Any aspies into cars?

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I wouldn't say it is a stupid generalization. If you are talking about a late 70's early 80's GM diesel, you are right. However, the diesel that are put out by Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen/Audi are very durable, economical engines, that last quite some time. Hence the reason that 70 percent of cars in Europe are diesel. The Mercedes-Benz 240D owners clubs and online venues report the 2.4 Liter diesel and lasting well over 500,000 miles plus when well maintained -- and there is in fact little maintenance that needs to be done. Plus, compression ignition has the advantage of fewer moving parts, more robust construction to handle the higher compression and inherently higher efficiency than gasoline, spark ignition.

Also, the only documented cars to surpass the million mile mark are a four cylinder diesel Mercedes and a six cylinder gasoline Mercedes.

However, you are right that there are gasoline engines that can run for quite some time. The 300E 2.6 I have has 272,000 miles on it and the engine runs smoother and the body is substantially more solid than the 1997 Ford Taurus I bought in 1999.

Both of the Mercedes I own I purchased for 1,500 dollars each and maintain myself.

Now, if you are the type of person who will be a contrarian and point out every minute exception to the rule, then yes you can say I over generalized. However, your normative take that my statement was "stupid" is completely wrong and without merit.

If you want to play the rude, tert aspie crap with me, I can play that game too. If you want to have a civil discussion regarding cars and engine durability I can do that as well.

Last edited by billybud21 on 04 Nov 2010, 1:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

GM's car diesels were the bastard child for diesel engines. But they owned Detroit Diesel then - and there's NO beating a 2-stroke Detroit engine. Not even a newer Cummins can touch a 6V-92/8V-92 on the freeway. And the TDI isn't a feminine engine at all.
I think Honda has some feminine engines.

I'm into cars myself, I'm a fan of the old Toyota here. But I don't discriminate on cars - most of the time. I almost rode in a Lambo last night.

What Type of Lambo was it? I am a fan of the 1990 Lambo's.

I personally love car so much that my first word was "Car" No Joke!!

Although this might be too typical, I grew up with a passion for the Porsche. (Does anyone remember the 928 or the 944, or even the Spider (Racing) ?). I'm just in love with their mixture styling and high power performance. The only down side is that they are F#*@%!^ Expensive!:evil:

I personally had the dream of designing the first flying car but I was ignorant at the time because they were already designing one. But I an awful a lot of picture of my made up car brand "Arona." I have drawn so many of these Arona that I actually have a portfolio of my drawings of my cars.

Car have always been something that I had a passion for all of my life

For a brief period of time I owned one of the greatest cars in the world, a Ferrari.
It was a 308 with the four valve per cylinder heads.
You really can'y compare any car to a Ferrari, they are so well designed and drive so capably.
It was so much fun to just take out for a long drive where I could get up to 100 mph.
Never went much faster as the adrenaline at that speed overwhelmed me ....

i am into cars when i need to go somewhere.

other than that, i do not care about them. i have a mercedes 560 sel (w126) as my preferred mode of transport.

it is extremely powerful and i like powerful cars because i can accelerate out of worrisome situations with ease.

i also like powerful cars because i am lazy and i do not like the effort of having to press my foot too hard on accelerators.


here is a video of the maximum performance of my 560 sel from 0 to170 kph if you are interested. it will do more than 250 but i do not trust the tires.




[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3Lk0URbVIw[/youtube]

944s are dirt cheap these days, theres one locally on craigslist going for $500 and I think it runs. My cousin's first car was 944. The 928 was my favorite once upon a time but more recent 911s and even the Boxster and it's Cayman variant impress me more.

Thanks for the information Pistonhead. I have seen a lot of 944 for sale and they seem pretty cheap. Hard to maintain or some other reason?

I agree with the fact that now outdated 944 (but still awesome) are cheap now I was referring to a new Porsche bought from the dealership.

I rented an early 90s Maxima! It was rounder and larger than the previous model, and YES it DID have KICK-ASS PERFORMANCE - SO much so that it had 4DSC on the rear quarter window! That means Four-Door Sports Car!

I own another 4DSC now - a Mazda 6s V6! And BOY is IT FAST!! !!

I love what Cadillac has done with their cars (mainly the CTS) and can't WAIT to see the forthcoming BMW 3 Series challenger! But the car I'm MOST enthralled with is the new Buick Regal! I took a test RIDE in it (2.4L I4) and was BLOWN AWAY! I can only IMAGINE what the 2.0L Turbo will drive like! The quality of the interior was astonishing!

I have also been a fan of cars like the Maserati Quattroporte III and cars that were similar to it, such as the DeTomaso Longchamp/Deauville - rare beauties inDEED! This is back when Alejandro DeTomaso had his hand in Maserati! The QPorte was a stunning Italian sedan with a gorgeous tufted leather and light wood interior! It even had wood atop the dashboard forming a small shelf in front of the passenger! It had a very aerodynamic shape for its time! I first got acquainted with it in a 1980 issue of Road & Track and have followed it ever since through its evolution to the current car which is not as stunning, but still great!

OH...let me stop NOW before I rattle off the ENTIRE HISTORY of those cars! SHEESH...I only THINK I just MIGHT be on the Spectrum, and this is how I react to something I'm interested in?

Last edited by Surreal on 04 Nov 2010, 2:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.

The renaissance at Cadillac and Buick has been amazing to watch. What, direct injection in a Cadillac and spirited handling? It is interesting to see a lot of manufactures, such as BMW and Ford example, turning to turbo charging their vehicles to improve both economy and performance.

Is Maserati and Ferrari both under the Fiat flag now? I don't have a lot of time today, so I thought you might know the answer.

Found this on Wikipedia:

I knew that they were all tied together somehow. But come to THINK of it, Maserati is supposed to produce a smaller, less expensive sedan along the lines of a MORE expensive BMW 5 Series that will be built off a common platform to be shared with an Alfa Romeo sedan!

Can't WAIT to see THAT happen! I hope IT will be more along the lines of the Series III Q-ship!

Probably, I haven't heard much about reliability but the engine is essentially half of a 928's with 2 balance shafts added. 928s don't have a good reliability record so I wouldn't expect that the 944 would be much more reliable. They also aren't all fast, they came in 150, 163, 175, 189hp (S), 208hp (S), 220hp (Turbo) and 247hp (Turbo). The majority of examples that are selling for cheap are likely base models making 150-163hp. I am looking at a 208hp S2 right now for $300 but look at all that's wrong with it

http://tampa.craigslist.org/psc/cto/1993661559.html

Mostly what you'd expect from a poorly maintained interior.

My issue with them is that finding information on them is even harder than on some of their loose competition. Most notably the 80s (Z31) 300ZX. As a little history on the 300ZX it was the fastest car EVER to leave Japan as of 1989. Fairly reliable, very well documented on the internet, easy to afford and available with 165hp (NA) and 205hp turbo. Which is fairly even with all but the turbo Porsches and even then there are ways to make a 300ZX make that power with a little work which are again well documented. Also, they are VERY common and as such it's easy to find one or a second one to pull parts from. It might not handle as well as the Porsche but a
Mazda RX-7 would.

I actually don't believe in manufacturer's use of direct injection and turbocharging. Direct Injection just adds additional complexity to the already way too complicated fuel injection. Yes it allows you to run slightly higher compression ratios and supposedly get 15% more gas mileage but BMW just started recalling their High Pressure Fuel Pumps. With turbos, notice what all the fastest high gas mileage cars have. Chevrolet Corvette Z06s are naturally aspirated 505hp 7.0L V8s and last I checked THE ONLY 500hp car with no gas guzzler tax. The new Mustangs also have made amazing progress in gas mileage on both the 5.0L V8 and the V6. The most fuel efficient Nissan Z cars are also the new naturally aspirated ones. What manufacturers have the best reputations for gas mileage? Honda and Toyota. Honda just used it's first turbo in an SUV and the last time I can think of Toyota using a turbo in an American market car it was the 1998 Supra.

What manufacturers need to do is lose some weight. Sports cars don't weigh 3500lbs and sedans don't weight 4000lbs, you don't need a heater for your asscheeks, 8 6"+ speakers to play stereo audio, 20 airbags, 19" chrome plated wheels, and power adjustable seats. Among other things.

Wow, that 944 does have a lot wrong with it and I bet if you looked at it you would find even more (or maybe you have looked at it?) Briefly, I worked for a Mazda dealership right out of college. Horrible job, but great cars. At that time they were pushing the car because it had just come out. It was really quite nice. The 2.5 V6 was smooth, but a little anemic. However, the 2.3 supercharged V6 was a kick in the pants. If I remember right, build quality was good and so was the materials used in the interior. I sold a black 2.5 just before I left. I have heard nothing but good things about the 300ZX, but I have not run across a lot where I live.

Cars are one of my obsessions. I like both supercars and classic cars. The latter don't have to be fast at all.

My favourite car at the moment, though, is this one:



Oh wow. I'm gonna have to go change my trousers now...