, if that. :p

So glad to be out of there....

That being said, yes, I think he's conflating loss of traction with hydroplaning. I only hydroplaned once, when it was flooding out where I lived and there was water across the entire road that I didn't see until it was too late.
 

Denali

Member
I just had one for a weekend, drove from Billings, MT to Ekalaka, MT and back.

The 4cyl is anemic and the car starts to vibrate at 80mph through 90mph.

It kicked ass on mud roads though. It got through some spots that I'd feel iffy in my 2500. Legit great off road performance.

Seats were super super comfortable, and my 2500 made me familiar with UConnect, and it was great as always. I would absolutely require the V6 if I was looking at it seriously. Buy used if you need to.

Great to hear! Yeah, I don't think I'll even bother test driving the 4cyl. Used might be the way I have to go in order to stay within my budget.

This is my first time purchasing a car on my own. I've had the same car for the last 11 years; a Pontiac Sunfire. It's in pretty rough shape (only gauge that works is the speedometer, a basketball sized dent someone pushed in the fender for me, motor has started to get ... louder). I'm not sure if they'll even take it as a trade in. What are some general tips for purchasing a car, new or used? I'm not good at bargaining, but I guess that's part of the game.
 

mkenyon

Banned
Great to hear! Yeah, I don't think I'll even both test driving the 4cyl. Used might be the way I have to go in order to stay within my budget.

This is my first time purchasing a car on my own. I've had the same car for the last 11 years; a Pontiac Sunfire. It's in pretty rough shape (only gauge that works is the speedometer, a basketball sized dent someone pushed in the fender for me, motor has started to get ... louder). I'm not sure if they'll even take it as a trade in. What are some general tips for purchasing a car, new or used? I'm not good at bargaining, but I guess that's part of the game.
https://www.truecar.com/#/

My general tips:

1) Buy at the end of the month, and if buying new, try to buy the last model year if there were no significant changes. There should still be some '16s on the lot at most dealers. They'll go crazy low just trying to get rid of inventory.

2) Get preapproved by a bank that you work with, then sometimes they'll try to play ball to get you to go through one of their lenders. Or, it just makes the buying process easier since all that stuff is already cleared and you have a set budget.

If you get a loan for $25k, the car is $28k, simply insist that you don't want to go through another lender, and they have to meet X price in order for you to buy the thing. If you keep it super blunt and simple, then it helps for skipping through their back and forth games.

3) If anything doesn't feel right, back out. Just do the math on your own and get an idea of where they might be trying to screw you.
Eh, I can think of others. Ask old school 911 fans about water cooling.
That's on the same level as the pushrod v8 guys, IMO.

I mean, look at how well received the new 911 turbo-but-not-a-911-Turbo is.

Electric Steering seems to be widely panned because there is no upside to it other than improved fuel economy.
 

ascii42

Member
You don't find that in anywhere else, so why would that be a thing in the first place?

I mean, there's definitely a specific type of enthusiast that wants every car to be a pushrod muscle car, but that's a minority.

Part of being an auto enthusiast is getting excited about engineering and technological advancements. That pretty much flies in the face of resistance to change, doesn't it?

This advancement in particular is done for the sole purpose of increasing efficiency. It's not even an instance similar to manual vs auto/automated manual, where the latter is faster in most situations.

Eh, I can think of others. Ask old school 911 fans about water cooling.
 
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