You own a car? Care to share?

[jmacavali]

Oops sorry, SUV is a Pontiac Torrent and the truck is a Dodge Dakota. Wanted a smaller size truck and had to have the cab room for the 2 car seats that I carry around for now. The SUV is nice...gets the job done but we are probably moving to a mini-van. We would like the 3rd row seating.

One more reason that encourages people to buy cars here is the very low prices of gas. Cheaper than water. Not to mention diesel OMG!

That's almost the exact opposite here. We ride bike and drive motorcycles and find small "fuel-effeciant" cars because gas is so high!

 

[foothead]

I heard moving to SUV's is one of the reason large sedans disappear little by little. Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis are gone now.

Seems to be a combination of that, gas prices, and the fact that car companies are utilizing space better. But really, American cars are huge lately. They're becoming much chunkier for some reason. Really, the layouts inside feel horrible to me. The dashboard goes up super high, there's glowing electronic crap everywhere, blind spots are ridiculous, etc. I got in a recent ford car a while back and just felt claustrophobic. Same with my friend's new honda civic.

 

[Smart_Guy]

Oops sorry, SUV is a Pontiac Torrent and the truck is a Dodge Dakota. Wanted a smaller size truck and had to have the cab room for the 2 car seats that I carry around for now. The SUV is nice...gets the job done but we are probably moving to a mini-van. We would like the 3rd row seating.

That's almost the exact opposite here. We ride bike and drive motorcycles and find small "fuel-effeciant" cars because gas is so high!

Seen the Ford Expedition? It has a third raw and both short and long wheel bases. And it looks fearless and bold - in a good way (unlike me, I'm bald in a bad way ). A quality not well known with mini-vans.

Regular gas costs 0.48 Dollar per gallon (did many calculation to find this out) and premium costs 0.64 Dollar per gallon. here we use the metric system.

Seems to be a combination of that, gas prices, and the fact that car companies are utilizing space better. But really, American cars are huge lately. They're becoming much chunkier for some reason. Really, the layouts inside feel horrible to me. The dashboard goes up super high, there's glowing electronic crap everywhere, blind spots are ridiculous, etc. I got in a recent ford car a while back and just felt claustrophobic. Same with my friend's new honda civic.

Gas prices and big size trend sure make sense. Fuel is just too expensive in the States. Never been there, but I hear about it, and I heard diesel is more expensive in some states. As an employee in a building contracting company, I can also say that price for square inch is what economically matters.

Guess the design issue your talking about is becoming a trend for all cars these days. Even European cars have this problems. One very good reason why I dislike new cars and stick to this old junk I own. Crown Victoria kept the old styling the most, specially the suspended transmission stick (if this is what it is called) to give more space in the front. And the A/C blowers (ventilation shafts?) look so ugly now.

 

[BK_123]

Age?

Hurry up, with a car you can go and buy all computer hardware you want anytime

But remember, with cars comes great responsibilities

That Mustang is super awesome btw. I found some convertible Mercs (my kinda car) but the price was high and the maintenance here is expensive.

I am 18 so I could've had my gotten my learners licence when I was 16 and had my provisional licence when I was 17 meaning I could drive around with no one.

 

[Smart_Guy]

Sorry, did mean to sound like a jerk.

Here we try to get them as soon as possible so in case of emergencies one can drive any car. With appropriate authorizations of course.

I however, understand that circumstances make the difference some times.

 

[BK_123]

Sorry, did mean to sound like a jerk.

Here we try to get them as soon as possible so in case of emergencies one can drive any car. With appropriate authorizations of course.

I however, understand that circumstances make the difference some times.

Nah you didn't sound like a jerk at all. Yeah I don't wanna hold off any longer infact I aim to have my learners licence by the end of the year all going well.

 

[superman22x]

I've got a few vehicles...

My daily driver is a 2005 G35x. I love it. 161,000 miles, and still runs great. And the AWD is nice to have in the winter. I pull a small trailer with it and it never skips a beat.

Then I have my bike, a 1994 Yamaha XJ600. It's slow, but it's fun. This picture is a bit old, since then I have put on R6 brakes and a few other odds and ends have been painted. I painted this bike myself as well.


Then I have my second car, which is a 1993 Mustang 5.0. Stock V8, so it's not real fast either, but it sure has a loud pedal. It's my project car. A bit rusty and beat up, but I sure learned a lot rebuilding the engine and such for it.

And finally my winter vehicle, and probably the most fun vehicle I own is a 1997 Arctic Cat ZR440. Tiny little 440cc engine, but it makes just under 100hp. It's the race model, so it's a blast. Fox shocks all around. It has no problems lifting the skis up. It is a blast. The 6-10mpg isn't too fun... But everything else is awesome.

 

[Smart_Guy]

I've got a few vehicles...

My daily driver is a 2005 G35x. I love it. 161,000 miles, and still runs great. And the AWD is nice to have in the winter. I pull a small trailer with it and it never skips a beat.

Then I have my bike, a 1994 Yamaha XJ600. It's slow, but it's fun. This picture is a bit old, since then I have put on R6 brakes and a few other odds and ends have been painted. I painted this bike myself as well.


Then I have my second car, which is a 1993 Mustang 5.0. Stock V8, so it's not real fast either, but it sure has a loud pedal. It's my project car. A bit rusty and beat up, but I sure learned a lot rebuilding the engine and such for it.

And finally my winter vehicle, and probably the most fun vehicle I own is a 1997 Arctic Cat ZR440. Tiny little 440cc engine, but it makes just under 100hp. It's the race model, so it's a blast. Fox shocks all around. It has no problems lifting the skis up. It is a blast. The 6-10mpg isn't too fun... But everything else is awesome.

Cool collection.

It just bothers me why Ford makes high capacity engines but with low output. And to make it worse, as some of these engines improved lately and had much higher output than before, something else seems to be wrong. My Crown Victoria has a ~240hp 4.7L engine and a 4 cyl. Toyota Camry takes it on both pick up and highway.

I guess that high mpg on the ZR440 is because of the low gears on both transmission and axle. A small engine need lower ration to move quick. Coupled with light body weight of course.

Just replacing the rear axle ratio for my MB to the next tighter will change the 0-100km/h time from the current 9 sec. to 8 sec. Does not seem much in numbers, but that's on the pick up only. You can imagine the acceleration gain of higher speeds.

 

[superman22x]

Well, the low power V8s have a ton of torque. Your Camry weighs nothing compared to that Crown Vic. My Mustang makes maybe 270hp and 300 ft-lbs. But it's the RPM it makes that power at. My Mustang redlines at the same time my Infiniti is just hitting peak torque. With the right set of tires and suspension set up, my mustang should almost pull a wheelie, haha.

The ZR440 actually uses a CVT. All snowmobiles do. Also it's a 2 stroke. But the fun thing about CVT's is, you can always be in the power band. My clutch on my snowmobile doesn't engage until ~5500 RPM. And when it does, it breaks your neck, haha. There is no smooth way to do it. One time I broke part of my suspension on the trail and had to limp the last 5 miles home at 10-15mph. The clutch kept engaging and disengaging. It doesn't like going any slower than about 20. It's kind of an On/Off thing. Either it's not moving, or it's yanking your arms right out of your shoulders. This is why I love it, haha. I'm putting a new seat on it now and the suspension is all torn apart in my basement. I'll get some pictures up someday. For now, here is a generic ZR440. And a picture of the clutches. I imagine you don't have snowmobiles by you, haha.

One thing about those V8s too, the big displacement, low speed engines do better as all around engines than the high revving european/japanese engines in my opinion. Look at the corvette, 6.2L V8, 436hp at only 6000 RPM or so. A BMW might make that with a 4.0L or something. But the Corvette gets 29mpg... The BMW does not at all. I put 1000 miles on a C6 Grand Sport with the higher rear end ratio. It cruises at around 1500RPM at 75mph if I remember right. Super low RPM. My Infiniti sits at 3000+ at 75mph.
Being a pushrod V8, the 6.2L is actually pretty small in physical size for it's displacement.

 

[Smart_Guy]

Well, the low power V8s have a ton of torque. Your Camry weighs nothing compared to that Crown Vic. My Mustang makes maybe 270hp and 300 ft-lbs. But it's the RPM it makes that power at. My Mustang redlines at the same time my Infiniti is just hitting peak torque. With the right set of tires and suspension set up, my mustang should almost pull a wheelie, haha.

The ZR440 actually uses a CVT. All snowmobiles do. Also it's a 2 stroke. But the fun thing about CVT's is, you can always be in the power band. My clutch on my snowmobile doesn't engage until ~5500 RPM. And when it does, it breaks your neck, haha. There is no smooth way to do it. One time I broke part of my suspension on the trail and had to limp the last 5 miles home at 10-15mph. The clutch kept engaging and disengaging. It doesn't like going any slower than about 20. It's kind of an On/Off thing. Either it's not moving, or it's yanking your arms right out of your shoulders. This is why I love it, haha. I'm putting a new seat on it now and the suspension is all torn apart in my basement. I'll get some pictures up someday. For now, here is a generic ZR440. And a picture of the clutches. I imagine you don't have snowmobiles by you, haha.

One thing about those V8s too, the big displacement, low speed engines do better as all around engines than the high revving european/japanese engines in my opinion. Look at the corvette, 6.2L V8, 436hp at only 6000 RPM or so. A BMW might make that with a 4.0L or something. But the Corvette gets 29mpg... The BMW does not at all. I put 1000 miles on a C6 Grand Sport with the higher rear end ratio. It cruises at around 1500RPM at 75mph if I remember right. Super low RPM. My Infiniti sits at 3000+ at 75mph.
Being a pushrod V8, the 6.2L is actually pretty small in physical size for it's displacement.

Shouldn't the CV at least triumph on high speeds? it still doesnt. Actually I own the CV not the Camry junk . Even without compairing the CV with anything, I can feel its week acceleration on highways. Torque is ~260 ft-lbs. I'm not arguing btw, I'm just confused. I read on your other topic that you are an expert in this department. Gulf import CV's actually use the widest rear differential available. Could this possibly make highway acceleration that bad?

I thought the ZR440 was car
Man, this is so embarrassing.
If we have something-mobile here, it would be sandmobile. But honestly, I thought it was a jet ski when I saw the first pic above.

This last paragraph was a good read. I noticed how the MB has higher revs at the same speed than the CV. The MB even starts at 2nd gear in normal cases.