--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: EG^00023 Date: 12/28/97 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 03:29pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: Mercedes A-Class -=> Quoting Marc Gerges to Alan Morrison <=- AM> November-- After staff members at a Swedish car magazine flipped AM> the much-ballyhooed Mercedes-Benz A-Class last fall, M-B damage AM> control officials went on red alert. MG> The so-called 'elk test' describes what an automobilist has to do when MG> he sees an elk on the road - quite an ordinary situation on some MG> skandinavian roads, it seems. It is run at 60 km/h (37mph) and is a MG> double lane change over a distance of 30 m. Some US magazines include an 'emergency lane change' maneuver, others just have a slalom to test the ability to quickly change direction while maintaining control. AM> Ironically, the announcement came only hours before it A-Class was AM> awarded the "Golden Steering Wheel" for the best new car by Bildam AM> Sonntag, a German weekly newspaper. MG> Just to notice, Bild am Sonntag is not a car magazine, it's a rather MG> light gossip newspaper. A sort of tabloid, I suppose. This text was from a news service that probably had read their revue. AM> Mercedes has been praised for their forthright attempt to confront AM> this matter. MG> Not really. I saw something about this on TV, where a test driver rolled it, which brought an immediate response from Mercedes engineers about the tires. MG> Meanwhile every car magazine and TV show tried to tilt the car, and MG> most managed to do so - made a lot of spectacular pictures and videos MG> of the car. Yes, here NBC (National Broadcasting Company) went a step further than that while trying to 'develop' a story on GM pickup trucks. It seems they had to plant a small bomb to get one of the truck's gas tank to explode on collision. MG> Then Mercedes came out and committed they made an error and they'd MG> stop the production to find a solution for the problem. A good,timely move. Unfortunately GM had already sold millions of trucks that were the subject of NBC's 'investigation'. AM> (ESP) as an added measure of safety. ESP is a traction control AM> system that reduces wheel spin in wet and icy conditions. MG> ESP is in the first place not a traction control, the 's' stands for MG> 'spin'. ESP reduces a car's tendency to spin in a direction change by MG> braking one of the wheels to build a contrary momentum to the one that MG> spins the car round. I've seen some testing on this, along with the traction control. They appear to be a bit confused about the difference here. MG> Mercedes' traction control is called ASR and is part of ESP, as well MG> as ABS (anti lock braking) is. Chevrolet calls theirs ASR also; Acceleration Slip Regulation. They may be watching Mercedes on this as the Active Handling is also being included on the '98 Corvettes. ABS has been standard equipment on all Chevrolets since 1994. MG> In fact the new swatch car 'smart', developed by Mercedes, that was MG> planned to go on sale in march 98 was scheduled to october 98 one of MG> these days. Official statement is that the quality is not satisfactory MG> and there are some weakness' in the driving behaviour, but it is known MG> that prototypes not only tilted in the elk test but also rolled over MG> their own nose when braking hard. Now that is embarrasing! You would have thought this would have been eliminated before building the first prototype, after computer simulations. MG> ...Commercial Jets have a blackbox, so do most blondes. I guess peroxide burns! ;^) Consider this tagline snagged. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: EG^00024 Date: 12/28/97 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 03:49pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: Active Handling -=> Quoting Marc Gerges to Alan Morrison <=- MG> So I'll possibly see them when the first Corvettes arrive here - we MG> have the export models standard :) I've seen a write-up on the export model. It had a huge (wide) license plate on the front that really looked out of place. The nose was designed to possibly hold a US sized plate, which is more square, but it would be a shame to have to install this also. Many states here don't require a front tag, only the rear. On the rear, however, a slight improvement for export is two reflective strips on either side, which helps make the tail look smaller. MG> that's ESP. When a car oversteers, a momentum is build by braking MG> one wheel to stop the oversteer. I hope the system doesn't upset the input of a driver who corrects the potential skid himself. The worst part is typically overcorrecting, when the heavily loaded outside springs release their energy to the other side, on near recovery. AM> Is it true that Mercedes has many affordably priced models in AM> Europe? They tend to be in the $40k to over $130k here. MG> The cheapest Mercedes is the A, it starts at prices about 10 to 15 % MG> higher than a comparable Volkswagen Golf here. There is a range of MG> relatively small engines in the C and E sedans that make the car not MG> really cheap, but affordable... the 1.8, 2.0 and various small diesel MG> engines. I noticed that a Ford Escort in the UK is nicer and cheaper than an Escort in the US. As I recall, they were less than $6,000 US dollars, while a 1.9 liter US version, (which is a cheap, entry level car) is closer to $11,000. It gave me a new insight to car prices here, which have really gone up over the last decade or two. In 1977 a friend bought a heavily equipped Oldsmobile for around $7000 dollars; twenty years later that price has at least quadrupled (4x). --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: EG^00025 Date: 12/28/97 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 04:18pm \/To: ROY WITT (Read 0 times) Subj: American Sports Car -=> Quoting Roy Witt to Alan Morrison <=- AM> But I keep hearing about some exotic heads for future Vette's. If AM> they can do an OHC multi-valve setup for about halfway between the AM> ZR-1 and C5 price, while meeting Viper numbers it would sell... Ya' AM> think? RW> They've done what I told you they would do. Remember when I mentioned RW> that somebody was working on a revised SB2 head? The SB2.2 heads RW> have the valves in the old familiar arrangement with shaft mounted RW> rockers. Valve angles and size are a little different too. Maybe They are splayed as are the BB heads, and some of the SB racing versions. But there is a lot of changes in port layout, and valvetrain geometry. RW> some of the technology that the NASCAR teams provide GM with these RW> heads will help get some produced for the LS1 type engines...You can RW> read all about the SB2.2 heads in the December 97 issue of "Chevy High RW> Performance" magazine. I read this recently; basically some minor changes to intake valve angle. But they are hinting at a head more along the lines of a ZR1 4valve setup. Personally, I don't see how this could be easily adapted to the OHV LS1, but it is just a rumor. You may be closer to the real deal, which is one reason racing is a good thing; let the technology learned trickle down to production vehicles. With Ford already utilizing the OHC, GM will eventually need something comparable for the Vette and/or F-bodies. It could possibly be some offshoot of the Northstar/Aurora engines, with the LS1 design being a more entry level offering. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: EG^00026 Date: 12/28/97 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 04:35pm \/To: ROY WITT (Read 0 times) Subj: Electrical loads, battery -=> Quoting Roy Witt to Alan Morrison <=- AM> Which part allows the alternator to excite it's own field when it AM> has zero voltage?? RW> The voltage coming off the "diode trio". It's getting a small voltage RW> from the rectifier bridge that is smoothing the AC coming from the RW> Stator. I should have said 'zero Battery voltage'. I'll assume you are saying it will produce voltage without a battery, given sufficient rpm. I have not tried this in a long time, as it could not be push started with an automatic anyway. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: EG^00027 Date: 12/28/97 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 04:40pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: Vector Auto -=> Quoting Marc Gerges to Alan Morrison <=- AM> Is Nardi a banked oval or a road coarse? And do you know the AM> distance? MG> It is an oval, but I don't know the distance. I recently read about Nurburgring, Silverstone, and others that have anywhere from 2.3 to over 5 miles of track; quite large. Daytona is an oval, but it is also rerouted through a series of infield turns for PSR roadracing events. AM> If the FIA comes to Daytona next year, it may be a good place to AM> test for top speed, as it is a large, high-banked oval. MG> The FIA GT will race in america? Didn't know about that... These may be FIA cars that can meet ProSportscar Racing rules. They have made efforts to close the gap in differences in recent years including changing the sanctioning bodies name from IMSA to PSR and trying to create an alliance with the FIA. Perhaps an attempt to allow race teams to more easily compete in each others events without the need to finance a separate team of cars. MG> I'll keep that in mind... february is quite a boring month here, MG> formula 1 starts in march. February is known as race month at Daytona Int'l Raceway. Several different sanctioning bodies have events there, including NASCAR, PSR, and also motorcycle racing. MG> BTW: many of the numbers stated here are like '14.5 at 102' MG> or so... could anybody tell me what that's about? MG> Drag racing isn't popular here at all - I don't know of a single MG> drag strip here in europe. Some events are at race courses, but it's MG> really nothing... I guess a single touring car race attracts more MG> spectators than a whole drag racing season here. It is catching on in Japan, but the attraction may not be evident on a televised event. You have to be there in person to get the feel of the power and excitement of 300 mph in under 5 seconds. A breath of alcohol and burning rubber may be a part of it too! AM> TOP FUEL ELIMINATOR AM> Best ET 4.564 seconds Feb-97 Joe Amato Pomona, California AM> Top Speed 317.57 Mar-97 Joe Amato Houston, Texas AM> designed for ultimate acceleration with supercharged V8's derived AM> (almost exclusively) from Chrysler Hemi engines and burning a mix AM> of alcohol and nitromethane.> MG> That's what here in europe is normally associated with the term MG> 'dragster'. Long, skinny tires at the front, huge ones at the rear, MG> an engine and a driver inbetween... :) Yes this is a dragster; It used to be called 'Top Fuel Dragster'. The driver was moved in front of the engine by Don Garlits, who noted that exhaust flames and clutch explosions weren't something you wanted in front of you. Don Garlits was instrumental in the success of drag racing here since the 1950's, always preferring the Chrysler Hemi design which has not been dethroned by even OHC 4 valve setups. AM> to see a Top Fuel drag race in person, GO. The power of these AM> behemoths shake the ground and quicken your pulse. The power is AM> currently estimated (calculated) to be in the neighborhood of 6,000 AM> horsepower. That's about 733 horsepower per liter... MG> Sounds interesting to check it out when I have the possibility to... MG> but I have to admit I prefer it when cars not only have the power to MG> go as fast as possible straight ahead, but are also able to drive MG> round curves. We don't see much of European racing here except F1. Occasionally there may be a German Touring Car race, or a Rallye on ESPN2 or other dedicated sports channel on satellite. MG> Still, I have to see it to make an opinion. It is different; more an engineering exercise to extract the most power from an engine and apply it for acceleration. Still there are other types of racing like road courses, and a third, oval track or speedway racing. This developed throughout the small towns that wanted to have local drivers compete in a small grandstand environment like might be found in the average township. It has grown to become one of the most highly watched motorsports on TV with Superspeedways like Daytona, and Talledega and large corporate sponsorship. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: EG^00028 Date: 12/28/97 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 06:21pm \/To: ROY WITT (Read 0 times) Subj: Monte Carlo..... -=> Quoting Roy Witt to All <=- RW> To all of you who participated in the Monte Carlo Problems...Thanks. RW> When I started the engine, I got around to the passenger side before RW> it died, but I did see that the choke valve was still completely RW> closed. I used to see lot's Ford's pump out black smoke after starting, and the owner revving the motor a bit. If it didn't clear up... Choke-pull-off. RW> This observation led me to suspect the "choke pull-off" as the RW> culprit. Using a long vacuum hose, I sucked on the pull-off and RW> nothing happened. I then removed it and took it over to Max's shop RW> and borrowed his vacuum pump to check it with. What did we win?? The Monza seemed to be more cold natured in the morning recently. Care to make a stab at the problem, which I just recently found? See the description under the subject 'Monza Diagnosis'. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: EG^00029 Date: 12/28/97 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 06:36pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Monza diagnosis The Monza seemed to be more cold natured in the morning recently. I had already advanced the timing a little and richened the choke a notch. This helped but it still feels a little sluggish. Care to make a stab at the problem, which I just recently found? It's a 1975 Monza, 350 engine with a Holley carb on a Performer intake. Other than that it is nearly stock, with single exhaust and automatic transmission. No smoke, or noises present, and basic engine condition is good. It has had spark plugs, rotor, and filters changed in the last 10,000 miles. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: EG^00030 Date: 12/28/97 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 07:05pm \/To: ROY J. TELLASON (Read 0 times) Subj: Motor Trend, bribes? -=> Quoting Roy J. Tellason to Don Lewis <=- RW>... Chevrolet Blazer, Motor Trend 1995 Truck of the year. CZ> ... Motor Trend, General Motors 1995 Magazine of the Year. DL> The Chevy Vega was also the Car of the Year, RJT> You're kidding, right? We owned one of those, once. This guy I RJT> knew at the time called it the only car GM made that would rust on RJT> the showroom floor. Hey, I had one of them too, no rust though. A 6 year old Vega GT Kammback wagon. Wasn't a bad little car, right up there with the '78 Datsun B210 I got later. The Datsun was actually cheaper feeling as it rattled and had very poor materials in the interior. The Vega always ran good but did eat a clutch before 100,000 miles (my first stick shift car). Still it was the second best car I owned for less than $500; the best being a '66 Impala SS. In 1975 MT elected the Chevy Monza V8 over the Ford Mustang II V8. They tested the little 262 motor rather than the 350 version. In 1993 Ford got their revenge when the Mazda designed V6 Probe won out over the new LT1 Camaro, which got much better numbers. It seems the criteria for the COY title changes as they see fit. In 1993 the criteria was the most improved (or new) vehicle in it's class. This year when the C5 Corvette won, they stated: MOTOR TREND editors considered all new or significantly changed '98 domestic cars and minivans, weighing such factors as technological advancement, value, performance, livability, and overall impact on the automotive market to identify the most significant vehicle of the '98 model year. I think they made a good choice with the C5. And the Blazer didn't have much domestic competition except the higher priced Ford Explorer. Import vehicles have their own category, Import Car of the Year, which was the BMW 5 series. This year the Mercedes-Benz M-Class won Truck of the Year. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: EG^00031 Date: 12/28/97 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 07:11pm \/To: C.A. KLINGEL (Read 0 times) Subj: Oil pump? -=> Quoting C.A. Klingel to Sean Dunbar <=- SD> I did switch oil brands recently.... could that have anything to do SD> with it? I'm just buying the cheapest 40 weight oil I can find (SA SD> rated... I figure it leaks out so fast that the additives aren't SD> going to do a bit of good) CK> You need to run a thinner oil like a 5W-30. I saw a store brand *SJ* CK> rated oil like that for 87 cents a quart. Did they have 20W-50 at that price? You don't want 5W-30 in TX with a vehicle that leaks as much oil as he described. Maybe 15W-40 or 20W-50 if it's close in price. Of course the best course of action would be to repair the leak 1st. But still I can see preferring a 79 cent oil to $1.49 oil. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: EG^00032 Date: 12/28/97 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 07:25pm \/To: KENNY HENDERSON (Read 0 times) Subj: BMW vs Corvette -=> Quoting Kenny Henderson to Alan Morrison <=- KH> The C5 does have a huge tail, but I like it. The Camaros do need some KH> front end work, though they do look better in person then in the KH> magazines. I saw a black Trans AM ('98) the other day, they look mean KH> as hell! Yeah I bet they do, I checked out a red Formula recently that looked great but haven't seen a TA up close yet. From some rear angles the C5 looks good. I saw the rear from the side and noticed it had a pleasant curvature. Straight from the back though it needs something to breakup the space. Export versions have a pair of reflectors on each side that improve it a bit. The one I saw also had a long rectangular European plate on the front that ruined the looks of the whole front end. I was thinking a recessed area up front almost in the shape of a bowtie would accommodate both US and European plates! :-) --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627)