MrLeisure757
New Member
I used to enjoy watching the old videos of my Father racing F2 when he lived in London. I have the utmost respect for that style of racing! Some of it was open wheel. Pretty intense if you ask me!
What do you think?
- Thread starter JaceTheAce
- Start date
JaceTheAce
Well-Known Member
YES! Thank you! :rawk:
I owe you a couple of beers or three.
Cessnaflyer
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Have you driven at a rally-x or were you just co-driving? I want to do that SO bad! I too want to pursue some kind of stunt/performance driving career outside of my job as a pilot. Even if it's just the guy pulling the e-brake or doing doughnuts in car commercials. haha
Yeah when I was still in high school I used to race all the time in my Subaru. I think that is part of the reason the crankshaft went bang.
Cessnaflyer
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Tommay85
Well-Known Member
How'd you pull that off? I thought you had to have special training to enter in those event, at least I think you do in MN. There's a rally-x in bemidji. Or have you gone through that certification. I may be WAY off too on all that.
I wanted to do ice auto-x this winter, but didn't get around to it. I figured that is as close to rally-x(as far as the driving style goes) as I can get.
TXaviator
Well-Known Member
thats ONE of my goals! ;-D
RyosukeFC
Well-Known Member
No a new $10,000 car has to be looked for what it is (economy subcompact usually), even then it's hard to find a new car for as little as $10,000 these days (even with Korean cars). But compared to other cars in that entry-level price range, the GM offerings come up short.
When I was in auto shop in high school (in 1997-1999), everybody was saying how the GM vehicles were far better built than they ever have been. Of course they looked shiny and impressive at the time so it was easy to believe and fall into that mindset (buy into their marketing hype). Now that those cars are 10 years old I can personally attest to the inferior build quality of those cars. I have worked at an automotive repair shop and used car dealer. I have been exposed to a lot of cars. I have owned 2 GM vehicles, 4 Ford vehicles, 3 Honda products, and 1 toyota.
Look at for example a Grand Prix from 1997 with 120,000K and compare that to an Accord or Camry of the same age with the same mileage. Which one do you think is running better and has needed less maintenance along the way? The newer GM cars have no doubt improved, but their projected reliability is still below average according to Consumer Reports.
Yes, I'll say that GM vehicles are largely similar to what was sold even 10 years ago. Looking at the broad picture, have cars (foreign or domestic) really changed alot since the late 80s through the 90s to current? There are far more similarities than differences. There were overhead cams & multivalve enginges back then... with multi-port fuel injection, tall overdrive gears and good aerodynamics for good cruising fuel economy. Power has consistantly increased in the last 10 years (but cars have also gained weight). Some new technologies have emerged and safety has gotten better but nothing earth shaking comes to mind. Not much has changed since then other than aesthetics and convenience features. I don't consider myself ignorant at all.
TXaviator
Well-Known Member
thanks for a well articulated point.
an ex gf of mine was shopping for a car and i expressed my extreme horror at the thought of her buying a FORD and she said
"these arent the same american cars they were building 4 years ago, theyre much better"
and i replied
"right, i heard that four, eight, and twelve years ago, and they still fall apart after four years of driving."
where is this myth coming from that "wow, new american cars have really caught up"
good marketing??? :banghead:
an ex gf of mine was shopping for a car and i expressed my extreme horror at the thought of her buying a FORD and she said
"these arent the same american cars they were building 4 years ago, theyre much better"
and i replied
"right, i heard that four, eight, and twelve years ago, and they still fall apart after four years of driving."
where is this myth coming from that "wow, new american cars have really caught up"
good marketing??? :banghead:
TXaviator
Well-Known Member
the Grand Prix is on its last legs, wheras the Accord or Camry is just hitting its stride.
TXaviator
Well-Known Member
and my last point, has any of these people actually SAT in an american car side by side with a japanese car???
holy hell american cars buttons and knobs feel like they are made for either a toddler or someone with multiple fingers amputated and nothing left but a bulbous stump.
can the buttons get any bigger and more playskool???
am i the only one to notice this?
honestly, i believe its because they still have not figured out how to mass produce things with fine design tolerances (the poorly matched corners on american car dash panels comes to mind immediately)
holy hell american cars buttons and knobs feel like they are made for either a toddler or someone with multiple fingers amputated and nothing left but a bulbous stump.
can the buttons get any bigger and more playskool???
am i the only one to notice this?
honestly, i believe its because they still have not figured out how to mass produce things with fine design tolerances (the poorly matched corners on american car dash panels comes to mind immediately)
Tommay85
Well-Known Member
For the love of god, have any of you looked at anything GM has made since 2002? That's when Lutz started taking over and kicking the accountants out of the design and engineering offices.
DONT even try to compare new GM interiors to anything coming from japan except for MAYBE lexus. You'll look silly.
You prove to me that any import engine is more reliable or requires less maintenance than GM's 3300, 3800, LSx engines, ecotech engines, and maybe I'll be quiet. You're falling for everyone elses hype if you seriously believe these engines are inferior. I'd put the 3800 and LSx engines up against anything anyone makes. I'm not saying any of them is better, just equal at the very least.
I'll agree with what you said tx, stay away from ford. They haven't made any strides to keep up with anyone.
Breakdown after four years? PULEAS!! My 91 cutlass, which I drive not by choice, but out of neccessity, has 130,000 miles on it and the only rattle is coming from the ashtray. As is every A-body car I've ever riden in. The bodies of some of these aren't looking too pretty though. haha But all cars are going to rust in the midwest after 16 years of driving. Mine is still in dang near showroom quality condition. Aside from some nitwits that like to vandalize cars. Some of you have seen what I do with that thing. I'm so far from driving it like a normal person, it's laughable.
All I'm trying to get at is don't be so jaded by the past guys. What you guys are describing is nothing close to what's coming from GM right now(I'm talking new generation models, not what's sill coming out from 2000), which tells me you've haven't looked at anything in awhile. You can prefer what ever brand you want, but don't try to play off all the false percieved notions as fact.
DONT even try to compare new GM interiors to anything coming from japan except for MAYBE lexus. You'll look silly.
You prove to me that any import engine is more reliable or requires less maintenance than GM's 3300, 3800, LSx engines, ecotech engines, and maybe I'll be quiet. You're falling for everyone elses hype if you seriously believe these engines are inferior. I'd put the 3800 and LSx engines up against anything anyone makes. I'm not saying any of them is better, just equal at the very least.
I'll agree with what you said tx, stay away from ford. They haven't made any strides to keep up with anyone.
Breakdown after four years? PULEAS!! My 91 cutlass, which I drive not by choice, but out of neccessity, has 130,000 miles on it and the only rattle is coming from the ashtray. As is every A-body car I've ever riden in. The bodies of some of these aren't looking too pretty though. haha But all cars are going to rust in the midwest after 16 years of driving. Mine is still in dang near showroom quality condition. Aside from some nitwits that like to vandalize cars. Some of you have seen what I do with that thing. I'm so far from driving it like a normal person, it's laughable.
All I'm trying to get at is don't be so jaded by the past guys. What you guys are describing is nothing close to what's coming from GM right now(I'm talking new generation models, not what's sill coming out from 2000), which tells me you've haven't looked at anything in awhile. You can prefer what ever brand you want, but don't try to play off all the false percieved notions as fact.
Tommay85
Well-Known Member
If said grand prix has the 3800, not even close.
Tommay85
Well-Known Member
As crappy as GM was in the 80s and 90s, I'll have to disagree. The difference is night and day.
Tommay85
Well-Known Member
This? (sorry, best pic I could find)
G6 or
G5
The G5 is based on the cobalt, which is a base economy car at best.
I would never buy either car because they don't fit my performance tastes. But my reaction to the interior of a G6 convertable was that it felt similar to the BMW 325i convertable I had driven about a month earlier. I'm not near the dash stroker as some of the guys on the car forum I visit regularly.
TXaviator
Well-Known Member
at least we're not dorking it up over the finer points of the 3rd compressor stage of the CFM56
Tommay85
Well-Known Member
Just to clarify, I was referring to people that thinl the new models coming out were just face lifts. Like thinking the cobalt is a cavalier, or a G6 is the previous gen grand prix, ect...
Ford on the other hand, only knows how to do face lifts. We still have the friggen mk1 focus over here!!! WTF FORD!!!!:banghead: Ford builds all their good cars in europe and screws over their mother country. Seems pretty bass ackwards to me. :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: Ford won't be in America much longer I'm afraid.
Tommay85
Well-Known Member
No kidding. Someones gona get pissed at me for complaining about this in an AVIATION forum, but sometimes I just get sick of talking about aviation.
Cessnaflyer
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
How'd you pull that off? I thought you had to have special training to enter in those event, at least I think you do in MN. There's a rally-x in bemidji. Or have you gone through that certification. I may be WAY off too on all that.
I wanted to do ice auto-x this winter, but didn't get around to it. I figured that is as close to rally-x(as far as the driving style goes) as I can get.
I had training through the SCCA when they handled rally but they don't any more and finishing the education is more important then the adrenaline rush.