Random Thoughts Thread

[USA-1]

5 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Not all japanese cars though...you all will disagree but I find this Lexus kind of hot. 

Nor are all domestic cars that inspring...love my ranger, love Ford Super duty trucks, the f150 is good, an American best seller...but the ecosport....sells slowly...Ford should discontinue IMHO.  

Funny how they're bouncing it off the rev limiter the whole time.

Throttle House rocks! Said to be the new "Top Gear" just need one more guy. Thomas and James are hilarious and good at it. When they tested the Camaro ZL1 1LE, Dodge Challenger Hellcat SP, Ford Shelby GT500 TP video they had Jason Cammisa on to drive the Chally. That would be an even greater show with Cammisa who's also really good and hilarious, he has his own shows ISSIMI and The Carmudgeon Show, good stuff. I'm subscribed to the channel and watch pretty much all of their videos. Always screw with each other like brothers would. It's great!

[balthazar]

Supposedly, new leaf AND coils 'settle', but it's a very minor amount. Not as much as a full inch, maybe not as much as a half inch. That's very short term.

The long-term change is known as 'losing spring tension'. The spring retains it's spring load rate, but it's ability to hold said weight at the original height sees some lessening. This may, eventually, be as much as 2 inches, maybe a bit more.

IMO, neither is at play here - 'settling' will still have this Chevy riding like a Jeep. 

[Robert Hall]

Wasn’t riding high in the back something people did in olden days, maybe to accommodate bigger tires?  Like all the ‘lifted’ muscle cars in the 70s?  I remember my brother put air shocks on his Firebird Formula 400 and GTO back then.  

Edited September 13, 2020 by Robert Hall

[ocnblu]

Yeah and what about the ridic "gasser" trend, that was as dumb as the donk trend, where we see beautiful 70's-00's fullsize cars ROINT with jacked up susp, cut bodywork and asinine giant whills!

Edited September 13, 2020 by ocnblu

[balthazar]

7 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

olden days

LOLOLOLOL

4 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Yeah and what about the ridic "gasser" trend, that was as dumb as the donk trend, where we see beautiful 70's-00's fullsize cars ROINT with jacked up susp, cut bodywork and asinine giant whills!

The gasser 'trend' came straight out of racing; lift the front end even with the (raised for big tires) rear, to aid in weight transfer. Very real world results. Then they came up with altered wheelbase drag cars, and the gasser as leading race tech was surpassed. (and the funny car was born).

But donks AREN'T gasssers.

[ocnblu]

28 minutes ago, balthazar said:

But donks AREN'T gasssers.

?????????

duh who said they were, Skeeter?

[USA-1]

20 minutes ago, balthazar said:

lift the front end even with the (raised for big tires) rear, to aid in weight transfer.

My Father once told me that as teens he and his buddies would jack up the front of their Chevelle's and stuff wood blocks in the springs to make the weight transfer to the back for better traction off the line when drag racing...it worked too. Highly dangerous and not recommended of course. Kids will be kids.  

[ocnblu]

Haha, guess who is an Aries?

 

[daves87rs]

Worried about my friends on the West Coast.....

Boy the Facebook folk are really pushing the conspiracy theories right now.....I hear the next up is a year long power outage....

Spent the weekend working on the cars.....sadly someone who was pissed off slammed a shopping cart into her Trax and yelled at her, for no reason at all..... ? Big scratches on the side now....

[ocnblu]

Some ppl don't know how to leave other ppl's stuff alone.

[daves87rs]

10 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Some ppl don't know how to leave other ppl's stuff alone.

Yeah, she literally went in to grab some milk, and parked out deep in the parking lot. Not sure why the dude was so angry, sounds like he did it to others as well. Wife just hurried and got the heck out of there....

Good news is that I can’t feel the scratch. I threw some cleaning wax on, and seems to have gotten some of it off. Think I will try some compound by Meg’s to see if I can get most all o the scratch out ( I hope)

It’s why my Nox is not driven much to the stores any more.

Between the hit to my Cobalt and then this- people are simply out to break stuff.......

[A Horse With No Name]

12 hours ago, balthazar said:

IMO, neither is at play here - 'settling' will still have this Chevy riding like a Jeep. 

As a fan of the wrangler...you say this like it is a bad thing?

(Sarcasm)

You are quite correct...

11 hours ago, daves87rs said:

Worried about my friends on the West Coast.....

Boy the Facebook folk are really pushing the conspiracy theories right now.....I hear the next up is a year long power outage....

Spent the weekend working on the cars.....sadly someone who was pissed off slammed a shopping cart into her Trax and yelled at her, for no reason at all..... ? Big scratches on the side now....

What an idiot. 

11 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Haha, guess who is an Aries?

 

I am never fake. 

[daves87rs]

Have a fire truck down my street this morning....

[G. David Felt]

On 9/12/2020 at 6:10 PM, balthazar said:

Rant on :
This crap drives me nuts. '62 Biscayne 409 / 4-spd car, obviously meticulously restored. Auctioned via Mecum :
https://www.mecum.com/lots/IA0711-112558/1962-chevrolet-biscayne/
 

My beef is, for some damned reason, restorers read a spec somewhere and stick these ridiculous springs underneath.

 

Let's do a lil math. Period Chevs wore 14" rims; that's 7" from the center to the edge (actually- slightly inboard of the edge). Tire sidewall is about 4" by my eye. Rocker chrome is ABOVE the wheel centerline, maybe an inch. That's an even TWELVE inches of the rocker off the pavement! These cars NEVER LEFT the factorty riding that ridiculously high.

I'm constantly mind-boggled when I see this, but exactly this is offered as "correct".

I like the way it looks, my biggest beef is trucks and cars that sag in the ass. Just looks terrible besides being dangerous when they actually try to tow.

I think that Car looks great.

[balthazar]

^ You have to be kidding, if you're talking specifically about ride high. It's DOUBLE where it should be. You can change the oil without a jack !!

[G. David Felt]

8 minutes ago, balthazar said:

^ You have to be kidding, if you're talking specifically about ride high. It's DOUBLE where it should be. You can change the oil without a jack !!

Not kidding, I like the look and ride height. Hate cars that are cigarettes' pack high or about there. One should not have to sit down on the ground getting into a car unless it is a performance sports car like a corvette. This 2 door sedan, looks good to me as is.

[Robert Hall]

3 minutes ago, David said:

Not kidding, I like the look and ride height. Hate cars that are cigarettes' pack high or about there. One should not have to sit down on the ground getting into a car unless it is a performance sports car like a corvette. This 2 door sedan, looks good to me as is.

It looks fine to me..I like lots of ground clearance--easier to get in and out of, easier to deal w/ sloping driveways and hopping curbs, etc. 

[balthazar]

6 minutes ago, David said:

Not kidding, I like the look and ride height. Hate cars that are cigarettes' pack high or about there. One should not have to sit down on the ground getting into a car unless it is a performance sports car like a corvette. This 2 door sedan, looks good to me as is.

HUGE range between 3" and 12", dontcha think?
Chevy shown here has more ground clearance than your 4x4 Trailblazer. That's just wrong.
Looks like it has 'Skyjacker' air shocks, aired all the way up. From 15 feet away, you can see the gas tank. Horrendous. You two are nuts.

[G. David Felt]

6 minutes ago, balthazar said:

HUGE range between 3" and 12", dontcha think?
Chevy shown here has more ground clearance than your 4x4 Trailblazer. That's just wrong.
Looks like it has 'Skyjacker' air shocks, aired all the way up. From 15 feet away, you can see the gas tank. Horrendous. You two are nuts.

If cars were riding like an SUV seat height, and I could get the headroom that I know this car has, I would be happy in a car like this. I see no need for only 6 inches from the bottom of the car to the road surface.

[Robert Hall]

17 minutes ago, David said:

If cars were riding like an SUV seat height, and I could get the headroom that I know this car has, I would be happy in a car like this. I see no need for only 6 inches from the bottom of the car to the road surface.

I’d be happy w 9 inches of ground clearance.  A high H point was one of the selling points of the last gen Taurus.  I remember how weirdly tall the doors were.  

[trinacriabob]

11 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I am never fake. 

I qualify under all 4 criteria, with never fake and telling it like it is especially striking a chord.

- - - - -

Okay, while it will never be BREAD 8, this image I saw shows that yet another Californian has a wicked sense of humor:

Edited September 14, 2020 by trinacriabob

[balthazar]

10 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

I’d be happy w 9 inches of ground clearance.

Not if you had a Corvette.
A place for everything & everything in it's place.

[Robert Hall]

14 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Not if you had a Corvette.
A place for everything & everything in it's place.

True, but at least have a front lift option ( which the C8 has).  But for a daily driver, SUV height suits me. 

[G. David Felt]

For truck lovers, check out these 40 restored trucks. AWESOME

https://yeahmotor.com/trucks/restored-rare-trucks/?version=X2&utm_source=taboola&utm_campaign=ym_tb_tbym1_dsk_all_0914_cp_sb_resttrucks1&utm_content=2927702599&utm_medium=msn-anaheim-us &utm_term=ym tb tbym1 dsk all 0914 cp sb resttrucks1

Sweet Ride

[daves87rs]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Not if you had a Corvette.
A place for everything & everything in it's place.

A Vette is a very fun go cart though... ? 

[daves87rs]

Just noticed that the Word Association Thread was trimmed down....remember it being over 1000 pages. Must have been taking up some room....

 

[balthazar]

[G. David Felt]

Yum yum ? 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

10 hours ago, daves87rs said:

A Vette is a very fun go cart though... ? 

Or in my case, were I to win a new Vette in a Raffle,  I would trade it for a Ford Raptor. Seriously....

8 hours ago, David said:

Yum yum ? 

 

My Ranger can haul off your carcass when you have a heart attack...J/K....that looks fabulous. 

[trinacriabob]

10 hours ago, David said:

Yum yum ? 

 

This is much like a buffet.  Only once or twice a month, max., is doable.  But I get it.

[trinacriabob]

On 9/9/2020 at 10:31 AM, A Horse With No Name said:

There is good journalism, but it is not common. 

Isn't it amazing how some types of journalism gel with you while others do not? 

Either way, you couldn't get the major automotive magazines out of my hands by the time I started high school.  My parents didn't like that.  They felt I should study more.  For not having studied much at all, pulling an A minus average at a Catholic high school and not getting into trouble wasn't all that bad.  The only problem was that the very best colleges would have laughed at my application and used it as toilet paper.

[G. David Felt]

3 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Or in my case, were I to win a new Vette in a Raffle,  I would trade it for a Ford Raptor. Seriously....

Right!!! Raptor, TRX or what is now being called Super Trucks are the new Corvettes.

One has to wonder if the Corvette can survive another 10 years without adding a Corvette SUV EV/Hybrid to the family as I will take the 1000HP / 11,500 lb-ft of torque Hummer by GMC truck EV over a corvette.

[ykX]

2 minutes ago, David said:

Right!!! Raptor, TRX or what is now being called Super Trucks are the new Corvettes.

 

No, they are not,  Sports cars alive and well. You can't compare performance trucks to a sports cars, different animals.  Also, these trucks are nothing new, there were plenty before and none of them killed sports, muscle and performance vehicles.

3 minutes ago, David said:

One has to wonder if the Corvette can survive another 10 years without adding a Corvette SUV EV/Hybrid to the family as I will take the 1000HP / 11,500 lb-ft of torque Hummer by GMC truck EV over a corvette.

EV sports cars are coming too.  Which do you think will have better performance 1000HP EV SUV or a EV sports car? 

[G. David Felt]

3 minutes ago, ykX said:

No, they are not,  Sports cars alive and well. You can't compare performance trucks to a sports cars, different animals.  Also, these trucks are nothing new, there were plenty before and none of them killed sports, muscle and performance vehicles.

EV sports cars are coming too.  Which do you think will have better performance 1000HP EV SUV or a EV sports car? 

EV sport cars will have the advantage, yet when you look at where the market has moved and what people are expecting out of an Auto, the future for cars is dismal and especially sports cars. The corvette will survive by becoming that $100,000 plus super hyper car that only 1% can afford I think in the future. I suspect even the mustang, Camaro and Challenger are going to be hard to keep around in the long term future.

[ykX]

1 minute ago, David said:

EV sport cars will have the advantage, yet when you look at where the market has moved and what people are expecting out of an Auto, the future for cars is dismal and especially sports cars. The corvette will survive by becoming that $100,000 plus super hyper car that only 1% can afford I think in the future. I suspect even the mustang, Camaro and Challenger are going to be hard to keep around in the long term future.

Those 1000hp trucks and SUVs are not cheap either.  

Market moved from sedans to crossovers.  I don't think it has much to do with sports or muscle cars.

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, David said:

Right!!! Raptor, TRX or what is now being called Super Trucks are the new Corvettes.

One has to wonder if the Corvette can survive another 10 years without adding a Corvette SUV EV/Hybrid to the family as I will take the 1000HP / 11,500 lb-ft of torque Hummer by GMC truck EV over a corvette.

Hell yes on the ev Hummer. Hummer H3 SUT type vehicle in Electric would so do it for me. The one vehicle I really want to own before I die...one left on the bukcet list...would be a Wrangler or New Bronco. H3 Type electric hummer would fill that quite nicely. 

1 hour ago, ykX said:

Those 1000hp trucks and SUVs are not cheap either.  

Market moved from sedans to crossovers.  I don't think it has much to do with sports or muscle cars.

Except that things like the excellent VW Jetta GLI will become less and less common. For me, been with cars so long, finding them boring. Right now, emotionally, trucks scratch that itch. 

1 hour ago, David said:

EV sport cars will have the advantage, yet when you look at where the market has moved and what people are expecting out of an Auto, the future for cars is dismal and especially sports cars. The corvette will survive by becoming that $100,000 plus super hyper car that only 1% can afford I think in the future. I suspect even the mustang, Camaro and Challenger are going to be hard to keep around in the long term future.

Long term yes but I would give them another eight or ten years. 

1 hour ago, ykX said:

 

EV sports cars are coming too.  Which do you think will have better performance 1000HP EV SUV or a EV sports car? 

Different tasks. I can have a lot of fun off road with even a 5 thousand dollar cheap 4wd...to take advantadge of a modern shelby or vette, I am at illegal speeds quickly. 

[A Horse With No Name]

Good gentle music for Tuesday. 

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Isn't it amazing how some types of journalism gel with you while others do not? 

Either way, you couldn't get the major automotive magazines out of my hands by the time I started high school.  My parents didn't like that.  They felt I should study more.  For not having studied much at all, pulling an A minus average at a Catholic high school and not getting into trouble wasn't all that bad.  The only problem was that the very best colleges would have laughed at my application and used it as toilet paper.

A good college can be over rated. You chose your own path, and it has worked well for you apparently. Bravo and Kudos from me. 

If I hadn't bought the Ranger or another Truck...something like this might have been good. want a wrangler or Bronco Badly. 

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/819870776/overview/?aff=pkmedia&bac=pkmedia&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw9jvjt3r6wIVaBP5AB1OSww7EAEYASADEgJee_D_BwE

 

[trinacriabob]

Very true about colleges.  Just because it's 1.5x tougher to get into, does it mean it's 1.5x tougher in its equivalent courses and to get through?  Probably not.  What will happen at the more prestigious schools is that more students, percentage wise, will produce better work - tests, research, papers, assignments, etc. - so there will be higher grades on transcripts across the board.

I have a friend who is a civil engineer in CA who went to one of the flagship state universities in the Mountain West.  He said, "We used the same textbooks that they did at Berkeley."  I thought, "Bronze plate that one."  He commuted from home to his university.  He couldn't do that with Berkeley.  And this guy is super smart.

Edited September 15, 2020 by trinacriabob

[G. David Felt]

My one problem with Global trade is the blantent piracy that is allowed.

Foton has released their latest truck which is a rip off of the Ford Raptor Gen 1 truck. Only difference is that this is a Mid Size truck, not full size and the engine options is Performance 2.0L Turbo 4 gas (238 hp) or Diesel in 2.0L or 2.5L size engines (no HP / torque ratings yet). Where Ford used a 10sp transmission, Foton is buying and installing the 8 sp ZF manual with all engines. No auto available yet.

https://fordauthority.com/2020/09/chinese-automaker-foton-creates-a-ford-f-150-raptor-ripoff-called-the-big-general/

[A Horse With No Name]

31 minutes ago, David said:

My one problem with Global trade is the blantent piracy that is allowed.

Foton has released their latest truck which is a rip off of the Ford Raptor Gen 1 truck. Only difference is that this is a Mid Size truck, not full size and the engine options is Performance 2.0L Turbo 4 gas (238 hp) or Diesel in 2.0L or 2.5L size engines (no HP / torque ratings yet). Where Ford used a 10sp transmission, Foton is buying and installing the 8 sp ZF manual with all engines. No auto available yet.

https://fordauthority.com/2020/09/chinese-automaker-foton-creates-a-ford-f-150-raptor-ripoff-called-the-big-general/

Nice looking truck though. 

[Robert Hall]

52 minutes ago, David said:

My one problem with Global trade is the blantent piracy that is allowed.

Foton has released their latest truck which is a rip off of the Ford Raptor Gen 1 truck. Only difference is that this is a Mid Size truck, not full size and the engine options is Performance 2.0L Turbo 4 gas (238 hp) or Diesel in 2.0L or 2.5L size engines (no HP / torque ratings yet). Where Ford used a 10sp transmission, Foton is buying and installing the 8 sp ZF manual with all engines. No auto available yet.

https://fordauthority.com/2020/09/chinese-automaker-foton-creates-a-ford-f-150-raptor-ripoff-called-the-big-general/

Foton Craptor...

[G. David Felt]

14 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Foton Craptor...

Makes one wonder if the owner of the company was a Star Trek fan and decided Photon was a good name but it did not translate into Chinese, so went with foton.

[G. David Felt]

How to properly smoke meat!  ?

Recipes and grilling tips you can get everything here.

https://www.youtube.com/user/bbqguys 

 

[ocnblu]

[ocnblu]

2021 Renegade Jeepster in TechnoGreen Metallic

[trinacriabob]

1 hour ago, ocnblu said:

Me like.  Sort of.  For the memories.

What year is this one?

I remember when they had an upline Ghia version and they'd outfit it in silver, with a padded silver landau or full vinyl top, and somewhat potent burgundy velour bucket seats, so it was a small coupe functioning as a pimp mobile that people mistakenly thought was luxurious.  And, yes, with an ornery 2.3 inline 4, IIRC, that pinged up a storm.

Found it.

Silver on silver, burgundy interior and pin stripes

Yikes!  However, there is a full gauge package.  (I liked it when the gauge package was over to the right.)  And also a digital clock.  (Nice feature ... until they gave up the ghost.)

For a while, people really liked these little turds until their reliability, or lack thereof, was better understood.

[Robert Hall]

Back around 1976, my brother had a ‘75 Mustang II Mach 1 in silver for a couple years.  He traded an orange ‘74 Vega GT on it.  I think it had the V6.  Our Nextdoor neighbor backed her ‘72 Olds 98 into it, mashing the passenger side door and front fender when it was parked across the street.  He traded it on a ‘74 Firebird Formula 400. 

[ocnblu]

50 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

What year is this one?

I'm told this one is a '78.  The black bumper rub strips confirm it is a later model.  Hard to believe in '79 they would go to the starkly designed, heritage-challenged Fox Body Mustang.  They certainly wiped the slate clean with that one.

My favorite Fox-Body Mustang was the late model LX 5.0 Notchback, simple and potent.  In dark green, of course!

[daves87rs]

Believe it or not, I do not see the sedan/coupe dying just yet. With the price of the CUVs/SUVs and trucks going sky high, people will eventually want cheaper, more basic stuff again. I think that Ford may have a hit with the Maverick on their hands if they can price it right. Small businesses alone will love it....

I am already seeing a start, as a few of my friends got cars for their kids that they wanted- a Ford Fusion and a Kia Forte. Neither wanted anything huge and clunky. I expect automakers to switch gears to cheaper rides rather the risk the loss in sales.......

[ocnblu]

Well, the promised "sub $20k" starting price for the Maverick has me hopeful, but the spy shots have me worried... a regular cab with a minimum 6' bed is needed as one of the choices, but all I'm seeing is crewcab with 2' beds so far.