Gearhead Thread

[Diomedes]

Top Gear kicks ass. 

[mussa]

The Acura TL is the shtein, I def. drive one. 

The Top Gear special of the Toyota truck was crazy. I knew the tacoma's were tough trucks that lasted forever, but that right there was amazing.  I'm glad I got me one. 

[Diomedes]

The only thing I don't miss about that truck was the mpg. 

[PhillyPhanInDC]

I spent a lot of time in Asia when I was in the service, and my wife is from Thailand. We go back there about every two years. The last time we went there, a friend of ours lent us his Hilux quad-cab. It's an awesome truck, 4X4 with a 5 speed. The best part is it has a four cylinder turbo diesel that makes gobs of torque, but gets great mileage. Unfortunately, most Americans have their heads up there asses and don't see the merit in these power plants, so you can get the same truck here, minus the diesel. If they offered the turbo-diesel in a Tacoma here, I'd get right in line. You can get so many models overseas there that are available here with much more efficent and clean powerplants, without the loss of power.

[Diomedes]

Face it, the Honda Civic is the new Chevy Deuce.

Unfortunately, most Americans have their heads up there asses and don't see the merit in these power plants, so you can get the same truck here, minus the diesel.

Why do you hate America??

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Why do you hate America??

It stood me up at prom.


Seriously though. As an example, I work for the government and as such, get the joy of driving government vehicles. One of the ones I drive often is an '07 Chevy Malibu. I don't have to go into detail as to why now-a-days, I hate the American Auto Manufacturers, pictures work just fine:

Malibu then:


Malibu now:


How about Dodge:

Charger then:


Charger now:

[Sgt PSN]

Toyota is one of the best made vehicles out there imo and gives you the best bang for the buck.  I just took my 4Runner into the shop on Monday to replace the antennea that I broke and the guy in the service department was raving about the condition that it's still in some 9 years/140,000 after I bought it.  I'm certain I'll still be driving that thing 7 or 8 years from now as well.  And they're trucks are just as tough, if not tougher.  I'll stick with American for muscle cars like Stangs and Camaro but when it comes to sedans and trucks then give me a foreign car any day of the week. 

[Diomedes]

And that new Charger is hyped as some kind of bad ass car...pathetic.

[SunMo]

i want an old Charger...i love that car

[Sgt PSN]

The new Chargers are ok looking but they don't hold a candle to the earlier models.  I especially hate the fact that they are only available in 4 doors now.  WTF is up with that?  

[Diomedes]

i want an old Charger...i love that car

Join the crowd.

[mussa]

I saw some Philly cops have chargers now, what a joke.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

The new Chargers are ok looking but they don't hold a candle to the earlier models.  I especially hate the fact that they are only available in 4 doors now.  WTF is up with that?  

And the new 'Hemi' is just a marketing spin job. The motor is basically an older Mercedes power plant. Any engine that has a hemispherical combustion chamber could be considered a "Hemi" including oh, Porsche, Toyota, and BMW to name a few.

From Wiki:

Chrysler introduced a modern Hemi in 2003. This engine is not a true hemispherical head engine; it has a polyspherical combustion chamber, but retains the Hemi's traditional inline perpendicular valves.

http://www.steveschmidtracing.com/images/engines/500-hemi.jpg

That thing is a piece of art. I'd be happy to have it sitting in my living room.

I saw some Philly cops have chargers now, what a joke.

I have no problem with that, at least it somewhat follows tradition. Back in the heyday of the muscle car, cops used to drive Dodges and Plymouths 440s in them. They've always had to use four door sedans obviously, but back then, even the cops cars were bad ass. Recently though, cops used breathed on Mustang "Interceptors" to chase down Vettes, Ferraris and the like during high speed highway chases.

This may very well give Phreak a rager. These cars are farging mythical amongst the Mustang crowd. You can still find some at government autcions.

[Diomedes]

From what I understand, Dodge is pitching them hard to cops, but for the most part the police prefer Crown Vic because they have a lot more interior space for all the gear cops have to install.  Computers, etc.  Plus what they have to carry.  You can't get into and out of a fully loaded cop Charger like you can a Crown Vic.

They think the Charger is more intimidating, so they like that aspect of it, but that's about the only advantage.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

i want an old Charger...i love that car

Join the crowd.

Obviously, you'd get it modified as a hybrid or a veggiemobile, right?