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The Car Thread ... !

quagmire said:
Toyota already has the same setup. Surprised it hasn't caught on sooner, but probably cheaper and dealers loved to walnut blast the valves for some nice profits....
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Yeah, in fact, the article referenced Lexus - I guess it does add a little cost, a touch of complexity, but it really seems (at least based on some info from folks really ITK) to resolve the DI issue (though for the hardest of the hardcore builds, DI is still a deficit ...)
 
Dropping in on this thread since there seems to be more car talk here!

Past fast and furious cars. The M3 was turbo driven close to 450 rwhp/trq. The Evo on low boost was around 400 awhp and high boost with racegas 450 ish.

Got married. Bought a house. Had a kid. Bye bye toys.

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Missed AWD turbo goodness so went full fast and furious and picked up one of these:

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Amazing car. Love the feedback it provides. I have the forged wheel setup with cup2 tires. Grip for days. Currently there are no mods. It has been discovered that the exhaust from the downpipe, back is pretty free flowing from the factory so people are changing it out for sound factor only. Same with the intake.

I did, however get her tuned. New animal. Stock these are putting down around 300 ~ 320 awhp and 330ish trq. After 5 tuning sessions she is at 357 awhp & 404 ft lbs trq. I plan to build the engine and go turbo upgrade to get 500ish.
 
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jca24 said:
All the German stuff taks a massive hit on depreciation. Buy Japanese, lease or don't even bother with German stuff.
Bimmer is fixin to be in a real pickle very soon, tons of lease returns coming in, sales droping, hopefully nobody actually buys a bmw. If not keep it forever if it will "last" or get ready to take a bath.
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All cars depreciate, but the the German cars have been doing much better lately due to an increased demand for luxury vehicles and overall better reliability than say 10-15 years ago. While BMW's sales have dipped at the end of 2016, that's pretty much a general market trend of less car buying. Despite their new sales drop, BMW had quite a large increase in CPO sales. Interestingly the #1 selling brand in my home state of Connecticut ironically is BMW.

Depending on how you run the numbers and separate your segments, here are some of the top resale vehicles:
Time/Money Mag- Porsche Panamera, BMW M3, BMW 4-Series/3-coupe
Forbes- Mercedes CLA, Audi A5, Audi A6, Porsche Panamera, Audi Q7
Edmunds: BMW M3, Porsche Panamera, Porsche 911, Mercedes G550/G63, Mercedes Sprinter (why not throw it in?)

I agree though buying a 5 year old BMW or Mercedes or Audi with 80,000 miles is probably a very poor idea. Even if they are decently reliable repair and maintainence costs are astronomical and simply not worth it.

I have a 2009 BMW E60 535i xDrive sedan. My father bought it for me new and handed it down to me when it was roughly 4 years old and 80,000 miles I was graduating grad school. It's been a generally solid car over the past few years. I have around 125,000+ miles these days but only drive like 6 miles each way to work. The N54 engine is notorious for turbo issues but I've yet to experience a problem (knock on wood). The problem is not so much reliability, rather just thousands in yearly routine maintenance. But that's kinda the known cost associated with owning a German car beyond the warranty period.

Anyways, I'm well overdue for a new car. It's just frustrating because all the cars I had been looking at are about to come out with a new release shortly.
 
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I like German cars. I do. My heart wants a German car. However, the expense to fix is just insane. Our Audi dealership is terrible, too, so I'll likely never buy another one again. I'm jonesing a nice BMW, but I have a few years left of my TSX. The reliability of Hondas from the early 10's (before the ZF trans) is just awesome.
 
I was in the market for an F80 M3 or F10 M5 until I decided to get the RS.

I've always loved the M line, but also have known about all the issues starting from the E30, E36, E46 variants, so had to really think long and hard about wanting one.

I like to mod my cars so that's an added concern. Finding a bullet proof platform is paramount.

Will likely get an F10 in the future after prices reach acceptable levels.
 
A.Goldberg said:
All cars depreciate, but the the German cars have been doing much better lately due to an increased demand for luxury vehicles and overall better reliability than say 10-15 years ago. While BMW's sales have dipped at the end of 2016, that's pretty much a general market trend of less car buying. Despite their new sales drop, BMW had quite a large increase in CPO sales. Interestingly the #1 selling brand in my home state of Connecticut ironically is BMW.

Depending on how you run the numbers and separate your segments, here are some of the top resale vehicles:
Time/Money Mag- Porsche Panamera, BMW M3, BMW 4-Series/3-coupe
Forbes- Mercedes CLA, Audi A5, Audi A6, Porsche Panamera, Audi Q7
Edmunds: BMW M3, Porsche Panamera, Porsche 911, Mercedes G550/G63, Mercedes Sprinter (why not throw it in?)

I agree though buying a 5 year old BMW or Mercedes or Audi with 80,000 miles is probably a very poor idea. Even if they are decently reliable repair and maintainence costs are astronomical and simply not worth it.

I have a 2009 BMW E60 535i xDrive sedan. My father bought it for me new and handed it down to me when it was roughly 4 years old and 80,000 miles I was graduating grad school. It's been a generally solid car over the past few years. I have around 125,000+ miles these days but only drive like 6 miles each way to work. The N54 engine is notorious for turbo issues but I've yet to experience a problem (knock on wood). The problem is not so much reliability, rather just thousands in yearly routine maintenance. But that's kinda the known cost associated with owning a German car beyond the warranty period.

Anyways, I'm well overdue for a new car. It's just frustrating because all the cars I had been looking at are about to come out with a new release shortly.
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Is 4WD a necessity for you?
 
http://www.autoblog.com/2017/01/12/epa-ram-jeep-diesel-cheating/

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Although an initial report from Reuters said the EPA will accuse Ram and Jeep of using emissions defeat devices today, that isn't quite the case. In a press release and a conference call, the EPA stated that the notice of violation sent to FCA is for the installation of eight undisclosed auxiliary emissions control devices on 2014 to 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 models with the 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6. The violation applies to about 104,000 vehicles in total. The agency also explained that auxiliary emissions controls on vehicles are not necessarily illegal, but installing them without disclosing them to the EPA when having the vehicle certified is.
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EPA just accused FCA of skirting emissions laws. As the precedent has been set with VW, it would only be fair for FCA to have to pay $$$ in fines. Let's see what happens...
 
AustinIllini said:
I imagine RWD is untenable for much of the year. FWD is probably tolerable but not great.
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Yeah where he lives, they get a ton of snow. Only reason I'm entertaining getting the Camaro because most of the time where I live, we get < 6" of snow per storm. With a good set of blizzaks, and smart driving, it shouldn't be too bad. The 1-2 ft storms are once and a blue moon sort of deal. Still.... The Camaro forums I go on have people in upper NY and areas that get pounded by storms drive them in the winter and they say they are fine.

I do facepalm at the people who do drive it in the winter with the OEM summer tires. And that includes driving it in the snow.
 
AutoUnion39 said:
Yes. There is no reason to buy a RWD/FWD car around here.
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Right then. What's available in the AWD market aside from Audi Quattros, BMW's xDrive and 4Matic? It would be fair to assume he won't be looking at Volvos due to the problems the new ones are having over at SwedeSpeed. I don't think a 911 C4 new or CPO would be useful with the snow you guys get, but I imagine the new Q7 would be a good choice. There is the Macan, but I feel it won't fit his space needs. The Q5 is more sensible, but to take advantage of it, he'd have to wait until the 2018 model.

I saw a Q7 a while back and I loved the looks of the interior and exterior, despite it being an Audi. Very, very nice. There's something really above and beyond the body panel design of these cars. You see it from the low-end A3 up to the R8. Sharp creases, clever panel ends, timeless looks (even if a bit dated in theory). Does Audi exclusive do leather to sample like Porsche or is it only exterior color to sample?

AutoUnion39 said:
http://www.autoblog.com/2017/01/12/epa-ram-jeep-diesel-cheating/

lead18-2014-jeep-grand-cherokee-ecodiesel-fd.jpg




EPA just accused FCA of skirting emissions laws. As the precedent has been set with VW, it would only be fair for FCA to have to pay $$$ in fines. Let's see what happens...
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Not surprising, but I'd be more surprised if there wasn't a manufacturer that wasn't skirting EPA regulations. Speaking of regulations, still trying to get your airbags done?
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quagmire said:
I do facepalm at the people who do drive it in the winter with the OEM summer tires. And that includes driving it in the snow.
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I've been guilty of this in the past. But I use chains. The problem is that summer tires are very usable here in the winter except years like this year. When it's been raining like it has here and the cold night weather, it turns summer tires hard and it's difficult to get enough heat in them or get traction if you go above a certain speed. But if needed, the P Zero Neros are the best all seasons I've encountered. Continental makes an all season that's rated for high speed and is superb, but it wears faster than the competition.
 
Zenithal said:
Right then. What's available in the AWD market aside from Audi Quattros, BMW's xDrive and 4Matic?
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Can't think of anything else, unless you're willing to go to Lexus or Jaguar.

The Q5 is more sensible, but to take advantage of it, he'd have to wait until the 2018 model.
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MY18 Q5 should be here within 45-60 days. Production has started.

I saw a Q7 a while back and I loved the looks of the interior and exterior, despite it being an Audi. Very, very nice.
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It looks better in person IMO, especially with the larger wheels.

Does Audi exclusive do leather to sample like Porsche or is it only exterior color to sample?
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They do. Here's a (hideous) example of one: http://www.audiworld.com/forums/q7-...q7-more-pictures-cellular-data-alert-2910993/

Speaking of regulations, still trying to get your airbags done?
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They still don't know....
 
AutoUnion39 said:
Can't think of anything else, unless you're willing to go to Lexus or Jaguar.
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F Pace? You need to get the highest package/trim for it to look good. The RX isn't a bad SUV if that's what he needs or wants. Plus it comes in AWD. Or the NX. With the Lexus, he'll get reliability and good sound suppression from outside and road noise. Plus, decent resale value.

AutoUnion39 said:
MY18 Q5 should be here within 45-60 days. Production has started.
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But when do official deliveries begin? This the Q7 with the digital dash, not the current dash, correct?

AutoUnion39 said:
They do. Here's a (hideous) example of one: http://www.audiworld.com/forums/q7-...q7-more-pictures-cellular-data-alert-2910993/
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Must be one of Vancouver's newest "residents" or from another questionable area. I'm fond of the brown leather with creme stitching. The other parts are hideous. Though I don't think brown leather works well with a white exterior. I don't know if you peruse the Rennlist threads on the off chance of grabbing a quality CPO but I found this a few weeks ago and it had me reeling from laughter.

http://rennlist.com/forums/991/863603-hot-for-sale-pick-of-the-week-991-1-a-445.html#post13843878

I have a hunch that 991.1s will hardly go down in price in the years to come whereas the 991.2 will suffer some serious depreciation as a result. We could see a renaissance years down the road like we are with 996 Turbos now.

I don't want to bring politics into this thread, but if the EPA was restrained by the incoming administration, we might see a renewed effort at larger engines by car companies, at least for the US market.

AutoUnion39 said:
They still don't know....
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The Lexus is ready to be picked within the next two days. Just gotta get the other cars done. How much would you stand to lose if you sold PP unfixed vs trade-in value when fixed?
 
quagmire said:
That won't help carbon build up on the valves because on a normal DI setup, the fuel thus that cleaner never touches the valves to clean them.
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I've been known to decoke an engine by aspirating water(slowly) through a vacuum line. It's very much a tried and true method, although leaning the engine out and going out for an "Italian Tune-Up" accomplishes much of the same. The times I've done this it's also been on comparatively primitive engines with virtually no emissions gear. It's quite a sight, though, as you will see chunks of carbon blow out the tailpipe.

I'm not suggesting it, but I wonder if it would work. By going in through a vacuum line, you are introducing it through the valve(s).
 
I have yet to watch a single episode. Time hasn't been on my side. That sounded less macabre in my head. Picking the L up at noon.
 
I just mounted and balanced a set of Cooper Discoverer A/T 3's in 265/70/18 for the Jeep..I'm getting way to old to throw around 100# wheels and tires.
 
Zenithal said:
I've been guilty of this in the past. But I use chains. The problem is that summer tires are very usable here in the winter except years like this year. When it's been raining like it has here and the cold night weather, it turns summer tires hard and it's difficult to get enough heat in them or get traction if you go above a certain speed. But if needed, the P Zero Neros are the best all seasons I've encountered. Continental makes an all season that's rated for high speed and is superb, but it wears faster than the competition.
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You live in CA though right? Not quite as offensive as someone trying to drive a V8 RWD car on summer tires in 5" of snow.....


AustinIllini said:
The Grand Tour just reviewed the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Holy. Crap. That thing is spectacular.
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That thing does look impressive. It's a shame it probably will share in FCA's overall poor reliability. It's a shame too....
 
quagmire said:
It's a shame it probably will share in FCA's overall poor reliability. It's a shame too....
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All of this. I'm sure these cars will be worth nothing in like 2-3 years

I still can't think of a single reason to buy this Alfa Romeo over a M3/C63 AMG...
 
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