General Auto Chat

Thanks!

Yeah, that's me driving! That is Sonoma Raceway here in Northern California. That is what I consider my home track. I live close to Laguna Seca but we don't race there very often.

 

That has to be so much fun. I'm going for an exotic car rental in June. My girl bought it for me. 3 exotics I can choose from, McLaren, Lambo, and Ferrari 458 Italia. I chose the Ferrari. Love that car. Won't be like your experience obviously, but fun nonetheless. I have 4 laps. I think with or without instructor. I'd prefer with, maybe I can learn a thing or two.

 

Thunderhill is a great track too. That is where my next race weekend is being held. About 3 laps from the end of my last race the left front wheel bearing started to fail. I had a big enough lead that I could slow down in the right hand turns and try and finish the race before it fail completely. I made it. But that left front wheel moves a good 1/4" now.

 

I'm going to track my car in the near future. Tomorrow I'm ordering KH HAS (height adjustable springs), I'll have them installed next week probably, or week after. Read great things, improving handling tremendously. Certainly won't be a really track car, but for someone like me, it will be a vast improvement, and very enjoyable. Then, Downpipes, flash my ecu, and probably I'll either delete my muffler or add a race exhaust (for sound). That will be all for now. If that's not enough, I'll upgrade the turbos, clutch packs, and add a methanol injection kit.

 

I've run all of mine off-warranty with no nasty surprises. Though I didn't use them as daily-drivers. It helps that the primary tech at the Aston dealer here is generally considered to be the best guy outside the factory for his work (Vince ... I believe he's won "tech of the year" more times than anyone), so things that did come up got fixed first time, properly, and often just got handled as part of routine servicing.

I'd not run a Mercedes, BMW or Land Rover product off-warranty though.

They're fun to drive ... hard. The regular DB9 was, for me, a lot more enjoyable for less intentional driving.

I'm looking forward to getting some proper seat time in the DB11 (hopefully in Norway this July, and then at the Ring) ... which will determine if I hold my DB11 option or let it go. That I have nowhere to put it right now is a trifling detail ...

 

Well, I'll gladly hold on to it for you bro, no worries there.

 

Other than generally wanting a truck instead of my almost-old-enough-to-vote BMW, I forgot all about actually wanting to own specific cars for most of my 20s as I've had so many other things going on (and have been broke). Lately though, I don't know what it is but I am feeling some serious lust for one of these.

The ends I would go to... up to and including finally finishing school, apparently.

 

Decided to go for a nice Saturday drive with the GF for some nice sight seeing on the Palomar Mountain loop just south of Temecula.



Please don't mind the wind noise, still trying to figure out the best way to do the audio. At least some V8 noise gets through.

 

Thank you! Yes, old school Porsches are the best. The darn thing is trying to kill me though. I broke a front hub in a race last month and this month I broke a rear hub in qualifying. I am lucky that the car stayed on the track in both instances. My car builder told me he had never seen hubs break the way they broke. Porsche doesn't make these hubs anymore so you have to find good parts used. Pain in the butt....and not cheap. Takes away from the audio budget!

 

Via Jalopnik, "How to Drive Stick Shift explained with Death Metal":



"So don't get discouraged or Satans gonna fist your ass..."

 

Tired of all those "But I wish it had a manual gearbox" cliche dudes. Seems like most people say it to sound like a proper car guy.
Whats the point of having manuel in a car with electronic steering?

Anyway...
Ive gotten myself a Nissan Leaf! I'm literally sold on EV's. Cant wait the release of the new Audi E-Tron & Jaguar.
Already 1400 guys in Norway who has put down a deposite on the E-tron.
But ofc, the benefits of owning a EV in Norway is pretty large compared to other countries.
Free toll charge, free parking unless its private parking, free charging many places etc etc

 

For a street car, especially if driven in any kind of traffic, an automatic is fine by me. Of course, I get my fix with a manual gear box using heel/toe on the race track!

What's funny here in the States is that many people buy EV's because they think think they are somehow being more "green". When you add up the energy costs to charge the EV, the costs and environmental issues associated with the batteries, the EV often ends up being less "green" than a modern fuel efficient gas powered car. Of course, for a lot people, they just like being part of the Liberal "cool" crowd.

 

Thats true. I do, however, love driving a EV.
Its just so seamless and quiet. And the instant torque is lovly.

 

Electric cars are coal powered cars.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World...dia/File:Bp_world_energy_consumption_2016.gif

 

I am looking at getting a new car and have my eye on a Subaru. They seem to get good ratings, are relatively compact, and have AWD (which would be nice in northern climates). My practical side says get an Impreza, but my fun side wants a WRX. I am going later today to test drive both. Anyone have any feedback? My current car is a 98 Civic and I plan on keeping a new car for just as long.

 

I don't know if this has been shared here already, but if not, most will like it. This is the best sounding engine I've ever heard. And the driving is beautiful. I actually didn't realize these older cars were ever driven this hard...

 

That's not driven hard....but that is one of the most wonderful sounding engines ever made!