Post Race!

[Niya]

Niya! Moar!!!!!

Moar mermaids coming soon to a post race near you

[szlamany]

I'm fine. I'm still around Just not posting as much for whatever reason even I don't know lmao.

Self-control! Something I obviously lack!!

[Shaggy Hiker]

That's the problem with the post race: You didn't know that it would be a death march.

[homer13j]

One lap of Grattan Raceway (Belding, Michigan) in my 125cc go-kart. With no draft I'm hitting just over 100 mph at the end of the long straight.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I was thinking that the pavement looked wet on the first corner, but I suppose that was just a large patch job. Seems like rather indifferent pavement conditions overall.

Was that you practicing to get out of town for the convention and the inevitable traffic mess those create?

[homer13j]

The last time they repaved the track they didn't give it enough time to cure and the first race tore up the turns pretty good so they had to put down all the patches.

We originally booked the track for April 8th but we had to postpone when the weather refused to cooperate. So we had to wait three months to get out there.

[Shaggy Hiker]

You should hunt virtual monsters while driving. It would be Pokemon Go-Cart.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Followed closely by Go Hospital, most likely.

[FunkyDexter]

Also, you should have dropped a green turtle shell on the third corner. Rookie.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I totally don't get that reference.

[szlamany]

Mario? Luigi?

[FunkyDexter]

^That.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I don't think I've kept up. I played Super Mario Bros, but not the go-kart Mario, whatever that was. I only have a vague memory that such a thing existed.

[FunkyDexter]

I don't think I've kept up

This is very important in Mario Kart.

[homer13j]

On this date 220 years ago General Moses Cleaveland arrived at the Cuyahoga River, laid out a New England-style town square nearby, named it after himself, then got back in his boat and never returned.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Cause the river caught on fire and burned up his boat?

[Shaggy Hiker]

Actually, that's a pretty common pattern. That's why there are Alexandrias scattered all over the middleast

[szlamany]

At the dealer on Saturday - in front of my house today!

After decades of SUV's I'm back to a real car

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'll probably do something like that next spring, though I'm not sure what interests me, at this point.

[szlamany]

In my much, much younger - salad days - I had a 1978 Z/28 Camaro - back to my roots I go

[Shaggy Hiker]

Getting back to your roots may cause you to feel dirty.

[FunkyDexter]

Trouble is, these days those roots are grey.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Becoming more true every day, unfortunately.

[Gruff]

Grey or Gray. What's that all-aboot?
(Not as simple as black or white I would assume.)

[homer13j]

At the dealer on Saturday - in front of my house today!

After decades of SUV's I'm back to a real car

Congrats... I'm not a fan of the new Camaro (GM lost me when they killed off Pontiac) but that's a pretty sweet ride. What engine is in it?

[szlamany]

Congrats... I'm not a fan of the new Camaro (GM lost me when they killed off Pontiac) but that's a pretty sweet ride. What engine is in it?

I've been a mostly Chevy/GM person all my life - first car a 1969 Chevelle SS. Then a 1978 z-28 Camaro - drove it into a tree and replaced it with a 1983 Pontiac Trans-am. That car had the flip-up headlight body style - remember that show Knight rider. That was a crazy fast car.

Then a few decades of Chevy SUV's - my latest was a nearly 6000 pound Tahoe.

This new Camaro is the RS model - comes with a V6. The SS model was like over $50K - I couldn't rationalize the cost The V6 does 0 to 60 in 5.1 seconds - it is so fast and so smooth.

It has little paddles behind the steering wheel that make the automatic transmission down shift and up shift (increase the RPM's going into the curve so you're ready to blast out of it).

It is so nice to be back in a regular car! My twin boys are one year away from getting licenses - they are really excited! I'm going to have to get a used Volvo or Subaru station wagon for them to drive...

[Shaggy Hiker]

So, you've been a Chevy Chase...er?

drove it into a tree and replaced it with a 1983 Pontiac Trans-am.

You do know that trading them in is both more cost effective and a whole lot easier on the trees, right?

[szlamany]

The tree was my hero - it was the only thing between Rte. 34 and the Housatonic River! Interesting thing to see an engine come through the firewall...

My boss wanted to know if I was still going to make it onsite that day!

Important lesson learned about the condition of tire tread vs. February icy roads.

[homer13j]

I've been a mostly Chevy/GM person all my life

Same here - at least until 2009. '74 Coupe deVille (6-7 mpg LOL), '76 Ventura (Pontiac-badged Chevy Nova), '80 Grand Prix, '93 G20 van, and my favorite was the '74 LeMans I drove in college. When the body rotted away I sold the drivetrain to a friend and after a complete rebuild it lives on in his '80 Firebird.

Losing the Pontiac brand was bad enough, but watching all those white collar GM employees get royally effed over was too much for me. I have several friends who worked for Delphi's IT department and they all lost their pensions while the government handed GM $33 billion of taxpayer money and turned the entire company over to the unions.

Eff GM. I'll never buy another.

This new Camaro is the RS model - comes with a V6. The SS model was like over $50K - I couldn't rationalize the cost The V6 does 0 to 60 in 5.1 seconds - it is so fast and so smooth.

I hear you. When I bought my Mustang I really wanted a Boss 302 but the sticker was $46K or double what I paid for my V6 w/the performance package which is the Boss 302 suspension, wheels & brakes and shorter rear end gears. Not sure what my 0-60 time is but I'm sure it's close to that if not better.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I had an '82 Honda Civic that did 0-60 in the state of Washington.

[homer13j]

The new Civic is pretty sharp looking, but unfortunately only available with front wheel drive and (*cough*) 174 hp.

The Civic always has been and apparently always will be a "chick car."

[homer13j]

My twin boys are one year away from getting licenses - they are really excited!

Yeah... so is your insurance agent!

[FunkyDexter]

I had a rusty Ford Capri. Jealous?

[SJWhiteley]

The new Civic is pretty sharp looking, but unfortunately only available with front wheel drive and (*cough*) 174 hp.

The Civic always has been and apparently always will be a "chick car."

Was a Civic ever rear wheel drive? Seems like a bit of a pointless idea, except as a garage chop 'because I can' kind of thing.

[Gruff]

My 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback Coupe is showing signs of age.
Weird electrical problems, Odometer broken, Wheel bearings sloppy, and the head gasket looks like it is failing (again).

I'm dreading having to shell out for a new vehicle, but the head gasket replacement alone is probably more than the car is worth.

The cost of living is so high I cannot afford a new car so I will be looking at something used.
Grumble, grumble.

Where are all the cool cheap electric cars we were suppose to have by now?

[Shaggy Hiker]

Back in the 90s, an article came out about what your car said about you. The story for the Civic was: I just got out of college and this is all I could afford. That had me pegged pretty handily. However, what really cracked me up was that the VW Cabriolet said, "I'm out of the closet." My burly boss drove a Cabriolet at the time.

[Shaggy Hiker]

My 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback Coupe is showing signs of age.
Weird electrical problems, Odometer broken, Wheel bearings sloppy, and the head gasket looks like it is failing (again).

I'm dreading having to shell out for a new vehicle, but the head gasket replacement alone is probably more than the car is worth.

The cost of living is so high I cannot afford a new car so I will be looking at something used.
Grumble, grumble.

Where are all the cool cheap electric cars we were suppose to have by now?

My 98 Subaru Legacy Brighton (the most stripped down model of Legacy) still looks great and runs great, but has 225K miles on it and some things are wearing out. I probably need to put a few thousand into it to fix the AC and a minor oil leak, and that's not seeming worthwhile. There are so many improvements out there that I'm thinking of moving up, though probably not until next spring.

The thing that is really slowing me down is that I look around the market and there doesn't appear to be any car out there that checks all the boxes for me. I want better than 30 mpg (better than 40 would be nice), in a hatchback (this is the point I'd yield on first), and with the ability to occasionally tow a really light boat (it weighs less than I do, but the trailer weighs more than me). The new Subaru Impreza seems to fit, but they've added that constant variable transmission, and it may not be able to tow a boat even that light. It would certainly void any warranty, but I don't intend to buy new, so I don't expect a warranty. I just need to be able to put a receiver on it.

[SJWhiteley]

My 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback Coupe is showing signs of age.
Weird electrical problems, Odometer broken, Wheel bearings sloppy, and the head gasket looks like it is failing (again).

I'm dreading having to shell out for a new vehicle, but the head gasket replacement alone is probably more than the car is worth.

...

Not to bring you down, but, just had a head gasket done [dealer] on a 2007 Outback. $2500.

[SJWhiteley]

... I want better than 30 mpg (better than 40 would be nice), ...

Curious: why is this important to you?

[Shaggy Hiker]

No particular reason other than gas mileage lower than that makes my skin crawl. I'm not sure why. It's a visceral response, to be sure, but I couldn't put a finger on why it's the case. There's the obvious argument of efficiency or economy, and there's certainly some truth to that, but I telecommute quite a bit, and there's no gas savings quite like not leaving your couch (well, not ALL the gas is saved, if you know what I mean). Still, even if I didn't do that, it's not like the cost of gas makes any real difference to me. I spend somewhere around $30-50/month on gas. I could double that without even noticing it, yet better than 30 mpg would mean reducing that.

So, I have no good reason, it's just a goal.