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30+ mpg is supposed to be good??

I think what was *supposed* to happen is there is a ground in several small places, but as the car ages and rust sets in those places become less and less conductive. I checked it a little while ago and it seems to be doign okay and not getting pinched anywhere. I'm gonna go in with my dremel and get som bare metal to metal going where I attached it. The exh manifold is a little rusty and I can see a problem there and the body screw that I used has a coating on it. For now it's doing the job tho.

My car is bound with a strap. That just sounds kinky :twisted:
 
After all, it was the fuel pump. So after all the fixes I put on this car it oughta run really good for a while.

coil pack
complete tune up
accessory belt (alternator, power steering pump, ac)
fuel system cleaned thoroughly
grounding strap

<sigh> I miss my Mustang.
 
OK, so I'm watching The Fast & The Furious for about the tenth time last night, and it occured to me... Why the hell do all these Front-Wheel-Drive cars have these huge spoilers mounted on the rear deck? Doesn't that defeat the purpose, or are the spoilers mounted upside-down? (Mebbe I'm just old-skool, but...).

--T
 
NathanAllan said:
After all, it was the fuel pump. So after all the fixes I put on this car it oughta run really good for a while.

coil pack
complete tune up
accessory belt (alternator, power steering pump, ac)
fuel system cleaned thoroughly
grounding strap

<sigh> I miss my Mustang.
Click to expand...

Is this the IROC Z?

--T
 
I wish! :D It's the Cavalier RS. After all that work, it does run a lot peppier than it had been. Next thing is gonna be either tires, starter or radiator.

I work with a bunch of people that have thos spoilers and things, adn they all say it's for reduction of drag. But that's the reason to have "a" spoiler, not those spoilers that they have that are either a foot and a half tall and polished aluminum or molded in with the body. They fell for the hype and the glitz of the movie. And I don't know how a bunch of pizza place workers and pawn shop clerks can afford that overpriced glam crap. Must have a secret that I don't know about.

Oh yeah, I have a LIFE. :wink:

But I don't see any logic in having a heavy-duty wing in the back and having a flimsy, flexible fiber-based spoiler in front that can't press down without breaking. So yeah Terry, I hear ya. Silly stuff. All form and no function.
 
I always thought the spolier thing was stupid. Unless your flying a plane, a spolier's got nothing to do with it. Drag like that is based on things we can't control, like air density and pressure. So the stupid looking fin on your car does nothing but make you look like a retard with too much money.....
 
OK, the way it works (worked) is, the wing on the back of the car works just like an aircraft wing, in that it creates downward pressure onto the rear wheels (which on a RWD vehicle creates an increase in traction). On a FWD vehicle, it will only create *less* traction onto the front (drive) wheels, by "lifting" on the front-end, resulting in a higher ET. I think it's all about Hollywood "prop people" hanging every option onto a car, without a real undrstanding of thier purpose.

I'm reminded of a few years ago, when "ground effects" spoilers were in fashion. I can't tell you how many S-10 pickups I've seen that have a "lift kit" and "ground effects" installed at the same time. Pardon me for thinking that owners of such vehicles are just plain st00pit, falling for any sales-pitch that comes thier way!

--T
 
One of my all-time favorite trucks was a few years ago, when fancy paint-jobs were in style. I pulled-up to a light behind this Silverado 4WD, with this way-kewl air-brushed mural painted onto it. The legend on the tailgate said "Stump Jumper" and I thought, "Yeah, right". Like this guy is really gonna take that $5000.00 paint-job anywhere near an actual stump!

--T
 
I think the car thing falls under the "puppets of popular culture" thing.

Hey If its in a movie, "it must be true and/or cool to do!!!111one"

And there's a guy around here that paied $6,450 for a way kewl painting on his back tailgate. It seemed like a lot, but he said it was worth it.

-Vlad
 
The most customization I have done to my car is a white Atari logo on the passenger rear window, a red Star Wars Imperial logo on the driver side back window, and a red and black steering wheel cover. I got lucky this semester, the student parking sticker is red. All that red matches the car's paint and the white Atari logo is very visible.

My wife wants to put in leopardskin-print seat covers :roll:
 
OK, so I'm watching TF&TF (again) today, and I'm finding even more questions. Like, for starters, when street racers gather on a Friday or Saturday night, nobody who has a real car walks away from it like that to go and join the party! Not anywhere within 100 miles of Woodward Ave. anyways. If you did, you'd come back 5 minutes later to find your car's shell sitting atop 4 beer canz! There's crewz around here that can strip a vehicle in that little time. Mebbe the racing scene in L.A. is different, but I doubt it.
Also, how come Vin Diesel has his N-unit cleverly concealed under his seat? That only works if nobody knows that you're running NOS. He and his car are the best known on the local circuit, and everyone knows about the N-unit, so what's the point?
Oh yeah, and one more thing...
When Vin was showing-off his daddy's rod, he made a point of mentioning that it produced so much torque that it twisted the frame coming off the line. Excuse me? All torque-y carz twist thier frames from the hole...hasn't he ever heard of ladder barz??? Judging from the perfect wheelie he later pulled in that same car, I'd say he had figgered out the problem by that time.

Just a few of my observations, but what da Hell do I know??? (I still like the movie though, even if Hollywood is clueless about real street racing).

--T
 
Whenever I see stuff like this it makes me realise how out-of-generation I am. In my teen 50's a "hot-rod" was with something like a 34 Ford with a Ford V-8 engine-(had to be a Ford 35B(?) block) with 3/4 cam, a Lincoln transmission, Eidelbrock something or other , carburetor by some other company, milled aluminum heads, and if you really wanted authenticity, chopped and channelled.

It still all comes down a bit masturbatory. Maybe that's what powers us to hotrod computers or to go for the big Intel new wave super-computer chips.
I find it a bit sad actually.

It's interesting also that so many IT development people, male and female, are into flying. I'm reminded of the sailing thing in "the Soul of New Machine"

Lawrence
 
If you guys think 48 MPG for a production car would be hard to top, and left the conversation at that, you're all a bunch of pikers.

Even the Toyota Yaris (basically an Echo with a hatchback and a diesel option) ***averages*** 60-70MPG! Of course you can only buy this wonder in Europe (as the Yaris) and Japan (as the Vitz). It's been around for five years and the only reason they don't sell it here in the US is that it would DRASTICALLY cut into the ludicrously profitable hybrid sales, not to mention slaughtering the Scion xA and Toyota Matrix.

Car manufacturers don't really care about mileage except when it makes them money and it keeps them legal (within the CAFE law).
 
If the petroleum lobby didn't wield such clout, we'd all be burning a 100% renewable fuel right now, for pennies a gallon, so mpg would be of little concern.

--T
 
To what extent does car manufactures and governments get sponsored by the petroleum business? As pointed out, hybrid and alternative fuels are slowly getting more popular. They may not be cheap, but at least in high taxation countries like here, the government can issue tax deductions for these types of vehicles.
 
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LOL, you guys make me jealous...I only get 16 or 17mpg in my 1995 Explorer, but that is to be expected. At least I can haul a crap load of vintage computers home without a problem....and haul a trailor load home.
If I ever need to replace the engine, I will opt for a 2.3L 4cyl. Instead of my current 4.0L V6. Same horse power, and only 20ft lbs less torque. Better technology engine. But I do love the 95/96 body style explorers.
Here is a picture of my baby. http://www.gallery.ubertechworld.com/albums/userpics/10002/PIC00002~1.jpg
My Hotrod project is a 1983 Silverado, power windows and locks..lol..Edel carb, valve covers, new cam, 30ci bore over, tranny cooler, etc. I dont really drive it much though, because gas costs too much, and when you only get 10-12mpg, you have to keep it parked..
 
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According to Road & Track magazine, February 2006 edition, page 47, the Toyota Yaris is set to go on sale in the U.S. in April, 2006.

Models available will be 4-door sedan and 3-door hatchback. Engine is 1.5 liter inline 4 cylinder making 106hp and 103 lb-ft torque. Combined EPA rating of 37 mpg (5 speed manual) or 36 mpg (4 speed auto). This is the only engine available. Price to start at under $13000.

In the picture it looks kinda cute, can't see it as a real "guy's car."

Now, if you wanna talk about the new Dodge Challenger concept car...

Kent
 
carlsson said:
To what extent does car manufactures and governments get sponsored by the petroleum business? As pointed out, hybrid and alternative fuels are slowly getting more popular. They may not be cheap, but at least in high taxation countries like here, the government can issue tax deductions for these types of vehicles.
Click to expand...

It didn't take long to ban flourocarbons, first in America, then the world, once thier impact on the ozone layer was discovered. What if legislation were passed banning the use of fossil fuels? What if, instead of paying farmers *not* to produce certain crops, in order to keep the price up for those who do produce those crops, they were allowed (encouraged?) to produce alcohol-friendly crops (corn, sourgum, sugarcane/beets, etc), on that otherwise unused acreage?
For the same as current manufacturing costs, vehicle manufacturers could produce vehicles that easily & efficiently burn 95 - 100% ethanol, and current vehicles could be retro-fitted for a couple hundred bucks.
Why doesn't this legislation happen? Big petroleum's visible contributions to political interests are easy enough to track, not to mention the under-the-table stuph. (Hell, our current president's family made most of thier vast fortunes dealing in fossil fuels. It's not difficult to guess where his loyalties reside.).

--T
 
And this doesn't even begin to address the political/social/economic ramifications. What if a buncha desert-dwellers suddenly found themselves in the position they were in a hundred years ago -- with nothing to eat but sand, and all the light sweet crude they want to wash it down with? That would create such a power-vacume in the middle east that the sucking sound wolud blow-out even Ross Perot's eardrums. The US (and other powers) would no longer be able to excercise whatever little control they now have, and Armegeddon becomes a real possibility.

</rant>

--T
 
So, the majority of cars will be driven by petrol until all the Arab/Muslim countries have been neutralized? (for some value of "neutralized")

It is also a question how much oil you can pump. Twenty years ago, it was said that the economically visable oil would be gone by today, but now they say 20 years from now. Some say 100 years, or even more. If technology allows to extract oil from sources less profitable - either because raw oil gets more valuable or technology gets better - it may last even longer. Replacing oil for heating houses appears to end much sooner than replacing petrol to drive cars.
 
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