General Auto Chat

Discussion in 'Cars, Motorcycles, Boats, Airplanes Talk' started by Maxvla, Sep 26, 2015.

  1. lagadu

    lagadu Facebook Friend

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    So, turns out that one of my tyres was losing air, I wonder why:

    [​IMG]

    I was actually lucky it was stuck at an angle, had it been stuck straight up it would've hit wheel.
     
  2. shredical

    shredical Friend

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    I know Marv was the first to set me down the path of owning an FR-S back when it was still changstar. 5 years into ownership of this platform and on my second one since 2017, i've gone full motorhead with it.

    picked this fancy trailer up for next season to be able to do Ridge and ORP and maybe even thunderhill!

    [​IMG]

    Also saw the photog had some pics from the porsche track day from last year.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    and a short in car video from the same track day

     
  3. shredical

    shredical Friend

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    first nice day in a while.. wanted to try out my new trailer before track season.
    first time hauling such a big trailer and load. First time strapping down a car.. Hauled motorcycles on itty bitty harbor freight trailers before but that was barely 850lbs total.
    Took it around for a spin around the hood and on the highway.. did great! :)

    trackrig.jpg
     
  4. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    ^ That SUV does not look robust enough for the load. Is it a GM something, or a VW? That trailer and car is what, 5K?
     
  5. shredical

    shredical Friend

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    its a 958.1, Cayenne S. Rated for 7800lbs.
    Part of the reason i spent the extra $$ for an all aluminum trailer. COuld have bought a new enclosed steel frame trailer for what the open all aluminum trailer costs.
    Dual 3500 torsion axles, electric brakes on both. The Porsche's got big beefy brakes, speaking of, i need to do new pads and fluid on it soon.

    Trailer is 1200 lbs.
    The FR-S is about 2800lbs. so about 4k load.
     
  6. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    Ouch
     
  7. shredical

    shredical Friend

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    why? I mean a lot of the parts are interchangeable with the VW Touareg. Frankly am thankful for that. So he’s not wrong
     
  8. shredical

    shredical Friend

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    This arrived today
    Used on fleabay for 150 shipped
    First time going to be logging temps each session
    upload_2021-3-11_18-5-50.jpeg
     
  9. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    Random musing:
    Why has the US market trended towards the general populace / public buying SUVs that have minimal to no actual utility value and people buying trucks so much bigger than is actually needed? What happened to just buying a normal sedan or a truck that fit the bill (or a van if you have kids and need it)? If anything, these SUVs and trucks are more expensive than the sedans, handle worse, go slower, have more noise (less aerodynamic shape), worse mileage, don't have better safety, don't handle kids or even day to day stuff as well as a mini-van, etc.

    This is a trend I really dislike for so many reasons, but I thought would have faded away after 2012 or 2013ish after 10 years of the SUV trend played out. Guess I was wrong. Nothing personal if you drive one of said vehicle above - if anything, I'd like to hear why I'm wrong if I'm obviously missing something.
     
  10. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    Car-size-as-status has always been a part of the US market though.

    Or any market, really, but the rest of the world is mostly designed for people, so there's practical limits to the vehicle size.

    As for why that ends with people buying 3-row suvs and large trucks:
    • heavy duty trucks used to get more utilitarian as the size increased
    • large suvs are way more aggressive looking than minivans
    Anyway, its nothing new, do you really think everybody who bought a Suburban way back when needed one?

    Just that the Suburban wasn't as aggressively over styled, so it appealed less to the "car as a substitute for a subliminal lack of self".
     
  11. luckybaer

    luckybaer Friend

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    That's the sweetest looking vehicle to which I've ever seen a trailer attached!
     
  12. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    The core of the answer is utility and comfort. As government regulation (e.g. fleet average fuel economy) and perceived market conditions pushed the sedan to be smaller and smaller from 70's to present, the "average" car buyer wanted something larger with more space and comfort. American's love to talk as if gas mileage is first, second, and third among their considerations but it just isn't, neither should it be unless gas gets above say $6 a gallon for a sustained time period. You will have to pry my wifes 3 ton SUV from her cold dead fingers until gas gets above minimum of $10 a gallon, $15 probably being more realistic.

    I regularly drive a "mid size" sedan (when I am not in the minivan hauling the kids around), a Mazda 6, but that is because I am a "driver" who can appreciate it's handling, etc. Fact is it is a pain to get in and out of, is too small inside for more than 1.5 6 foot + Northern Europeans, and is worthless if I have to make a Sam's or hardware store run.

    I don't live in a small house, or go to small stores, nor do I live in a small country. Small cars are Euro/Asian paraphernalia that fit their lifestyle and circumstances. Big cars (called "trucks" and "SUV's" because of our well intentioned but unrealistic regulations) are natural and normal for our country and circumstances.
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2021
  13. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    Considering how many trucks never see anything in their full size bed larger than a backpack you're the exception rather than the rule here.

    I haven't lived everywhere in the USA, but a few states in locations both rural and not, over a period of about 3 years total, and I made it game to spot a pickup with the bed in use.

    It was extremely rare.

    I did notice that the exceptions *constantly* used it to haul stuff, but on the vast majority it was entirely a status symbol thing.

    The one exception was when I spent 6 month's in Arivaca, but that's:

    • So close to the Mexico border, and so remote, you have have to go through a border patrol checkpoint to get to it even though it is us territory.
    • Small enough that the town runs a barter economy and if something breaks you haul to the one person who can fix it.
    • Devoid of local government, so badly rutted unpaved roads as far as the eye can see.
     
  14. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    Status might explain 1 out of 100, but for the other 99 trucks are just the new large family vehicle, that's why they are all 4 doors now and are the best selling vehicles by far. My 82 year old father-in-law drives a 3 year old F-150. The man would not know "status" if it bit him in the ass. The bed is just the modern trunk/boot. 3 or 4 times a year he uses it for something large, I know because I am there to do the lifting. For him its just the comfortable highway cruiser that gets him around the American Southwest on his trips to see his daughters and what not.

    I live about 50 miles north of the border, and I can not drive in any direction out of my county without going through a US Border Patrol checkpoint. It's a pain and I do wish they were actually on the border, but there are good reasons why they are where they are at given the conflicting border priorities - easy commerce on the one hand, "control" on the other.
     
  15. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    I think a lot of people here in North America simply like big spacious vehicles. Where they used to aspire to huge cars when I was growing up - think Town Cars and Fleetwoods and Imperials, station wagons even, now they have pickups and SUVs. Still huge and spacious, but with up high seating with great visibility, and they can handle all but the most extreme weather you are ever likely to see. And oh yeah, modern trucks have interior luxury that rivals any car in its price range. And they can haul cargo too, for many that is just a standard included option they may not use. Also our roads here are awful and pickups take the beating better, so they really do have a long list of pluses. I've driven some very nice pickups, and it's hard not to see the appeal.

    Pickups and SUVs are probably more than half of the vehicles on the road here. I'm new vehicle shopping myself right now and while that is not what I'm planning on I have to say the truck market seems to be doing just fine.
     
  16. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    It's absolutely a convenient family car if there's space on the road and parking - apart from the tiny detail that luggage in the back gets rained on - but the vast majority I saw were owned by single men ... most of the families I met had SUVs.

    Maybe that's radically changed in the last 6 years but I doubt it.
    Arivaca might be a little different ... it was explained clearly when I arrived that when (not if) I saw groups with large backpacks i should ignore them "we leave them alone and the cartels leave us alone", that when (again, not if) there was a chopper above me pointing a light at me I should ignore it (that happened once a week on average if it was warm enough to have dinner outdoors) and that I should give the weekly border patrol car the middle finger so I "wouldn't stand out".

    Even the little kids do that. o_O
     
  17. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

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    Some points for discussion...
    • U.S. gas is cheaper than Europe.
    • U.S. roads are bigger than most. (Though our parking spaces are tiny in the Bay Area.)
    • Ride-height - easier to see down the road, feels less claustrophobic + more visible to others
    • Bigger = Safer (or that is the perception, I know center of gravity/rollover risk may be quite worse)
      • (Elon talks about safety ratings in most recent Joe Rogan podcast. Ratings are against other vehicles in same size/category, it is not 5-star small car = as safe as a 5-star huge SUV).
    • “Wagons” are not cool, Subaru Outbacks being the exception…carryover from Pontiacs with vinyl wood grain decals peeling from the sides.
      • (True exception = 600HP Mercedes AMG E63 S)
      • CUV = either the new hatchback or the new wagon. CUV = the new mini-wagon?
    Pontiac-2-1024x426.png
    AMG.png
    • You can spend 70-90K on a truck and not be judged the same way a used 20K Porsche purchase would be judged.
      • Do people not know how much trucks cost now??
      • People used to say: "If you have a truck, you always have a job!" (But now Prius = Uber, so...)
    And: What about the theory that customer surveys ask leading questions such as, “would you like more space”? (Everyone says "yes" & then the next generation is larger/more/better, etc.)

    Weight used to be the enemy of performance and gas mileage:
    • By using more efficient 4-cylinder turbo-charged engines with auto-start tech that gets better mileage during relaxed driving but better performance during spirited driving.
    • If you have the money, now seems the best time to have vehicles that are big but also perform: big engines and big turbos for big money plus a lot of gas can really move.
    • Electric and hybrid tech increases performance or gas mileage or both (but not range).
    I stopped riding motorcycles but will always miss their performance-to-dollar ratio.
    A car is just a practical, utillitarian thing to me- unless it has a great fun factor that makes me want to take it on motorcycle back roads...

    I actually think this is one of the golden ages. Great used older stuff, great new large-displacement stuff, great new small-displacement stuff...of all sizes and form factors. Fun or just practical. Please argue if there was a better time!
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The truck thing didn't make as much sense to me in California (urban). The truck thing makes more sense where I currently live. A lot of people here have boats, or at minimum a skiff. Sedans are not designed to tow loads like this, at least not with ease. People here go fishing, hunting, and camping. Many of these areas are not accessible to sedans - no, not even an "AWD" Subaru Wagon will make it far into to these places. Trucks allow mounting of cages to hold big fishing rods, guns, extra gas cans, recovery gear, and camping shit. Being that it's not hi-tech or the biz here, a lot of people make their living with their hands. A sedan doesn't work if you are a contractor or do any kind of fabrication. Trucks do give the driver certain advantages such as being up higher and being able to spot trouble much further ahead down the road.

    Hey, people go the other way too. Plenty of Porsches and Mustangs I see in El Lay. These cars eat up gas like crazy just as bad as trucks and you can't fit a small family in one. The Porsches are more than plenty expensive too.

    If you are going to hate on trucks, you should hate on sports cars even more. I mean, the quintessential El Lay douche drives a Porsche 911 GT3 - on the street!
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2021
  19. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    It's also only against cars made the same model year - you can't compare y2y.

    Quite a lot of trucks and suvs have poor crash protection in some tests, the partial impact test - where only 1/3 of the front impacts the obstacle - tends to be quite poor.

    FCA is the most egregious offender here, but also other us manufacturers and some surprising model names from J
    Japanese brands.

    In general there's little correlation between dimensions and safety in a crash, once you're halfway to highway speed "size" doesn't mean jack, there's as much energy absorption between you and a tbone in a Supra as there is an Escalade.

    This is especially true in an environment where large vehicles are common, let alone against cargo vehicles.
     
  20. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    Will reply to random musing replies later.

    However, random musing number 2: Why does the US not have an Autobahn or similar system? One would think a country that is supposedly all about freedom, advancements, etc. would also allow us to drive as fast as we wanted (left lanes) or don't want to (right lanes)????? For all the criticisms and supposed concerns that people have, wouldn't decades of data from Germany be the actual proof in the pudding against all of these? i.e. they don't have drastically higher per capita death due to vehicles, horrible pollution, cars spontaneously exploding everywhere, etc.

    Of course, I realize this isn't practical 24/7 on every freeway in every part of the US - the 405 in LA just isn't going to move faster than 10 or 20mph during rush hour. etc. However, when the situation allows, why are we still officially capped at 65 in many states of 75/80 in a few others?
     

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