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Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 8:47 pm
by just brew it!
bthylafh wrote:
2005 Civic Hybrid. She's not much to look at (but she's paid for!), so I'll spare you. Most trouble-free car I've ever had.

The above-mentioned '98 Corolla has been wonderful as well. Burns a little oil, but I'm not gonna gripe about that on a car that is in its second decade and well on its way to 200K.

The '00 Altima and '02 Town & Country, not so much. I've been less than impressed with the quality and reliability on both of these vehicles.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 8:54 pm
by Captain Ned
just brew it! wrote:
Yes, our newest vehicle is 9 years old. If you've got kids in college who need assistance with tuition and expenses, you probably understand how this works.

T-minus 5 years and counting come September. I figure one more new car for wife & I in that time frame (since no debt on hers we should still come out with 1 payment at the end). Daughter's to-be car is already ID'd (MIL's car, 2000-ish Accord 4-cyl with silly-low miles, and MIL will be off-road within 5 years given her current driving trends) and that should easily last through college. We've got 1 payment now and if I can maintain 1 payment through 2020 we might be able to pull this off.

The problem in this deal is that I consistently average 130K miles in any 5-year span given the job.

[/handwave]

EDIT: OT to be sure, but the realization that my 13-YO daughter could be a college graduate in but 8 years really made me feel quite old all of a sudden, and not in a good way.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 9:16 pm
by just brew it!
Captain Ned wrote:
EDIT: OT to be sure, but the realization that my 13-YO daughter could be a college graduate in but 8 years really made me feel quite old all of a sudden, and not in a good way.

My oldest is already married... and brewing beer! Middle one is working as an intern where I work this summer. Youngest just graduated from high school, and recently joined the local women's Roller Derby league.

I think I've got you beat when it comes to kids-doing-stuff-that-makes-you-feel-old. :lol:

We now return you to your car-related thread (maybe). :wink:

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 9:26 pm
by Captain Ned
OK, so I got started late. :D

That said, I'm not happy with the murmurings and sussurrations I read in various Subaru fora. The turbo Legacy sedan I drive is, 2 model years in, pretty much an order-only item. It's rare to find more than 1 on a lot anywhere in Northern New England (give Subie one credit; they've come up with a uniform dealer inventory web app throughout New England). I've come to enjoy turbo Subies over the past decade and I simply can't imagine going back to the Impreza body size. Given the need for AWD and the desire for forced-induction giddyup, I either spend much more new or buy lots of problems used.

EDIT: Not a single Legacy GT in inventory in New England. Two in inventory in the Albany, NY area.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 9:44 pm
by just brew it!
Captain Ned wrote:
OK, so I got started late. :D

...and I got started a little early.

When do I get to have my mid-life crisis car?

Maybe my mid-life crisis event will be quitting my job and starting a brewery! :lol:

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:36 pm
by thegleek
Hoser wrote:
Once I get full time work, I plan on getting a motorcycle next year.

It's almost been a year hoser! Haven't been lurkering here to know whether you obtained one or not?

What year/make/model do you think you're going to go with? Have you rode before?

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:38 pm
by thegleek
just brew it! wrote:
Maybe my mid-life crisis event will be quitting my job and starting a brewery! :lol:

Forget the car! Open up a brewery! It'll give some of us Michigan folk a reason to come out your way (besides the New Glarus brewery) :D

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 11:52 am
by Hoser
thegleek wrote:
Hoser wrote:
Once I get full time work, I plan on getting a motorcycle next year.

It's almost been a year hoser! Haven't been lurkering here to know whether you obtained one or not?

What year/make/model do you think you're going to go with? Have you rode before?


Nope, haven't gotten one yet. I'm waiting for a small cash settlement to come in soon. I'm buying a 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse with it first.

I'm hoping to get a 2007-2010 Honda CBR600. Hopefully I can find an RR version on the cheap. Yes I've rode before. Years ago I owned a Suzuki RG500 Gamma. It's been a lot of years since I've ridden on a regular basis, but I'll be fine.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:20 pm
by thegleek
Only reason why I bring it up Hoser is because recently (as of 1-2 years ago) I got into riding motorcycles myself!

Picked up an old classic 1980 Yamaha XS850 for $600

Image

Pretty close photo of how my bike looks like (the photo itself is stored on my server, but not of my actual bike) to give you an idea...

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:21 pm
by Captain Ned
Ah, a UJM.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 4:55 pm
by leor
thegleek wrote:
Posting on TR

Whoa! Gleek! When did they let you back in? :D

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:00 am
by Philldoe
leor wrote:
thegleek wrote:
Posting on TR

Whoa! Gleek! When did they let you back in? :D


Yeah, when did that happen? Glad you're back though!

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:41 pm
by thegleek
Thanks... I was always here... Just didn't feel like posting anything for the past 5 years! 8)

On a lighter note, something happened to my car this weekend before we drove up for camping. Have to take it in Monday morning. Something like hissing noise (like a loose belt), but it's not a belt... Perhaps an air hose broke? Radiator went bad? When I opened up the hood, everything was SO hot - couldn't even touch anything.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:44 pm
by druidcent
thegleek wrote:
Only reason why I bring it up Hoser is because recently (as of 1-2 years ago) I got into riding motorcycles myself!

Picked up an old classic 1980 Yamaha XS850 for $600


Having just got my motorcycle license a couple months back, I'm curious to know, how did you figure out what type of motorcycle that you wanted? I want to practice, and become more comfortable on one, but I don't have one, and I don't want to drop a couple k on a bike that I'm not going to enjoy...

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 8:17 pm
by thegleek
druidcent wrote:
Having just got my motorcycle license a couple months back, I'm curious to know, how did you figure out what type of motorcycle that you wanted? I want to practice, and become more comfortable on one, but I don't have one, and I don't want to drop a couple k on a bike that I'm not going to enjoy...

Well the weekend crash course to get your CY endorsement introduced us to some pretty crappy Rebel 250cc's. SO funny how many people "drop" the bikes during training. Most of them are women who can't understand the shifting... and overweight people that just don't work very well with the small-sized Rebel's.

As for what type/style motorcycle I wanted. Easy. I want a Triumph bike. The Triumph Speedmaster is my ultimate goal. But I'll settle for a simple Bonneville or Thruxton.

Everyone has a Harley is mainly why I DO NOT want a Harley. And i'm not into crotch rocket bikes (with the exception of the Ducati line).

But alas, just like yourself, I do not want to drop a lot of $ for my first motorcycle. Not even to mention the fact, living in Michigan - we can't ride them all year 'round.

So, what it all comes down to (for me) is I love cafe style bikes. Be it a UJM/british/american, is how I found my 1980 Yahama 850xs. Saw it on the side of the road. Sign was $850 OBO. So I parked my car. Got out, guy gave me the keys to "test drive" it. I came back with all intentions to purchase it. Offered $600 and the rest is history!

The wife didn't think it was a wise purchase at the very start cuz of the problems I had with it (wouldn't start, lights were odd, tons o' stuff), but after I took it in for a repair - it runs so AWESOME my wife (now) thinks it was a very good purchase!

Here's an old photo I found when I first purchased it 3 years ago:

Image

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:09 am
by knate
Daily driver, completely stock 2007 350Z. Not my picture, but just like this:
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Then a Nissan 240SX that doesn't see much street time anymore. Dynoed at 358whp.
Image
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Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 11:20 pm
by idchafee
Image

Thinking very hard about selling it and waiting 10-15 years to get another one. Lost three friends this summer, sort of makes me wonder about the risk I take every time I swing my leg over the thing. I sort of think that its not fair to my kids to be doing this

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 11:39 pm
by Captain Ned
idchafee wrote:
Thinking very hard about selling it and waiting 10-15 years to get another one. Lost three friends this summer, sort of makes me wonder about the risk I take every time I swing my leg over the thing. I sort of think that its not fair to my kids to be doing this

Co-worker of mine tells the story of the day he caught the kick-stand on a curve and went low-side some 20 years ago. Stood up and wondered why his ankle was throbbing, then noticed he was up against an electric fence (this happened in VT cow country). When he got back home his wife told him "bike or kids, make your choice now". His oldest entered college this past weekend.

Everyone I know who rides has taken that ugly ride, and it's a question of when rather than if. At least the ones I know are smart enough to be properly equipped. I see the teenagers on the crotch rockets in wife-beaters, shorts, and flip-flops with their similarly-dressed girlfriend on the back. When I come up to them at a stoplight I roll down my window and tell them they're organ donors. They never get it.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:41 pm
by ludi
Captain Ned wrote:
Everyone I know who rides has taken that ugly ride, and it's a question of when rather than if. At least the ones I know are smart enough to be properly equipped. I see the teenagers on the crotch rockets in wife-beaters, shorts, and flip-flops with their similarly-dressed girlfriend on the back. When I come up to them at a stoplight I roll down my window and tell them they're organ donors. They never get it.

The foolish invincibility of youth. Some of them do "get" it eventually.

The way I've heard it, there's only two types of motorcyclists: Those who have laid down a bike, and those that will. Have an uncle that got beat to bits in his late twenties in a bike accident. Ketchup used to be a standing joke in the family, because his taste took a long time to recover, and apparently for about five or ten years after the accident he would slather ketchup on everything just to perk it up. Not sure if my BIL has ever dropped his Honda cruiser, but he does wear full shoes, leather chaps, and a helmet for every ride. If my sis goes with him, she gets the chaps instead, and both wear helmets.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 1:01 pm
by thegleek
Not sure how people acquire their CY endorsement. I signed up for a state-funded course (was $25 out of my pocket) by MSF (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) at a local community college for $25. Held for 3 days on the weekend. We each got a Rebel 250cc to ride. Friday is classroom study, Saturday is all riding, and Sunday is testing. In the end, I'm glad I went through that as I learned some stuff that's vital for survival.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 12:13 am
by thegleek
ludi wrote:
The way I've heard it, there's only two types of motorcyclists: Those who have laid down a bike, and those that will.

Ah the classic expression of duality when it comes to anything "risky"...

If you wanna claim your 2 types of motorcyclists (laid down...will), then that can be follow up with infinite of similar examples. A few:

There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous and those that are liars.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who understand binary and those who don’t.
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who follow the rules and those who make the rules.
There are two kinds of statistics: the kind you look up, and the kind you make up.
There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance.

You may hate gravity, but gravity doesn't care.
Gravity is a contributing factor in nearly 73 percent of all accidents involving falling objects.
The gravity is the first thing which you don't think.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:47 pm
by idchafee
I'm in the 1st group, laid it down and walked away with a gash in my forehead and some nasty road rash. The helmet took a decent shot too, but better the helmet than my head.

Thing is, 2 of my 3 dead friends were also wearing helmets......

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:48 pm
by idchafee
thegleek wrote:
Not sure how people acquire their CY endorsement. I signed up for a state-funded course (was $25 out of my pocket) by MSF (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) at a local community college for $25. Held for 3 days on the weekend. We each got a Rebel 250cc to ride. Friday is classroom study, Saturday is all riding, and Sunday is testing. In the end, I'm glad I went through that as I learned some stuff that's vital for survival.


I took the same course, and it did teach me a lot. However, it didn't teach the lady that pulled out in front of me to not pull out in front of me.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 10:10 pm
by Waco
I don't have any recent pictures - but I drive a 2007 Cobalt SS. Mods include poly transmission and engine mounts, tint, badge removal, and a set of 12" subs running IB off of the stock amp. The exhaust is a one-off 3" cat back with a huuuuuge resonator and a Hahn racecraft muffler. It's still too loud...but oh well. The silencer on the intake is gone too, I like the sound of the supercharger. :D

Oh yeah, I have a set of those Pulstar spark plugs in it too. They really cleaned up the idle (I didn't expect to see *any* difference).


On a good note I drove from Clemson, SC to Knoxville, TN and back in a day a couple weeks ago for a meeting and averaged 38.3 MPG for the trip...and all I did to keep my mileage up was to keep the boost needle in the negative. :P Can't argue with that. I get ~30 MPG in mixed driving as long as I keep my foot off of the go pedal.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 11:13 pm
by thegleek
Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this rolling down the highway coming back from work last week or so:

Image :o

That's right, the ultra-rare, uber-expensive Rolls Royce Phantom SUV. This wasn't a DEALER car either, no "D" or "M" plate on it.

It had a consumer vanity plate: IM GOOD

Oh and of course I took a photo (while driving), here it is (you can read the plate too!):

Image 8)

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:15 am
by thegleek
Saw some cool luxury cars lately...

2012 Range Rover Evoque ( link )

2012 Bentley Continental GT ( link )

The L.E.D.'s used on these high-end luxury cars are crazy insane cool and VERY unique!

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 6:57 am
by bluepiranha
This was from my last trackday at Clark International Speedway - Short Course, just one week ago.

Image

I'd like grippier tires, but I gotta wait until my Kumho Ecsta SPTs have worn down enough.


I also have some video if you're interested.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:51 pm
by PenGun
This is what I'm driving now:

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A very sweet 93 Lincoln Mark VIII with about 100,000 miles on her, 75,000 on the motor.

Stole it. $1550 Canadian. Now I have a project car to eat up all my money. It''s been a while.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 2:38 am
by Vinceant
My main vehicle right now is a '85 Toyota Pickup, pulled straight off of a country homes yard. It's a bit of a project vehicle, but I love it. Rusted to hell, beat to ****, but still driving fine. I don't have any pictures of the exterior right now, I'll have to get some, I do have to pictures of the engine, and the valves if people are interested.

I'm not a mechanic, even an amateur one, but I'm learning how to work on engines on this thing, fun stuff. Only done minor things so far, though. I'll need to replace the timing chain/guides soon though, as it's using the stock plastic ones (which can spell doom for an engine like this), and that's going to be a really complicated job, and my first of it's kind.

Re: What are you driving RIGHT NOW?

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:10 pm
by Waco
My Cobalt SS from my last post in this thread is dead. Dead as in totalled off of I-85 Southbound in SC. My doc prescribed me Ambien...and 18 hours after taking it I blacked out on the highway at 70 MPH.

Anyway, my new project/fun car to keep me busy (I have serious issues concentrating after the accident so I'm out of a job...I'd be at ORNL otherwise :() is a 1993 Miata. :P

I bought it for DIRT cheap and this is what it looked like then:
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...and this is what it looks like as of last month (I've gotten more done, but don't have newer pictures):

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