Author Topic: Cars again.  (Read 21416 times)

GuyFawkes

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #15 on: May 27, 2009, 12:04:06 PM »


I wasn't talking about a bike I am talking about my Daily Driver an Infiniti G37 coupe with a six speed manual transmission

Carl

just had to google that, trust the nips to put a 6 speed in a car, notice you don't mention mpg tho...

Back around 85 I drove a vette with a hopped up big block 454 and 4 speed manual from germany to spain, on the autobahns that bitch came in to its own, held it at over 150 mph for over an hour, it would have gone faster but the chassis / my nerves weren't up to it, got to france and spain and it was raining and wished it has the auto trans, way way way too easy to light up the back end and skid, had to stick it in a high gear and pull between 500 and 1000 rpm, way below the power band to control is safely.

reminded me a lot of the early porsche 911 turbo, great on the autobahn, complete fucking crap on twisty wet stuff.

Fact is I've found long distance is all about average speed, drive from here to greece and (quite apart from the weird tarmac they use in greece, no grip at all) when it comes to cars a decent pug 400 series or merc 300 series diesel is as fast as anything, and when it comes to bikes a shovel with a decent seat and 5 gallon tank is as fast as anything, stopping for fuel or to stretch your legs really kills that average speed number.

Boats teach you that I guess, you'd be surprised how far you can go at 8 knots if you're doing 8 knots 24/7... you think, pah, 8 knots, I can walk at 4 or 5, that's pathetic, but it works out at 1,344 nautical miles a week just by not stopping or slowing down.

For those that say 470 miles in a day is no big deal, much of the a30 / a 303 is not dualled, single lane each way, twisty roads through villages and up and down hills, then m3 for a bit, roadworks and 50 mph average speed cameras, then m25 for a bit, always accidents or something to slow you down, then m26, all the dover traffic, then cut across the 299 etc back roads again, then do it all in reverse.

it is a LOT harder work than sitting on a genuine motorway / autostrada / autopista / etc.

dunno what the 0-60 time is for my 1.9 diesel, but I don't cane things, change up at 1500 revs, so prolly something stupid like 45 second, also don't brake hard, brake soft and early, fast ain't fast, smooth is fast, and smooth is where you get your mpg from.

I see it all the fucking time, people will charge across town because fuel is 2 pence a litre cheaper, with a 40 litre tank that just saved you about 60 p assuming you fill up at a quarter tank, and you can save four or five times that amount by driving smoothly....

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carlb23

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #16 on: May 27, 2009, 12:31:55 PM »
mpg on my Infiniti is not too bad for cars here in the United States.  Mixed city and highway driving it has averaged 22mpg (based on actual fuel added and miles driven not the computer) over the last year (when not driving it hard).  While its no Prius (toyota hybrid sold here in the USA) or VW TDI, it gets decent mileage and has a top speed 160mph.

carl

GuyFawkes

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #17 on: May 27, 2009, 12:43:46 PM »
Reminds me of the old saying.

"You buy the horsepower, and drive the torque"

My old citroen might do 100mph, but you wouldn't enjoy it. But it will do 80 all day and night, and it is possible to do 80.

I don't "get" owning a 160 mph vehicle unless I could actually do 140 mph at least 10% of the time.

In bikes, because it is doable, anything over 110 mph gets geared down at the back sprocket to get longer legs and more mpg, makes em slower off the line and slower top end, but far nicer to ride, far more reliable, and far more mpg.

100 mph here is an automatic 12 month ban.

90 is likely 6 points (get 12 in 3 years and automatic ban) or maybe 9 and a fine.

80 is potentially 3 points.

This is all in NSL (national speed limit) 70 roads.

On other roads with lower speed limits it gets worse, 40 in a 20 is a lot lot worse than 90 in a 70.

speed limit on 6 foot wide country road with stone hedges and cowshit not otherwise limited is 60
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compig

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #18 on: May 27, 2009, 01:08:31 PM »
Can't recall it off hand , but there is a production car with a 7 speed box.
Actually , a car with very high performance and top speed is more relevant than might at first appear obvious. Such a car is so completely unperturbed at legal road speeds that it has much more in reserve for safety. Even at illegal , but fun speeds of 100 to 130 mph it still has huge reserves of braking and handling , far more so than Mr dick brain, more gut than skill  Mondeo repmobile driver at a tailgating in the outside lane at 100 mph has !!

I have a Mitsubishi Evo 6 which is modified and pushing 450 BHP out , plus brake and suspension mods etc. At 130 it is just cruising along and allows me to cope with almost anything the dreaded drongo driver can throw at me. At the legal limit it could stop or swerve so easily to avoid an emergency it would be difficult to comprehend.
However , I pursue most of my high speed fun on trackdays , honest officer !!

 
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compig

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #19 on: May 27, 2009, 01:12:56 PM »
The Bugatti Veyron is 7 speed , and the new M3 BMW will be. There is quite a normal car with 7sp but can't find it !!
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carlb23

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #20 on: May 27, 2009, 01:39:48 PM »
Can't recall it off hand , but there is a production car with a 7 speed box.
Actually , a car with very high performance and top speed is more relevant than might at first appear obvious. Such a car is so completely unperturbed at legal road speeds that it has much more in reserve for safety. Even at illegal , but fun speeds of 100 to 130 mph it still has huge reserves of braking and handling , far more so than Mr dick brain, more gut than skill  Mondeo repmobile driver at a tailgating in the outside lane at 100 mph has !!

I have a Mitsubishi Evo 6 which is modified and pushing 450 BHP out , plus brake and suspension mods etc. At 130 it is just cruising along and allows me to cope with almost anything the dreaded drongo driver can throw at me. At the legal limit it could stop or swerve so easily to avoid an emergency it would be difficult to comprehend.
However , I pursue most of my high speed fun on trackdays , honest officer !!

 


I couldn't agree with you more.  Probably more amazing then the reserve power even at 80mph is the ability to stop from 80 in just a few seconds. Large ventilated disk brakes and ABS make stopping these cars a breeze from almost any speed. With Vehicle Dynamic Stability and Traction computers you can change lanes at 80 or 90  with the flick of the wrist and the car is rock steady.

Carl   

oliver90owner

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #21 on: May 27, 2009, 02:19:34 PM »
We did 508 miles at the weekend, over the two days.  Somewhere beween 62 and 66 mpIg.
 
150k miles on a diesel Vauxhall Corsa, equivalent to 3 occupants for well over half that mileage and 2 occupants all the time. The worst it can be was 62 and was probably closer to 65 mpg. Mixed driving but not too much urban and I was generally just over the 60mph mark, wherever possible.  Could have been better if there was less traffic on the roads. No particular attempt to absolutely maximise economy, just the norm for a good run.

RAB

AdeV73

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #22 on: May 27, 2009, 07:41:21 PM »
Well, I'm getting a relatively feeble 22mpg out of mine; but then, I do have a leaden foot. And the A41 during rush hour is a great road to have some fun on, but boy there are some bloody idiots out there... e.g. who's bright bloody idea was it to teach people to jam on the anchors when you're overtaking a queue, and have to duck back in for traffic coming the other way? I all but had to do an emergency stop behind someone who pulled that trick. Bloody dangerous...

Oh - and gears: The BMW M5 has a 6-speed box, as does the Honda S2000 (apparently).
« Last Edit: May 27, 2009, 07:42:54 PM by AdeV »

compig

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #23 on: May 27, 2009, 08:15:14 PM »
Evo 8 has a 6 speed , in fact lots of recent motors do.
My Evo does between 10-20 mpg on the road depending on how much fun I'm having , 4mpg on track though !!  My old Citroen HDI squeezes about 50'ish mpg though , thats with 154,000 miles on the clock.
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Grael

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #24 on: May 28, 2009, 01:23:08 AM »
'09 TDI's have a 6 speed manual or a DSG auto.  ;)
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mike90045

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #25 on: May 28, 2009, 03:12:26 AM »
Looks like escrow is going through tomorrow (5-28-2009) and then I'm going to have a 600+ commute in my pickup, hauling  house and camp gear to the new property.  Build a large shop, and generator shed in the spring (get foundations in this summer on my 6 day weekends).  Then I FINALLY get to stock the generator shed. I wonder if the Redstones will be ready by then?   But I digress, the truck only gets 18 - 19 Mpg hwy. I'll be doing a lot of drives from one end of California to the other, and paying the arabs for their new ice skating rink in the desert.

SteveU.

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #26 on: May 28, 2009, 10:14:39 PM »
Congratulations on the move Mike!
Think that's far enough away to be safe from SkyNet on the DAY?
Seriously I am always happy when a fella' can escape any of the LaLa Lands out into the real world with real people where you can make real things happen.
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AdeV73

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #27 on: May 28, 2009, 10:39:21 PM »

Think that's far enough away to be safe from SkyNet on the DAY?


Sorry, SkyNet has already gone global  ::)

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compig

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #28 on: May 28, 2009, 10:57:59 PM »
Arrrgh , noooooo !!  We are all doomed !! Well , all those poor saps without a Lister CS are !! LOL !!
DON'T STEAL , THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T LIKE COMPETITION !!!
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Dail R H

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Re: Cars again.
« Reply #29 on: May 29, 2009, 12:44:55 AM »
  SkyNet?????????????? I missed somethin agin didn't I???