--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2N00000 Date: 02/17/98 From: MARK LOGSDON Time: 08:16pm \/To: DON DELLMANN (Read 0 times) Subj: Vehicle Confiscation DD> ML> you will not have filament-detection capability in state 2. Only DD> ML> during state 1 where the headlamps are turned off will your have DD> ML> detection capability. DD> DD> But when the headlights are turned OFF, I don't care if one's burned DD> out :-) DD> DD> I can see where that should work, but there's got to be an easier way. You can do it electronically. Here's how. Usually the filament breaks when the power is first applied. That means you'd like to check for filament continuity immediately after applying power. When you select the headlamps ON, the computer briefly turns on the power for a fraction of a second. This is just long enough to apply a thermal shock to break the filament if it's ready to expire. Then for a few milliseconds, the switch is opened and continuity is checked. It matters little to the driver since this all occurs in a matter of a few milliseconds, i.e., in a blink of an eye. That's the approach I use to check relay coils, solenoids, and valve drivers, and I don't see why it wouldn't work with lamps. --- QScan/PCB v1.19b / 01-0232 * Origin: IBMNet Connection - Indpls, IN - 317-882-5575 28.8 USR (1:231/1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2N00001 Date: 02/14/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 05:50pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: 225 hp Neon? -=> Quoting Marc Gerges to Alan Morrison <=- MG>> It said Neon engine and drivetrain put in the back. AM> OK, that would be the 4 Cylinder. 225 HP is probably stretching it AM> a bit unless they plan on some sort of supercharging. MG> Do they supercharge in the US? Not the Neon, but it is being done by a few models by GM, and Ford has fiddled with it a bit. Chrysler has had some turbocharged models but I believe they were mostly Mitsubishi imports. AM> I can't emphasize enough that most small US cars won't sell here if AM> they are loaded and priced like a larger model. As is often the case, AM> the price goes up when it gets exported due to costs of delivery, AM> marketing, and tariffs. MG> It's imho in this case a problem of a wrong market position. Chrysler MG> measured the Neon and other cars and found out it's as long as those MG> BMW 3, small Audi, Ford's, Opels etc. So they made it the same price. You mean in the class above what it should have been, I suppose. It makes sense they are doing something wrong if it isn't selling. It's actually a pretty sporty little car with an excellent power to weight ratio, gets pretty good mileage, and is somewhat attractively styled. MG> Export is about $450 from harbour to harbour, marketing wasn't done, MG> tariffs is 10%. IF they would've taken the US base price, add their MG> real costs and a little extra bonus, the price would've been in the MG> range of base Golf's or well equipped Polo's. Marketing may be the biggest problem. It can be quite expensive to run TV advertisements, which is one of the best way to introduce a new model here. Is this the same there, or do Europeans watch much television? If not, what would be the best way to gain some exposure? --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2N00002 Date: 02/14/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 06:00pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: Active Handling -=> Quoting Marc Gerges to Alan Morrison <=- AM> Those family types got station wagons in the 60's, Volvos in the 70's, AM> Minivans in the 80's, and now SUVs are coming on strong. MG> I don't understand it... ok, minivans are fine if you really have a MG> lot of people to carry. But SUV's are big, ugly, slow, uncomfortable MG> and expensive. I wouldn't drive one if given for free... If given one for free... I would sell it! I don't care much for them either since they are big and often geared like trucks, which combined can kill gas mileage. Don't care much for the look of them either but I suspect the biggest buyers are families that live in urban areas where some ground clearance and occasional hauling/towing ability are a strong point. MG>> To begin with, an FWD car is inherently stable on the road, not MG>> like AM> Hmm... I think if that were always true race cars would be FWD. MG> Here they are, at least in the close-to-stock series. MG> The FWD Peugeot 406 gave the BMW 3 series a serious run for the money MG> in germany's last year touring car championship. And the BMW wasn't in MG> front when the season ended. We don't get any Peugeot's anymore although we used to. The cheap Japanese models dumped on the market in the seventies killed other imports first. By dumping, I mean the selling of cars below the total cost to produce market and deliver it. The Japanese would subsidize the unpaid costs to gain market share. Today, they have mostly raised the prices to much higher levels, but are now planning to do it again to attempt to corner the electric vehicle market. The car mentioned will cost near $40,000 to produce but will be subsidized down to near half that amount. AM> But for me, the performance potential is somewhat lacking, upkeep is AM> more expensive, it's harder to work on, etc... MG> Upkeep isn't more expensive anymore. Most parts are stronger on fwd MG> than on rwd in the last years. Not true here... And the amount of work to replace a clutch on a FWD is much more involved. The most common problem, CV maintenance is not required at all on RWD models. The minute movements of U-joints allows them to last much longer, they are much cheaper, and a snap to replace. MG>> I rotate them every time I change from summer to winter tires. AM> More upkeep. MG> Hey, I have to change tires twice per year due to the wheather. It's MG> not more upkeep to put last summer's front tires on the rear for this MG> year. I see what you're saying now. I guess some do that here in the northern latitudes. I only need take mine to where I bought tires for free rotation every 7,500 miles. Having two cars, I may only do this once in a year. AM> And when I see my Mom's tires, I have to tell her to get new ones AM> soon. MG> Better get them yourself and let her pay. MG> Women often buy tires on the fact that they are black and round. She knows a fair amount about tires, and even worked around auto parts during WWII while a lot of males were overseas. But vision may not see the problems which come faster on her first FWD car. She has always had rear driven cars like Caprices, Chevelles, etc. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2N00003 Date: 02/14/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 06:25pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: Buying imports -=> Quoting Marc Gerges to Alan Morrison <=- AM> I sometimes hear 'quality' substituted for 'engineering' but I see 30 AM> year old and older Harleys around, and no Japanese models near that AM> age. MG> Harleys are an investment. As a 30 year one will be on the same MG> technical level than a new one, it'll sell good. A 30 year old japan MG> bike will be... just old. It's parts by then. The Harley has undergone some substantial redesigns in it's history. The 30 year old models were mostly cast iron, which got a redesign in aluminum in the eighties. They are always careful when making changes to retain the classic look and sound that they are known for. AM> So it seems the quality is good. MG> As long as you check the screws all 2000 miles so they can't fall off. Never had that problem, even after cross country ride of over 2,500 miles. AM> why the Japanese makers finally gave-up competing in that market here AM> and cloned the V-twin design. MG> Here it works for them. V-twins or fours? The extremely fast fours have a following here also of younger buyers that want bragging rights on who's fastest. Some of these things are much too fast for the brakes and abilities of many. Before buying a Sportster I drove a Kawasaki 1000 LTD, which was one of the fastest sold here at the time. On a back street I rolled on the throttle and grabbed a couple of gears before realizing the street was quickly getting short. Grabbing handfuls of brake and clutch while repeatedly punching lower and lower gears, I made sufficient deceleration to end the test-drive with brains intact. Using them, I remembered that you tend to drive bikes harder the longer you have them, so I decided to get something with braking and acceleration more aligned. MG>> Harleys are bought by doctors, lawyers etc. AM> Yeah, too bad. You used to have grimy bikers on Hogs but nowadays it AM> seems the owners take off their clean suits on weekends and put on AM> clean leathers. MG> Why not, if they like it. Others prefer Goldwings... A nice touring bike for sure... I had one pass me on my long trip and it was whisper quite. Since I was on the smaller Sportster model which is really for cruising around town, I would have liked to trade for a few hundred miles. Still, I wouldn't want to own one since 95% of my riding time is around town. Having ridden a few large touring four cylinder bikes before, I can honestly say I much prefer the low seat height and narrow engine of the Harley. And that sound... :-) --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2N00004 Date: 02/14/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 06:51pm \/To: PETER KURZBACH (Read 0 times) Subj: buying imports -=> Quoting Peter Kurzbach to Alan Morrison <=- > Here a Camaro convertible is about $22,650 or $27,975 for the Z28 version. > A VW convertible (Cabrio) is $18,475 base model and 22,790 for the GLS. PK> the stupid germans like paying too much.... no other way to explain PK> it or why should vw drop the price if the germans pay any price? PK> 18,000$ about 30,000dm, we have to pay more than 50,000dm for golf PK> convertible. some people here re-import a golf cause this saves a lot PK> money. That's weird. Are they made in Germany and imported ones from Mexico? Here the Golf is made there where labor is cheap, but it still is among the higher priced models in its class. PK> i'll keep on driving american cars Nice to hear somebody appreciates them there. I often thought I would drive a European car if I lived there, but it would be hard to give up my Chevys. I've gotten so used to them over the years it's like a pet, or favorite pair of jeans, etc. Not that I like them all, mostly the small V8 models. PK>> i bought an edelbrock 600cfm carburator, performer intake and headers. > Hey, same as mine. A 75 Monza, which also has a 5.7 liter (350). It's a > bit smaller than a Cutlass, and the lightest body GM ever put the 350 in. PK> ^^^ sounds like this combination is fun! Yes, it has given many years of good service and quite a few smiles. PK> it would be nice if we pay the same for any car. if my car has low PK> mileage i pay enough tax for gas. here 1liter gas costs 1.60dm. PK> 0.35dm the gas and 1.25dm tax. Sounds like what is happening with tobacco here now. When they have bled all they can from that market, gas will probably be next. The different states here set both taxes on fuel and purchase. California really hits you hard on purchase and registration. Gas tax in my state is about 20% of price and a nearby state is only about 9%. The flip side is we pay a reasonable flat fee for annual registration, while the other state gets much more for more valuable models. PK> if i had the money i would buy a viper. it's great muscle cars stay PK> alive For the time being, but there are many agencies that would like to put an end to them. Overdrive trannies, some that skip gears on normal acceleration, help increase mileage and keep them from being axed. Some good design features help keep them rated highly in crash tests, while others point at how often that type of car is involved in accidents. Put the same drivers in less powerful cars and they would still drive too fast on occasion. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2N00005 Date: 02/14/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 07:15pm \/To: DEVIN DIMITRI (Read 0 times) Subj: Active Handling -=> Quoting Devin Dimitri to Alan Morrison <=- AM> whimsical for them to compete on a handling basis with the Beamer AM> and Mercedes. The Jaguar is a little closer to the Cadillac AM> approach to luxury coupes but, I believe still RWD. DD> So they're branching out into new markets. If i had the money, DD> i would buy a RWD Eldorado in a second. As it is, i would only DD> take a FWD one if it was given to me. The car is beatiful to DD> look at and has plenty <300> of horsepower, but cars just DD> weren't made to be driven from the front wheels. What you get used to I'm told. I prefer RWD for both maintenance and driving feel. The latest Caddies are getting some good reports on quality, especially the Devilles. I like the look of the newer and shorter models, which I read are even shorter for the European export market. The Catera may be a step in the right direction as long as they retain some performance and quality. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2N00006 Date: 02/14/98 From: ALAN MORRISON Time: 10:41pm \/To: JASON WEDEHASE (Read 0 times) Subj: El Gaso => Quoting Jason Wedehase to Andrew Grillet <=- AG> Well we in Europe pay $1 per LITRE, and there's five litres to a AG> gallon. JW> Try 2. 2 and change. not 5. If the change is 1.7854... My conversion show 3.7854 liters per gallon. AG> And that is at the major discount places. In a motorway service AG> area, you would pay a good $1.15 and even more if you use leaded. It was 69.9 pence per liter in Cambridge a year ago, so I assume this was converted to dollars. JW> You're paying a little over $2/gallon, and it's been around JW> $1.89 here at times. Not that big of a deal. Closer to twice that... At $1.15 per liter it would be $4.35 a gallon. --- Blue Wave/386 v2.20 [NR] * Origin: River Canyon Rd. BBS Chattanooga, Tn (1:362/627) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2N00007 Date: 02/17/98 From: ROY WITT Time: 07:46pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: Active Handling On, 14 Feb 98 at 23:05, Marc Gerges was overheard shouting over the engine noise, saying something to Roy Witt about "Active Handling",: MG> Salut Roy! MG> MG>>> Yes, if you know how to do. I know, and when I'm fresh and MG>>> concentrated, I can do. But I wouldn't bet on it and my sister or MG>>> my dad surely wouldn't know what to do. RW>> Then they shouldn't be driving beyond their limit... MG> MG> Imho anybody shouldn't drive beyond the limit. But there are MG> situations when such things happen. Just imagine you have to avoid a MG> deer on the road, this can bring you into big trouble. Well, I'm one of those that drives at the limit more often than I should, I guess. It's one of my vices that I get my jollies with. Keep in mind that I never endanger anyone else on the road, I do my "to the limit" driving on uncrowded roads. It does have one drawback, and that is I'm more critical of those who can't drive. The ones that brake all the way through a curve or drive 10mph under the speed limit, no matter how many cars are behind them. (In this country, if you're blocking the flow of traffic, you're supposed to pull over and let others pass)... RW>> If you're -in- a turn/curve with the front end plowing with the RW>> rear end coming around and step off, if you don't steer into the RW>> rear end drift direction, you'll be going into the bushes. Do all RW>> the braking you need before you get into the turn and use the RW>> accelerator to bring the car out of it... MG> MG> That's the classic driving style: bring your car to the right speed MG> and the right gear before the turn and drive through it with a firm MG> foot on the gas pedal. Cars have developed. If I feel like braking, MG> changing gears or whatever in a turn, I expect my car to cope with MG> that. The only car I test drove that didn't was a Porsche 911 (this MG> brought me into a lot of trouble when braking in a turn). I'm told by my Porsche driving doctor that you can change gears in a corner if need be. Make it quick and keep the throttle floored until you regain control... ... Chevy wins 1996 Winston West Manufacturer's Championship at Las Vegas. --- T(W)itt Filter Tossed v1.13 * Origin: Bow Tie Racers, Been there, WON that! (1:202/909.13) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2N00008 Date: 02/17/98 From: ROY WITT Time: 07:54pm \/To: DEVIN DIMITRI (Read 0 times) Subj: Vehicle Confiscation On, 16 Feb 98 at 11:16, Devin Dimitri was overheard shouting over the engine noise, saying something to Roy Witt about "Re: Vehicle Confiscation",: DD> RW>> ... Daytona 500 = 19, Dale Earnhardt = 0 (1997) DD> DD> Daytona 500 = 19, Dale Earnhardt = Won (1998) Daytona 500 = 20, Dale Earnhardt = 1 (1998) ... 24,5,25 = 1,2,3 at Daytona 500 - Feb 16, 1997 --- T(W)itt Filter Tossed v1.13 * Origin: (1:202/909.13) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2N00009 Date: 02/17/98 From: JOHN PUMMILL Time: 07:59pm \/To: KENNY HENDERSON (Read 0 times) Subj: 1999 Cars KH> Like I said, this was back in March or April, he had only KH> about 5,000 KH> miles behind the wheel of a stick, and about 6 months of KH> driving. And Scary. :) KH> he was one of those 'Its Jap crap, it can't beat my 5.0," KH> guys:) Guess KH> what he wants now? A Supra Turbo :) He has learned. Ahhh, knowledge is a good thing. KH> Hmm. Already on his second clutch. First one died at about KH> 35,000 KH> miles, right after that day at the track if I remember right KH> as a matter KH> of fact:) Yeah, not enough clutch for holeshot abuse. Once you add nitrous or a charger of some sort a Hays Centerforce is about mandatory unless you really want to come out of the hole REAL soft. :) --- FMail 0.94 * Origin: Running from the Klan in the Fiero (1:123/30)