no comment:blossom:Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Strongin
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no comment:blossom:Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Strongin
You have the power. Just add "vape" to the list of sheverssheverssheverssheverssheversshevers words.Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Strongin
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Originally Posted by marley
You are about to get in trouble with this moderator.Quote:
Originally Posted by marley
Ever heard the term "dog whistle"? Because I can hear it and I do not like it at all.
Unfortunately, you can't buy Sportback or Avant Audis in North America. Sad.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lionel
No Avants in the United States but Sportbacks are available in the various iterations of the A5 and A7. The A5 holds some appeal to me. I will have a look at it.Quote:
Originally Posted by GonaSovereign
I went to the world’s saddest car show in San Diego last week. Of all the new cars there- I must say for a “cheap” car nothing beats a GTI. I quickly remembered why I’ve owned seven of them. They really punch above their weight.
The Subaru WRX STI TA thing really speaks to me too. I love performance packages that do nothing to the car on paper but make a world of difference in the real world. The new Dodge Scat Pack 1320 is the same. It’s got the same 485hp Hemi as the regular Scatpack (a car I owned and LOVED. I never should have sold it but I had too- Kate wasn’t going to drive stick) but it’s got all the beefed up driveline, suspension, and goodies from the Demon. It’s a stock car that is just begging you to put a supercharger on it, or throw in big lumpy cams- the damn thing comes with drag radials and not only a rear seat delete option but a freaking passenger seat delete option!
The other new car I liked was the new veloster n. That’s a lot of car for $20k. I’m probably alone in this world but I rented a base model in San Francisco and really liked it. It’s close to a GTI and better than a Mazda 3. The Koreans are building some impressive cars.
If I was in the market for a regular four door sedan that also needed to tell the world how much of a douche I am- i’d Pick a bmw 3 series everyday- or so I thought. The Alfa is just a better car if your focused on the driving experience. What a great car that thing is.
My GT500 is in the shop with the reaccuring electrical gremlin that has fried two alternators, left me stranded twice, and just died on the 805 at 90mph at 9 at night. I hope the guys at JBA can figure it out- otherwise I’m going to try to get 35k for it and buy myself something else. Just sucks because I just ripped the interior out and put in the cage and race seats. I should race it a bit first.
Who am I kidding? I love my mustang and I’ll probable have it forever
Hum, forgot about that.Quote:
Originally Posted by GonaSovereign
OK I checked the US site, an S5 is a good car.Quote:
Originally Posted by Saab2000
Good stuff. Yea, you and Matt both touting those subies...I've owned a few now and loved the rawness of their power delivery but they lack refinement in other places that the germans do so well, that and the understeer and shit mpg. truth be told I shouldn't have sold my 235i but here we are. I'm just glad I found one more bonus fact about the incoming GTI is the guy had the clutch replaced very early on with an HS tuning RSR unit which seems to get rave reviews. He kept the original flywheel in it so it won't sound terrible and destroy my left leg in daily driving. Seemed pretty well-sorted on my test drive. Tomorrow first day in the car for any length of time so full report to follow. very excitedQuote:
Originally Posted by jerk
yeah-i've never been a fan of subarus because i always thought they were kind of junky in terms of the fit and finish and their handling wasn't all that sorted unless you really fukced with it. but honestly- it had more to do with the car culture surrounding them. the whole fastnfurious aesthetic was just not my thing- but as i've aged- i've come to the realization that cars are cars and you don't need to have a flat brimmed hat and a nonfunctional pink tow hook in order to own a hot Subaru. they're great little cars- they've got a great aftermarket- and the new WRX like what Matt's got is a lot more car than an Audi that costs twice as much- even if the Audi has much nicer plastics on the inside.Quote:
Originally Posted by SeanEasley
i like the 235i. i had a 128i as some of you might recall. i got it because to me, it was the last "real" BMW. it was two door, rear wheel drive and had a naturally aspirated straight six and regular non-electronic power steering. the whole process was really great actually. i ordered the car in white with a manual transmission and no options except the M sport package. As soon as I got the thing- I put in a two clutch limited slip differential with 3.64 gears instead of the stock 3.23s, and M3 subframe bushings. I had ordered some Bilstein coil-overs and springs and camber plates- but the car already drove so nicely I never bothered to install those parts. The car- while it looked like something my Daddy would buy me for being named social co-ordinator of my sorority, was a great little car. It was really cool how BMW would/will let you order exactly the car you want even for a lease. I drove the hell out of that thing and the residual on it was so cheap that with all the incentives and having not loaded the thing up with extras I didn't want- the car was cheap to own. I got an awesome Challenger Scat Pack when the lease was up- and eventually we moved to California and Kate was going to need to drive and there was no way she was going to be comfortable driving a manual 500hp muscle ca having never driven before. She got her license- we brought the thing to CarMax and traded the thing straight up practically for a.....
white 328i with the M sport package. (it has a slush box though. )
Sean: those clutches are great. that's a nice upgrade. if you want to get sucked into a wormhole that makes this place look tiny- check out vwvortex Those fols have opinions! Vf-Engineering used to do some really neat stuff with VWs but it looks like they are no longer the same folks doing the same stuff- Dick Shine chipped all my GTIs with the help of GIAC and I was always amazed at the results. On the turbo cars the differences were absurd. My first 1.8t GTI went from 180hp to almost 240hp just with a "chip"...GTIs are so much fun. Put a giant rear sway bar in the thing when you get a chance too!
Yep.Quote:
Originally Posted by jerk
I had a WRX in my early 20s, pre-fast and the furious, and I loved the car. The fit and finish sucked, but it was reliable and a blast to drive. The whole culture that sprung up around them after the movie with the ridiculous non functional mods and look at me add ons put me off for years. Sure people were doing that before the movies, but it wasn't nearly as prominent or visible. After that car I went through a run of sporty cars from VW, Audi, Mini and BMW as well as some great 4x4s from Jeep and Toyota. None of them were ever as fun to me as the WRX. I also learned over those years that my desire for a manual trumps most everything else and that I actually don't care for all the fancy stuff companies cram into their luxury cars. My Jeep Rubicon TJ was perfect and Jeep ruined it with creature comforts when the JK came out. My Audi radio system shit the bed and they claimed it was my fault and wanted a fortune to replace it (it wasn't and they eventually fixed it). My VW GLI had a leaky sunroof. My second Mini S (the first died in a flood, RIP) was overcome by gremlins that had it spend more time in the shop than with me. The silver lining is that I got a chance to drive most Mini and BMW models that year as they kept giving me nicer and nicer loaners to keep me happy. The other nice cars were fine, but I rarely, if ever, cared about the fancy fit and finish details and in many cases they were a liability.
Anyway, fast forward to mid-2018 when my desire for another sporty car in manual for a somewhat reasonable price led me to pretty much the only option remaining, the WRX. I hadn't sat in one since around 2004 and I gotta say the fit and finish, while still not luxury car quality, is light years better than it was before. Actually, the fact that it doesn't have all the high tech gadgets that luxury cars are full of these days makes it more enjoyable IMO. I much prefer the controls to those on my wife's Volvo or my bro-in-law's BMW 5-series. The STI Limited comes with a low profile spoiler and mine is dark gray with gray wheels and dark black tints. If anything, it's a pretty boring looking sedan that is faster than you could ever need for real world driving in an urban/suburban environment and is a blast to drive. I guess I could have gotten an M3 or an Audi RS or something instead, but there's no way I'd have twice as much fun after spending twice as much money. I guess it's also a good thing that I don't really care much what other people think of my decisions. You should have heard my hardcore "car guy" brother in law bitch at me for not getting an M3 instead...but guess who is always looking for an excuse to borrow my car when he gets bored of his borderline self-driving luxury sedan.
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Originally Posted by Saab2000
Yes, I guess they call the A5/7 Sportbacks, but they're fastbacks not hatches. If Audi brought over the real hatches, such as the RS3 or the S3, I'd even consider giving up manual shifting (although you can buy the S3 hatch with manual in Europe).
Thankfully the GTI and R are available here.
Spot on. I've had a couple Subarus and while they're basic inside, they've got it where it counts. I share your sporty/manual/reasonable thinking (most of the time) and it put me back in a mk7 GTI.Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Strongin
Picked it up today. Had to get back home for an afternoon appointment so only tooled around on backroads for 30 mins or so, but gawd, these things are so evolved compared to the ones I drove back in the 90's. Short shifter will take some getting used to--sometimes hard to find neutral when trying to do a 3-point turnaround, and the neuspeed exhaust, well, I'm afraid it's not long for this car. The drone in that cabin on the way home was, there's no other way to say it, painful. I will have to ply vwvortex to see if others have found solutions for minimizing it, but it's just not worth it. Thankfully the OEM exhaust was provided in case I have to put it on there. Otherwise the ride was actually not that bad with the sport springs. Some of the rougher roads in Michaux state forest would be an issue if I spent a whole day on them, and on standard pavement the thing handles better than my m235i did stock. Turn-in is even sharper I think. The 18x8.5 wheel/tire upgrade and front rear sway bars really do the trick. Since it was raining the whole way back I really couldn't even get close to 100% throttle and it feels like it has a lot more to give if the pavement were dry and if I swap out the all-seasons. Gonna be fun.
https://i.imgur.com/alTbzto.jpg
Nice car boss. I'll give you some reasons to get back to Michaux SF this year. Driving those back roads could be amazing, I've just scratched the surface. Check out the Nomads thread and get a tent.
Nice looking car Sean. What are those wheels?Quote:
Originally Posted by SeanEasley
Will do for sure. What a hidden gem that place is. Even on a rainy day if I had a bike in the back of the car it would've been hard not to stop for a spin.Quote:
Originally Posted by Too Tall
They're neuspeed, flow-formed. I think RSe10 model or something? 18x8.5Quote:
Originally Posted by clunk
Overlanding is so hot right now :) One of the ways we fit a pack of dogs in the car on road trips...
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7907/...b548ecf8_k.jpgP1040364 by Joe, on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7881/...87549672_k.jpgP1040395 by Joe, on Flickr
-Joe
Nice setup.
I really like that GTI. Would be high up on my list for a new car. You guys have some cool rides.
I just rebuilt the vanos on my 1999 M3. I'm at 129,000 miles presently. Bought it in 2008 or 2009 (?) with quite a bit less than that. I keep thinking about new cars but I want to rack up 200,000 on this one first. Pretty much stock besides koni yellows, ASC delete, and e-fan.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7912/...fd0a2a10_b.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4565/...cfd73578_b.jpg