Our new Indie Games subforum is now open for business in G&T. Go and check it out, you might land a code for a free game. If you're developing an indie game and want to post about it,
follow these directions. If you don't, he'll break your legs! Hahaha! Seriously though.
Our rules have been updated and given
their own forum. Go and look at them! They are nice, and there may be new ones that you didn't know about! Hooray for rules! Hooray for The System! Hooray for Conforming!
Flappy Paddle is the one true shifter. [Car] Thread.
Posts
Weather was great this weekend, so I decided some topless driving was in order. I get in the Beetle and crank it up and open the top. I hear this ear-piercing screeching sound coming from my engine.
Fookin' Secondary Air Pump is shot to hell.
Popped the hood and unplugged the bastard.
Easy fix :mrgreen:
Nintendo ID: Beltaine
3DS: 2423-2361-7857
Steam: beltane77 PSN: Beltaine-77
That is the one thing that never broke on my Turbo Beetle convertible.
Hopefully it starts feeling great sometime soon. Right now I still feel like such an idiot for working on this problem for over a year. It would feel like an actual accomplishment if it was some obscure problem I finally found and fixed.
On the bright side, I will be able to drive the car around without getting furious at the idle. I've also learned a ridiculous amount about how a car idles and what can affect it. So that's always a plus.
No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
I dealt with the manager and the salesperson. The salesman (Chad) was so adorable and timid that I actually had to push him a little to explain things I wanted. He couldn't have been older than 19 years old and his tie still had the little plastic thing on it from when he bought it at the store.
But he sought answers to my questions if he didn't know them, and was very polite and accommodating. I told his manager that I wanted him to receive a little bonus for this sale because he made a lifetime customer out of me with his willingness to go above and beyond. I told him that if I refer people to the company and/or come in to buy another car myself, I would only deal with him. He actually blushed a little.
The Apocalypse Has Never Been More Fun
Secret Satan Wishlist!! Thinkgeek Wish List
The financing guy was really the biggest scheister of them all. He tried at first to get me an interest rate of 14%. I about walked out for real at that.
Also I got a bunch of crap like my first two injector cleanings, 2 oil changes, state inspections, etc etc free (*they* claimed that was worth like $600)
All in all I ended up walking out by paying $22,221. My credit isn't Perfect, but I secured financing at 4.5% - which was waaaaaay better than Capital One's 9.4.
The one thing I *really really really really really* wanted was the in-dash navigation system. But the only way to get that was to buy the Limited model and I really don't want leather seats or any of the other crap that comes with it. So I just went ahead and got the next one down. I am looking now at maybe purchasing one and having it installed. It'll only increase the price of the vehicle for resale.
The Apocalypse Has Never Been More Fun
Secret Satan Wishlist!! Thinkgeek Wish List
Last year I had to replace a motor on the rear passenger window. That was a serious pain in the ass.
Nintendo ID: Beltaine
3DS: 2423-2361-7857
Steam: beltane77 PSN: Beltaine-77
All I can picture is you attaching an I4 engine to operate the window. Imagine the possibilities ....like opening and closing the window REALLY fast.
No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
McLaren MP4-12C. It's... unique looking but only in a confusing way. I passed it while it was waiting to turn out of a side street, and neither me nor my wife could figure out what it was from the front. I had to slow down and let it catch up and pass us to see the McLaren badge on the back. It's supposed to compete with the 458 Italia and Gallardo and, well, from the front it kind of looks like a 458 and from the side and back it kind of looks like a Gallardo, so I guess it succeeded? But for over $300k, it seems kind of a waste for a car that difficult to figure out what it actually is.
Bwah? 300k seems pretty reasonable when it pulls better track times than the bugatti veyron and beat the ferrari 458 and the Enzo around the top gear track by THREE SECONDS. It was only 1 second off that super duper Ariel Atom v8 and it has a roof, a stereo, and AC.
Also, screw Clarkson. I like the looks of the McClaren better than the 458.
No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
Tell me that's close to become reality, pleeeeeease.
The Apocalypse Has Never Been More Fun
Secret Satan Wishlist!! Thinkgeek Wish List
Cadillac started this in the early 00's on the DeVille/DTS, but it didn't catch on. It was a ~$3k option if I remember right. Here's a video!
Does anyone else do that? That seems to be the most awesome thing in the world!
(I live in Saskatchewan--winter (and frost) fucking sucks!)
That looks like some crappy thermal camera rather than night vision. All you can make out are the headlights and license plates. It showed no road features. I doubt you would see some rock that has fallen into the road with that thing.
No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
Yup, just got one earlier this year, the hatchback. I love the handling, the transmission, and especially the gas mileage. I drive about 60-80 miles a day total for work, and I average about 34mpg (70/30 mix of highway and city) without making any special effort to conserve gas. I can push to 40-44 mpg during long road trips, so the real world gas mileage really is impressive!
I elected for the automatic because I'm lazy (plus I hit a good deal of traffic on my commute), but the manual tranny really is something to behold. Smooth, super short throws, just a joy to drive, pretty similar to the way the Miata's used to run.
I didn't see any sort of badging on the back. The tailights set high and wide and were rectangular (not round) and they were solid red, so no funky chrome things. It might possibly have been mid-engine. He pulled out on the highway in front of me. I sped up to try and see what it was, but he was moving on, I gave up when I hit 85 mph and still wasn't catching up.
It's gotta be from some obscure car company, but I dunno.
Nintendo ID: Beltaine
3DS: 2423-2361-7857
Steam: beltane77 PSN: Beltaine-77
Yeah, it was really just a FLIR camera they marketed as night vision. That video isn't so great though, it had better definition to what it showed when you were sitting right in front of it.
Yes it will. I work with thermal cameras from time to time and things like rock formations will stand out because they radiate heat differently then the surrounding ground usually does. It's actually a better option for this then a camera with a low lux value because the thermal won't be blinded by it's headlights or have the flattening effect you'd see with lots of WDR.
I had one go bad when they were back-ordered for 6months and the repair kits were at 3weeks. When they finally got the kit in I dropped it off, they had it for a day and I picked it back up. I put the top down and drove home. Then it started to rain while I was on the interstate so I pulled over, put the top up, and put up the windows while watching the one that just got fixed, it went up fine. So I smiled and looked to the other side, and it was broken.
I called up my service rep and she literally said "you're shitting me" to which I replied "Nope." She offered me a rental for as long as it took to get the parts in to fix it, I was like, nah just order it.
No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
They have gotten tons better though. Most of my friends drive VWs.
When it was working though, it was a blast to drive. I kinda miss it sometimes.
Perhaps, but I think a lot of it is simply that some places just don't have anyone that knows how to work on them.
I had it for maybe 6 months before it started to fall apart.
I had a stutter at low RPMs which I could not get rid of to save my life; and even after having it tuned the guy could not figure it out.
The driver's side window broke. The easiest way to fix it is to replace the whole door. To get to the window mechanism, you have to cut the door apart, and re-weld it back together when you're done.
I went through 3 transmissions. I sold it after swapping in a transmission for the last time, and it blew up within a week. I never did any burnouts or drove it too hard, as it was too fragile to be beat upon.
I had a wheel fall off while merging on the freeway.
Within about a month, the whole suspension went bad.
The alternator self-destructed
The passenger power seat refused to work.
I think the only thing that worked consistently was the stereo, which was aftermarket.
At least you had a real hood. Imagine working on a 1.8t in a cab-forward designed Beetle. Everything from the coils back is under the cowl.
I still wouldn't give it up for anything else... maybe...
Nintendo ID: Beltaine
3DS: 2423-2361-7857
Steam: beltane77 PSN: Beltaine-77
Oh yeah, I've seen the engine compartments of those Beetles. Everything cramped and awful about working on a MkIV only magnified. Apparently the only reason the 1.8T Beetles were down-rated HP-wise from the Jetta and Golf was because the plumbing for the turbo and exhaust was restricted because of the lack of room in that tiny engine compartment.
A chip takes care of that real quick since the later and convertible Beetle Turbos have the same K03S that the Jetta and GTIs came with.
Makes a HUGE difference.
I know too. It's just a shame Ford won't ever release the Mustang in the U.K. Even if they just sold the V6 I'd be happy. I think the Camaro is coming over for silly money (£35k-40k I think) Which I think follows the pricing structure of replacing the $ for a £ and ripping us off. If Ford could get a basic V6 over here for £22,000 I would go giddy.