Lets talk about cars/motorsports

Couldn't find a car thread in here. Lets talk about them.

What do you guys think of the new NSX that Acura released? Personally I think its awful, and in insult to the timeless design of the original, and would be best kept on the drawing board.

A word of warning: seeding a general thread with a "don't like" post invites it to become about complaining.

I'm not a car junkie, but I am also not indifferent to aesthetics. I'm sad to see Pontiac go away because that make had some of my favorite cars by looks, such as the T-top Trans Am and the Grand Prix. My current G6 is saddled with engine problems, though.

I remember reading the occasional article about super-expensive cars and I fell in love with the McLaren F1. When I earn my second or third million dollars I'll maybe consider getting a supercar like that, but where in the U.S. would you drive it?

Yeah I know I shouldn't have, but for some reason I couldn't think of anything else for some reason.

That's the problem with more or less any car that has a hint of performance in it, you can't have any legal fun with it. Since public racetracks are so scarce you're kind of screwed. That said, there's always long desert highways...

edited 8th Feb '12 9:55:01 AM by LurkerMcNasty

Another reason I'm afraid to race my normal driving car is that I'm paranoid about breaking something that insurance won't cover.

This book was the source of many a teen-aged day dream... and near accident!

...I so wanted a Ford Shelby Cobra...

edited 8th Feb '12 11:21:32 AM by DeMarquis

I rather like the new NSX. Granted, I don't like that it seems to have moved further upmarket than the original (supposedly, it's gonna compete against the Nissan GT-R), but it's still nice.

What I'm really interested in, though, is the Toyota GT-86/Scion FR-S and the Subaru BR-Z. Affordable small RWD sports cars? Sign me up!

^Yeah, I would love to get an FR-S myself, actually. Too bad I don't need a new car, and couldn't afford one anyway.

edited 8th Feb '12 11:59:15 PM by Acebrock

Very Audi R8 in appearance, I'd say. Not that it's coming to Britain soon (as the Honda NSX — your Acura are mostly our Hondas, just with different badges).

Then again, I've got a Rover 25, so anything else is out of reach right now...

Don't know about the NSX, I liked the last ones when they turned up on Top Gear though.

I would do anything, literally anything, to get a 959 series Porsche tuned up by Alois Ruf and painted in NATO IRR Olive Green.

What does everyone think about high-performance trucks and SUVs?

High-Performance Trucks?

I'm a big fan of performance trucks, just cuz no one expects something like that to actually be fast. I'm partial to the early 2000s Dodge Dakota R/T's.

^^I might have seen a video of that once. That's the one with the big semi trucks, right?

^I believe there was a Ram SRT-10 once. As in, a Ram with the engine of the Dodge Viper (well, disregarding the fact that the Viper's engine was originally from the Ram, with an aluminum block by Lamborghini). I think the only performance truck you can get right now is the Ford SVT F-150 Raptor (though I only say that since I don't know of any high-performance truck offerings by GM).

Oh god, the Raptor. That's not a street performance truck per-se, it was geared more toward the off-road crowd. It definitely has the looks of something that could be in a Baja race. Hell, the suspension on that thing has been designed so well in terms of off-road capability that its practically suggested you get it airborne at least once.

Yep. Well, in the non-US sense of things, not in the US sense — after all, you've got bigger tractor units than almost anyone else.

And, as an odd thing — the diesel in the Dodge Ram (the Cummins B-series) is used here to power buses like the Dennis Dart*

What's odd about that, besides them being used to power buses? Chrysler Group has never really made their own diesel engines, preferring to outsource them instead. Plus, if it can power a bus, imagine the towing capacity it bestows on the Ram!

Also, yeah, European semis/tractor units seem smaller than what we have here in the US (which is odd, since Freightliner is owned by Daimler, which probably means that you get the big ol' Freightliners there).

^^Well, yeah, off-road makes sense for a truck.

edited 10th Feb '12 3:50:42 PM by RocketDude

Anyone else looking forward to the new F1 season? How Raikonnen does is of interest; Michael Schumacher came back and deservedly failed miserably, but maybe Kimi will do better?

I dunno, all I really know is that the new car noses are a bit ugly.

More seriously, Kimi's return under Lotus should be interesting, don't know what happened to the yellow-and-green Caterham team, and that's about it.

Jenson Button likes his new car apparently, which is a good sign for the Mc Laren team; theirs just wasn't up to scratch last year, and Vettel totally curbstomped all in sight. I like Vettel, so despite the Boring Invincible Hero thing I don't mind it. He's young, competitive, likeable, not a total asshat like Schumacher, nor a whining exploiter of anything he can get his hands on like Hamilton, nor a chancing git who cheats his way to victory.

Well, granted, RBR managed to smash everything because they, at first, were using a blown diffuser (even though everyone was doing that or something). FIA banned that mid-season. And now, they may have found a workaround with the new nose.

Yeah, I'm not much of a fan of RBR.

No one else held a candle to them in the rest of the season either though, and even at the start, everyone had the same options for that technology. Can hardly be held against RBR if they simply use it better than anyone else!

What? Car thread?

Now you can continue.

edited 10th Feb '12 6:32:09 PM by Joesolo

Nice song, but after a recent argument in this forum, it has Unfortunate Implications, n'est-ce pas?

edit: n'est-ce pas means, (roughly) isn't that so?

edited 10th Feb '12 9:19:07 PM by TamH70

I duuno, I figured I could get a positive subject going. Arguments online rarely accomplish anything but stress for all involved.

Besides, It's Top Gear 's theme. It's related.

What did the last part mean anyway?

edited 10th Feb '12 6:49:48 PM by Joesolo

Anyways, fun fact: before Fiat-Chrysler, there was the Chrysler TC by Maserati: