Annoying Cars.

[LordKOTL]

AWD in the Snow.... hauling shit for family.... moved my mom twice in the last year lol... I can lay the seats down and pick up an entire freezer.... haul my bag sets up to Michigan in the summer.... idk I prefer having the capabilities even if I don't use them constantly.

Plus I drive 5 mins to the train and train in to work every day so 99% of my commute is via train.

I know where you are coming from though... my step-brother lives in the suburbs like me and drives a huge pickup.... he only really uses it to tow their camper thingy on the few times a year they take that out for a trip.... I used to think like you about him but **** it why do I care?

And with the snow the last 2 years I like being able to go out and never worry about getting stuck.

Call me a hater I guess. To each your own, of course, but I think the mindset out here is a bit different. For the reasons you/Schmidtaki mentioned, don't necessarily apply here.

A highup AWD vehicle for use in winter makes sense in Chicago (unless it's so high it causes center of gravity issues). The only way it makes sense in Portland is if you're a Skiier/Snowboarder and go into the mountains in the winter. For the most part out here 90% of the SUV owners are your typical nuclear family wingnuts who don't want the stimga atached to a minivan and thus get a large SUV--not a crossover, mind you, but a large one. Then they think they're invincible and drive as such.

The result: A few years back Portland got 3" of snow (2" is enough to paralyze the city), and the only 2 vehicles that *didn't* carreen of the road was me in my G6 GXP, and a guy in a Porche Boxter--why? We drove with respect for the slick conditions, tookm it slow and left plenty of stopping distance. Adding to that--last February (2014) my wife and I flew out to Chicago. 5" of snow on the ground and just about everything came to a hault as Portland's 1 snowplow was overtaxed. It was actually *more* dangerous to drive my wife's Mazda3 hatch in Portland than it was the next day driving the rental Mazda 2 in Chicago with about 8-12 inches of snow--in fact, the only car I saw careen off the road in and around Chicago was a riceboy...go fig.

Anyhow, I can deal with the numbnuts out here that are in the SUV's--they're usually only dangerous in the snow or freezing rain and I try to not drive in those times. I still utterly loathe the human pustules that drive the E-vehicles and hybrids here because they are dangerous all the time.

On a threadjacking note...considering the stigma against minivans nowadays, it makes me wonder why the Hiptser contingent here in Portland doesn't drive them more often.

 

[Schmidtaki]

I confess that may have been me. It seems like more and more if you turn on your signal to change lanes or merge everyone wants to speed up and not let you in because they want to be ahead of you, even if there was plenty of room for you to change lanes and you're going fast enough for the flow of traffic.:shrug:

I get it man, but I'm one of those guys that likes to let people in, and as soon as you do that 3 other people want to cut in front of you as well. I'm all for letting my one or two people in but after that the next guy behind me should be letting someone in.

Traffic would move so much better if people just let one person in, in front of them.

 

[botfly10]

Tell you what. I can't fucking deal with people coming up the entrance ramp, crusing along 15 mph slower than highway traffic with their turn signals on like, looking over at me like, "let me in".

**** you. Speed the **** up and merge asshole. Speed limit where I am is 75 mph which means people are going 85. Those fucks that try and merge going 60 mph gon get someone killed. There is a reason the ramps are a fuckin 1/2 mile long.

 

[Urblock]

I don't hate, but I have a hard time fathoming why someone would need an SUV for just hauling themselves to and from work and hauling groceries if they don't have another use for it.

Why do you care what a person drives? I have a F150 4x4. F350 4x4 and E350 with a V10. If I'm paying the bills I will drive whatever the **** I want. I might put the plow on the F350 and drive around just for the **** of it.

 

[botfly10]

sigh

 

[Schmidtaki]

Tell you what. I can't fucking deal with people coming up the entrance ramp, crusing along 15 mph slower than highway traffic with their turn signals on like, looking over at me like, "let me in".

**** you. Speed the **** up and merge asshole. Speed limit where I am is 75 mph which means people are going 85. Those fucks that try and merge going 60 mph gon get someone killed. There is a reason the ramps are a fuckin 1/2 mile long.

Yep ramps are for matching highway speed and merging. I am more speaking about when lanes merge on the highway from 3 to 2 lanes and people floor it up to the last possible second and then cut someone off and cause jams.

 

[xer0h0ur]

Bot you have never sounded more like a hippie than in this thread.

 

[botfly10]

Serious tho man. I am a trained biologist and I have to actively engage in denial in order to avoid heavy duty depression all the time. If I spend too much time looking out the window on a long plane trip, I have to force myself to get outta bed for the following week.

When I engage in stuff life this it fucking wrecks me inside that people dont understand or dont give a ****.

 

[botfly10]

I was a co-instructor for a conservation biology course last year and everyone in the class finished with a persistent case of low-level background depression and dread. Good times.

Aldo Leopold said, “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen”.

 

[Urblock]

Sounds like fun.

 

[LordKOTL]

Why do you care what a person drives? I have a F150 4x4. F350 4x4 and E350 with a V10. If I'm paying the bills I will drive whatever the **** I want. I might put the plow on the F350 and drive around just for the **** of it.

Because no matter what vehicle I happen to be in at the time (even if it's a fucking train), if some yuppie asshole who can't drive is going to go careening into me, I would much rather they did it in a Ford Fiesta rather than a Ford Excusrion.

 

[Sunbiz1]

My problem with those cars is they wont fit in a "normal" sized garage.

Also, every time you go to fix something you discover what 40 years of morons have ghetto-rigged.

I see these cars/era of cars a lot down here...unfortunately, they're on 30"s and painted like cereal boxes.

Whomever did this should be arrested:

 

[Urblock]

Because no matter what vehicle I happen to be in at the time (even if it's a fucking train), if some yuppie asshole who can't drive is going to go careening into me, I would much rather they did it in a Ford Fiesta rather than a Ford Excusrion.

If some asshole hits my truck I probably walk away. It goes both ways.

 

[xer0h0ur]

Whomever did this should be arrested:

They call those abominations "Donks"

 

[FatBabiesHaveNoPride]

When I was a kid, installing headers on old V-8's made them better...a deep throaty sound.

Nowadays, kids install exhaust systems on shitty 4 bangers to make them sound like giant insects/2 cycle motors.

Why do they do this?.

Define 'shitty' 4 bangers?

There are MANY cars that feature 4 cylinder engines that sound fantastic. Ever hear the sound of an Ariel Atom?

My Lotus Elise (218 HP) 1.8L supercharged 4 cylinder sounds fantastic after I installed a Larini SC exhaust.

That said, I know of what you are speaking. It's the cholo kids who put the Pep Boys fart cans on their 18 year old Civics. They look and sound ridiculous.

I will say that the whole 'it's gotta be a V8' thing is silly. The Nissan GTR features a twin turbo V6 - not an 8 - and sounds insane in stock format. Not to mention the performance.

That's the beauty of cars. There are great performance cars to be had at every level - whether it be a 4 cylinder Ariel or Lotus or a W12 in an Audi A8L or a naturally aspirated Ferrari V12.

I track cars regularly (6-8x per year) and I've been fortunate enough to drive and hear many a fantastic car with incredible exhaust sound. Some cars would surprise you. Hell the sound of a r-spec Miata with the Jackson supercharger is incredible. Even the sound of older vintage racers like a Frogeye Sprite sound incredible.

That said, the best sound I've ever heard is a friend's Ferrari 458 Italia with the Capristo exhaust. It's like the voice of God!

I'll never be so lucky, but oh to be able to hear the sound of a Pagani Zonda Cinque through those 4 glorious titanium pipes:

 

[FatBabiesHaveNoPride]

i think those nissan jukes are pretty fucking stupid

They are stupid, but check out the Juke R. They shoehorn the GTR twin turbo V6 into that thing. Crazy.

 

[FatBabiesHaveNoPride]

LOL...and Asians.

Seriously though, I've seen(and heard)these simple modifications on cars w/standard exhaust packages(no dual)...a small cylinder that replaces a standard tailpipe.

Sounds like shit, so I'm wondering if they do anything other than annoy everyone else.

Depends on where you live. In the Chicago area (and certain burbs - Elgin, etc), you get the Mexican kids.

In California, it's the Mexican and Asian kids. It's all the same - stupid fart can exhausts, 'stances' cars or that hella flush shit. Crazy cambered nonsense. 8 million decals set on an angle. 'Murdered out' and plasti-dipped everywhere. Kids that put every nickel they make working at the ATT Mobile store into their 18 year old budget/econo cars.

 

[FatBabiesHaveNoPride]

I just wish we could get to legit electric engines more quickly. Battery tech is really holding stuff up, and will in the future.

I love the possibilities of more power, more efficviency, and less maintenance that electric engines offer.

But I will always miss the growl of a Big Block V8 like the 454.

The torque delivery of electric engines is fantastic.

That said, there are two major things holding them back:

- Range - and obviously charging
- Weight - batteries are REALLY heavy. That impacts performance, handling and driver input.

Not to mention the life (which no one really knows yet) and disposal of said batteries. As well as the cost of said vehicles.

As a true car nut and lover of the SOUND of cars (especially mid-engine), the lack of an exhaust note and even ambient engine noise is a deal breaker. My brother in law has a Tesla S. Fantastic car. Gorgeous and incredibly fast. That said, it just misses the 'experience' of a proper ICE car. No engine noise is really weird and it drives me nuts.

 

[BlackHawkPaul]

I'm buying the Batmobile.... and Blue Thunder.

 

[FatBabiesHaveNoPride]

To each their own.

I get worse looks in a built 4th gen Camaro in comparison to my "ricer" Honda..

I ran stock exhaust on my modded civic until it literally blew the baffles out of the muffler. The 3" exhaust is loud and drones like crazy but I gained like 30hp.



The car doesn't matter, it comes down to the individual driving. If you're a douche, you're a douche.

Are you REALLY getting a 30hp bump just from exhaust? Not sure what year that is and/or if it's VTEC, YO!!! - but from my precursory view, it's a K20 lump, correct? I know there's a TON you can do to K20 and K24 engines, but I saw they deliver 155-197hp depending on configuration.

So, JUST an exhaust swap gave you a 15-20% HP bump? Doesn't seem right. Did you do anything else (intake, headers, de-cat)?