The Automobile Thread

This is a pretty great podcast. Some good discussion on the current state of Tesla and EVs in general, and just some fun car talk in general. I love Chris Harris' sense of humor, particularly as it applies to car talk. Really enjoyable stuff.

 

Car culture.

https://www.bicycling.com/culture/a...il&date=120919&utm_campaign=nl18808247&src=nl

 

I liked this comment: "i had to double check that this article wasn’t in the Onion. A cyclist talking about how people should respect the rules of the road! That’s funny."

 

Cyclists deserve more entitlement on roadways than do drivers of motor vehicles, so...

 

Silly biker, streets are for cars.

 

Oh dang, this looks pretty rad. Hopefully final styling will shake out close to these renders. Would be awesome if they went more Golf R, and less Civic Type R with this. Speaking of, timing for a new gen Golf R should be pretty close to this as well. Could be a very exciting time for pocket rockets.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a31135735/subaru-wrx-sti-confirmed-2022/

 

My oldest son is all over this, he’s on his 2nd WRX. I like the hood scoop on that concept model!

 

I saw that, it looks Rad is right! Really like the look, hope it's close to the actual car.
When I had my 2009 WRX i loved driving it. Fun car for sure, the surge of power when the turbo kicks in, all wheel handling....yeah baby!

But damn did that car have a lot of piddly crap ( and some not piddly) go wrong. More stuff broke than any car I've ever owned and that includes a 70s Bobcat, which is a Pinto wanna be.

Would I buy one again? Probably, if they improved interior durability.

 

Yeah, if it comes out close to the renders I'd buy the bajeezus out of it. Other than some electronic gremlins on an '18 Outback I've had good luck with Subes ,or good enough luck anyway. 400hp, all wheel drive, conservative styling. Yes please.

 

While my friend's last (late) model WRX STI is incredibly fun to drive, it gets the worst fuel economy that I have ever seen from a four banger. That car was designed specifically to drink gas and go fast. It even has horrible highway MPGs.

 

I want that 400hp in my FR-S! Of course if I did I wouldn't get 40mpg on the highway.

 

I’ll kill myself with one of those.

 

A buddy of mine just picked up this beast. V10 got the twin turbo treatment. Apparently it dyno’d at 1150 hp at the wheels. That’s craziness. Perhaps too much of a good thing even, but I’d like to experience a launch at least once.

 

That looks fun!

 

Damn Matt. Now I feel quite embarrassed about what I picked up last weekend. I've been wanting a small CUV for quite some time but not having a car payment has really been nice. Well after having some issues with the FR-S I thought it best to get rid of it before it failed me. Apparently the early models had faulty valve springs which were recently replaced and from a little research it just goes downhill from there. Not having the time or the patience to deal with it I decided to trade it in. I picked up a 2020 Toyota C-HR. I've liked it since I saw it in concept form several years ago. As with the FR-S I bought it mostly for commuting. Right now I'm averaging 33mpg according to the on board computer. I have to say I thought I would miss the FR-S but I'm really digging this little car. It's amazing how much technology they can cram into vehicles these days. Radar sensing cruise control, lane departure warning system and brake assist to name a few. I know the technology has been around for awhile. I just haven't had a vehicle with it. As far as pricing goes they gave me what I wanted for the FR-S and knocked $3k off the C-HR which brought it down to dealer invoice. I didn't want another car payment but it's small enough that I can pay it with a week's worth of OT and still have money left for a month's worth of gas. Now to add rails to the roof rack or just throw the bike in the back? The gravel bike barely fits with the wheels on. Oh wait. We have the Tundra for bike duty.

Here's a couple pics. I haven't taken any of the interior yet.

 

Cute.

 

Congrats, Ed! It realy is pretty crazy how much tech is getting packed into cars these days. Enjoy the new ride.

 

Good time to buy!

Begs to be slammed.

 

My car buddy already offered to put air bags on it.

 

I almost wonder. Same buddy has another R8 that had a tune on it when I drove it that gave it 600hp, and it was borderline frightening. I saw a video of the above car on the dyno and it just sounded violent. He said the first few pulls after he picked it up were incredibly intense, and it was almost like seeing things happen in snapshots. I can't imagine.

Edit: Actually, here's the video.

 

YIKES!

I'll stick with my 265 HP Q5.

 

Ain’t nothing wrong with that. I miss mine quite a bit.

 

Great color. Very similar to my CR-V's color.

 

Don't they all

 

Quite possibly the most aggressively styled vehicle that looks much faster than it actually is since the FR-S.

 

@UPSed, what kind of MPGs are you expecting to get from your new ride?

 

Right now I'm averaging mid to upper 30s on the freeway. Right now I'm averaging low 30s overall. Both numbers are above the EPA rating.

 

My daughter opened the doors of her new project car business today. Her first creation is these four, ultra-limited addition roadsters. They come loaded with all of the creature feature standards of today's automotive industry and they pack a serious punch under the hood as well. These babies come with a 6.0L V12 that is supercharged AND turbocharged. Order yours now! Once they are gone, they are gone FOREVER.

 

I don’t know about the cars but those peeps will last forever

 

German engineering at its finest.