SliChillax
Member
Don't forget Alfa 4c has no power steering.
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Automotive Discussion Thread | OT2 | Zero to pointless fighting faster than a GT86
- Thread starter AlphaSnake
- Start date
Deer: 1, Car: 0
My morning started out with an impact and it was not the good kind. 7:45am or so, still mostly dark, and a large buck decided to body check the side of my MX-5. It completely obliterated the passenger side mirror and left dents on all the passenger side body panels.
The upside is I was not hurt and the car appears to drive just fine. Car has an appointment at the body shop next week and hopefully it will not be gone too long because I will miss it greatly. Repair estimate is $2100.
2nd picture it's hard to see the door and rear quarter panel dents but you can see that the rear view mirror is completely missing. When the deer hit it it impacted the passenger side window so hard it left a permanent indentation of the mirror. That mirror is in 1 million pieces on the road now. =/
My morning started out with an impact and it was not the good kind. 7:45am or so, still mostly dark, and a large buck decided to body check the side of my MX-5. It completely obliterated the passenger side mirror and left dents on all the passenger side body panels.
The upside is I was not hurt and the car appears to drive just fine. Car has an appointment at the body shop next week and hopefully it will not be gone too long because I will miss it greatly. Repair estimate is $2100.
2nd picture it's hard to see the door and rear quarter panel dents but you can see that the rear view mirror is completely missing. When the deer hit it it impacted the passenger side window so hard it left a permanent indentation of the mirror. That mirror is in 1 million pieces on the road now. =/
Fallout-NL
Member
Damn, glad you're ok. Is the car insured or do you have to cough up 2 grand yourself?
YuriLowell
Member
Should have had the top down so you could have taken dinner home with you.
Crayon
Member
Negative. Hydroplaning can happen to one, two, three or four wheels and even then the loss of control is not complete. It's possible to hit a line where hydroplaning is involved and drive it out, and you will want good steering to do it.
Stick shift!
Push rod!
Wankel!
edit, partially beaten.
Yeah, to clarify, I'm not saying one is better or worse for that condition, I'm saying that I get plenty of accurate "feel" from electric steering setups and no perceptible loss of input.
I'm 100% sure that my AWD is doing the hard work there, rather than my instincts, I'm just saying that I don't find the response or the feel to be "dead" as is the most common complaint I read. I can absolutely feel the loss of traction through the wheel and the rest of the car.
Deer: 1, Car: 0
My morning started out with an impact and it was not the good kind. 7:45am or so, still mostly dark, and a large buck decided to body check the side of my MX-5. It completely obliterated the passenger side mirror and left dents on all the passenger side body panels.
The upside is I was not hurt and the car appears to drive just fine. Car has an appointment at the body shop next week and hopefully it will not be gone too long because I will miss it greatly. Repair estimate is $2100.
2nd picture it's hard to see the door and rear quarter panel dents but you can see that the rear view mirror is completely missing. When the deer hit it it impacted the passenger side window so hard it left a permanent indentation of the mirror. That mirror is in 1 million pieces on the road now. =/
most important question - did you damage those backstraps?
That deer didn't even fall down. Just body checked the Miata and ran into the field across the road. I even stopped and looked but he was long gone.
I'm insured. Collision deductable is $200 so I'm good there.
David Incorporated Esq.
Member
You mean the devil's heat transfer?
Honestly I'll never get the air-cooled vs. water-cooled debate. Air cooled engines are light, mechanical and neat (as hell), but they're objectively worse than water cooled engines. Plus, they're all flat 6's, so you can get pretty much the same exhaust notes out of either with the right pipes, and the characteristics really aren't that different. Going from N/A to turbo across the board, though, that's more offensive because it's actually changing the character of the engine in a pretty dramatic way.
That's the beauty of the new engine, because it really hasn't. It's not like the old "wait for it". The powerband is insanely linear.
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
I'm going to put an end to this whole hydroplane talk now:
If there is water lifting all 4 wheels of the car off the ground, creating a layer between it and the ground, that's hydroplaning. Simple as that. Ground | Water | Rubber = hydroplane. A loss of control is not a certainty. The best protective measure is to ease off the throttle very gently and make sure NEVER to stab the brakes out of panic.
Hydroplaning occurs when the tires cannot cope with the amount of water in the tread of the tire. When the tire is accumulating more water than it can drive through, the water simply collects over the tread pattern forming pockets of water that can't be flung away and instead lift the car up as you drive at higher speeds.
If there is water lifting all 4 wheels of the car off the ground, creating a layer between it and the ground, that's hydroplaning. Simple as that. Ground | Water | Rubber = hydroplane. A loss of control is not a certainty. The best protective measure is to ease off the throttle very gently and make sure NEVER to stab the brakes out of panic.
Hydroplaning occurs when the tires cannot cope with the amount of water in the tread of the tire. When the tire is accumulating more water than it can drive through, the water simply collects over the tread pattern forming pockets of water that can't be flung away and instead lift the car up as you drive at higher speeds.
I just wonder how much better that can be when you can just get a base Evora S and turn up the boost for a whole lot less.
Crayon
Member
What if only two wheels go thru the standing water and are separated from the asphalt? Is the car hydroplaning or are the tires individually hydroplaning or is it not hydroplaning at all?
I would say that the tire hydroplane individually.
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
So I test drove an Infiniti Q60 Coupe Red Sport 400
The quick summary? A great daily driver, with a genuine wallop of power. A 7.5, maybe 8/10.
The details? The soul seeker, an automotive minority, will walk away from it feeling a bit empty. But the enthusiast side who loves to mod will take over thinking "hmmm...if I could just do these three things..."
But modding never quite stops there does it? I stepped foot into a brand new white Q60, and man...honestly, the F-Type and this may be the two best looking coupes on the market. Before anyone else mentions it, as much as I like the look of the C-Class Coupe, the rear end is way too upright on the car and it loses a few points there. Really though, the gorgeous lines of the Q60 stand out in a sea of all other cars. My test drive was filled with people and passerbys breaking their neck looking at an Infiniti that starts at like...$37K? Something like that.
Egress and ingress was surprisingly very car like. The car's not as low as a Jag coupe, and I noticed that much while resolving my whole XKR scratches issue with the dealer. Jumping out of one car and into another made it pretty obvious that the Q60 is developed to be driven by all sorts of folk. So it's easy to climb in and out of, but a nice set of springs will fix that. Though, they would be purely aesthetic, since the car handles extremely well. Way better than Q50s. So it's certainly very nice to see Infiniti differentiate the two sibling offerings.
What I didn't care for much was, what I believe to be run flats? They seemed a little rough in some spots. But hey, buy new tires, sell the old unworn stockers for nearly full price. Problem solved. Another quick thinking fix by an automotive modder.
I'm not sure which steering rack the model I drove had. But to me, if I don't notice anything excessively odd or noticeable about the steering inputs, I'm happy with that. As long as the inputs feel like an extension of me, that's great. Maneuvering the car around felt great, I didn't feel weird dead spots or overly artificial feeling. Now, as soon as I stepped foot into the car, the admittedly attractive sales lady just clicked the settings into Sport+ so everything felt great. So this perspective is provided from that setting.
Now surely I could go into extraneous detail and have really dissected the steering feel, but this wasn't the time for it and I was pretty satisfied with what I felt unlike other test drives (mainly Audis) where it's noticeable immediately.
The engine is the true gem of this hardware though. It's certainly got the character of a VR motor. Extremely balanced, superb torque, and immense pull. Really, really liked it a lot. But it had no soul. I don't know who at Infiniti thought "yes, that's what a 400HP twin-turbo powerhouse should sound like in a beautiful sports coupe". Have the brash Europeans taught the Japanese nothing? If you have the power, you have to let the world know. Or, you know, have the option of letting the world know...with like a sport exhaust button. The exhaust is too damn quiet. The motor sounds like a very high-end vacuum. It feels like the engineers were composed of an NVH survey crew that prioritized quietness and absurd refinement. Why? Why in a car like this. I'd rather the car sound like the vomiting and farting of BMW's S55 in the Ms over this.
Quite frankly, it seemed like a concern because I repeatedly found myself pushing the throttle and thinking "meh...not that fast" only to see I went from a 35MPH entrance ramp to 100MPH. The straight line speed is terrific. And from a dead stop, it pins you back. But when you're spoiled by a ravaging 5.0L V8, or more comparably, the gnarly sounding 3-liters of Jaguar, BMW, and even Mercedes engines with their wurring, burling, crackling and popping, you sort of expect to see some sort of theater and drama from the reinvigorated Infinitis. But perhaps, Japan would prefer to maintain their staid persona. Still, I said to myself...intake and some exhaust work, I could fix that.
But then the big risk of modding the exhausts of turbo'd cars is always drone and that surely could've been a challenge of Infiniti's, so they may have just choked the exhaust completely to quiet down the interior. Yes, turbos make cars quieter, but that's usually high-end. Low-end they could still be susceptible to some nasty drone spots in the rev-range. My suspicion is that an exhaust will never truly make this car sound good...and so far it's being validated since there are some aftermarket brands making exhausts for the VR30, and they all sound way too tame. A bit more toned and bassy, but lacking the flare of the previously mentioned European motors. Staid it is for Japan, it seems.
But then you get to the last straw...the transmission. Yes, they've worked on the software a bit. The upshifts are very snappy and quick. But the downshifts continue to be comparably eternal. My old ZF 6-speed in the XKR downshifts leagues quicker than this, and it's a transmission from a 2012 (older if you include variants in BMWs). Need to drop two gears to quickly switch a lane? Time it accordingly and hope it cooperates. As far as drivetrain specs go, the transmission truly holds this car back from being a great experience. And that's something no everyday tuner or enthusiast modder can fix with off the shelf parts.
As is now, the Q60 Coupe is a terrific every day car. Most of its unenthusiastic quirks can be fixed easily. But the truest of enthusiasts will find themselves annoyed that the transmission is the same old clunk of metal that's been in the Nissan parts bin since 2007. There's no reason an upgraded transmission or a DCT wasn't used for a car with components this solid.
The quick summary? A great daily driver, with a genuine wallop of power. A 7.5, maybe 8/10.
The details? The soul seeker, an automotive minority, will walk away from it feeling a bit empty. But the enthusiast side who loves to mod will take over thinking "hmmm...if I could just do these three things..."
But modding never quite stops there does it? I stepped foot into a brand new white Q60, and man...honestly, the F-Type and this may be the two best looking coupes on the market. Before anyone else mentions it, as much as I like the look of the C-Class Coupe, the rear end is way too upright on the car and it loses a few points there. Really though, the gorgeous lines of the Q60 stand out in a sea of all other cars. My test drive was filled with people and passerbys breaking their neck looking at an Infiniti that starts at like...$37K? Something like that.
Egress and ingress was surprisingly very car like. The car's not as low as a Jag coupe, and I noticed that much while resolving my whole XKR scratches issue with the dealer. Jumping out of one car and into another made it pretty obvious that the Q60 is developed to be driven by all sorts of folk. So it's easy to climb in and out of, but a nice set of springs will fix that. Though, they would be purely aesthetic, since the car handles extremely well. Way better than Q50s. So it's certainly very nice to see Infiniti differentiate the two sibling offerings.
What I didn't care for much was, what I believe to be run flats? They seemed a little rough in some spots. But hey, buy new tires, sell the old unworn stockers for nearly full price. Problem solved. Another quick thinking fix by an automotive modder.
I'm not sure which steering rack the model I drove had. But to me, if I don't notice anything excessively odd or noticeable about the steering inputs, I'm happy with that. As long as the inputs feel like an extension of me, that's great. Maneuvering the car around felt great, I didn't feel weird dead spots or overly artificial feeling. Now, as soon as I stepped foot into the car, the admittedly attractive sales lady just clicked the settings into Sport+ so everything felt great. So this perspective is provided from that setting.
Now surely I could go into extraneous detail and have really dissected the steering feel, but this wasn't the time for it and I was pretty satisfied with what I felt unlike other test drives (mainly Audis) where it's noticeable immediately.
The engine is the true gem of this hardware though. It's certainly got the character of a VR motor. Extremely balanced, superb torque, and immense pull. Really, really liked it a lot. But it had no soul. I don't know who at Infiniti thought "yes, that's what a 400HP twin-turbo powerhouse should sound like in a beautiful sports coupe". Have the brash Europeans taught the Japanese nothing? If you have the power, you have to let the world know. Or, you know, have the option of letting the world know...with like a sport exhaust button. The exhaust is too damn quiet. The motor sounds like a very high-end vacuum. It feels like the engineers were composed of an NVH survey crew that prioritized quietness and absurd refinement. Why? Why in a car like this. I'd rather the car sound like the vomiting and farting of BMW's S55 in the Ms over this.
Quite frankly, it seemed like a concern because I repeatedly found myself pushing the throttle and thinking "meh...not that fast" only to see I went from a 35MPH entrance ramp to 100MPH. The straight line speed is terrific. And from a dead stop, it pins you back. But when you're spoiled by a ravaging 5.0L V8, or more comparably, the gnarly sounding 3-liters of Jaguar, BMW, and even Mercedes engines with their wurring, burling, crackling and popping, you sort of expect to see some sort of theater and drama from the reinvigorated Infinitis. But perhaps, Japan would prefer to maintain their staid persona. Still, I said to myself...intake and some exhaust work, I could fix that.
But then the big risk of modding the exhausts of turbo'd cars is always drone and that surely could've been a challenge of Infiniti's, so they may have just choked the exhaust completely to quiet down the interior. Yes, turbos make cars quieter, but that's usually high-end. Low-end they could still be susceptible to some nasty drone spots in the rev-range. My suspicion is that an exhaust will never truly make this car sound good...and so far it's being validated since there are some aftermarket brands making exhausts for the VR30, and they all sound way too tame. A bit more toned and bassy, but lacking the flare of the previously mentioned European motors. Staid it is for Japan, it seems.
But then you get to the last straw...the transmission. Yes, they've worked on the software a bit. The upshifts are very snappy and quick. But the downshifts continue to be comparably eternal. My old ZF 6-speed in the XKR downshifts leagues quicker than this, and it's a transmission from a 2012 (older if you include variants in BMWs). Need to drop two gears to quickly switch a lane? Time it accordingly and hope it cooperates. As far as drivetrain specs go, the transmission truly holds this car back from being a great experience. And that's something no everyday tuner or enthusiast modder can fix with off the shelf parts.
As is now, the Q60 Coupe is a terrific every day car. Most of its unenthusiastic quirks can be fixed easily. But the truest of enthusiasts will find themselves annoyed that the transmission is the same old clunk of metal that's been in the Nissan parts bin since 2007. There's no reason an upgraded transmission or a DCT wasn't used for a car with components this solid.
I don't know what a backstrap is?
60% of the Evora 400 is new over the S. The 400 would still be a better car even if you matched the power levels with more boost in the S.
In that scenario you spin and crash immediately
Crayon
Member
Like a banana peel?
Well if one side has traction and the other doesnt then pretty much yea
I know what you mean, it kinda looks like the cabin is too far forward, and it's almost tipping forward onto the front tires.
Fallout-NL
Member
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
jongkookie
Member
Glad to know you're safe!
For all the shit the NC gets for being a "bastard child" of the Miata's, I admittedly feel more safe in it than it's predecessors or even the ND.
I can tell you right now the repair process might take a while unless you insist on using original Mazda parts. I also got into a minor fender bender a few years ago with my front bumper and the shop initially went with an aftermarket front bumper as a replacement but they found that it just wouldn't sit right once attached... and this is after they fixed everything else like the mounting points or whatever. So they had to delay it for another week coz they had to order a front bumper from Mazda, and only then was it able to sit and look right.
The only thing that sucks about mine is the paint, with it being "special edition" paint or whatever bullshit, if you look really closely you could see that my front bumper looks newer compared to the rest of the car. But at the end of the day, I didn't really care tbh. It never was gonna be a showcar or whatever so all I needed was for it to run as good as it did before the accident.
jongkookie
Member
You should just keep it that way, your GT86 might gain more HP that way. ��
Lol jk
But m'dude, it's twincharged, already significantly faster than a standard 86
Not going to see it again until late Jan now though, just shipped off the interior trim and parked it in long term dry storage as I'll be out of the country for a few months starting this weekend!
shinshoryuken
Member
I'm in pain installing it but it's worth it...sound went super saiyan...
full inconel set up ..sound like true F1 + demon screaming.
full inconel set up ..sound like true F1 + demon screaming.
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
Clips. Naow
Most exhaust systems are pretty straightforward. A buddy and some rhino ramps should be doable.
Awesome! Cant wait to hear it
The Auris is basically a Corolla hatchback, right? Should be fine if fuel economy is your priority. We don't have them in the US, so I don't know how they compare to the Prius.
They have the same engine as the latest Prius. And yes, it's the same as the Corolla Hatchback. It's apparently called the Scion iM in the US? I had no idea cars had different names across continents lol, I assumed the maker being Japanese and I'm in Europe, the name would be global.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Auris
Are people just hateful fucks?
My old Challenger R/T no one ever touched it. My Hellcat... Had someone sit on the hood scratching the hell out of it and it was egged yesterday. Even though I hit it with wax Wednesday I still see spots that ate the clear coat and the spots where the eggs initially hit have marks deep enough to remove the black paint.
My old Challenger R/T no one ever touched it. My Hellcat... Had someone sit on the hood scratching the hell out of it and it was egged yesterday. Even though I hit it with wax Wednesday I still see spots that ate the clear coat and the spots where the eggs initially hit have marks deep enough to remove the black paint.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
Yes, they are. Friend bought an Audi A4, someone keyed it for no reason outside a store. Some people just live for jealousy.
Muddled my way around removing the front strut today only to realize the tweakers at AutoZone gave me the wrong tool instead of a strut compressor. Had to reassemble and I'll work on it next weekend. At least now I have some practice under my belt.
That's garbage. Jealous fuckers.
That's garbage. Jealous fuckers.
Roude Leiw
Member
Yeah, it's all marketing. The same car can get different names and even different brands depending on what they think will sell better. Sometimes the same name is applied to different cars. The North American Honda Accord is, or at least used to be, different from the Accord sold elsewhere. That Accord was sold as the Acura TSX here.
Gran Turismo exposed me to some real curiosities. Toyota and GM collaborated to build the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe. In Japan, Toyota sold what they called the Voltz. It's clearly based on the Vibe, and not the Matrix, for whatever reason. Even has the arrowhead logo.
Finished installing the catback and although the exhaust tip was as ginormous as I thought it would be, it's not too bad and should look better when it gets a little dirtier and hides all of the shiny bits. But I'm very happy with the sound as it is not obnoxious and even burbles and pops a little bit. Now I think I fully understand why people make such a big deal of cars' exhaust notes.
Nice, post some pics when you get that work done!
It your top criteria are reliability and fuel economy, I don't see how a hybrid Auris can do you wrong. I actually think the iM is a cool little car - too bad all it gets is Toyota's anemic 1.8L engine.
That's pretty f'd up - something like that would have me considering getting a dashcam with the ability to record when the car is parked.
Congrats! Are you planning to do any upgrades?
Nice, post some pics when you get that work done!
It your top criteria are reliability and fuel economy, I don't see how a hybrid Auris can do you wrong. I actually think the iM is a cool little car - too bad all it gets is Toyota's anemic 1.8L engine.
That's pretty f'd up - something like that would have me considering getting a dashcam with the ability to record when the car is parked.
Congrats! Are you planning to do any upgrades?
So I moved to a new place to start my practice and I now live 5 mins away from work by walk. Hard to justify driving to work, let alone getting a new fancy car. It just doesn't make sense anymore...
Anyway, curious to hear autoGAF's take on automated driving technologies? Do you guys believe that self-driving cars will become mandatory within the next 10-20 years?
Anyway, curious to hear autoGAF's take on automated driving technologies? Do you guys believe that self-driving cars will become mandatory within the next 10-20 years?
No, definitely not mandatory. I think the tech will just continue to get cheaper and all of the people uninterested in driving (most people on the road) will have them.
I could see it being mandatory in all new cars though.
The average age of cars on the road is over 11 years old. Something to consider when thinking about a potential timeframe.
So bye bye to new sports cars then? I fear for some regulars in this thread. I don't know, I feel like it's a big elephant in the room that car enthusiasts tend to ignore on various forums.
I could see that happening in some city centers first before the tech is in most people's hands. Not sure what the time frame would be.
Having autonomous features doesn't mean it lacks the ability to drive it manually. You're thinking it's a binary thing, which I don't think it is.
There's a lot of instances when autonomy simply isn't feasible, especially outside of big cities.