Car guys (and gals)

flaagan

I know I'm not the only one on here. All the comments on my "cuda wip" thread prove that fact. Speak up, those of you who also frequent forums that cater to your need for speed. I know I work with a couple of car nuts, and have conversed with a number of you on the matter of four (or two) wheels and a pegged tach.

How do you feed you habit? What got you 'into cars'? Any projects going on, or planned, or done?

Come on, let's hear it from the folks who know that a car isn't about Point A to Point B, but is in fact the point.

oXYnary

I'd join this thread. But my passion is for smaller scales.


(Flaagan:: Bump this. Let them know we wont go quietly..

http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=65798

Rwolf

I do donuts in my Impreza when it snows....
That I spend a few bucks on wheels and simple bolt on's that are useful like a sway bar.

I used to be into deeper stuff, But I realized I'm not cut out for any of it (tore apart a 1986 Cougar that I was going to restore, but realized early on it's a hopeless money sink)

Anuxinamoon

Hazard is the one with the passion. Me, i'm fine with anything that has sway bars so I dont vomit everywhere.

notman

I'm in the Detroit area, so it's bread into us to love cars

My Dad worked (and Uncles/Aunts/Grandparents) worked for General Motors on the production lines. I'm one of the first in my family to actually get a degree, so now I get to help engineer the parts they were assembling. I've worked for GM at their Tech Center and now I'm working for a supplier (TRW Automotive), helping design the electronic controls for your brake systems.

My first car was a '76 Malibu with a 400 small block chevy. I use to get into all kinds of shit with it when I was a teen. I use to love racing friends and burying the 110mph speedo.

During that time, I bought a '79 Firebird, and rebuilt a 427 big block Chevy for it.... unfortunately, I ran out of funds, then ran out of time. Last summer, I had it towed away, having never drove it with the beast inside it

I've also owned a '94 Jeep Wrangler, which I lifted 4", put 32" tires on it, and would tear up the woods with it. Man I had a LOT of fun with that vehicle. Had to sell it when I got married though. It was too hard to get the kid in and out of the car seat.

These days, I'm cruising a '09 Jetta. Sometimes I feel like I've betrayed the American auto industry, but damn this car is fun and gives me more bang for my buck. Plus, my employer makes many of the parts in the Jetta, so I'm supporting my employer. I've got the 5spd 2.5ltr. The power response is awesome, and it comes with goodies like traction control, heated seats, heated mirrors, and a mp3 port, which most American makers won't include in their budget rides. Plus I get 30mpg, which USE to mean something

Lamont

I miss my car. Living here in Japan I see all kinds of cars I wanna get my hands on. There's a lot of cheap cars around here too.

2006 WRX station wagon full 2005 STi swap: went from automatic to 6MT, me and a friend did the work, I did the electrical. From the flywheel down to the wheels was STi with DCCD. 20g turbo kit, FMIC, a bunch of tuning, and other engine work 340AWHP. A lot of suspension work with corner balancing. Top speed of 172MPH-ish (yes it's bad to do that). 11.16 in the 1/4 at Houston raceway, looked very stock minus the black FMIC. Did Streets of Willow, Blackhawk Farms, canyon runs in SoCal, tons of AutoX and a couple RallyX. Loud as hell, when launched right, it barely squeaked the tires, fast as hell and shot flames out the back. Scared children, pets, the devil.

::SNOW FUN::

Full CarPC that did uploading of maps, nav and all that stuff people like in the cars now a days.



My next car is going to be another Subaru. Going to stuff a 2002+ WRX into an R2, or get an STi and do a lot of suspension work.

Chunkey

I'm in to the modified scene as the other half has a Ford mk2 Mondeo (Contour over in the US) which has an aftermarket body kit and a few extra bits under the bonnet too (lots of shiny bling... mmmmmm shiny).

I'm slowly getting there when doing stuff on cars, going to look around for courses to learn how to mig weld seeing most fords rust out quicker than you can get them up to 80mph hehe.

Currently got an Escort RS2000 which has been on my sister's driveway for the last year, was hoping to get it back on the road but can't afford to as I'm earning crap money, so for the meantime I'm driving a little Fiesta 1.1 which I bought for £35 and has passed it's annual MOT test today hehe

I'm usually on the www.escortevolution.co.uk and www.rs2000-16v.com websites along with the other half's site, http://www.modified-performance.net

Firebert

I had an '81 monte carlo with a 350 v8 that was my pride and joy. i worked on that thing ALLLLLLL the time. making repairs, tweaking stuff out, and making improvements. i loved that car, and i had JUST replaced the lifters and refurbed the covers back in '01, and this dude ran a red light and tore the front end of the car off. i haven't been able to invest enough love and passion into autos since then. she was a steal too man. bought her off an old lady that barely drove it. had 18k miles on it, and i got it for $1,500.
a side note on that accident. it occured on 9/11 @ 9:00. no shit.

00Zero

These days, I'm cruising a '09 Jetta. Sometimes I feel like I've betrayed the American auto industry, but damn this car is fun and gives me more bang for my buck. Plus, my employer makes many of the parts in the Jetta, so I'm supporting my employer. I've got the 5spd 2.5ltr. The power response is awesome, and it comes with goodies like traction control, heated seats, heated mirrors, and a mp3 port, which most American makers won't include in their budget rides. Plus I get 30mpg, which USE to mean something

hail hail! same here.

sir-knight

I'm a semi car nut... I have a base model impreza with an STI suspension and some other tasty handling bits. I've competed locally provincially and nationally in canadian autoX series, I do club lapping days and have been learning to wrench on my car. Just bought myself a new exhaust that will go on this spring. Also attended a road racing school in this car.. wheel to wheel with some pretty serious cars... being in the outside 2nd row on a green flag drop in a pack of 30 cars is a bit nerve wracking.

MRico

If I had more money I'd be into cars more....I haven't driven my car in months cuz one of the cats on the exhaust manifold started breaking up and could possibly send debris into the engine...

And because I'm in California I can only buy cats from the dealer...and they're charging me $800

Anyways...I'm driving an '05 3.5L Altima...I Nissan!

MRico

Firebert wrote: »

I had an '81 monte carlo with a 350 v8 that was my pride and joy. i worked on that thing ALLLLLLL the time. making repairs, tweaking stuff out, and making improvements. i loved that car, and i had JUST replaced the lifters and refurbed the covers back in '01, and this dude ran a red light and tore the front end of the car off. i haven't been able to invest enough love and passion into autos since then. she was a steal too man. bought her off an old lady that barely drove it. had 18k miles on it, and i got it for $1,500.
a side note on that accident. it occured on 9/11 @ 9:00. no shit.

That story made me sad. I'm sorry for your loss

TomDunne

Growing up, my dad drove a '69 Cutlass Supreme 2-door hardtop. He and my grandfather tinkered with it a bunch, so I learned about cars almost by osmosis. Unfortunately, American cars were sucking when I reached adulthood, with those hideous third-gen Mustangs all over the place. An older friend got a mark IV Supra right as I was getting out of high school, and I've been a Nippon gearhead ever since.

I'm currently driving a first-gen RX-8. It's not a great tuner, but has better handling characteristics than virtually anything else in the sub-$50,000 market. I've got a number of Mazdaspeed aftermarket parts (flywheel, exhaust) and the GReddy T618Z turbo kit. Fun to drive, but I'm getting the itch to shop around, maybe look at a GT-R. That or do an engine swap to get a 20b rotary, that would be an adventure.

skylebones

My first job in high school was cleaning up a transmission shop. The owner at the time was a huge corvette nut, and part of the local corvette club. So all the local vette owners would bring their cars into the shop whenever they needed any tiny repair (Even if it wasn't transmission related.) On weekends when the shop was closed we would store the cars in the repair bays so they wouldnt be outside. Part of my job was to come in on Saturdays and clean those bays with a power washer. Which means I had to take those vettes out of the repair bays and park them in the car lot about a block down the street.

After moving those a few times, I was hooked on anything with a v8. I purchases my first camaro. An 87 Iroc with the 5.7 in it shortly thereafter. I drove that for a few years until I blew the engine. By then I had a pretty good paying job and bought a 35th annivarsary 02 SS.


I still have it, but now days I'm more of a motorcycle guy.

notman

Forgot to post pics I can't find any online links of my Jeep, but here's my current ride:




Oh, and those 35th Anniversary Camaros and Firebirds were sweet.

Xoliul

Cool that there's some people here who like machines.
I know I make a lot of cars, but I don't own one. I'm more into motorcycles since riding those makes cars seem really tame (at least the affordable ones like a Golf or Renault Clio or something equally retarded). Also cars are more expensive for less performance and I never made any money till this year.
I want to buy one this year though. I'm picky, so first choice would be a post facelift BMW E46 318i, but that's probably going to cost too much. A '91 Honda CRX would also be nice, but a nice stock one is expensive since those are rare. Most realistic choice is a 3rd or 4th gen Toyota Celica, they seem about the same price strange enough. Or if anybody has some idea's for an affordable, max 120hp, 1.8l, preferably RWD car?

Cojax

Cars and racing is in my family. I personaly don't own anything good enough to put on the track atm, I own a 07 Dodge Charger. I was taught by my father how to race rather then drive at the age of 10. Go-Carts and the like.

I feed it by watching and following Formula 1 A LOT. I also love Forza 3, and I challenge anyone on polycount to beat my time at LagunaSeca Class A car.

Sandbag

I have always been into 60-70's muscle cars, my mom had a 69 dodge dart and a 72 charger v8 when she was younger, but I never really knew much about the actual mechanics until I came down here. One of my best friends at work is a huge car nut and knows more than any one man should about cars and I've just been soaking it in since then.

When I was finally able to buy my own 'real' car (a 93 cavalier is absolutely not a real car, and an 02 alero was only slightly better) I got an 09 Mustang GT. When the 05's came out I knew I could finally love a Mustang again...

I'd love to take it to the track but I'll definitely need better brake pads and fluid if I want to put it on a road course. There's a local Porsche club that does auto-crosses here and there in the summer that I might check out too.

When the new 5.0L drops it's going to be awfully hard to keep myself from trading up...especially if a 450+hp boss version hits in 2012...

Wahlgren

I'd like to own and fix an old crappy mustang. To bad they're pricey over here.

Tom Ellis

Xoliul wrote: »

Or if anybody has some idea's for an affordable, max 120hp, 1.8l, preferably RWD car?

Xoliul

Lol, I wish Creation. They were never sold here and all you can find is a few pricey Levin's. They also tend to rust easily I've been told and generally aren't that suited as a daily driver. Still I'd like one, but it would mean importing from Japan and that's just too much for me atm

Tom Ellis

Yeah same here... I'd love one, but the only way to get one here that hasn't been thrashed or modified in horrendously bad taste is importing and as you say, not cheap!

As for my car... due to the insane fuel prices here in England (£1.12 per litre atm) I had to downgrade from a 170bhp Honda Civic to a 65bhp VW Lupo. Which to be fair is not a bad little car! I just couldn't justify paying over £5 per gallon to do about 20-25 miles.

Rwolf

notman wrote: »

These days, I'm cruising a '09 Jetta. Sometimes I feel like I've betrayed the American auto industry, but damn this car is fun and gives me more bang for my buck. Plus, my employer makes many of the parts in the Jetta, so I'm supporting my employer. I've got the 5spd 2.5ltr. The power response is awesome, and it comes with goodies like traction control, heated seats, heated mirrors, and a mp3 port, which most American makers won't include in their budget rides. Plus I get 30mpg, which USE to mean something

I wouldn't be, they've made alot of boring cars until recently. I'm quite impressed with the Pontiac G8, although they've axed it already. I'd totally jump on A ford Focus if they brought the Hatch Variant here, so I settled with a HB Impreza. Chrysler uhh... still nothing intresting.

Looks like a few Suby owners here

notman

Yeah, the G8 was finally a step in the right direction, but as usually, they screwed it up (by killing it).
I've never really been a Ford fan, mainly because they always had electrical issues, which is the hardest thing to fix/debug on a car. Not to mention it usually results in 'thermal events'. BUT, the Fusion has really caught my eye, and I think the LCD display is pretty damn sweet.

BTW, a sweet RWD car, the Cadillac CTS-V

Here's the pics of my Jeep:

Xoliul

creationtwentytwo wrote: »

Yeah same here... I'd love one, but the only way to get one here that hasn't been thrashed or modified in horrendously bad taste is importing and as you say, not cheap!

As for my car... due to the insane fuel prices here in England (£1.12 per litre atm) I had to downgrade from a 170bhp Honda Civic to a 65bhp VW Lupo. Which to be fair is not a bad little car! I just couldn't justify paying over £5 per gallon to do about 20-25 miles.

Hah fuel prices. It's funny how the type of cars us europeans drive differs so much from americans. Getting something like a V8 Camaro like Skyle would be way expensive: 6000 usd to just register it when you buy it, 5000 a year in insurance and 2500 a year tax, with on top of that fuel at 7 usd a gallon. Almost half my paycheck for a car, lol.

Hazardous

My cars as follows:

1990 Subaru Legacy GT Sedan - Totally not stock standard.
1992 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon - Totally stock standard.
1996 Subaru WRX RA - Extreme modifications ~ 50k spent on engine and performance whilst maintaining driveability, never raced, but extremely quick car.
2008 Subaru GT Spec B Liberty STI Edition. number 131 of only 250 built! Stock Standard.

BTW my car is up for sale due to relocation to USA .. anyone WTB LOL ?!






Sad to let the beast go...

Rwolf

Wonder why they call it Liberty? it's Legacy everywhere else. nice btw

notman

That's what I always find interesting. Watching Top Gear on BBC America, I get to see what they rebadge things over there. That, and vehicles that they don't even bother to sell here, just because they don't think the market is good enough.

BTW, Flaagan, I think one of your questions in this post was, where do I get my car info. I don't really hang at any car forums. I get most of my info locally Or, on Top Gear for the high end imports.

sampson

hazardous i'll give you $5 and a handshake dude so many Subaru's are you from Lebanon (stereotype)

ZacD

My first car is a v6 and supercharged

Master_v12

Its nice to see plenty of subbie fans in here I got an 06 cobalt not really exciting but it should be a bit more fun once I get in on new shocks, Eibach sportlines and strut bars. Im looking to get into an STi or something with a V8. By the time I'm in the market for a new ride all the new RWD 4 bangers will be hitting the streets, very tempting

notman wrote: »

vehicles that they don't even bother to sell here, just because they don't think the market is good enough.

Yeah Europe has been having too much fun... haha, But its mostly because America's Crash safety standards are a lot stricter then in Europe. Which is the reason Europe gets all the good Ford Compacts (ie Focus RS). Can't wait till the new fiesta and Focus hit the US, hopefully with an RS or SVT Trim.

I usually lurk Autoblog, Stangnet, Camaro5, and StreetFire

Gannon

'05 Cooper S, I love my car. It's my first car. Bought it brand spankin new. Handles like no other and is fun to boot. I want to get the Madness kit on it and bump it up to 245HP. Power to weight ratio lets me keep up w/ the big dogs.

Lamont

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHbNuyubhz0[/ame]

MattW

I had a 1969 Olds Cutlass last. Since then I've been building bikes instead. I just picked up a nice little 76 shovel i'm gonna be rebuilding until the spring road trips start. I need to get away from Jersey's weather if I'm gonna keep it up. Wouldn't mind another muscle car though. I've always wanted a Nova.

sir-knight

Xoliul wrote: »

Cool that there's some people here who like machines.
I know I make a lot of cars, but I don't own one. I'm more into motorcycles since riding those makes cars seem really tame (at least the affordable ones like a Golf or Renault Clio or something equally retarded). Also cars are more expensive for less performance and I never made any money till this year.
I want to buy one this year though. I'm picky, so first choice would be a post facelift BMW E46 318i, but that's probably going to cost too much. A '91 Honda CRX would also be nice, but a nice stock one is expensive since those are rare. Most realistic choice is a 3rd or 4th gen Toyota Celica, they seem about the same price strange enough. Or if anybody has some idea's for an affordable, max 120hp, 1.8l, preferably RWD car?

miatas are great fun cars to drive... rwd and fun amount of power, that is if you fit in it.

Gilgamesh

I drive a 98' DB7 (355bhp - 165+ mph) and for the week i have a 2003 M5 bmw. I'm selling the Aston though because of high service/running costs and I'm about to be a father (again) so can't really afford it all. I did use to prefer bikes, but the english weather being what it is these days (even down south) the amount of days you wouldn't have to put on full thermals or waterproofs is being outnumbered by the days you don't need them.



Anyone interested lemme know, about £18,000 ish.

Jason Young

02 WRX. I don't really consider myself a car guy anymore, being that I stopped attending meets and stuff, but I'm still into 'em.

I was considering getting a new car this year, but with a baby on the way, that probably won't happen. I kind of want to trade my wife's car in and get her a forester so she can get around in the snow next year.

Gilgamesh

02 WRX are the best model of the scoobys they made in my opinion, black pearl is the colour I was always trying to find one in but could never pick up one that hadn't been stacked in a bush/ditch

Jason Young

Aye, I'm a fan of the bugeye imprezas. I've got the sti headlights on a white car and still think it looks better than the 04-07s. I do dig the hatchbacks now, and would definitely consider one if I were in the market for a new car.

Lamont

Drove by a car lot a few days ago and saw a bugeye STi. People in the States would kill for it. RSTi for me. Sub 3000lbs car putting down 350AWHP at the wheels is very tasty. Or find another tribeca engine, get new pistons/lands/chain and few other bits turbo charge it. 3.6l would be awesome for a sedan.

VPrime

I "Drive" 95 Mitsubishi GSX, and a 92 Eagle talon.
Drive is in quotes because if you know any thing of DSM's you know they are broken or being worked on more often than driven

The Eclipse is my project car.. Started off as an 95 Eagle talon AWD that had the transfercase locked up.. and cause lots of drive train damage.
So I drove 1000km to go pick up the Eclipse body and swapped the engine over (same car so no effort).
After some minor mods I blew the engine up at the track (drag racing).. Though this was my own fault really. I have a spare engine for the car that I plan to swap in during the spring and *hope* to rebuild the blown engine as a 2.3 Liter stroker.
Its not heavily modded by most peoples standards, but should be able to run 12's in the 1/4 mile once it is running properly. Goal is 300awhp by summer... And hoping for 450-500hp. once I rebuild the current blown engine.

The 92 Talon is just my winter beater/daily driver, but depending on the progress of the eclipse it will probably end up my main summer car as well.
Plan is to up the boost in the spring.

As you can see, I have a bit of a problem with cars.... And you can probably tell that I spend too much money and time on them.

Rhinokey

i've never been too much of a car nut myself, my entire family is,, both my brothers and even my mom raced dirt track purestock at local tracks and have tons of trophys, and my dad has built more racecars for the family and others than i care to count, he's the kinda guy who can make metlal do whatever he wants. somehow it all skipped me and i went the computer route.

tho here lately i've been having an itch to get an old beat up vehicle, put it in a garage and restore it,, just to see if i can and to have that "i made this" feeling.

i'm not 100% sure what i want to do,, but i have been leaning heavily to either a willys pickup


or a military jeep willys prob 40's or early 50's

Lamont

Go with the military jeep and be VERY prepared for a hard ride. Actually both are hard rides. The military jeep is even harder. BUT you might have better luck in getting parts.

Rhinokey

also another thing i have wanted to do but would require lots of money and effort, would be to get an old classic car like say a old charger or fastback mustang, and tweak it all out with modern guts so on the inside it would look and feel like a modern sports /muscle car and on the outside vintage. think that would be fun and funny

Master_v12

Rhinokey this is for u! If I ever got serious about a project car I would go for the Factory 5 Type 65. I'm in love with the 65 Daytona... The Original Daytonas are all estimated to cost more then 10 Million bucks... So spending 35K-40K on one of these babies is right up my alley. Car and Driver tested one of these a while back estimated at 40K and it was putting down insane numbers.



Most likely with a 302, or a 427 if I'm feeling adventurous... Nah probably a 302 lol

Sandbag

Rhinokey wrote: »

also another thing i have wanted to do but would require lots of money and effort, would be to get an old classic car like say a old charger or fastback mustang, and tweak it all out with modern guts so on the inside it would look and feel like a modern sports /muscle car and on the outside vintage. think that would be fun and funny

This is something I've wanted to do for a long time too; take a 67-68 mustang fastback or 73 Boss and completely gut the whole thing. Seats, engine, transmission, suspension, etc; and put in all modern hardware and interior; the 6-speed tremec from the gt500, the new 5.0L v8 coming in '11, 18" black 5 spoke bullitt wheels (cant stand the way 20+ " wheels look on old cars) coil-overs for the sra...mm so many things...

This is a pretty similar deal, though I think they ended up going a bit overboard/gaudy

http://www.obsidiansg1.com/

Too bad they cost a zillion bucks

mickyg

Gilgamesh wrote: »

02 WRX are the best model of the scoobys they made in my opinion, black pearl is the colour I was always trying to find one in but could never pick up one that hadn't been stacked in a bush/ditch

Blasphemy! I used to own an 03 wrx and if I had dispoasable cash I'd love to buy an 03-05 sti... Best of the bunch IMO

Just sold my bike though so I drive around in my wifes Mazda 2... nice little car but it's no performance car!

Joshua Stubbles

Cars never really meant much to me until I started to actually drive last January. I bought a 2005 Hyundai Accent GLS and have been loving it quite a bit. I'm by no means a gearhead and I have no desire to know how to tear down and rebuild an engine or replace my break pads. But I do love driving and the speed that comes with it.

Ahrkey

I'm missing two wheels...



But I like cars aswell. Just can't afford one that is on par with my baby.

Xoliul

Oh yeah here's mine:



And like qlz says, I'd need to get an F360 to at least match the acceleration

MattStone

320 HP 2002 VW Beetle Turbo S
k04 turbo, injectors, 3" exuast, APR stage 2+
flyz