The Car Thread

[ElysianGuitars]

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.

Couldn't stretch the budget to an ND2? 2016s are getting cheap nowadays. Looks great though, and I've seen some of those that are ridiculously good in C Street autocross.

 

[Metropolis]

Summer tires changed and those stupid swollen Ford lug nuts replaced with aluminum open ended ones. I also installed new TPE material mats to the cabin, no more fog in windshield or windows and they gave kind of modern look for the floors too.

Honestly driving a studded nordic winter tire on bare asphalt makes your car feel like there's ball bearings under it. Doesn't grip enough when accelerating or braking, oh... and the noise, rattling and howling studs. I should get ones without, but winters in here are damn harsh and it's good to have them. Temperatures are really often jumping between -5 to +2 celcius for example which make roads icy. In the other hand last few years had long snowy perioids in the winter.

 

[wannabguitarist]

Couldn't stretch the budget to an ND2? 2016s are getting cheap nowadays. Looks great though, and I've seen some of those that are ridiculously good in C Street autocross.

After all the mods, maintenance, and track prep is done I'll still be comfortably under $20k which looks like the floor for ND2s with the factory LSD and a clean title. Awesome little car but I'm trying to stick to a strict budget for this car. I wanted to avoid spending so much that I'm afraid to push the car on track. We'll see how it works out. I'm still a little disappointed I didn't pull the trigger on the Elise I was looking at.

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

Stopped by the dealership today check out a couple cars on my list they called me about... gr corolla circuit edition and gr86

edit: pics too large error

 

[ElysianGuitars]

After all the mods, maintenance, and track prep is done I'll still be comfortably under $20k which looks like the floor for ND2s with the factory LSD and a clean title. Awesome little car but I'm trying to stick to a strict budget for this car. I wanted to avoid spending so much that I'm afraid to push the car on track. We'll see how it works out. I'm still a little disappointed I didn't pull the trigger on the Elise I was looking at.

I spent 32k on my 19 RF and push it as hard as I can

 

[soliloquy]

I do need to get another car. I really want to purchase a EV, yet their sales are declining, the roads are getting less of the chargers installed, and its just not looking to be a good time to get an EV at the moment.

as such, need a smaller vehicle that runs on REGULAR gas, and is great on maintenance/gas etc

I would have loved to get another Mini cooper, as it hits most of whatever i need....except those damn things use premium gas. I dont understand the logic that some car companies have held since 2017 or so. Gas prices are going higher, so why not change engines that dont require premium gas?



anyways, thinking of going the chevy route for their sonic/spark/aveo type car

 

[wannabguitarist]

I spent 32k on my 19 RF and push it as hard as I can

You have bigger balls than I do haha. I've watched a few friends try to break that elusive 2:00 barrier at Buttonwillow CW13 and cause some sort of expensive cosmetic damage in the process. I was pretty heartbroken when I lost my OEM front lip at Street of Willow from attacking a curb too aggressively. Added $600 to the cost of the track day chasing a few tenths

I do need to get another car. I really want to purchase a EV, yet their sales are declining, the roads are getting less of the chargers installed, and its just not looking to be a good time to get an EV at the moment.

as such, need a smaller vehicle that runs on REGULAR gas, and is great on maintenance/gas etc

I would have loved to get another Mini cooper, as it hits most of whatever i need....except those damn things use premium gas. I dont understand the logic that some car companies have held since 2017 or so. Gas prices are going higher, so why not change engines that dont require premium gas?



anyways, thinking of going the chevy route for their sonic/spark/aveo type car

For what it's worth if you drive 13,500 miles a year (the average amount driven by an American) in a car that gets a combined 25mpg (city/hwy) the yearly premium for using premium fuel (assuming premium costs $0.50 more a gallon) is going to be around $270 a year. If you can't swing that I'd avoid buying another car. Engines with higher compression ratios tend to burn cleaner, are more efficient, and make more power. The downside is requiring higher octane fuel. Most new cars that require premium will also run fine on 87, but with reduced power and mileage.

 

[ElysianGuitars]

You have bigger balls than I do haha. I've watched a few friends try to break that elusive 2:00 barrier at Buttonwillow CW13 and cause some sort of expensive cosmetic damage in the process. I was pretty heartbroken when I lost my OEM front lip at Street of Willow from attacking a curb too aggressively. Added $600 to the cost of the track day chasing a few tenths



For what it's worth if you drive 13,500 miles a year (the average amount driven by an American) in a car that gets a combined 25mpg (city/hwy) the yearly premium for using premium fuel (assuming premium costs $0.50 more a gallon) is going to be around $270 a year. If you can't swing that I'd avoid buying another car. Engines with higher compression ratios tend to burn cleaner, are more efficient, and make more power. The downside is requiring higher octane fuel. Most new cars that require premium will also run fine on 87, but with reduced power and mileage.

I haven't set this up for this season yet, but there's insurance for tracking. Friend of mine recommended this one to me, he pays $340 for 5 months on his 2019 Golf R with tons of mods.

Autocross Off Track Insurance Provider | Lockton Motorsports

Off-track insurance is an option that ensures your autocross racing equipment during times you are not actively on a racetrack, including miscellaneous physical damage while at autocross events, damage while your vehicle is being stored or transported, damage during the loading or unloading...

locktonmotorsports.com

Of course doesn't help if you're not doing autocross.

 

[soliloquy]

For what it's worth if you drive 13,500 miles a year (the average amount driven by an American) in a car that gets a combined 25mpg (city/hwy) the yearly premium for using premium fuel (assuming premium costs $0.50 more a gallon) is going to be around $270 a year. If you can't swing that I'd avoid buying another car. Engines with higher compression ratios tend to burn cleaner, are more efficient, and make more power. The downside is requiring higher octane fuel. Most new cars that require premium will also run fine on 87, but with reduced power and mileage.

sort of?
the experiences I have with cars demanding premium gas were:
2010 Mini Cooper
2012 Mini Cooper
2016 Volkswagen Tiguan
2015 and 2019 Lexus 3 (i want to say 350?)

on average, with the same driving and all, i was spending $20 extra per week in fuel. That amounts to over $1000 per year. Mind you, this was all prior to 2019. I dont know how that would translate to today's gas prices.

On top of that, with the exception of the Lexus, the others also demanded extra for maintenance for its parts, labour etc

I had a leak in my gas tank with my 2012 Cooper. The repair was about $1700 CAD. The same issue appeared in my 2012 Honda civic, which ended up costing me about $250 CAD to repair?

so its not just gas prices, but also their other up-keep that ends up costing crazy.

 

[ElysianGuitars]

sort of?
the experiences I have with cars demanding premium gas were:
2010 Mini Cooper
2012 Mini Cooper
2016 Volkswagen Tiguan
2015 and 2019 Lexus 3 (i want to say 350?)

on average, with the same driving and all, i was spending $20 extra per week in fuel. That amounts to over $1000 per year. Mind you, this was all prior to 2019. I dont know how that would translate to today's gas prices.

On top of that, with the exception of the Lexus, the others also demanded extra for maintenance for its parts, labour etc

I had a leak in my gas tank with my 2012 Cooper. The repair was about $1700 CAD. The same issue appeared in my 2012 Honda civic, which ended up costing me about $250 CAD to repair?

so its not just gas prices, but also their other up-keep that ends up costing crazy.

Pretty sure Mini is the problem here, since they're owned by BMW.

 

[soliloquy]

Pretty sure Mini is the problem here, since they're owned by BMW.

From my family that owns Audi and Mercedes as well, they experience the same issues.
Though mostly reliable, but once they go bad, lots of issues keep flaring up.

on top of that, the cars that are asking for premium gas are also heavier/bigger thus they may burn more efficiently, but the weight and size kind of evens the playing field a bit. so the only real advantage one has over the other is just the name and maintenance

 

[ElysianGuitars]

From my family that owns Audi and Mercedes as well, they experience the same issues.
Though mostly reliable, but once they go bad, lots of issues keep flaring up.

on top of that, the cars that are asking for premium gas are also heavier/bigger thus they may burn more efficiently, but the weight and size kind of evens the playing field a bit. so the only real advantage one has over the other is just the name and maintenance

My 2019 Miata needs premium for best performance, it weighs like 2500lbs.

 

[Fenriswolf]

From my family that owns Audi and Mercedes as well, they experience the same issues.
Though mostly reliable, but once they go bad, lots of issues keep flaring up.

on top of that, the cars that are asking for premium gas are also heavier/bigger thus they may burn more efficiently, but the weight and size kind of evens the playing field a bit. so the only real advantage one has over the other is just the name and maintenance

Ya, I know that feeling. I have a diesel Jeep Liberty and a Nissan 370z. Even though diesel cost more than 93 octane, it balances out because the Jeep is tuned and has most of the emission stuff deleted and get around 40 mpg. That being said, they only sold like 10k of them in America and it has 300k miles on it. Damn near everything is wore out on it, and since it's pretty damn rare, not only will most shops not work on it, there's only a couple places to get parts for it these days. So I have to do all the maintenance and repairs myself.

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

that irritating noise your car makes...

 

[Metropolis]

My car has been in a work shop for three weeks. Electric power steering finally gave up, and no reasonably priced part for replacing the steering rack anywhere in Europe. OEM part straight from the dealer costs 1800€ Solution was to get a fitting steering rack from a crashed car. Probably changing this one to a Golf GTI MK7 after this episode. You can't have a car with such fault, eventually part took from another car will break too and you will face same part resourcing problems again. Or in a best scenario new part breaks too, because it's a total manufacturing fuck up.

If you want a sportier "hot hatch" I would avoid Ford Focus MK3 ST or RS. They're infested with steering rack problems. Water pumps breaking or oil consuming in VAG-brand vehicles doesn't feel so big of a deal after all.

 

[p0ke]

I decided to stop paying people to change my tyres and bought a battery powered automotive impact drill, and used it to put summer tyres on my car today.
Absolutely worth the money, the whole operation took about 45 minutes including getting the tyres from storage and putting the winter tyres there, and all the other messing around. I could probably do it in half the time if I did it again immediately.

And I'll also be changing my mother in law's tyres from now on, so double savings

Just gotta increase the torque next time - I googled that alloy rims should be tightened to 100-120 Nm, so I set the drill to 100, which was way too little, so it was a pretty wobbly ride when I headed out Luckily I keep a cross wrench or whatever it's called in my trunk, so I tightened the bolts by hand when I went to check the tyre pressure.

Then my car started getting some immobilizer errors and wouldn't start, until I completely turned everything off and waited for a while before trying again. I guess it's time to change the battery in the fob, I don't even remember when I did that last time.

 

[Metropolis]

I decided to stop paying people to change my tyres and bought a battery powered automotive impact drill, and used it to put summer tyres on my car today.
Absolutely worth the money, the whole operation took about 45 minutes including getting the tyres from storage and putting the winter tyres there, and all the other messing around. I could probably do it in half the time if I did it again immediately.

And I'll also be changing my mother in law's tyres from now on, so double savings

Just gotta increase the torque next time - I googled that alloy rims should be tightened to 100-120 Nm, so I set the drill to 100, which was way too little, so it was a pretty wobbly ride when I headed out Luckily I keep a cross wrench or whatever it's called in my trunk, so I tightened the bolts by hand when I went to check the tyre pressure.

Then my car started getting some immobilizer errors and wouldn't start, until I completely turned everything off and waited for a while before trying again. I guess it's time to change the battery in the fob, I don't even remember when I did that last time.

Get a torque wrench for tightening nuts/bolts after 100 kilometers or so just to be shure they stay in their place Especially if there comes a situation where you have new rims or nuts/bolts they will loosen up quite a lot.

 

[vark]

I do need to get another car. I really want to purchase a EV, yet their sales are declining, the roads are getting less of the chargers installed, and its just not looking to be a good time to get an EV at the moment.

as such, need a smaller vehicle that runs on REGULAR gas, and is great on maintenance/gas etc

I would have loved to get another Mini cooper, as it hits most of whatever i need....except those damn things use premium gas. I dont understand the logic that some car companies have held since 2017 or so. Gas prices are going higher, so why not change engines that dont require premium gas?



anyways, thinking of going the chevy route for their sonic/spark/aveo type car

Honda civic? Idk ur budget but will be way better than any chevy

Also buying the cars that specifically require premium gas and then complaining about it is peak SSO

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

someone didn't get the memo...