https://www.hagerty.com/media/advice/a-few-things-to-know-before-you-steal-my-914/
Dear Thief,
Welcome to my Porsche 914. I imagine that at this point (having found the door unlocked) your intention is to steal my car. Don't be encouraged by this; the tumblers sheared-off in 1978. I would have locked it up if I could, so don't think you're too clever or that I'm too lazy. However, now that you're in the car, there are a few things you're going to need to know. First, the battery is disconnected, so slide-hammering my ignition switch is not your first step. I leave the battery disconnected, not to foil hoodlums such as yourself, but because there is a mysterious current drain from the 40-year-old German wiring harness that I can't locate and/or fix. So, connect the battery first. Good luck finding the engine cover release. Or the engine, for that matter.
Now, you can skip your slide hammer. The ignition switch's tumblers are so worn that any flat-bladed screwdriver or pair of scissors will do. Don't tell anyone.
Once you've figured that out and try to start the car, you'll run into some trouble. The car is most likely in reverse gear, given that the parking brake cable froze up sometime during the Carter administration. Since there is not a clutch safety switch on the starting circuit, make sure to press the clutch down before you try to crank the engine. (I don't want you running into my other car in the driveway.) This is doubly necessary because my starter is too weak to crank the clutch-transmission input shaft assembly with any success.
Read on - I enjoyed the laugh!
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Rich on Saturday April 02 2022, @02:59PM (25 children)
My first car was a Fiat X1/9 and I've been eyeing a 914 in those days. Never heard any of those horror stories about it here in Germany, execpt maybe the 914/6 being exceptionally thirsty. Given the pedigree of the article author (at the bottom), I'd say he should get the poor thing in proper working order, unless he's got a strange fetish for time devouring everything. (I once was guest at a castle whose owner was so inclined and let a MiG-21 rot away on his yards...)
I had to laugh at "Good luck finding the engine cover release. Or the engine, for that matter.". This is real. The X1/9 is also mid-engined, I once went to a workshop for emissions testing and the mechanic guided me, to my surprise, to a point where he couldn't access the engine as needed, only the front boot hatch was within his range. His supervisor rushed by and set him right. (I've also witnessed a mechanic of that class shearing off a nut-like looking protrusion of a fake alloy-look steel wheel cover with an impact wrench...)
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @04:24PM (24 children)
Could be worse, it could be a British car.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday April 02 2022, @04:48PM (12 children)
My uncle used to refer to Lucas Electric as "the prince of darkness".
I don't have much direct experience with British car wiring, and I'm not all that thrilled with most cars' wiring, so I don't mean to single out British cars. Your post reminded me of that old joke.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @05:57PM (2 children)
My friend owned a series of VW & Porsche vehicles, c. 1980 (914, Microbus, others). He claimed they were designed by sadistic German engineers. The parts that needed frequent repairs were often hidden behind perfectly good parts, took a lot of disassembly to get to the problem.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MostCynical on Saturday April 02 2022, @07:29PM
many cars were designed so that maintenance was assumed to be an engine-out job.
didn't make it easier to work on, but explains many of the design decisions.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Unixnut on Sunday April 03 2022, @12:24PM
Interesting, Up until recently I had a 1982 Porsche 944 that was a joy to work on. Ample space in the engine bay, everything within easy reach, and you could do a good 70% of jobs in a home garage with easy to acquire tools.
The only things that were difficult to do was the clutch and bearings. Being a transaxle, the engine was in the front and gearbox in the rear, with a torque tube. You had to remove that tube to remove the bell housing and replace the clutch. Thankfully the clutch was made of strong stuff, because in the 15 years I owned it, it never needed changing (and this was a sports car, and I drove it like one).
Saying that, it was the most reliable car I had. Primarily because it was so simple, it was effectively a wonderfully balanced, closed cockpit go-kart with a dash of leather inside (and pop-up headlights!). They overengineed the engine so much that when me and my dad took off the head for a gasket replacement, you could still see the original honing marks on the cylinders. The oil pressure was still within original parameters (indicating no serious bearing wear inside). It was barely run in, and probably can last another 40 years.
When my modern cars kept having sensor issues, ECU issues, random "limp home" evnts, that thing just kept working. I must have spent 1/10th the price on maintenance on it than my modern cars.
I mean, I discovered that modern BMW's crank pulleys are made of plastic (!?) and crack after a couple of years, requiring regular replacement. The amount of plastic parts on modern car engines that break with such regularity makes me think that modern cars are designed to break down as a way of keeping a steady income stream for the manufacturer. The complete opposite of what German engineering stood for in the past.
I would have kept that 944 to this day, but life has taken me out of the UK, and as it was a RHD, I could not take it with me, so it was sold to another classic car enthusiast, who plans to continue keeping her going.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @08:37PM
If they steal your British car all you need to do is follow the trail of oil.
(Score: 5, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Sunday April 03 2022, @01:03AM (6 children)
I've heard that joke before. Also, why do the Brits like their beer warm? Because they have Lucas refrigerators.
I actually do have some experience with antique British car wiring. Basically, you ought to go through the electrical connections every 25 years. It' s not just British cars either.
On our '67 Ford Cortina, I noticed the taillights and brake lights seemed awfully dim, and I put it down to cars from those years just not having lights as bright. Wrong. For the ground, there is no dedicated wiring running back to the battery, instead, they ground things to the nearest bit of metal. The rear lights were grounded by a short wire screwed to some exposed body metal in the interior of the trunk. This attachment point had become rusty. Cleaned off the rust, and the lights shone much more brightly.
A big problem is that after that many years, the spade terminal connections they used will loosen up. They use rivets through traces on a PC board for such things as the headlight and ignition switches. Those rivets will also loosen. When you have a loose electrical connection, it acts much like a resistor. It will still seem to work, but it's doing something else while some electricity still reaches the intended destination. So you can easily think all is well, when it's not. What happens when you run lots of current through a resistor? It gets hot. Those loose connections can heat the wire so much that the insulation will melt and burn off. I've seen it happen. Was just driving along, when I heard a sizzling noise, then a crackle, then saw smoke from the burned up insulation leak out from under the dash.
If the wipers move real slowly, it's probably aged connections again, diverting power from the wiper motors into resistive heating of the wires. One other thing to know about that is that running a motor on a much lower voltage that it was designed for won't just result in harmlessly slow motion, it can damage the motor. The starter motor is especially prone to that. Don't try to crank the engine when your battery is drained or so bad it is only putting out 9V instead of 12V. Puts terrific stress on the electric motor. Warps the windings. Can even result in it breaking. Modern cars have a circuit that won't allow any cranking at all when there isn't enough voltage, to protect against just that, but those antiques have no such protective feature.
Loose spade terminal connections are easily tightened, Just squeeze them with pliers. Also doesn't hurt to work them, to abrade away any corrosion that might have built up. Loose rivets are harder to fix. Almost certainly will be in tight spaces, where you can't get even a needle nose pliers on them. Another kind of connection is the bullet terminal. May have to wirebrush or sand away corrosion. Or, the heck with keeping everything original, replace that kind of connection with a better design.
A final wiring war story was the time I was headed home from college in that '67 Cortina, when the generator light came on, indicating some sort of failure. I knew the generator was very old, and figured it'd finally given out. I was then about 50 miles from home, and it was getting dark, so I had to have the headlights on. I decided to press on. 50 miles is about the distance a battery is good for, if you don't have to use the headlights. I knew I couldn't make it, but I hoped to at least get a lot closer before calling for help. To save every scrap of energy, I turned off the radio, and, used a switch I have never used before or since, to turn off the dash lighting. I would not be able to see the speedometer. I barely made it to the Interstate. The headlights were getting very dim and the engine was starting to miss for lack of energy to spark the spark plugs, when I crested the last hill before the Interstate, and could see it ahead. Let up on the gas, and the engine died. I coasted the rest of the way to the gas station at that interchange. The headlights went from very dim to out as I pulled in to the station. 20 miles from home. This was in the days before everyone had a cell phone. Used a pay phone at the station to call on Dad. Then, while waiting, I took a look. And it turned out, the generator was fine. The problem was that one of those spade terminals connecting to the generator had simply broken in two. Had I stopped to check things out before draining the battery to nothing, I could have rigged up something to reconnect the wire, and made it home.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday April 03 2022, @02:07AM (2 children)
Funny, interesting, insightful, and informative. Thanks! Yes, being a hands-on tinkerer, technician, EE, etc., I've experienced / learnt most of those things, and absolutely agree on all points.
I didn't know that newer cars would refuse to crank below 9 or so volts. I have mixed feelings about that, and I'd like to know the design philosophy. I'd rather risk damaging a starter motor than leave someone stranded. Maybe a Li-Ion booster battery should be standard?
Bad connections seem to be the bane of my existence. No end to the stories. Absolutely agree: improve any design any time! GM's "Weather Pack" connectors seem pretty good most of the time. I've seen problems with some of the newer higher-density ones.
In the cases you mentioned about riveted connections: sometimes I've had luck soldering them after scraping and wirewheeling. In several cases I've removed the rivet and replaced with a screw- usually stainless steel if possible.
I've been working as plant engineer / technician in a food processing factory. There's _no_ _end_ to bad connections! Too many stories to relay. Some (much) is caused by absurdly excessive cleaning- they use a fairly high pressure spray of a foaming very acidic cleaner. It gets into everything. The more sealed the thing is, the more it gets in but not out. I've begun to leave some small junction boxes (24V) open so they can never fill up. That and drilling "weep holes" in the bottoms of boxes.
Also the terminal blocks in the various control boxes get loose. In fact, the machines have an annual maintenance requirement to go through and tighten every terminal screw, and there can be thousands.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Sunday April 03 2022, @10:57PM (1 child)
Interesting. Yes, I have heard other stories in which cleaning had unintended and bad side effects.
Haven't heard of these GM Weather Pack connectors. My father worked in the HVAC industry, and they too battled connection problems. Couldn't get too cheap with the relays, the contacts had to be of material that wouldn't tarnish. Had to check often that relay manufacturers' latest change didn't ruin their relays.
Everyone has been moved to plugs, each bundling several wires into one connection. Make every plug different so that the car is harder to mis-wire.
The HVAC company was particularly impressed with this Wago brand of connectors. They spring load the connections. You push on something to open up the hole for a wire, slide it in and let go. The spring maintains pressure on the wire, preventing loosening. They also have researched the best alloys to use, to prevent corrosion.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday April 03 2022, @11:48PM
Yes, the Wago (I have one right here!) and similar are pretty interesting. I've been using them for simple splices, etc. I think I like them.
The connections I mostly deal with are as such: http://www.ad-techcci.com/Pages/Manufacturers/Weidmuller.html [ad-techcci.com]
They generally come in screw terminal and push-in, with a springy tab, and a space to insert a release tool (small screwdriver usually works).
As great as that seems, and the constant tension is great, they can't handle current as well as the screw terminals. I've had machines flake out, and found some of the terminals were burnt dark brown from too much current and of course some resistance. Not enough contact surface area, if you ever take one apart. I'm not sure if they make bigger ones with higher current capability.
GM Weather Packs have been around since the late 1970s. They're really good- very well sealed. Silicone gaskets and seals.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=gm+weather+pack&iax=images&ia=images [duckduckgo.com]
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Sunday April 03 2022, @12:45PM (2 children)
At least you had your headlights.
I had an alternator failure at night on my 2004 car, and when the alternator went, it blew out my headlamps, rear lamps and my instrumentation. I was on an unlit motorway doing around 70mph at night in a black car with no lights, except brake lights still worked. That was a hairy trip home.
Why did this happen? Get this, on modern cars the alternator voltage regulation is done by the ECU rather than a dedicated regulator, and the ECU uses a reference voltage it gets from... the alternator! So when the alternator started failing, the reference voltage would alter, the ECU would adjust the field coil voltage, altering the reference voltage again. Long story short the alternator voltage started oscillating from around 9v to ~20v, blowing the headlamp bulbs, causing the ECUs to go haywire, locking up the CANbus and killing all the instrumentation.
The only ECUs that still worked were the engine ECU's, presumably because being in the engine bay, they were designed to tolerate excessive voltage spikes far more than the other ECUs (I think there were something like 15 ECUs in my car), so at least I didn't lose power (and being a manual I could still shift gears).
Needless to say, turns out that in modern cars even alternators are consumable items. Reason being that EU emissions standards (and this is only Euro 3 mind you), required the use of catalytic converters hanging off the exhaust right next to the engine (in addition to the ones under the car). The heat from the catalytic converters were apt at cooking the head gaskets (requiring regular replacement) and anything else in the vicinity, including the alternator.
Euro 2 cars only had a catalytic converter underneath the car, away from the engine and other ancillaries, so engines lasted much longer, despite having their performance strangled by the emissions controls.
Modern cars suck quite frankly, alas laws and regulations make them so. When I moved out the UK I was actually forbidden from bringing any cars older than Euro 3, as they refuse import, so the only real alternative at the moment is "have no car", which sucks more.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday April 03 2022, @11:55PM
Wow. Thanks for all that info. I'm in the US and had no idea you Europeans had so many rules, laws, regulations, hassles, etc.
Being an EE and somewhat car nut, I'm bothered by the voltage regulation you described. That's terrible. I wonder what the design philosophy is with having voltage reference in the alternator? I can see temperature sensing, but not the main Vref. Yuck.
If I ever had such a car I might put an additional regulator in case the alternator voltage goes too high.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Monday April 04 2022, @03:23PM
Manufacturers are always trying sh*t that somehow shifts costs from manufacturing to consumers. Massively cheap out on components, because, hey, 50k miles later, when it wears out, it's the owner's prob! And, don't be fooled. They love, love, love to shift the blame for it all, and the government is a favorite scapegoat.
Nevertheless, there have been plenty of regulatory measures that didn't work out too well. Some American cars circa 1980 have air pumps on them, to reduce pollution. Of course such a pump takes energy to run, and to produce that energy increases pollution. They did a number of things of that sort. Reduce the compression ratio, thus making the engine less efficient, but, it doesn't produce as much NOX pollution that way! Another factor in all this was that the late 1970s was also a low point in quality. American automakers were finally forced to improve quality when the Japanese arrived in force, with good quality cars, in the early 1980s. Blaming government regulations for their cars being junk wasn't going to fly any more.
We had a '79 Ford Granada, and yeah, it was a mixed bag on quality. If you needed to move out quick, like to turn left onto a busy highway, the damned thing would leap out into the intersection, then nearly stall thanks to the messed up carburetion. Not pleasant to have several lanes of dense traffic bearing down on you while your car is doing an impression of a deer in the headlights. It sure didn't have the power it should have had, for the size of the engine. It also had a mysterious problem that would only manifest after some 200 miles of continuous driving, so you'd never experience it just driving around town. It'd just lose power. Couldn't do more than about 30 mph. Took it on a long road trip, and finally figured out what the problem was: the gas cap. The cap had a little vent with a flap and spring, to let air in, but not out. That spring and flap had rusted, so the system was no longer letting in enough air. Took a couple hours of driving for the vacuum to build up to the point that the fuel pump couldn't move the gas. But that's what I mean about cheaping out. Had Ford spent a few more pennies on stainless steel, rather than ordinary steel, this problem with the gas cap would never have happened. It was a dumb system anyway, shouldn't have had a coil spring at all.
However, while American automakers had to improve quality, they didn't do so across the board. Small cars remained poor quality. Had an '88 Ford Escort, and man, what junk that thing was. The clutch plate and ball joints were too small, and consequently, wore out too soon. The plastic they used turned brittle in less than 10 years. The bumpers would crack and shatter under the least little bump or even just pressure. The ignition system was flawed, and the engine never idled smoothly, until we got new, revised components. There was some water leak that kept the carpet on the front passenger side permanently damp and moldy smelling. The back seat was cramped, because Ford thought they were so clever in providing huge plastic armrests so they could make the seat cushions smaller. And that in a car that was already small. Also, at that time, Ford had thinned out the metal of the cooling system too much, and their heater cores were prone to leaking. If you see steam coming out of the air vents, smell antifreeze, and defrosting is making things worse, not better, you've got a leaky heater core. They also used lots of O-rings of the sort made infamous by the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. These O-rings were all over the A/C system, so, after 5 or so years, say goodbye to your refrigerant and regret the damage to the ozone layer. Ford gave up on trying to build little cars themselves. The next model of Escort was a rebranded Mazda.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Coligny on Sunday April 03 2022, @03:56AM
It was said that the only device made by Lucas that would not suck was their vacuum cleaners…
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday April 02 2022, @06:09PM
Or French.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by Rich on Saturday April 02 2022, @07:17PM (8 children)
Well, I did end up with British cars instead. From ca. 1990 on, it's bearable. The Lucas gear of legends is mostly history by then. In fact, a particular mid-engined exotic (from Norfolk turnip farmers turned ride and handling gods) I have is 33 years old by now (I've had it for 27 years) and has maintenance bills roughly in the same league as a late model 450 diesel smart car (both at independent specialists).
The one thing I don't understand about the British is how they haven't learned to make waterproof convertible hoods in 100 years of motoring history, being on the most rainy island of the old world.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Sunday April 03 2022, @04:23AM (1 child)
the British love to complain about the weather, If it is sunny, they get very confused. If it is over 25 degrees Celsius, they start dying of heat exhaustion.
If you want to be dry, why are you driving a convertible?
If you want to be warm, why aren't you at home, or in the pub, near a fire?
Convertible hoods are only meant to slow down the water ingress, not keep you dry. A real driver leaves the hood down, or uses a tonneau [comptoirducabriolet.com], with a warm jacket, hat, and goggles.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by Rich on Sunday April 03 2022, @12:18PM
I thought we've wimped out so much since the millennium that this now is only a thing for Morgan and Seven drivers... (well, the Morgan drivers are said real drivers, come wind, come weather, but the Seven drivers just do it for fun)
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Sunday April 03 2022, @01:00PM (5 children)
Tell me, how goes life with the turnip farmers? Having recently left East Anglia to southern shores, I had to sell my RHD cars, and have been considering a British sports car, and specifically one from Norfolk, possibly one of the newish ones, as they have a Toyota drive train, which should be reliable and relatively maintenance free.
Never been in one though, so completely new to the brand. What are they like to live with? Can they handle pot holes and bumpy roads well? Seeing the state of UK roads I would hope British cars would be designed to handle them. What is the enthusiast community like?
And don't worry, it isn't just British convertibles that leak. I think the British rain is just so relentless it penetrates everything. I had a Mercedes SLK hardtop and a VW Eos hardtop, and not even the Germans could stop British rain entering the cabin. The VW EOS in particular was in trouble as the water leaked in and corroded the hood control ECU, which stopped the hood from dropping, and also messed up the rear boot electronic release hatch, so you could not use the boot. a £250 "diagnostic charge" and £800 "ECU replacement" put that right, but they told me that unless kept garaged, in a couple years it will happen again.
The mercs roof always worked, but the roof lining peeled off as water got in, soaked the lining and the glue gave up the ghost, so I would drive with the roof lining resting on my head when the roof was down!
The only car that seemed to resist the British rain was my '97 Alfa Romeo Spider. I would get a few drips on the side by the window if it was a particularly heavy bout of rain, but otherwise it held up splendidly. Never thought of all the above, the Italians would manage to seal the elements the best.
(Score: 2) by Rich on Sunday April 03 2022, @02:28PM (4 children)
Mine are 90s-ish, so I can't really speak from own experience, I guess about one and a half grand yearly maintenance, averaged, at good independent specialists, each - which isn't too bad to keep 30+ year old gear in full spec. No engine or transmission issues with a works 910 MPFI engine, nor with the Isuzu Turbo one. Proper tyre sizes of older ones may be a bitch to get. What I hear from the club folks of the new ones is that there may be niggles of the usual kind, but no major showstoppers. I've heard of a leaky Evora boot which took a bit to fix on warranty, but no issues whatsoever with the Toyota hardware. The little ones are mature now, they'd be the main choice for a kart-on-the road, and there's hardly anything that can break, the Exige V6 is more something for Group-C-reenactment. But these are history now. If inclined so, a young Evora or Elise is a perfectly viable choice.
New kid on the block is the Emira, which, imo, in reality, is just a major Evora facelift, but it does absolutely look badass. In good tradition, the initial series is a parts bin special with the Toyota V6, and after that they'll put in a Mercedes sourced AMG 4-banger with an absurdly high boost. I like the latter, because I think it channels the spirit of the Turbo Esprit, but one has to see how solid that engine is. I have hopes, because Mercedes blow it even harder in own applications. It also comes with a seriously fair price tag for the class.
Of all sports cars, they are said to handle bumpy roads best. That's the "ride" part in "ride and handling" (with the specific term being "compliance"). It gets mentioned so often that one has to assume they know what they are doing (having a turnip field in mind...). The enthusiast community is nice, but I'd say split in two parts between "gentleman drivers" and "motorsport maniacs". It's a small world, the specialists know where to source parts, and the factory is generally supportive (outstandingly so when compared with other automotive manufacturers). Official dealers with many other brands may be sub-par for service, especially if they carry more expensive brands.
(Score: 1) by Unixnut on Sunday April 03 2022, @03:28PM (3 children)
Thanks for the information! It is most useful.
In the past my neighbour had a Lotus Elise, and I did like it, but at 6ft2 I could not fit into it comfortably, so Lotus for me was a no go. I stayed with my 944, and I had a Alfa Romeo GT 3.2 V6. Both are to be sold as they are RHD, and I would like one car with the handling and balance of the 944, with the V6 howl of the Alfa (which had the indignity of a wonderful engine coupled to FWD).
Alfa romeo only gave me the 4c, which is a turbo 4-banger like the Emira AMD unit, but the noise was underwhelming for me, and they wanted 80,000 euros for it second hand, which is more than the equivalent Evora's (Technically Alfa did do the 8c, with a Maserati V8, but those were limited edition, started at 150,000 euros and just went up from there, way out of my price range).
I originally looked at the Esprit V8, and my heart still yearns for a late model one, but after much research, I think it would be too difficult to keep maintained, considering the nearest Lotus garage from where I currently am is a good 700 miles away, and parts are scarce. In addition, being Euro 2 I am forbidden from importing it where I live until it is more than 30 years old (at which point it qualifies as an oldtimer).
Alas the Esprit is still quite a bargain, if you consider the only other mid-engine twin-turbo flat-plane V8 of the era is the Ferrari F40, prices of which are off in la-la land. Perhaps in 10 years time I can look at the Esprit V8, if the rest of the world hasn't realised how nice they are by then, putting prices out of my reach.
As such something that uses off the shelf parts as much as possible, is easier to do basic maintenance on, and is reliable and relatively well supported by the manufacturer. The Evora caught my eye because apparently it was made for the then head of Lotus, who was a bloke more my kind of height, and he wanted a mid-engined car he could fit in comfortably. Only shame is that I can not take the roof off like you can in the Esprit and Elise, but on the flip side everyone seems to say it has one of the nicest manual gear shifts you can buy.
The Emira is nice, I really like the exterior, but I didn't much like the interior. They replaced all the gauges and dials with TFT screens. I like the analogue feel of the Evora, the only TFT screen in it is the double DIN Alpine unit, and I could probably remove that if I decide to. I guess if I had my way I would just get a 90s car, but the laws are unyielding in this matter unfortunately.
I guess I fall more in the "Gentleman driver" bucket in that case, primarily as I would not be tracking the car often, but more for blasting down winding roads with the engine howling behind me. It would also double up as a "backup car" if my daily is unavailable so it needs to have some practicality and refinement.
If track times was the only concern for me, then the turbo 4-banger would be it, just from a power per unit weight perspective. The 4c unit was pretty damn potent for a sub 2L 4-banger, especially as the car was light, and I have no doubt the Emiras 4 pot unit will be just as good, if not better.
So far I was looking at the Evora S, as I kind of prefer the earlier interior. It looks more special, with the acres of leather, the wrap around interior, wide sills and down low seating position, it reminds me of Italian supercars. The later interior seems more spacious, but more spartan and somewhat odd ergonomically. Plus I find the earlier exterior more elegant, and seems to remind me more of Lotus design than the 400.
There is only about 60HP difference between it and the GT410, which is almost double the price, and if I really feel it is lacking in grunt, from what I have seen there are tuning houses that will basically graft the 400 parts to the S and bring it up to the same power level for less than the cost of the 400.
There is a nice Evora S sport racer (which is apparently some special edition of the Evora S), that I am hoping to go have a look and test drive once Covid restrictions let me enter the EU, so have my fingers crossed for that (always a worry it will get bought before I get the logistics sorted out).
And glad to hear that that they have a compliant ride (that's the word I was looking for!). Too many sports cars, old and new, are just not compliant. The 4c is a good example. It feels like it was designed for roads as smooth as a billiard table. If you are lucky enough to have those roads to drive on, it is magical, but in the real world, with potholes, speed bumps, high kerbs, etc... it is just unrealistic. It is a car really for the track.
So a car that can handle real world roads but still have good grip and handling is what I am looking for. I don't want to worry about damaging the suspension or having my spine shaken to bits on the road while enjoying a spirited drive.
(Score: 2) by Rich on Sunday April 03 2022, @11:00PM (2 children)
That's a hard task. I think the 944 is one of the most underrated sportscars out there, and I say that from the opposing faction. It is simple enough to be maintained by normal people, has a superb build, solid engines, a perfect 50/50 balance with the transaxle and loads of cargo space to (pun intended) boot.
I recommend being very careful with a V8 purchase. The engines are not bombproof and cost a fortune to rebuild, read up on early liner gasket failures, valvetrain bolts coming off, or pistons melting under heavy load. The torque also tends to crack the UN-1 box driveshaft at a certain step, but the UN-1 folks have a beefy replacement. If it absolutely has to be one, a 2001 V8 GT has to be the goal. It has a clean shape, still has the Toyota rear lights the shape was made for, already AP brakes, and a further developed engine. First thing to do is to fit aftermarket chargecoolers to keep the pistons from melting - and don't chip the engine. 400 Nm tops for the box. Azure Blue or Chrome Orange, please. ;)
But the true identity of the Esprit is 4 cylinders, and the best choices are S4S (hard to find!) and GT3 (avoided by many because of the reduced displacement, but a superb package). If you wait 3 years, you can pick up a '95 S4 as oldtimer. '95 because it has the Brembos over the '94. Earlier models are nice and fun, and everything fuel injected is solid, but won't fit your profile with the high-ratio non-power steering. A modern hatchback with "R" in the name will be faster than those. Avoid carburettor models unless you have a full cover fire insurance, the distributor is straight under the carbs.
Then, for the new ones, stay away from those who have large numbers in their name, or say "Sport". The base models are just fine, and 350 horse should be good for about anything legal in public. You'd need 4WD to get more on the road - if you're inclined so, the mighty Godzilla from Nissan is the tool of choice. Or, for short ranges, to be honest, any recent 4WD Tesla. The skateboard design tops the weight distribution of any ICE sportscar and they are unrivaled in getting that power down.
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Monday April 04 2022, @11:21AM (1 child)
I agree. I had the car since I passed my licence (quirk of the law meant that it was cheaper for me to insure the 944 than a Nissan micra) and it was the one car I really struggled to sell. Other cars came and went over the years, but only that one stayed. I even contemplated switching it to LHD, but it would never have been as good as a factory LHD, so had to sell.
I have contemplated buying another 944, specifically the Turbo, but they really have shot up in price. Hence was looking at alternatives, and I always had a soft spot for Lotus, feeling that they are one of the few manufacturers that still make cars the way I like them. Simple, easy to maintain, fast and light.
I agree, I found a lovely V8 GT with a fully rebuilt engine, strengthened internals, the lot, in Azure blue! In fact, it is this very car:
https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=342134306 [mobile.de]
I started discussing visits/test drives etc... when I realised I could not actually import the car due to stupid laws in my current country of residence, so could not continue and the seller put it up for sale again. It is everything I wanted. Azure blue, removable roof, pop-up headlights, mid-engined, more than 4 cylinders, compliant ride and good handling.
It was like the 944's bigger brother in my eyes. Being a 1999, it originally had the Toyota square lights, but a PO switched for the post 2000s design and central exhaust. Alas I have to wait until 2029 until I can import the car here, or relocate to a more car friendly country in Europe (which I am working on, but it is hard).
Some of the earlier 4-bangers are coming up to the 30 year mark, but I find their interiors a bit too tight and uncomfortable for me. I've been told the one above (and later ones) had the redesigned interior which are better suited to larger people.
Of that I have no doubt, technology has moved forward in 30 years, but I never really cared about that. To be honest that is one of the things I like about old classic sports cars, they are fast enough, fun and nobody really thought about racing you. In my GT I would get no end of boy racers in souped up tin cans wanting to race, not to mention people compensating in German machinery for the same reason. That never happened in the 944, people just would appreciate seeing one still on the road.
The Evora is new enough to probably elicit similar behaviour from a certain type of driver on the road, although I suspect the Esprit looks exotic enough to do the same despite its age. Comes with the territory I guess.
Oh I agree, but there are few Evoras for sale, from what I know they never made that many, so I have to find one that is within my budget and spec I would like. Getting one in Azure blue is impossible, it just seems to not be a popular colour for some reason, so I have to add the cost of a respray on top of any car I find. This "Sport racer" is the cloest to my spec and budget so far, and is at a very helpful dealer who is willing to do the respray and other changes I would like. They also have a large collection of other Lotuses, so my plan is to go there and try all the ones I am interested in, and see which one I prefer.
Likewise I think the Evora S has enough HP. The 944 had 160hp (and felt a bit underpowered if I am honest), the GT was 250, and that was enough to propel 1.5 tons of metal at an entertaining rate. Having 350 horses in ~1.2 tons should be more than enough.
I did actually drive the original Tesla roadster, as I was in the UK at the time, and they set up a showroom nearby with free test drives to entice a skeptical public. It had brutal acceleration, and great handling (later found out the chassis was done by Lotus, of course), but it just didn't do it for me. The lack of engine note, no gearbox, it just seemed too sanitised. I realised that what I enjoyed about sports cars was the experience, the howl of the engine, changing gears, the vibrations through the car to my body, that excited me.
As such I don't think electric sports cars will ever interest me, just am not the target audience. I could consider an electric car for a quiet, refined long distance cruiser, but the batteries are just not good enough for that, so until that improves to match equivalent ICE range and refuel time, I will be sticking to combustion engines.
I have heard that the model 3 however is quite the sleeper over short distances/drag off the lights. Electric motors have an excellent torque curve for that, and no loss of acceleration due to gear changes, so off the mark it shoots off like a scalded rat :-)
(Score: 2) by Rich on Tuesday April 05 2022, @01:11AM
Yikes! MW50???!!! That's very German, short of GM-1, which the American rodders have hijacked... From the tech list - and wording, I'd estimate it at 500hp - without paperwork. ;) Probably tops 300 kph. But the price! It surely reflects what the guy has put in, and isn't much for the end speed, but no way for a 20+ year old car you want to have fun with, unless you've got an unhealthy obsession with Esprits and already 3 or 4 in the garages. It also looks like outgoing model V8 SE spec, the GT doesn't have the wing. (Oh,btw, the "small shell" instrument binnacle is MY '98+ IIRC). If your 944 is a good old pal, that's a total diva, the upkeep effort will be in another magnitude. Emira AMG any day for that money! And one last thing regarding the removable roof: It's pretty much worthless. The windscreen top is so far back, and the top above the window is so broad that you hardly notice the roof misses, and tucking away the roof itself in the rear is a challenging puzzle game. Open top fun order probably is old Elan, new Elan, and Elises, with the Essex Esprit and its roof stereo at end of the list.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday April 04 2022, @03:02PM
Old joke: Why don't they manufacture computers in England?
They can't figure out how to make them leak oil.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 02 2022, @03:05PM (3 children)
Many of us have owned old cars with their idiosyncrasies. Turn signals that never turn off. Or signals that only work if you hold them up (or down). A clutch interlock that works when the clutch is just *this far* down, no more, no less. An automatic transmission that jitters in third gear. The old ignition switches that will work with a screw driver are fairly common, TBH. Or an old pickup that always feels like the rear end is sliding in a hard left turn, but no on can find anything wrong with the suspension. Broken speedometers that force you to watch the tachometer if you have one, or listen to the engine to estimate engine speed.
The average driver is unwilling to deal with that sort of thing, believing the vehicle to be junk. But, as often as not, those crazy vehicles just keep going, and going, and refuse to die. Such vehicles are useful, in that no one wants to borrow them a second time. And, as the author points out, thieves have little interest in them.
Those old three-on-the-tree shifters should be mentioned here. As a youth, I drove one of Granpa's pickup trucks. One or more of the bushings were sloppy, and you had to be extremely careful as you shifted through the gears. If you didn't hold the lever just-so, and manipulate it in precisely the correct directions, it would lock in place. At that point, you had to stop the truck, raise the hood, stand on the driver's side, and manipulate the little rods to get them moving again - and in the process probably pinch your fingers, resulting in another blood blister. I eventually learned how to replace those bushings. Luckily, the rods and bushings actually mounted to the transmission were sturdier, and less likely to wear out.
Old cars have character, and they also build character. You learn that sometimes, things just won't work the way you expect.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Joe Desertrat on Saturday April 02 2022, @11:49PM
My first car, a '66 Chevy Belair had the minor idiosyncrasy that it would start in any gear. But I could and did fix almost anything myself on that car with two wrenches (1/2 and 9/16 inch) and a couple screwdrivers.
Another car had the interesting problem on cold mornings where you would have to take off the carburetor cover, prop the choke open, try the starter until it backfired and caught fire. When the flames died out it was then warm enough to start normally.
An acquaintance decided that he had a novel idea on how to rid himself of an old clunker. He parked it on a street in Newark, left the keys in the ignition and a signed title on the front seat. It was two weeks before it disappeared.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Reziac on Sunday April 03 2022, @02:29AM
Me and my college roommates shared a bicycle (mostly used to fetch mail from our box, a ways up the street) that was downright hazardous if you didn't know its quirks. Aside from a lack of brakes, and permanently crooked steering, it had a habit of suddenly dumping the seat backwards, whereupon the unwary would be shafted in the crotch. It was stolen a number of times, and we always found it no more than a block away.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 03 2022, @03:20PM
I owe my mechanical abilities to an old MGB.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @04:02PM
I almost pity anyone trying to steal my Piaggio scooter.
It's 14 years old, and the engine mounts to the frame are so worn, the bike wobbles ~10 degrees when it accelerates, brakes, turns, etc.
Fortunately the annual Road Worthiness Test for motorbikes here is pretty-much only checking the lights and indicators work-- it's not ridden by the inspector (which is only done after a major modification or it's had a lapse in rego).
The scares the bejeesus out of my mechanic, who says the resale value now would only be what it's worth in separated parts.
I'm used to its behavior and how it reacts, but anyone stealing it and trying to make a fast getaway won't make it 50 metres before the bike throws them from the seat...
(Score: 2, Interesting) by pTamok on Saturday April 02 2022, @04:05PM (6 children)
The way things are developing, no thief will take a stick shift vehicle as they won't know how to drive them.
As it is, round were I am, young people are not learning how to drive* a stick-shift car because soon all new cars will be electric transmission, and the driving lessons for automatic cars are cheaper, as you need fewer of them to pass the driving test.
Knowing how to drive a stick-shift car is going the same way as knowing how to drive a carriage drawn by horses - an outdated and nearly useless skill.
*There's driving and there's driving [wikipedia.org], and there's carriage driving [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday April 02 2022, @04:44PM (4 children)
Having learned how to drive stick I find it weird to drive a car that isn't stick-shift. It just feels weird. That said yes I assume stick will more or less be relegated to the ancient history soon. There might still be some vehicles where there is a point to it but for all things else it will just be automatic all the way.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Saturday April 02 2022, @05:43PM (3 children)
Here in the UK we say that an automatic car has "American gears." The vast majority of cars here have been manual (ie stick shift) and there's good reason, I think. Our roads demand it. Whereas in the USA you have very wide, straight roads our roads are uphill and down dale, round corners and stopping at junctions. Also, an automatic gearbox adds to the cost of the vehicle and it also drastically reduces the efficiency. A petrol (gasoline) car with an automatic gearbox can be tens of percent less efficient than one with manual gears driven well.
I've avoided automatic cars for all of those reasons, until four years ago when I bought my first Toyota hybrid. Obviously, for the hybrid power train to work, the computer needs to be in control of everything to know when to apply the regenerative braking, when to apply power from the batteries and when to start and increase power from the gasoline engine. Both of my Toyota hybrids have continuously variable automatic transmission. I am very impressed with them. Previously, our cars were diesel and had impressive efficiency over the equivalent gasoline models. These hybrids add about the same efficiency advantage on top of that. They're better than diesels.
When I can afford it, and when I get my wind turbine and solar panels, I'll get an electric car.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mhajicek on Saturday April 02 2022, @06:12PM
I had a car with a CV transmission for a couple years until the transmission failed. Went with dual clutch for my next, love it.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 02 2022, @07:04PM (1 child)
I have found 8% to 12%, sometimes as high as 15%. But, I don't drive British or Euro cars, so I can't argue your claim. But, given that today's cars can be expected to go well past 100,000 miles, even 8% is a substantial savings.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 4, Informative) by epitaxial on Sunday April 03 2022, @12:23AM
That statement hasn't been true for many years. I drove a 5 speed 1996 Acura Integra for 10 years, even then the factory specs said the 5 speed got only 1 mile per gallon better fuel economy. Now there is zero mileage savings in a manual transmission. Especially with some having 9 or even 10 gears and being able to skip around.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @06:28PM
As cars drive themselves you'll be lucky if anyone even knows how to drive in the future.
Sometime in the future no one would bother to even steal cars that they actually have to drive themselves.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @04:25PM (9 children)
I'm not a car guy. (Nei'er car, nor guy, nor car fanatic, I.)
But every blue moon a car article is good, and this one was pretty good. Well done finding and frontpaging.
"Tech" doesn't exclude low tech like combustion engines or the Antikythera mechanism, even if they're relics.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @05:39PM (8 children)
The combustion engine has become quite advanced. I'd say it qualifies for high-tech. Now we just need to figure out an alternative chemical energy storage liquid that can be grown. Conjecture: chemical energy released through combustion will always be more efficient than any rechargeable battery. We just need to close the carbon cycle.
(Another reason civilization will be able to restart without dino juice in 1.5k years: you can run combustion engines on vegetable oil if you want. However, I really hope there's a great steam age complete with analytical engines.)
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @06:07PM
> I really hope there's a great steam age
Be careful what you wish for... Here's the story of a recalcitrant steam car, by master storyteller Rudyard Kipling https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/readers-guide/rg_steamtactics1.htm [kiplingsociety.co.uk]
The link is to a review, there is a link to full text of the story on the upper right of the page.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by pTamok on Saturday April 02 2022, @06:43PM (4 children)
The advantages gasoline and other fuel oils have is that they don't need to carry around their oxidising agent, and the vehicle doesn't need to carry around the burnt fuel/waste. If cars needed to carry their oxygen supply, and were required to capture the combustion products then electric cars would not look so bad.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday April 03 2022, @05:00AM (2 children)
I agree with you, but how about hydrogen and oxygen?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 03 2022, @07:51AM (1 child)
Regular consumers have no business being around cyrogens of any kind, let alone hydrogen. It also has the worst volumetric energy density of any chemical fuel, so your vehicle winds up being mostly fuel tank to get any meaningful range out of it.
(Score: 2) by owl on Monday April 04 2022, @01:49AM
And, then, there's that nasty embrittlement [wikipedia.org] problem to worry about for the hydrogen pressure tanks necessary to hold the hydrogen fuel for the car. Good luck with a 20 year old hydrogen tank vs. a 20 year old gasoline/diesel tank.
Fuels that are liquid at STP are by far better for vehicle use. What is needed instead of hydrogen fuel is carbon capture from the atmosphere and liquid fuel synthesis using that captured carbon so the fuel being burned in the vehicles is releasing carbon that was extracted from the air, vs. extracted from underground.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 03 2022, @08:42AM
Even so, if you can afford the upfront cost, don't have to go very far between charging stations, and can accommodate down time for charging, then electric becomes attractive due to lower energy and maintenance costs. This is why electric cars are popular with suburban commuters, and why electric aircraft are taking over short haul routes while long haul, especially freight, remains oil powered. Improvements in battery tech extend the tipping point, but the only way to really challenge oil is to achieve at least double the energy density, and I don't know if that can be done, let alone safely. Battery fires are so nasty because they contain their own oxidizer, and storing more energy requires a more reactive chemistry. The next couple of decades should be interesting.
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Sunday April 03 2022, @01:06PM (1 child)
> We just need to close the carbon cycle.
The carbon cycle is closed though. Unless the human race is mining hydrocarbons off of other planets and shipping them to earth without me noticing, all the carbon we use is carbon from the earth, which itself was captured over time by the earth.
Until we become space faring, everything on this planet is a closed cycle, except for the energy we get from the Sun.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 03 2022, @07:54PM
Wut? No no. We need to be what closes the carbon cycle.
You're right that we haven't sterilized the planet, and the carbon cycle in the wild continues.
But while we're pumping CO2, CH4, etc into the atmosphere, and not extracting similar amounts, we're a driving force (yuk yuk) without compensation. The effects of our past inputs are pretty clearly roughed out now; the 1% of climate scientists who disagree is expected, and we should also find 1/20 studies at p=0.05 to have false conclusions.
It's like foecal matter in waste streams. If cities route their shit straight into the local river without removing/treating much of the addition, the river's ecosystem will collapse. Not often a problem for a small village shitting near a river, only when humans really mass up. When we shit into the air at such profligate rates, without closing the cycle ourselves, we impact the downstream ecosystems, which in the case of global gasses means "life on Earth".
(Score: 5, Interesting) by inertnet on Saturday April 02 2022, @07:23PM
A couple of decades ago I thought of an anti theft upgrade for my car, but never got around to actually building it. With 2 relays in a flip flop arrangement, my car could only be started with an engaged horn. I figured no thief would think of pressing the horn when attempting to steal the car. The relays would prevent the horn from producing any sound at the first press of the horn, at the same time preventing the car from being started without pressing it.
(Score: -1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @08:15PM (2 children)
What the fuck is this? What a worthless article.
(Score: 3, Touché) by janrinok on Saturday April 02 2022, @10:18PM
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @11:37PM
What the fuck is this? What a worthless comment.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @09:23PM (2 children)
Jew filth shot to hell by "the Lord of Hosts" https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=48537&page=1&cid=1234378#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] and doctors + history here too https://www.brighteon.com/4a9e11ea-d136-4dc6-81fa-a94940bb4fb6 [brighteon.com] get ready for a real "final solution" fuckers. Jews are out of time. Soon.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @09:43PM (1 child)
Poor nazi incel, get a life APKKK
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @09:55PM
Nazi? You mean AshkeNAZI/?? Fake JUDEN! Is that the "best ya got" fake slinking JUDEN PIG?? It's nothing vs. https://www.brighteon.com/4a9e11ea-d136-4dc6-81fa-a94940bb4fb6 [brighteon.com] that tells the truth of "your kind", low thieving filth! Multiculturalism that YOU cause all so you can get GOOD FOLKS to KILL ONE ANOTHER & nothing more - do you think you morons have us fooled? Guess again & see Barbara Spectre as Proof (love that name. It describes your kind, evil demons). In any event, I can't wait until the FINAL SOLUTION you fake jew SATANIC filth will face soon enough. How many nations have kicked your weasel asses out in the last 2000 yrs.?? Tell us won't you??? This IS why. Weasely Chaim McJuden you are you shitbag cunt! Hell, Putin hiimself said "I will NOT let your HOLLYWOOD destroy Russian youth the way it has in the United States" now the JEWNited States. Not for long assholes. Mark my words. Live in fear, fuckboy JUDE! Putin is cleaning house of FAKE JEW president of JEWKraine. I love Putin. You should all also. He KNOWS himself, and more importantly, knows his eneny - the JUDE!
(Score: 3, Funny) by dltaylor on Saturday April 02 2022, @10:21PM (5 children)
I owned an MGB GT, which had its own quirks, such as the press-fit diodes falling out of the plate in the alternator. Tops, for me, was the acquaintance with the contemporary Lotus Europa. It had a bumper sticker "The parts falling from this car are of the finest British manufacture".
I learned a lot from tending the MGB and would dearly like to find an MGB GT V8 in US DOT fitness and not costing a year's salary.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @11:13PM (2 children)
A good friend has an S2 Europa. The extended wheelbase means it's long enough for me to get into, at 6'1" I don't fit in the originals--tried at a car show when I was in high school (and very flexible) and no dice.
Of course his is off the road but since he recently retired it's likely that he's going to get it going again. The one time I drove it, my memory was "big go kart with a roof", goes where you point it, right now!
(Score: 2) by Rich on Sunday April 03 2022, @03:20AM
The difference you noted probably was due to the adjustable seats on the S2. The chassis should be roughly the same across the production models for the road, except that the bodywork was glued on for the S1, making it very hard to repair.
As a great motivation (for your friend) for a Lotus restoration task, see the Soup Classic Motoring channel on YT, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFnUW7RxF7w [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 03 2022, @03:29PM
My '67 Elan is almost as low as that Europa. With a car that low, you become an aficionado of hubcaps since that's mostly what you see of other cars.
(Score: 3, Informative) by turgid on Sunday April 03 2022, @08:53AM (1 child)
They say that "Lotus" means Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 4, Funny) by Rich on Sunday April 03 2022, @12:29PM
Built from a LOT of Unsold Spares. At least they're friendly about it:
Esprit comes home to Hethel after 15 years abroad, driver stops at the gate to get factory parking ticket from gate guy, window motor craps out halfway, driver opens door to receive ticket from gate guy. Gate guy uttes the most sincere and honest "I'm sorry" ever heard in the motoring industry and hands out ticket. :)
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @10:41PM
Jew filth shot to hell by "the Lord of Hosts" https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=48537&page=1&cid=1234433#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] and doctors + history here too https://www.brighteon.com/4a9e11ea-d136-4dc6-81fa-a94940bb4fb6 [brighteon.com] get ready for a real "final solution" fuckers. Jews are out of time. Soon.
(Score: 1) by UncleBen on Saturday April 02 2022, @11:14PM
This Porsche had to be worn into unrobable condition. Try stealing a 69 Saab with the freewheel on. 4 on the tree and reverse in the back seat. (Ha, fooled ya: no back seat in the Sonet, just try parallel parking that thing!)
I loved both of mine, full of wonderful design idiosyncrasies. Neither was the most-clapped-out car I ever owned but even in good cond’n I wonder if I could drive them today.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @11:18PM
Jew filth shot to hell by "the Lord of Hosts" https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=48537&page=1&cid=1234438#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] and doctors + history here too https://www.brighteon.com/4a9e11ea-d136-4dc6-81fa-a94940bb4fb6 [brighteon.com] get ready for a real "final solution" fuckers. Jews are out of time. Soon.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @11:39PM
Jew filth shot to hell by "the Lord of Hosts" https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=48537&page=1&cid=1234438#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] get ready for a real "final solution" fuckers. Jews are out of time. Soon.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday April 03 2022, @12:18AM (4 children)
Norm is arguably "the original Miata guy" and while several of his descriptions of his 914 can be seen as bashing it for being less well designed than a Miata (particularly the transmission linkage bits) all too many of his other descriptions either currently apply to one or both of the Miatas we own (1991 and 1999) or have applied in the past.
Windows that don't roll down? Check. All too easy to ignore in a convertible.
Mystery dark current? Check. Current solution is a "smart" battery which protects itself from being drained dead, so open the trunk and press the reset button and pray that the reserve capacity is enough to get you started... It usually is.
Bent wheel undrivable above 50 mph, been there done that.
Miserable headlight? Check on the 1999 with plastic units, but the 7" rounds from 1991 are actually quite good.
Smells of oil and/or gasoline? Check... Not enough to make you lightheaded, at least not with the top down.
Weak cable parking brake? Check.
Don't have the carburetor woes, but aftermarket ECUs have had a very bad time starting when cold.
The other thing a thief in my 1991 Miata should watch out for is 240 ft-lbs of torque on-tap to the OEM sized tires which were originally mated with a 100 ft-lb max output engine. Wide open throttle in 1st gear will only make smoke with almost no forward progress. In 2nd gear it is as likely to move the car sideways as forward.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by Rich on Sunday April 03 2022, @03:36AM (3 children)
Any opinion on the ND? I once was looking out for an NB, but a great offer for an Elan M100 came in and I picked that as a summer runabout instead. So far it has less issues (GM/Isuzu drivetrain) than you mentioned for the Miatas , but the roof is freakin' leakin' with no recourse short of a major engineering task and it's turning 30 this year. I'd like to avoid having to spend too much attention on it. The Miata (MX-5), btw., is one of the most reliable cars in German statistics, holding the top spot at times.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday April 03 2022, @12:23PM (2 children)
20-30 year old cars all have some age related issues that are hard to avoid.
I chose to put a V6 in my NA rather than get an ND, not because the ND is a bad car... If I had to buy a new car the ND would be it, I just don't like all the new electronics integration and planned self destruction built into all new cars.
Almost any Miata of any age should be able to have a non leaking top for the price of a new canvas properly and installed (less than $1k), and maybe gasket replacement. Our 1999 drips a tiny bit due to rough gaskets, the 91 doesn't leak at all. Both have original gaskets and once replaced canvas, the 91 in 2005 and the 99 in 2018.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by Rich on Tuesday April 05 2022, @01:21AM (1 child)
Yeah, me too. The M100 has the GM 4 ECU with an 'HC11, and I've already done 'HC11 at work, if it really is needed. However, I'm not sure that I want it to get that far with just the fun car for summer. First World problem. OTOH, the 2006 smart car already has components digitally signed against each other and that annoys me to a point where I think it's more elegant to stick with the classics.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday April 05 2022, @02:31AM
They aren't perfect by any means, but after you have fully replaced the ECU with an aftermarket ECU then you only have headaches with it.
My first aftermarket ECU was HC11 based and I was actively doing HC11 development projects at work at the time, and had those thoughts of developing the car ECU myself, but in the end I let the ECU maker develop their software/hardware and I stuck with tuning and driving it.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 03 2022, @01:35AM
https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=48537&page=1&cid=1234471#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]
get ready for a real "final solution" fuckers. Jews are out of time. Soon.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 04 2022, @03:15PM
"no, I am not going to get any car made after the seventies, I have the coupe as a status car, I have the van as an utility vehicle, Next will be either a citroen 2cv, or a seven replica"