The Car Thread

[Konfyouzd]

Hey y'all... Does anyone in the Puyallup / South Tacoma, WA area know of a good auto body / paint shop? I picked up an S2000 and I need to have pretty much the entire body repainted. Hoping to keep it around $10k or below. I found a collision shop that quoted me around $5k which isn't bad but I wanted to check out more options because the last person before them quoted me $22k

 

[Konfyouzd]

I am absolutely GIDDY with excitement right now. Im visiting family out west, and my Grandpa let me drive his Corvette!

It's a 2003 50th Ann. Special Edition. He even got the museum delivery! Only 2800 miles. Everything in this car is mint, the paint is stunning, and everything still works. Its hard to tell, but it even has the gold wheels. Its not the fastest car on Earth, but its a ton of fun and definitely puts you in your seat. Dont tell my grandpa that I know that, though

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Later this year, Ill be picking up my own C5. Im looking for a 2001+ coupe in Quicksilver with a manual and less than 60k. For the price, I just dont think you can get a cooler sports car than a C5 Corvette.

There's a 200 1coupe with only 10k miles near me. I've been so tempted to trade one of my cars for it.

 

[7stringDemon]

There's a 200 1coupe with only 10k miles near me. I've been so tempted to trade one of my cars for it.

If the price is hovering around 20k, and theres no rust to the suspension or drive train components (idk if you live in a salty place or not), you could be lookin at a pretty good deal. I would be on it like white on rice if I actually had a garage to put the thing in.

 

[nightsprinter]

Anyone else here have an MR2 Spyder?

 

[Konfyouzd]

If the price is hovering around 20k, and theres no rust to the suspension or drive train components (idk if you live in a salty place or not), you could be lookin at a pretty good deal. I would be on it like white on rice if I actually had a garage to put the thing in.

I was trying to save $$$. It was at about $30 but it's dropped much closer to $20 lately.

 

[youngthrasher9]

Not the primary demographic to mention this to, but my grandma just sold me her ‘97 crown vic. Gonna turn it into a comical display of dirtbag daily driverism. I’m trying to find a bull bar that fits but no such luck so far. Can’t wait to slap a couple of 12” subs I have laying around in there.

 

[wannabguitarist]

Picking up an 09 Miata next weekend. 6-speed, LSD, front/rear big brakes, roll bar, 16x8 FD Rx7 wheels, and some spares. Not where I expected my S2000 replacement journey to go but I'm excited.

I was looking at early build 996.1s (98 build dates), 987.1 Caymans, and S2 Elises. I started finalizing a deal for a Silver Elise on the East Coast but backed out because while I could comfortably afford the car, I can't afford to wreck a $40k car on track. That "fear" would get in the way of actually enjoying the car as it was designed. I had a similar problem with my S2000 where I cared too much about how the car looked to risk pushing it (and myself) during track days after I had it repainted. It was a cool, well setup, and fast car that just saw canyons and commuting which is kind of a waste right? I am "downgrading" as far as outright performance goes but this will allow me to get a lot more seat without having to worry about damaging an expensive car (or a car I care about).

I have a few mods planned (Xidas, 17x9 wheels, cooling system refresh and upgrade) but the plan is to keep the build around $16k including the cost of the car. The goal is a cheap, fun, and quick (around a track) learning tool that I can run 6-8 HPDEs a year in. I haven't been on track since 2019 so I'm really looking forward to getting back out there.

Anyone else here have an MR2 Spyder?

Fun little cars! I was looking at getting a 2zz swapped one but that's a huge hassle in California. Budget Elise.

 

[nightsprinter]

Anyone stumble upon this guy's opinion piece yet?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/27/opin...l-cars-electric-pollution-hockenos/index.html

 

[Fenriswolf]

Not the primary demographic to mention this to, but my grandma just sold me her ‘97 crown vic. Gonna turn it into a comical display of dirtbag daily driverism. I’m trying to find a bull bar that fits but no such luck so far. Can’t wait to slap a couple of 12” subs I have laying around in there.

NGL, I kinda want a Crown Vic. There's just something about a car that's so damn tough it can handle being a cop car and a taxi cab. It's like one step below the Top Gear Hilux.

 

[LordCashew]

Anyone stumble upon this guy's opinion piece yet?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/27/opin...l-cars-electric-pollution-hockenos/index.html

Comes off as a total douche and unnecessarily adversarial.

He's right about automatics now being better for most of the population in that they're easier and more efficient to operate. And yes, electric cars are obviously gaining ground. But who is unaware of this?

One thing he leaves out is how much more easily a manual is maintained by the user. For the subset of the population that's generally comfortable working on their own cars, this makes a manual a more economical option.

For example, I could probably keep a Civic with a stick shift on the road for 350k or longer with no help from a mechanic. If an auto transmission fails, I'm not rebuilding it myself and will probably just get another car. And there's an environmental cost to that, which seems to be an important consideration to the author.

 

[Fenriswolf]

Comes off as a total douche and unnecessarily adversarial.

He's right about automatics now being better for most of the population in that they're easier and more efficient to operate. And yes, electric cars are obviously gaining ground. But who is unaware of this?

One thing he leaves out is how much more easily a manual is maintained by the user. For the subset of the population that's generally comfortable working on their own cars, this makes a manual a more economical option.

For example, I could probably keep a Civic with a stick shift on the road for 350k or longer with no help from a mechanic. If an auto transmission fails, I'm not rebuilding it myself and will probably just get another car. And there's an environmental cost to that, which seems to be an important consideration to the author.

I mean that depends. I have a preowned sports car that was a manual and whoever had it before me pulled a few too many whoopsie fucksies with it and it's needed the clutch and all kinds of shit changed out. I wound up with an example of if you can't find it grind it.

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

Anyone else here have an MR2 Spyder?

Not a Spyder, but I almost bought 3 SW30's. The guy was selling them separately, but I made him an offer for 6k and he was going to take it.

There ended up being a problem because he did not have the titles to 2 of them. Also the widebody belonged to a friend...so I was uncomfortable making the deal.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

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I live in a very hilly area of the US so even regular headlights can be a problem, but when you get those massive pickups with the super-led-halogen-whatever nukes coming up over the hill you are in actual real danger of crashing into stuff.

 

[narad]

Not a Spyder, but I almost bought 3 SW30's. The guy was selling them separately, but I made him an offer for 6k and he was going to take it.

There ended up being a problem because he did not have the titles to 2 of them. Also the widebody belonged to a friend...so I was uncomfortable making the deal.

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Ah damn, I used to have one of these and be generally obsessed with them. Still want one and still twist my neck the 2-3 times a year I see one drive past me. But I get this nagging itch like I shouldn't drive one as even the mr2 owner's club owner's son died of some snap oversteer into a pole.

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

The pictures were too big to last one, but here are pics of the widebody. I really wanted it...it was a full on stripped Racecar with a blown motor, but would have made a sweet project.

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

Ah damn, I used to have one of these and be generally obsessed with them. Still want one and still twist my neck the 2-3 times a year I see one drive past me. But I get this nagging itch like I shouldn't drive one as even the mr2 owner's club owner's son died of some snap oversteer into a pole.

That's sad to hear. Snap oversteer no joke. The pic of the first white MR2 I posted was a victim of it...

 

[youngthrasher9]

NGL, I kinda want a Crown Vic. There's just something about a car that's so damn tough it can handle being a cop car and a taxi cab. It's like one step below the Top Gear Hilux.

What I find fascinating about it now owning one, is that it is actually fun as fuck to drive? It has the most responsive and smooth steering I’ve ever had in a vehicle, and it’s a small V8 that seems to run pretty strong. For the latter reason, it reminds me of driving a company owned 1st gen tundra.

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

 

[wannabguitarist]

Significantly slower than my old AP2 (comically so above 80mph ) but it's honestly 80% as much at a fraction of the price. Currently sitting on 16x8 FD RX7 wheels with a Progress Spring/Koni shock combo, Progress sway bars, Goodwin Racing Helmholtz exhaust, and 4-piston front and rear big brakes. I have some maintenance stuff to take care and then the car's getting a set of 17x8 wheels and some track-oriented coilovers, either long-stroke Ohlins or Super Miata Xidas.

All in all not bad for $11k. Looking forward to getting back on track once it's set up.