[Rupert]

for little zippiness I'd consider getting hold of a like 77 Celica hatchback and just modernize some of it: you can get just about anything in custom brakes and suspension these days, still get 30+mpg if you don't get too crazy with the power. )

Ratlady, Mrs Rupert had a little '74 Celica years ago....one of the best cars she ever owned. It was so fun to drive and very economical to operate. She put over 250K miles on it and when she sold it, it still ran great and looked sharp.

Here is one somebody has done a little restoration and upgrading on....still nice looking rides...and fun too!



There are so many cars I really like...wish I could be like Jay Leno and own them all! Just admiring them is a joy. The new cars today lack character and most all look the "ugly same" to me.

Notice how they are in a race for the ugliest front nose cone ?...they all look like grotesque deformed catfish mouths or front plows on a freight train.....at the rate they are going we might see this on the nose of the next new models?



Regards!

[Ratmagiclady]

Ratlady, Mrs Rupert had a little '74 Celica years ago....one of the best cars she ever owned. It was so fun to drive and very economical to operate. She put over 250K miles on it and when she sold it, it still ran great and looked sharp.

Here is one somebody has done a little restoration and upgrading on....still nice looking rides...and fun too!

Hee, yeah. Those are great, too. The one I like best is the slightly-later (but same generation) GT liftback: they look like a little (well done) fusion of a classic Nissan Skyline and a Mustang fastback: I'd actually learned to drive in part on a later, blander-looking Celica coupe (mechanically about the same though, and ..same lovely gearbox) and when I'd blown an engine on that beloved Duster, a friend, well gave me one of those 77 GT Liftbacks. (They werent' worth then what they are now, but *loves.* Anyway while looking for a windshield I instead found a donor car for my Duster and never actually had that one on the road. How many times I've wished I could have kept that Celica in a box somewhere, though.

There are so many cars I really like...wish I could be like Jay Leno and own them all! Just admiring them is a joy. The new cars today lack character and most all look the "ugly same" to me.

Notice how they are in a race for the ugliest front nose cone ?...they all look like grotesque deformed catfish mouths or front plows on a freight train.....at the rate they are going we might see this on the nose of the next new models?

Regards!

Hee. Well, some are ugly, anyway. I'd honestly rather they took some design chances and miss sometimes than be as truly bland as they had been for a while. (Actually I think the Koreans have got some pretty interesting design talent lately, though this hasn't translated into a car I'd really be after. (speaking of little shooting brakes, though, I thought those little Hyundai Velosters were interesting, but apparently you can't do a damn thing about the bar-type rear suspension. Kinda spunky-looking little things and they have both a (little) wagonback cargo area and a very photog-friendly-looking half-door to the back seat. ('Spunky' is usually a term I'll apply to little cars I like, you'll notice. ) Anyway, mixed opinions on the new styles but I'd rather they miss a lot and occasionally make something I like than play it too safe *all the time* I figure.

Anyway, I do like Jay Leno's attitude toward his car collection and car people, actually. If I had moneys I'd probably do something a little similar, (though on a smaller scale and probably with just the humbler things. There really isn't a half-million dollar car I'd even want that much, but a whole bunch to care for would be OK.

Hee. Actually here's one of my dream cars: beautifully-balanced, though with a tendency to break. (This can be attended to now.) Not my photo, just had to swipe off Net to look at. The Fairlady-bodied 280 was #2 on my bucket list of "most me" cars to have one day, this has the top spot: (Actually, when I was kind of barely off the street, one of those Boston dealerships Jay Leno used to work at had a used one of these they'd just taken in trade, and someone saw me pause to look. (probably saw the love: at the time who'd spot out one of *these* among the new pricey stuff they had,) and, yaknow, treated me like I was some kind of VIP customer despite a few protestations. I did not turn down the chance. Could have had that one for fifteen hundred, actually, though it may as well have been fifteen million at the time. (Speaking of nonmetallic colors, though: these make em look very good. Actually that Italian red is probably their best color, but being that flashy never appealed to me personally. )

[SpecialK]

I hate spending more than about $250 - for a set...

I recently read an article about the accident involving actor Paul Walker and his business-partner/friend, written by someone who seemed well-qualified to say that it was bad tires that caused the accident - specifically low-mileage newish-looking old tires - the kind that might be on a collector car that was in storage (as was the somewhat skittish Porsche). Apparently the rubber compound changes over time and can become pretty bad.

[RichardS]

RichardS mentioned Pirellis earlier in the thread so sort of on topic, it looks like our Pirellis are not that great. The car came with PZero summer tires and they wear quickly. Other SLK owners report that the rear suspension design eats rear tires by design. These rears will maybe make it to 13,000 miles. (I can't swap back to front because they are different sizes.)

The specific tyres were the P Zero Nero. After the change of Pirelli's ownership, some (all?) of the tyres are now being made in countries not renowned for quality control and adherence to standards.This is second-hand info from a couple of sources. There are different models of P Zero and different countries may source their tyres from factories in different countries. In other words, YMMV

---------- Post added 16-09-16 at 08:01 ----------

Regarding cars as fun things, one of Newton's laws is the fun factor of a car is proportional to the cost of maintaining the car. The man invented calculus, so he knows what he's talking about.

Smart guy, Newton. You can rely on a Trinity man (or woman, these days) for words of wisdom

---

Last edited by RichardS; 09-15-2016 at 03:02 PM.

[ChrisPlatt]

I hate spending more than about $250 - for a set...

I recently read an article about the accident involving actor Paul Walker and his business-partner/friend, written by someone who seemed well-qualified to say that it was bad tires that caused the accident - specifically low-mileage newish-looking old tires - the kind that might be on a collector car that was in storage (as was the somewhat skittish Porsche). Apparently the rubber compound changes over time and can become pretty bad.

Years ago I saw a Corvette blow a tire caused merely by wheel spin from hard acceleration.
The tires may have been old and not properly inflated. Firestone 500's maybe?
Add to that an inexperienced driver and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Chris

P.S. - Please let me know where I can get a decent set of four new tires for $250!

[Sailor]

Ratlady, Mrs Rupert had a little '74 Celica years ago....one of the best cars she ever owned. It was so fun to drive and very economical to operate. She put over 250K miles on it and when she sold it, it still ran great and looked sharp. . . . . .

Celica - brings back memories. My father-in-law (a mechanic, BTW) bought a new '74 Celica GT and enjoyed it for several years. In 1980, I traded a dismal '78 Monte Carlo (continuously troublesome and continuously ugly) for a bronze Celica GT fastback with all the goodies. I loved the thing, which was blessedly free of "issues." In '82 I succumbed to the hairy looks of the 3rd generation Camaro, and traded that wonderful car for a Z28 that throughout four years of ownership was never without a least one thing that wasn't working, was without a trim piece that wasn't peeling off (e.g. paint, tape stripes, logos, mirror facings), or without something that didn't break when you touched it!

Later, in 1992, I came to buy another new Celica - a funky black fastback that I thoroughly appreciated but never quite bonded with like my first one. It's successor was a Miata that I that I traded it for in '95 when I my career took me from Michigan (bbbrrrrrrrr) to Texas.

Jer

---------- Post added 09-15-2016 at 08:26 PM ----------

. . . . . . . . . Smart guy, Newton. You can rely on a Trinity man (or woman, these days) for words of wisdom

He was one of the smartest - perhaps the absolute smartest - humans to ever have walked the earth with the opportunity to exercise their massive intelligence! However, a lot of undergrad chemistry majors (like me) rued the day he invented calculus.

Jer

[Rupert]

traded that wonderful car for a Z28 that throughout four years of ownership was never without a least one thing that wasn't working, was without a trim piece that wasn't peeling off (e.g. paint, tape stripes, logos, mirror facings), or without something that didn't break when you touched it!

I bought a new '67 Camaro when they first came out....just had to have one. It was lemon yellow with a blk vinyl roof......and it was a genuine lemon. I could write a book on how many failures it had and more often than you could count. It was my last GM product, the taste it left was that bad. It looked great....and stopped right there.
I've never had much bad luck with cars since, but just thinking of that lemon Camaro makes me irritable still. I never abused it...heaven knows just driving it on city streets was enough to make this or that accessory crash....AC...alternator...starter...brakes....transmission...you name it and it went bad.

Best low maintenance ever has been my Jeep Wrangler....it just goes and goes. Routine stuff is about all it requires. A great ride around town, sits high to see well, turns and parks easy, comfy enough inside with its hardtop....Yep, I've been very happy with it...going on toward 20 years.


BTW Jer...ever get out to Big Bend? Great road trip and fantastic sights out there!

Best Regards!

[Ratmagiclady]

Chris

P.S. - Please let me know where I can get a decent set of four new tires for $250!

If they have to be new, ...Kellys. (Unless you catch something nicer on sale.) They'll be all around decent does-alls and they'll work and last, if not inspire. (These are what I usually recommend to my non-car-people academic friends who mostly want something to hold their old car up. They're what I'm running at least for now and I consider them the 'sensible sneakers' of tires. (They're better than I expected, actually, on the Volvo. ) Or, prolly take your chances at Wal-mart, I guess.

I suggest spending a bit more if you can though: tires aren't a place I like to skimp, but if I have to, it's Kelly Explorers.

[RichardS]

He was one of the smartest - perhaps the absolute smartest - humans to ever have walked the earth with the opportunity to exercise their massive intelligence! However, a lot of undergrad chemistry majors (like me) rued the day he invented calculus.

He did amazing things from an early age. Many of the visitors to the college used to ask where his rooms were (between the Great Gate and the Chapel in Great Court). It wasn't just the scientific and mathematical folk.

Calculus was fun for me, but chemistry was a nightmare. I had to remember stuff. Maths was just plain common sense and obvious, until we got to partial differential equations of the third degree in second or third year engineering. That was where maths and I parted company

Regards,
Richard.

[Rupert]

Maths was just plain common sense and obvious, until we got to partial differential equations of the third degree in second or third year engineering. That was where maths and I parted company

I think I parted with math in my freshman year of high school. Business math was fine, no problem. Along came algebra and I had a young dumb teacher that hated me...mainly because I pointed out her inadequacies often...and they were many. So I learned very little in there and avoided math from then on. Excepting geometry, which I loved and understood completely.

I don't have a math oriented brain. Some do and some apparently don't? I can't say my lack of math skills ever really hindered me in any of my work over the years, which was fortunate. In plumbing I did often use geometry skills along with simple math at times, which as you pointed out was often just common sense.

Still, I am always impressed with those with a high degree of math skills...it appears to me they have much better brains than me.....like my oldest grandson a math guru and a calculus wizard......but then again, I have more common sense in my big toe than he has in his entire brain. Maybe it equalizes?

Regards!

[Just1MoreDave]

Hey, Rupert - Connie and I are going to take my Bimmer M4 to Illinois in a couple of weeks; it'll be the first real road trip we've made in at least 15 years (we've been riding airplanes for a long time), so we decided to give a try. Do they still have rest stops on the Interstates?

Is it really a 15.8 gallon tank? That's a couple of stops.

The SLK almost made it from Wendover, UT (right next to Bonneville) to Santa Rosa, CA on one tank - about a half-gallon short.

In April, I traded in my 2013 Boxster S (equipped with PZeros) with just short of 10,000 miles on the clock. The rear ones were noticeably worn but had a few thousand miles left; the front ones were like new, probably owing to the considerable rear weight bias of the Boxster. The Boxster's replacement, a 911 Carrera, also has PZeros and an even more extreme rear weight bias, so it'll be interesting to see how they behave in this regard.

My experience with sticky, summer performance tires (on a variety of cars) has been that if you want the grip, you gotta pay the price.

Jer

I have the same rear wear. Is my wife secretly doing burnouts? It's a little unexpected because MB uses the same size tires on the SLK350, with 50% more power, maybe 200lbs heavier. The rear tires are larger than the fronts so rotation isn't possible.

[lesmore49]

I never run the gas tank down to near bottom. Many modern cars have the fuel pump in the gas tank and rely on gas surrounding the fuel pump, to cool the fuel pump. Fuel pumps are expensive to replace.

Running it too low, can also pick up stuff that settles on the bottom of gas tanks.

[Rupert]

The rear tires are larger than the fronts so rotation isn't possible.

For whatever reason, my Jeep Wrangler is easy on tires. Years ago I installed larger tires (265-75-15 All Terrain) and wider fenders to cover them. It not only gives it a wider distinct appearance, it adds to the stability......(while reducing the gas mileage considerably)

I just run them until they start to show significant wear or get old and then buy a new set. I never rotate them on the Jeep, they get old before it is necessary....and tires do just get old age even if they still have good tread. Some cars, like the TT, need rotation and replacement more often, but the Jeep doesn't seem to have this disadvantage....for whatever reason?

The wider tires and fenders do make it look a little more "husky".


I'll be getting a new set for it in 2017.....they still look good but they are aging.

Regards!

[Ratmagiclady]

For whatever reason, my Jeep Wrangler is easy on tires. Years ago I installed larger tires (265-75-15 All Terrain) and wider fenders to cover them. It not only gives it a wider distinct appearance, it adds to the stability......(while reducing the gas mileage considerably)

I just run them until they start to show significant wear or get old and then buy a new set. I never rotate them on the Jeep, they get old before it is necessary....and tires do just get old age even if they still have good tread. Some cars, like the TT, need rotation and replacement more often, but the Jeep doesn't seem to have this disadvantage....for whatever reason?


I'll be getting a new set for it in 2017.....they still look good but they are aging.

Regards!

It's likely 'easy on tires' because you haven't altered the suspension geometry too much. (People adding lift kits and the like or *very* oversized tires can create problems unless you change out other bits. Mechanical simplicity and not-going-overboard have their virtues there. Basically your rear axle is fixed in most directions and your front stuff will take it as long as your rims more or less keep the center-line of the tires where they were designed to be (and your rims seem properly-fit that way. Maybe a wee bit wide-set, but just be sure your guys mind the ball joints and such up there and don't skimp on quality ) I'm sure that if I wanted a Jeep I would set up more or less like you have. (They're fun to work on but too specialized for me and I just wouldn't be taking the top off and going to beaches, which is the more fun about actually driving them. )

A lot of these fancy performancey-roadster cars' rear suspensions move in many more directions while also applying power, and also want soft-compound tires to get the grip. So they will wear more, especially if anything's worn so it's not quite in factory positions. Your TT obviously does this at all four corners. (If you still have your old rims around you could put something on those for seasonal purposes, but it's Texas. If I had your budget and that car, I'd just want more grip for those concrete highways there, probably in nearly any season. )

[Rupert]

Mechanical simplicity and not-going-overboard have their virtues there.

Agree...I've kept the Jeep basically simple except for the wheels, tires, and fenders. I did add the stainless mirrors, but that's about it. The hardtop has never been off.....they say it's easy but it is still a chore and I like the quieter cooler/warmer ride with it on.

The TT tires are a all-season, but with a slant toward more grip that average. We took about a 100 mile ride in it yesterday and the grip on hot dry roads is very good. They are a little quieter than I figured they might be, I like that too.

I like cars, if they operate well and are reasonably comfy to drive. I have a woman that keeps all of them detailed and clean. She is very good at it and in need of extra cash so it works out well for both of us. Hard to find someone that takes pride in their work like she does.

Regards!