Wasnt the Astra in the US as a Saturn?
I did a google search and you are correct, it was the VXR model that was never released :bluu:
Made a little mod to my car, added a front splitter to the bumper, also added some surrounds to my side indicator lights.
I believe that this might be of interest to the people here.
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Sounds almost right. Needs a bit more bass and more pop on the overrun though.
EDIT:
Bare carbon is sexy.
[media=youtube]TwzESE12VYs[/media]
And another one bites the dust.
R.I.P. Sergio, the designs your company made were more often than not, the sheer definition of sex on four wheels.
rotating tires, yay or nay? reading shit online and some are saying itās useless, not helpful
I though this was kind of a cool video. i wouldnāt mind having a city that I could just tear through with my dream car.
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Yes it does a lot when you rotate your tires. Longer and even wear on the tires, though eventually instead of replacing 2, you will end up replacing all 4 tires, but I personally would rather end up with all 4 new tires as it will have good drive ability. If you drive a fwd vehicle or even awd, and have little to no tread, you will have an increase of understeer and not be good in some situations. Vice versa for rwd, little to no tread in the rear tires will cause the car to have over steer. Also some people I work with say that the negligence of not rotating will cause ācuppingā when the structural integrity of the tires have constant wear will be weaken causing the area by the sidewall to expand more than it originally allowed, thus causing poor drive ability, not a smooth ride.
Anyone seen the new viper leaked pics? Damn it looks ugly. I think the grill is just all wrong
[media=youtube]8hDDBN_pIUQ[/media]
The Swedes really know how to make luxery supercars
[media=youtube]qp_qxKWMsVw[/media]
Whatās SRKās opinion on the FT-86?
brz > ft86
Why is that? Is it the interior or the AWD?
The Corvette community are an interesting folk. If you peak over on Corvette Forum in the C7 section, you will see A LOT of āThe sky is fallingā threads about the C7. GM has been so tight lipped about the C7 in comparison to other generations of Corvette, that many worry. The two generations before it were snapped in spy shots long before their launch date. The car will be fantastic. My biggest hang up with the Vette faithful is they want the new C7 to equally perform or out perform cars like Ferrari and Porsche but want the car to come in under $60K. On top of that, they also want it to have an interior second to none, and nothing less than 500hp in the base model will do.
Additionally, current enthusiast are threatened by the cars producing superior power numbers like the 2013 Cobra, which is forced induction assisted and the new SRT Viperā¦a car with roughly two liters more in displacement with two extra pistons. Sometimes they smoke crack but they are my brethren. I drink the Corvette Cool Aid too but I can put it down to acknowledge other brands.
I gave up on my 396 stroker motor in favor of a 383. 396 builds require a special crankshaft and rods. My Corvette is a 1985 model but the ecu is very limited on managing high hp. I yanked it all out in favor of a 1986 ecu and wiring, which is able to keep up with hotrodded engines. The block is a four bolt hydraulic lifter block, actually a particular one piece rear seal design that is hard to come by. Iām in Jacksonville, Florida but I have a builder in Utah who will be putting it together for me. Heās put together his share of v8 engines from 427s to 408 c.i.d. blower motors and done more 383s than he can count.
At the current pointā¦Iām burned out on this project and wish I had just did a stock restoration. The car would be working by now. Figure a bread and butter crate motor is $2800-$3000 to your door, ready start once you add fuel and spark. Iām looking at the following for the 383 route:
Engine block: $300 (got it)
4340 crank: $300 (got it on a trade)
SRP forged pistons: $500 (got it)
Crower 7/16 stroker rods: $750 (avoiding for now)
Comp Cams camshaft: $300 (got it)
Z/F 6 speed flywheel: $300 (got it)
Machine work: $1000 (ā¦not looking forward to it butā¦)
AFR Heads: $1500 (ā¦not trying to thinking about spending for it yet)
Miniram Intake: $800 (Picked up from a fellow forum member and saved $600)
Throttlebody: $200 (not bought)
Distributor: $300 (not bought)
Miscellaneous: $500 (when the time comes)
Labor: $500 (wish I was at this point)
Shipping: $500 (ditto for this)
Roughly 8 grand for the motor, from intake to oil pan. I envy four banger guys building their own powerhouses for A LOT cheaper. The 396 wouldāve been maybe a grand more to do. The downside to doing a 396 was the requirement of a new engine management system called FAST Classic to run itā¦guys want $1000 for used units. So I figured I give up 13 cubic inches and the cheesy tie-in to the cubic inch displacement of the first Corvette big blocks offered that only Corvette enthusiast would understand. Iām also giving up 30-50 hp across the rev range of the motor instead of forking out more money for the FAST controller unit.
The car was originally an automatic, that is long gone. The flywheel is specific to a german manufactured six speed manual for Corvettes 1989 through 1996. The six speed will be $1,000 easy for a used unit under 70,000 miles on it. Not too many people know the intricacies in the details of rebuilding them so those who do know donāt do them for cheap. If I want a trans that has been through and refreshed by a pro, $2,000 is the starting pointā¦it only goes up from there.
Thankfully, the Germans over engineered these transmissions, they can regularly see 300hp to 800hp+ range and be happy. I had to ditch my old Dana 36 rear differential, which was designed to work with an automatic. The new 383 would grenade it so out came another $1,000 for the heavy duty Dana 44 rear differential. The machine shop which will do my work balances the rotating assembly to within half a gram of tolerance. Crate motors are between 5 and 7 grams by comparison These motors idle smoothly and rev smoothlyā¦you get what you pay for and thatās why the machine work is so steep.
My builder did a 396 for another Vette owner and it pullsed hard to 6600 rpm during a data logging session before any type of fuel cutoff or timing pull occurs as programmed into the pricey fuel management unit. Iām not too sure how much hydraulic roller blocks enjoy rpm that high but for my 383, my builder said I could spin it to about 6400 rpm without issue. The cam I picked however looks to be happy until 6200 rpm. The pricey intake is designed around higher rpm operation. Looking to see in excess of 500 hp. The motor will be a money pit to build but once done, if I get tired of ājustā 500 hp, a blower can be added without fear of the bottom end not holding up. I should be very happy with it. If an LS3 Corvette can get fishtail when you stomp it at 30 mph with just 436 hp, Iām pretty sure 500+ hp will kill me just as easily.
Burning the money is the easy part, Iām worried about washing the rings on a new 8 grand motor once it is in my hands to install. In the meantime, Iāll have to get the rest of the car in order before I even get to the engine part. Iāll have to put some pics up of what Iām up to on it. Iām looking to have the engine at my doorstep by late fall. There will be plenty faster here in Jacksonville but might be fun to surprise a C6 Corvette or even a new C7 owner when an old slow 80s Corvette pulls on them through a couple of gears. I see why you pay $60,000+ for a new one now: you just get in it and drive it and enjoy it. The engineers and builders did all the hard and sometimes boring stuff.
So I am heading to pick up a whip today. All I am gonna say is that it is going to be my first ever build project, so i will keep you all posted. And I will try to update my build as much as possible.
It did get invited to Worldās Greatest Drag Race II. That says something there.
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Not surprised with the results of this one.
Honestly most people would do this if they can afford it. Iāve liked Vettes too but I didnāt fall in love with them until a friend of mine got the 06 Z06 when they first came out. It made me buy a C6 (stock) a few years later. It was used as a weekend car so I kept it stock. No need for extra power since my 99 camaro SS was the street monster (built by Prostreet Motorsports). My wifeās SUV was our daily driver.
Iāve since sold both the C6 and the 99ā SS and picked up a 2011 SS. Iām still wanting to own a 06 Z06 to replace the C6 as the weekend car. The 2011 Camaro SS will be the street monster. Been working out thespecs for a Twin Turbo setup with Prostreet for the last few months. Anyway, most people who just buy the car canāt really drive it or tell you anything about it. They usually donāt race it either.
what kind?
I totally went left field with this one but I went the European route.
Say hello to my 1996 BMW 318ti 5spd (aka project Compact M). I got it for $1,100 yesterday. It runs really good, it just runs hot (due to there not being any coolant in the car). The body was in great shape for it to be a 96ā and there are only a couple of issues with the interior (mainly just needs a good detailing). Well my goal is to give it the M look and slowly enhance the engine with and just make it look nice. I have already ordered a new stereo (the stock one had to go) along with an air filter and spark plugs. I may buy a new radiator soon. But sorry for the crappy cell pic, it was the only one I could get before I had to leave this morning. i will upload some more detailed pictures later on this evening, so you all know what I am dealing with.
LOL at the BRZ.
BTW BRZ = FR-S as far as specs. So lol at both of them. I hate those 2 wannabe sports cars
Its funny because the only cars I see on that list as garbage is the Nissans and the S2000. I guess people just got different opinions. And the M3 holds its value best out of those cars so it will most likely be way more expensive than the other cars on that list.