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Author Topic: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)  (Read 158879 times)

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DaveBSC

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1550 on: September 19, 2015, 09:13:08 PM »

As for China, on my last trip to Beijing, I wore a mask the whole time. People on the bus were asking me why I was wearing a mask as we drove by the huge Lung Cancer Institute. facepalm The govt. over there actually convinced most of the people I met that it was 'fog'. I shit you not. The power of govt. controlled media. What sucks is that crap floats all the way over to California and other places.

Agreed, factory farms are massive contributors to global warming, but nobody wants to talk about it. Everyone is scared about the average Chinese person beginning to buy a car. They should also be scared about the average Chinese person wanting to eat a hamburger every day.

Are masks not common among average people in China? I've read that for at least wealthier people they are pretty routine.

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-05-06/new-travel-accessory-for-beijing-gas-mask

IMO, the solution is as much solar and wind as is feasible given climate and geographic limitations, supplemented with Nuclear based on LFTRs. The story of the abandonment of the LFTR at Oak Ridge decades ago is so sad, as I think there is so much potential there to be the closest thing to a "silver bullet" for the long term energy future of the planet as is possible, and you can't help but imagine how much progress could've taken place on improving and perfecting LFT reactors since the 1970s.

Instead, we got stuck with vastly inferior U-235 plants which are inherently far more dangerous, far more destructive during a meltdown, and as Japan knows well, are completely incapable of dealing with a total power outage. Complete power loss at a LFT reactor is totally harmless, nobody even has to be there to shut it down, it happens automatically. Then there's the fact that waste from LFTRs has a half life of about 300 years instead of 10,000 or so.

There's almost no interest in building new LFTRs or even converting existing plants though because there's no USSR to beat, and you can't make a fortune selling the fuel. You don't make money building Nuclear plants, you make money providing the fuel. Thorium is so ubiquitous that we basically throw it away.

The one positive is that China IS interested LFTR tech, and they basically took all of the ideas from Oak Ridge and are running with them. If China ever wants to actually see the sun again, they have to stop burning coal.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100026863/china-going-for-broke-on-thorium-nuclear-power-and-good-luck-to-them/


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evanft

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1551 on: September 19, 2015, 09:59:24 PM »

Cool impressions! Just a couple points.

1-If you care about the interior you get the BRZ or a limited edition FRS. I think people get generally caught up with the cheap scion center stack which they don't even sell in japan. With the normal/upgraded stack I think it actually has pretty nice interior quality for the price tbh. The padded faux leather and vinyl softness and contours are pretty nice imho. I couldn't buy the standard FRS with that center stack either tbh.

Yeah, I was looking at pictures. I'd have a hard time buying the base, too. I'd probably go for a BRZ Limited, and I'd try to find a 2015. Marv's comments on the steering would make me wait until it was at the right price.

3-Yeah, forget about torque, you just have to downshift and use the gears. That torque dip can also be tuned out but it helps with fuel economy.

Yeah, going from a car that pulls in 6th gear on the highway to the FR-S definitely showed its lack of power. A bump to 250 HP/250 TQ would be amazing. In fact, I'd seriously consider trading in the Stang for one if they actually did it.
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Anaxilus

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1552 on: September 19, 2015, 10:01:27 PM »

I went a couple a years after the '08 olympics. The Bird's Nest was entirely covered with layers of soot.



As I understood it from a Chinese person living there, there was a local ordinance that outlawed the locals from wearing masks due to 'fog'. I think the last numbers were around 1.6 million people will die each year in china due to 'fog'.

http://time.com/3997626/china-pollution-study/

Meh, let 'em figure LFTR out. I'm more hopeful Skunk Works will figure out compact fusion.
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Anaxilus

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1553 on: September 19, 2015, 10:07:47 PM »

Yeah, I was looking at pictures. I'd have a hard time buying the base, too. I'd probably go for a BRZ Limited, and I'd try to find a 2015. Marv's comments on the steering would make me wait until it was at the right price.

Yeah, going from a car that pulls in 6th gear on the highway to the FR-S definitely showed its lack of power. A bump to 250 HP/250 TQ would be amazing. In fact, I'd seriously consider trading in the Stang for one if they actually did it.


Well, if you like to turn wrenches...

http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,2522.0.html
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"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." - Lao Tzu

"The Claw is our master. The Claw chooses who will go or who will stay." - The LGM Community

"You're like a dull knife, just ain't cuttin'. Talking loud, saying nothing." - James Brown

Maxvla

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evanft

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1555 on: September 22, 2015, 02:37:22 AM »

2015 Scion FR-S Base Automatic
- It has a new touch screen radio that most people will probably replace in the first month!

- AUTOMATIC HEAD LIGHTS. THANK YOU BASED GOD.

- The 2015 is indeed noticeably stiffer and has slightly better steering. It handles better, but this comes at the expense of ride quality over harsher roads. If I were going to make this a DD, I would lean towards a 14 due to the softer suspension and Michigan's awful roads.

- The 2015 feels faster. Maybe a slightly different ECU tune?

- WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

- My god, I don't think there was any point in the test drive where I didn't thrash on the car. It's more fun at legal speeds than anything else I've ever driven.

- I think the seats were causing me ass pain. They were brand new, though, so I don't know if that would be a real issue once broken in.

- The car really isn't very good on the highway. You have to really wring it out just to do a passing maneuver. It is a hoot to do, though.

- Cabin noise levels are really high. Quieter than you would expect, but still pretty bad.

I don't think I could DD this car. The power deficiency, harsh ride, and cabin noise levels make it less versatile than the Ecostang. But once I have the Stang paid off, I think this would make a really great second car. Used ones are already around $20k, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'll be able to pick one up for $15k or less by then.
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Anaxilus

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1556 on: September 22, 2015, 03:41:44 AM »

I'd be curious to hear your impression of a 2015 BRZ.
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velvetx

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1557 on: September 25, 2015, 09:55:29 PM »

2015 Scion FR-S Base Automatic
- It has a new touch screen radio that most people will probably replace in the first month!

- AUTOMATIC HEAD LIGHTS. THANK YOU BASED GOD.

- The 2015 is indeed noticeably stiffer and has slightly better steering. It handles better, but this comes at the expense of ride quality over harsher roads. If I were going to make this a DD, I would lean towards a 14 due to the softer suspension and Michigan's awful roads.

- The 2015 feels faster. Maybe a slightly different ECU tune?

- WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

- My god, I don't think there was any point in the test drive where I didn't thrash on the car. It's more fun at legal speeds than anything else I've ever driven.

- I think the seats were causing me ass pain. They were brand new, though, so I don't know if that would be a real issue once broken in.

- The car really isn't very good on the highway. You have to really wring it out just to do a passing maneuver. It is a hoot to do, though.

- Cabin noise levels are really high. Quieter than you would expect, but still pretty bad.

I don't think I could DD this car. The power deficiency, harsh ride, and cabin noise levels make it less versatile than the Ecostang. But once I have the Stang paid off, I think this would make a really great second car. Used ones are already around $20k, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'll be able to pick one up for $15k or less by then.


I almost bought a Scion FR-S but I stuck with Honda and ended up picking up a 2015 Civic SI.

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evanft

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1558 on: September 25, 2015, 10:56:21 PM »

I had to drive this. It's been eating at me.

2012 BMW M3, automatic, competition package

Exterior
Sleeperish. It looks like a BMW. Nothing really noteworthy. The one I drove was like blueish silver.

Interior
Pretty good. Seat were great. Steering wheel was great. iDrive isn't as good as Sync 3, but it worked well.

Driving Impressions
- Suspension was phenomenal. LOVED how you could switch between normal, comfort, and sport. That's a feature I want.

- You could push the car really hard, and it just seemed like it could take more and more.

- Brakes don't have very good initial bite/feel, but hard braking feels great. The chassis doesn't give a shit.

- Steering was great, but maybe just a little too heavy. If I had to pick one, I'd say I prefer the weight and ratio of the FRS, but feel of the M3.

- Engine has absolutely no balls down low. Yes, it's INCREDIBLE when you rev it out and it sounds amazing, but during normal driving it doesn't really have a lot. I actually prefer the engine in my Mustang.

- Transmission is great, but when in D hitting the paddle shifters switches it to manual mode permanently. This is very unlike every other car I've driven with paddles, which go back to D mode after a bit. I tried tweaking the transmission settings to see if something would fix this, but it didn't. It was actually really annoying, because I'd want to downshift to get torque and then have to remember to shift back up. I know it's kinda nitpicky, but I still don't like it.

- Car doesn't feel like it weighs as much as it does.

- Everything about the way the car drives inspires confidence in ways I've never experienced.
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bixby

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1559 on: September 25, 2015, 11:45:28 PM »

Why would anyone buy a VW in the US at least. The reliability sucks and the dealer network sucks even more. 

Oh, I forgot they are farfromugen, haha, yes my 78 sirocco was fun to drive.

They deserve every billion dollars worth of fines they get assessed.   
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