Official Car Thread

[ciper]

I can't remember but did you say you had a pneumatic locker rear end?

I build my own LSD for my wagon! I bought a 4.44:1 differential from a guy in japan and took a 4.11:1 from a car in the junkyard here and swapped the carrier into the new ring gear. I had to grind off a bit to get everything to fit and readjust the lash but wow what a difference. I was able to use the throttle to control the yaw of the car!!
Do you know how a motorcycle clutch works? My center differential is like that so combined with the LSD in the rear (and an open front) my car is like a little ninja off the line

 

[Scream]

No, I just have a completely stock rear end right now. Limited slip with painfully high 2.73 gears.

That sounds like a pretty trick job you did. I love ingenuity.

 

[ciper]

Shiftfallout: Dude you need the Lexus SC430. Convertible with hard top and very good performance. It should be fancy enough for you too

No, I just have a completely stock rear end right now. Limited slip with painfully high 2.73 gears.

That sounds like a pretty trick job you did. I love ingenuity.

At least its not an open differential! Do you know what type of LSD? Is it gears or viscous or clutches? Why not go with smaller tires to compensate for the ratio and get better sidewall stiffness as well?

It was Dakudas Jeep that had the locked rear end that I confused with yours.

 

[Shiftfallout]

See, im jealous that you guys have the knowledge and attention span to really build a car up from nothing. I would love that, only I cant. Reason being, I am involved in to many other areas of expertise that If i spread myself too thin learning then I wont go far in any one area. This is between playing guitar, film, tech, gaming, art, writing.

In this case you learn to give up some things you want to do in life in order to devote more time in other areas.

My background comes from getting a really really shitty car on my 16th bday. It cost my dad figure $3,000. It was POS. Ford escort. Two nights after owning it someone decided to break in to the car to take.. a FLASHLIGHT that was in the back seat. They broke in using a screw driver and a lot of violence. So now I have a POS car with a big hole in the side and a door that wont close. You have to understand that my father figure isnt poor at all, he is just a douche when it comes to spending money on things that are not for himself. So, he didnt even offer to have it fixed. I was so sick of this car after a week that I didnt even want to use it. Of course I had no choice, and taking girls on a date in it was a no go. Passenger door wouldnt open. So I had it, I never wanted ugly POS cars again.

So I went off, got a class M license as well and got myself a sports bike. Cheap, efficient and totally wild. I became addicted to having the wind on my face and fast responsive controlls.

So now some 4 years later I want to move on. My choices become limited because of my wants and needs based on my past experiences. Good looks, control and the wind in my face. Thats why it is hard for me to accept very few cars on the market.

Anyhoots, let me know if you think of something. I love my xterra but its just not meant for me and my personality.

Add: lemme check that out now Ciper.

 

[Shiftfallout]

bleh no thanks! it looks worse than the miata.

 

[ciper]

There aren't many choices left. Chrysler Sebring Convertible, M3 convertible and Mustang GT convertible?

You went from a Xterra to calling the Miata, G35 and SC430 as not looking good? It confuses me!

How about a Forester XT? Faster than an RX-8 and still great in the snow

 

[Scream]

Its got clutches. I am just weeks away from dropping in a hot little 350 as I mentioned earlier in this thread, so I haven't been too concerned about the gears until now. Once the 350 is in, then I will be dropping in a T56, so I will probably upgrade to some 4:11s or something in that area.

The car is not going to be an all out drag car. I plan to take it to a few local road courses as well as the local drag strip. It is also my daily driver so it can't be too radical. I am still trying to decide on the right rear end combination for my T56.

 

[ciper]

Ahh. Im no Chevy guy but I know what the T56 is Out of a 93 Z28 maybe?

Will you do all the rewiring for the ignition lock and such yourself? What kind of clutch will you use? Is it possible to get a Quaife gear based differential for your rear end? That would be my suggestion. (god damn it was hard to find the right spelling for that company)

A not very good description http://www.autotech.com/quaife/index2.htm Ill try to find something better. Basically its fully gear based and produces better results than any other differential type. Only problem is the price.

edit: WOW they do offer it for Chevy applications! List price is for a C5 corvette is 1700.

I would have swore you planned to keep it auto.

 

[Scream]

Nah, i'm a manual guy! Yes, I will do the ignition lock wiring and all that myself. At least I will attempt to! hehe...

Shiftfallout I know exactly what you mean about spreading yourself too thin. When it comes to most things with me, I know a little about everything but a lot about nothing! I am only 19 and I badly desire to have the skill and knowledge about racing and performance tuning that some of the old timers I know have. I have come to realize that they were not superhuman geniuses when they were young, they were stupid just like me and made tons of mistakes just like me. You just have to learn from what you did wrong and move on from there. Just do what makes you happy, even if that is a bunch of different things, and experience and knowledge will just grow. It is EXTREMELY frustrating for me whenever I see someone younger than me, or slightly older but with a lot more knowledge in cars. I feel like I am behind. I feel like I should be a lot further along at my age, but what can ya do. I just try to keep my mouth shut and my ears open and listen to those who know.

 

[Shiftfallout]

There aren't many choices left. Chrysler Sebring Convertible, M3 convertible and Mustang GT convertible?

You went from a Xterra to calling the Miata, G35 and SC430 as not looking good? It confuses me!

How about a Forester XT? Faster than an RX-8 and still great in the snow

lol, The xterra only looks good when you drop the stock tires, wrap it up in a metal grill, attach some head lights to it and up the suspension. Trust me, I know my SUV isnt great looking at all. It had to serve its purpose though as I did a bit of traveling from northern california to southern california. I was doing 9 hour drives back and forth and thankfully I dont have to do that anymore since I live where I need to be.

The SC430 really insnt that great. Again, if they customize the hell out of it, then perhaps, but that usually more than I want to spend. The miata isnt really a guys car in my opinion. Its oval with a winshield. The thing about car design that I like, is that when designers actually take the time to try and bring something NEW to the exterior shape of the vehicle. I mean, we have the technology and the power to make future looking cars. Those concept cars we see every year but never get to buy just bug me. They have some great designs but they always fall back to mass producing the same thing over and over. I think the Cars of the 1980's had more personality than our current breed of vehicles.

Im not really biased towards anyone brand, I just have specific tastes that resonate with a .. californian like crowd. I see lamborginis, mercedes benz, ferarris, lotus.. i see all these on a daily basis. Almost got ran over by jackie chan in his ferarri. When you are around this stuff everyday, the cars you mentioned feel really really bland.

Im curious to find out a bit more about how you persoally feel about the honda s2000? Explain a bit so I can see where you are coming from.

 

[Scream]

While you are answering that, why are RX7s so expensive used?

 

[ciper]

The miata isnt really a guys car in my opinion. Its oval with a winshield.

I wouldn't say that around any car guys. The Miata has a larger race following than any other car at the moment (and has for a few years now). An entire division was created for them by the SCCA

Im curious to find out a bit more about how you persoally feel about the honda s2000? Explain a bit so I can see where you are coming from.

I couldn't remember what I said about the S2000 so Ill just give my impression.

The S2000 is a fine car. I personally think its incredibly over priced for what you are getting. This is why I suggested the Miata. The thing has a terribly weak low end so you constant have it rev it like a mad man. Performance is great when maintained. Used models, especially with high miles, have usually had very hard lives. Its only the second rear wheel drive honda makes. If you really want to have a car like this and stand out why not get an NSX?

While you are answering that, why are RX7s so expensive used?

Because the owners have spent so much money keeping them running and they want to recoup the costs? Seriously. When they run right they are fine but they aren't forgiving like a honda. If you aren't up on regular maintenance it will develop all sorts of problems including low compression, high oil use and something similar to a blown head gasket where coolant disappears and the car overheats.

They might be the touchiest engines ever made in this regard. Overheat the engine just once and you might as well trash it (no joke).

Moving on the electrical problems are annoying. Bad solder joints in the computer and continuously failing headlights are common which means all of the accessories rarely work. Oh and having the engine wire harness pass right over the exhaust doesnt help much :lol:

Unless you are an RX-7 fan Id avoid them like the plague.

 

[Shiftfallout]

NSX hmm I like what I see. Let me look into it a bit more.

also with the s2000, a see a few that have less that 60k miles going for about 15k. I look at some of the other prices for similar cars, and they are usually much much higher. THe only exception is the Spyder, which is dirt cheap, but there too little information on the car to keep me comfortable with it.


Add: Ok nice car but a bit out of my current comfortable price range. I could get a dodge viper for some of the prices these things are going for.

 

[ciper]

NSX hmm I like what I see. Let me look into it a bit more.

Add: Ok nice car but a bit out of my current comfortable price range. I could get a dodge viper for some of the prices these things are going for.

I promise you would want the NSX over the Viper. I'm not even a Honda fan and I think so.
They made them from 1990 to 2005 with very few changes. I'm sure you could find one closer to your price range. Amazing that the thing went 15 years without a redesign. Its the cheapest supercar available.

 

[Shiftfallout]

I promise you would want the NSX over the Viper. I'm not even a Honda fan and I think so.
They made them from 1990 to 2005 with very few changes. I'm sure you could find one closer to your price range. Amazing that the thing went 15 years without a redesign. Its the cheapest supercar available.

lol i dont think my insurance would like me going to something of that calibur though.

I understand what you are saying about the revving with the S2000. My choices really are limited though. I dont want a money drain insurance wise, but a nice looking convertable. This is a toughy.