The cars you have loved, or are in love with. Tell us your car history and what each one taught you

[DasguteOhr]

A question to all the people whom have modified their cars - was it worth the effort?

I have rather reached the conclusion that it is better to buy the right car in the first place and just do a couple of tweaks like a remap / geo rather than spend too much time and money on wholesale rebuilding far beyond the factory spec, especially since aftermarket parts are often less thoroughly developed than one might have hoped for. If I were to get another hot hatch, then it might be something like the new FL5 Type R which has had all the nice stuff fitted at the factory.

to get to the point you have to have the desire and ability to build it yourself otherwise it will be extremely expensive. You don't have the money to buy a ferrari. but you want to be just as fast or faster and feel the acceleration. so you build yourself a sleeper there is no better feeling when you defeat a porsche or ferrari in a dragrace with your 50000€ car including conversion. i can say i had a lot of fun twenty years ago.

 

[DasguteOhr]

Oh that M5 sounds incredible!

You must hear it in a tunnel goosebumps in every part of your body...gurantee

 

[infinitely baffled]

Toyota Land Cruisers. A bunch of them, until gas hit $5 per gallon during some crisis where the oil companies take advantage of us all with no repercussions.

I learned that if I bought a new Prius (in 2008) and kept it for 10 years, the Land Cruiser as the down payment plus gas savings would pay for the car.

Recently got on the Subaru bandwagon and found out that a light 4-wheel drive can go anywhere! I spent the winter in Montana running circles around big 4-wheelers.

Dream car has always been a 1995 Porsche 911, last year of the air-cooled. Or an Austin Bugeye Sprite.

Would that be a Subaru Forester or Impreza?
(Obviously they're pretty much identical under the skin)
For me the Forester is a definite q-car. And Imprezas are just awesome

 

[Fishfood]

Would that be a Subaru Forester or Impreza?
(Obviously they're pretty much identical under the skin)
For me the Forester is a definite q-car. And Imprezas are just awesome

CrossTrek!

 

[morricab]

My ultimate q-car was my 1993 Maserati 430 4V…2.8l twin turbo V6. Lovely to be in and a blast to drive…the Turbos make such a nice whoosh when you let off the gas and the waste gates opened. It might be one of the rarest cars mentioned here as well with only 192 made. The in gear acceleration was truly special

My other car worth mentioning was my 2006 Lotus Europa S. Superior handling and enough shove to make twisty mountain drives truly memorable.

 

[DasguteOhr]

a street version of the ktm crossbow gt-xr will be available next year. completely made of carbon. engine audi 5cyl turbo from the rs3 street version 500hp race track version 700hp weight 1120kg . unbelievable you can drive it on the street legally even in germany. Unfortunately, the base price is €320,000. Sorry dreamcar must post it look at youtube videos some reviews online.

X-BOW GT-XR 2023

ktm.com

 

[Gregadd]

1992 Mazda Rx7 twin turbo R1. A street legal race car. I drove it from 1992-2000 same color

 

[infinitely baffled]

my first car i drove was my Dad's 1960 Desoto. big wings, with a 413 with cross ram intake manifold and push button shifting. a stormer. fastest car at my High School which i proved a few times.

Had to google that one Mike.
What a beast!

1960 Desoto - Google Search

 

[DasguteOhr]

1992 Mazda Rx7 twin turbo R1. A street legal race car.View attachment 99709

Brap..brap amazing sound ported?

 

[infinitely baffled]

1992 Mazda Rx7 twin turbo R1. A street legal race car.View attachment 99709

A fantastic machine Greg. A true Touge champion.
But i never got on with the sound of that wankel

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Had to google that one Mike.
What a beast!

1960 Desoto - Google Search

with the 413 ci big block it could boogie once it took a very deep breath. and it better be aimed in the right direction since it did not like turning all that much. no replacement for displacement. love that 34 cents a gallon gasoline.

great hiway car.

 

[Gregadd]

A fantastic machine Greg. A true Touge champion.
But i never got on with the sound of that wankel

engine twin cycle, twin turbo, and twin oil coolers. it did sound a little like a Honda The Wankel did burn oil.

 

[infinitely baffled]

engine twin cycle, twin turbo, and twin oil coolers. it did sound a little like a Honda The Wankel did burn oil.

Its what makes the car great. And also kinda ruins it?
A technical masterpiece, excellent power from such a small capacity, light engine.
I know of folk who put v8's in them, apparently that works a treat. Although ditching the twins for a big single turbo is more common. It's strange Mazda went with the complicated sequential turbos, given how well the design manages bigger turbos.
The heavily tuned wankel versions reigned supreme for a while at Touge, proving the strength of the original concept.

Unfortunately having personally suffered a few bottom end failures in cars that were using oil, I've always shied away from them. Despite looking fantastic, superb driving dynamics and cool image. Maybe it's the sound.
In the right hands they can be properly maintained and are perfectly reliable, but i suspect the spring rates are too high to work on Scottish roads. Still that's easily rectified with a set of more supple coilovers.
But really, this is evo country?

 

[infinitely baffled]

with the 413 ci big block it could boogie once it took a very deep breath. and it better be aimed in the right direction since it did not like turning all that much. no replacement for displacement. love that 34 cents a gallon gasoline.

great hiway car.

It puts me in mind of Herman Munster's dragster.

Would be awesome to take to raves, you'd probably get half a dozen wingmen packed in the ranks?
I've never actually fitted a proper stereo to one of my cars, the added weight rules it out.
But in something that big, you could really go to town

Things are a bit more 'point to point' these sides; one thing we don't have here are straight roads. Or dry ones?
They generally follow rivers and valleys, so think 'hill climb' or 'tarmac rally' and you'll be on the right track.
What you need here is lightness, agility, supple suspension, lots of grip and traction, strong brakes as well as good punch out of the corners. Much like your 911 in fact. And then it turns out you're in heaven, the roads are incredible, well sighted and lightly trafficked.
Theres something very satisfying about following the natural contours of the land. Ancient ways that were once tracks used by animals

I've currently got a v8 barge for dog carrying, merc cl55 amg. And my toyota mr.2 would leave it for dead on the lanes, just way too much mass over the crests and even more in the dips. That much weight plummenting down and the road rising to meet you, the forces are massive. So you have to take it easy, and then at 6 tenths the suspension stops tying itself in knots and it's all very pleasant
(Obviously A roads and motorways are a different matter.
Though i still feel like Mr Toad hustling something that big).

But the dogs seem to like it.

 

[infinitely baffled]

My ultimate q-car was my 1993 Maserati 430 4V…2.8l twin turbo V6. Lovely to be in and a blast to drive…the Turbos make such a nice whoosh when you let off the gas and the waste gates opened. It might be one of the rarest cars mentioned here as well with only 192 made. The in gear acceleration was truly special

My other car worth mentioning was my 2006 Lotus Europa S. Superior handling and enough shove to make twisty mountain drives truly memorable.

Did the maserati have the boomerang tail lights?

 

[morricab]

Did the maserati have the boomerang tail lights?

No, it was a generation before that car. That was the 3200 gt

 

[Gregadd]

Its what makes the car great. And also kinda ruins it?
A technical masterpiece, excellent power from such a small capacity, light engine.
I know of folk who put v8's in them, apparently that works a treat. Although ditching the twins for a big single turbo is more common. It's strange Mazda went with the complicated sequential turbos, given how well the design manages bigger turbos.
The heavily tuned wankel versions reigned supreme for a while at Touge, proving the strength of the original concept.

Unfortunately having personally suffered a few bottom end failures in cars that were using oil, I've always shied away from them. Despite looking fantastic, superb driving dynamics and cool image. Maybe it's the sound.
In the right hands they can be properly maintained and are perfectly reliable, but i suspect the spring rates are too high to work on Scottish roads. Still that's easily rectified with a set of more supple coilovers.
But really, this is evo country?

turbo lag is the reason for twin turbos. rather than getting a kick in the butt, there was a relatively smooth pull all the way to the red line.
the technology has come a long way since then. I would not have known my sisters' MB S550 had twin turbos in her V8 if I had not read it in the spec sheet.

 

[rpk]

Most of the cars presented here are sports or extreme sports cars, so I like to present my cars with the best finish as an alternative: VW Phaeton.
When the wooden flaps with motors moved in front of the air vents, that was interesting to see every time, then you looked again at a continuous wooden dashboard.
The air conditioning worked absolutely draught-free and the whole finish of the interior was on 6-star level. The Phaeton was already a benchmark for finish at the beginning of the 20th century.
From the outside, the Phaeton was pure understatement with 12 or 8 cylinders.

The visit to the "Gläserne Manufaktur" in Dresden to pick up the Phateon was also very impressive and the only car production with wooden parquet flooring I ever got to know. Unfortunately, my photos (wooden dashboard and takeover in the "Gäsernen Manufaktur") are too large to post here.

By the way: The KTM X-Bow 2007 was really a hobblecar......

Regards Rainer

PS: One photo works = my first phateon (black piano finish) overtake at "Gläserne Manufaktur", 2nd followed 2007 as Long Version, but sorry no photo of interior. will fit

 

[morricab]

turbo lag is the reason for twin turbos. rather than getting a kick in the butt, there was a relatively smooth pull all the way to the red line.
the technology has come a long way since then. I would not have known my sisters' MB S550 had twin turbos in her V8 if I had not read it in the spec sheet.

The Maserati Biturbo worked just like a big turbo but used two smaller ones in parallel...yes they spun up faster but there was still some lag and big explosion of torque when they were fully on boost. Later designers used one small and one big or the twin scroll turbo to have a fast spin up and then still pulling strong higher in the rev range.

Lancia, with their Delta S4 group B rally car, solved this issue by having a supercharger handing off to a big turbo. The supercharger has no lag and by the time the turbo comes in it is a smooth transition...just vicious brutal acceleration through the whole rev range.

 

[morricab]

Most of the cars presented here are sports or extreme sports cars, so I like to present my cars with the best finish as an alternative: VW Phaeton.
When the wooden flaps with motors moved in front of the air vents, that was interesting to see every time, then you looked again at a continuous wooden dashboard.
The air conditioning worked absolutely draught-free and the whole finish of the interior was on 6-star level. The Phaeton was already a benchmark for finish at the beginning of the 20th century.
From the outside, the Phaeton was pure understatement with 12 or 8 cylinders.

The visit to the "Gläserne Manufaktur" in Dresden to pick up the Phateon was also very impressive and the only car production with wooden parquet flooring I ever got to know. Unfortunately, my photos (wooden dashboard and takeover in the "Gäsernen Manufaktur") are too large to post here.

By the way: The KTM X-Bow 2007 was really a hobblecar......

Regards Rainer

PS: One photo works = my first phateon (black piano finish) overtake at "Gläserne Manufaktur", 2nd followed 2007 as Long Version, but sorry no photo of interior. will fit

Phaeton was an engineering nightmare with electric motors that failed all throughout the car...a horrible excess of over-engineering.