Car Enthusiast Club [Now Motorcycle friendly!] - First thread to 150k! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[vetali]

50 minutes ago, Bitter said:

 

She liked the Corolla Cross Hybrid we test drove but would like one in the XSE trim which is tough to track down but would be comparable to her Titanium trim that the Ford Escape had. For the price difference between the SE and XSE and how much nicer the interior is it's 100% worth it especially since she wants to hang onto the car for a while. Hybrid because I heard the standard is dog shit slow and annoying to wind the engine out hard all the time, not much torque down low and not much top end either compounded by the ECVT. The Hybrid felt nimble to go from a stop and cornering felt good when she was driving. She likes the interior layout and felt comfortable driving it, she sort of just got in and went for it which is not how she normally drives a car that's new to her. I think it's what she's going to end up going with over the CX-30.

She wouldn't dislike going back to a car from the small SUV but she finds the extra space handy to have and because she's so short she likes being up a little higher now that she's used to it. Front seat room in the Corolla Cross (terrible name btw) felt better and less cramped than her 2016 Escape, cargo space and rear seat looked about the same, head room felt a little taller to me overall.

What about a Venza?

[Bitter]

9 hours ago, vetali said:

What about a Venza?

Def too big probably

[bcredeur97]

The Badlands is beautiful my goodness 

[Bitter]

17 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

The Badlands is beautiful my goodness 

So are the Tetons but in a different way. Badlands wind storms are no joke.

[bcredeur97]

2 hours ago, Bitter said:

So are the Tetons but in a different way. Badlands wind storms are no joke.

Luckily the weather is really nice up here right now. 30’s in the morning, 40’s during the day, but sunny and not too much wind makes it not feel that cold! 
 

mid 20’s in some places in the black hills in the morning 
 

i will miss it, but I know how brutal the winters are so idk If I’d want to live here lol

[OhioYJ]

4 hours ago, bcredeur97 said:

The Badlands is beautiful my goodness 

Nice pictures. I went through there many years back now on during a Sturgis trip. 

 

4 hours ago, Bitter said:

So are the Tetons but in a different way. Badlands wind storms are no joke.

Same Sturgis trip we went through the Grand Tetons. I actually enjoyed that park more than Yellowstone (not to say Yellowstone was bad either). Just preferred the Tetons. 

 

Apparently I uploaded very small low quality images to the web server back then, maybr at some point I'll try and fix that:

 

 

And yes we did make the loop from Ohio out west and back to Sturgis, it was just over 5000 miles in two weeks. 

[TVwazhere]

On 12/15/2023 at 11:01 PM, atxcyclist said:

I ride a motorcycle most days, we have plenty of brodozers and etc. here in Texas but I don't want to drive one. I am hanging-on to a nearly twenty-year-old small hatchback and some day I will probably have to replace it, but there's just not anything new on the market I'd truly want for basic vehicle duty.

Yeah, the big 3 have pretty much killed all cars and are focusing on SUV's and trucks because that's what Americans want. You can still find some cards in the Japanese/Euro makers, and American cars in Europe ironically. 

[-rascal-]

On 12/15/2023 at 8:54 PM, Bitter said:

 

She liked the Corolla Cross Hybrid we test drove but would like one in the XSE trim which is tough to track down but would be comparable to her Titanium trim that the Ford Escape had. For the price difference between the SE and XSE and how much nicer the interior is it's 100% worth it especially since she wants to hang onto the car for a while. Hybrid because I heard the standard is dog shit slow and annoying to wind the engine out hard all the time, not much torque down low and not much top end either compounded by the ECVT. The Hybrid felt nimble to go from a stop and cornering felt good when she was driving. She likes the interior layout and felt comfortable driving it, she sort of just got in and went for it which is not how she normally drives a car that's new to her. I think it's what she's going to end up going with over the CX-30.

She wouldn't dislike going back to a car from the small SUV but she finds the extra space handy to have and because she's so short she likes being up a little higher now that she's used to it. Front seat room in the Corolla Cross (terrible name btw) felt better and less cramped than her 2016 Escape, cargo space and rear seat looked about the same, head room felt a little taller to me overall.

 

Fair enough. I guess the wife has put her foot down and made the executive decision.

I'd thought the e-CVT with the physical first gear would be okay for at a stand-still launch on the non-hybrid trims.

Nonetheless, hybrid option, I think, is definitely the way to go daily driving around town, etc.

 

Reason I recommended hatchbacks is, you can have compact SUV cargo capacity, without SUV-like feel and driving / handling.

Again, it looks like your lady is okay with the seating position and driving feel of the Corolla Cross .

 

[Bitter]

5 hours ago, -rascal- said:

 

Fair enough. I guess the wife has put her foot down and made the executive decision.

I'd thought the e-CVT with the physical first gear would be okay for at a stand-still launch on the non-hybrid trims.

Nonetheless, hybrid option, I think, is definitely the way to go daily driving around town, etc.

 

Reason I recommended hatchbacks is, you can have compact SUV cargo capacity, without SUV-like feel and driving / handling.

Again, it looks like your lady is okay with the seating position and driving feel of the Corolla Cross .

 

Yeah, it's her car. She's short for her height so she doesn't like driving a short car on top of that. I'm not a SUV person at all which is why I bought a small sedan to replace my old medium sedan that was too big for me. My ideal car size is 2000 Celica and smaller, I LOVE the dimensions of a MR2 Spyder. I'd daily an Autozam AZ1 if I could! I love small cars. But not tall small cars like those terrible Smart ForTo.

[benstalls]

My 2013 GTI with the 6mt making around 250 wheel

 

My first fun car, got it a couple months ago. Been a total blast to drive around town, on highways, and on back roads. I want to get bronze wheels for it, but keeping the stock profile and dropping it and inch or so. My friend has the '10 golf with the 5 cylinder, i drove her car once and had to get one.

 

list of mods:

Catless downpipe, cobb catback, cts turbo intake, tune

 

Things im doing soon:

r8 coil packs

diverter valve

 

[Bitter]

12 hours ago, benstalls said:

My 2013 GTI with the 6mt making around 250 wheel

 

My first fun car, got it a couple months ago. Been a total blast to drive around town, on highways, and on back roads. I want to get bronze wheels for it, but keeping the stock profile and dropping it and inch or so. My friend has the '10 golf with the 5 cylinder, i drove her car once and had to get one.

 

list of mods:

Catless downpipe, cobb catback, cts turbo intake, tune

 

Things im doing soon:

r8 coil packs

diverter valve

 

 

Those are super fun cars! Just keep those intake valves clean and run a catch can. https://www.youtube.com/@Deutscheautoparts/videos this is a fun channel for VW stuff btw.

[bcredeur97]

On 12/20/2023 at 7:53 AM, Bitter said:

Those are super fun cars! Just keep those intake valves clean and run a catch can. https://www.youtube.com/@Deutscheautoparts/videos this is a fun channel for VW stuff btw.

why not get your wife one? Lol

[Bitter]

6 hours ago, bcredeur97 said:

why not get your wife one? Lol

She doesn't want a fun car, she doesn't like driving.

[AlwaysFSX]

2 hours ago, Bitter said:

She doesn't want a fun car, she doesn't like driving.

[Bitter]

23 minutes ago, AlwaysFSX said:

A RAV4 was too big lol

[OhioYJ]

Well many years ago when I rebuilt the Jeep engine, I bought some "re-manufactured", "flow-matched" (lots of buzz words) injectors. My used injectors were leaky, go figure...  So I picked up new Ford Racing injectors this time (definitely what you buy for a Jeep motor), and attempted to order an adjustable fuel pressure regulator from the only place that made one for  the Jeeps.

 

After 8 weeks of basically one email and basically no further communications, and no Fuel pressure regulator, I searched and found one that the turbocharged Chrysler guys used, that looked about right, and gambled on it. Turns out, it works.

 

 

My fuel pressure is still bleeding off immediately. Service manual references a check valve (and gives a rough location), found a replacement one, however the manual sure doesn't show it in any of the drawings. Guessing I get to try and find it.

[AlwaysFSX]

39 minutes ago, Bitter said:

A RAV4 was too big lol

Nobody said she had to drive the bus, if she doesn't like driving.

[Bitter]

13 hours ago, AlwaysFSX said:

Nobody said she had to drive the bus, if she doesn't like driving.

That would be a 4 hour bus ride changing busses 3 times between two different bus systems with a 40 minute walk across a highway bridge with only partial sidewalks along the way. She could substitute part of it with a train but it would still be a 3 hour commute one way with the same 40 minute walk and then an additional 10 minute walk. There are zero only public transit options which would get her to work on time for any shift she works and the end time of her work shifts would also leave her waiting over an hour on some days to begin her return trip home. Her best public transit option is to drive to the train station about 10 minutes away (not walkable safely, no sidewalks and steep ditches on the road sides) then take an hour train ride. It's economical but doesn't line up with her work schedule unless she arrives very early or very late to her shift and catching the train home requires her to either leave work early or wait an additional hour after work. Problem 2 with the train is it makes her motion sick like a roller coaster.

Public transit just isn't an option for her. I warned her about taking a job so far away during the pandemic, traffic might be nothing now but just you wait. Hopefully she can find a well paying job closer to home in the future.

[Bitter]

20 hours ago, OhioYJ said:

Well many years ago when I rebuilt the Jeep engine, I bought some "re-manufactured", "flow-matched" (lots of buzz words) injectors. My used injectors were leaky, go figure...  So I picked up new Ford Racing injectors this time (definitely what you buy for a Jeep motor), and attempted to order an adjustable fuel pressure regulator from the only place that made one for  the Jeeps.

 

After 8 weeks of basically one email and basically no further communications, and no Fuel pressure regulator, I searched and found one that the turbocharged Chrysler guys used, that looked about right, and gambled on it. Turns out, it works.

 

 

My fuel pressure is still bleeding off immediately. Service manual references a check valve (and gives a rough location), found a replacement one, however the manual sure doesn't show it in any of the drawings. Guessing I get to try and find it.

Usually it's on the fuel pump assembly or inside the pump itself.

[OhioYJ]

55 minutes ago, Bitter said:

Usually it's on the fuel pump assembly or inside the pump itself.

Yeah that's that what I figured. At least this last time when I had the tank down to replace my rusted skid plate I added a flange at the rear of the exhaust, so I could quit cutting it and welding it back together. So hopefully this time taking the tank back down should be (finding some wood to knock on now) a fairly smooth process.

 

[AlwaysFSX]

7 hours ago, Bitter said:

That would be a 4 hour bus ride changing busses 3 times between two different bus systems with a 40 minute walk across a highway bridge with only partial sidewalks along the way.

Sounds like she can learn to enjoy driving just a little bit compared to the alternative lol

[Bitter]

41 minutes ago, AlwaysFSX said:

Sounds like she can learn to enjoy driving just a little bit compared to the alternative lol

Nope and she'll bitch about it the entire time.

[Bitter]

1 hour ago, OhioYJ said:

Yeah that's that what I figured. At least this last time when I had the tank down to replace my rusted skid plate I added a flange at the rear of the exhaust, so I could quit cutting it and welding it back together. So hopefully this time taking the tank back down should be (finding some wood to knock on now) a fairly smooth process.

 

Smort!

[AlwaysFSX]

15 minutes ago, Bitter said:

Nope and she'll bitch about it the entire time.

Welp

[Bitter]

13 minutes ago, AlwaysFSX said:

Welp

Small price to pay,she puts up with worse from me.