About Air_and_Water

Air_and_Water

Just what car do you think this emulates? I think it looks outstanding in a field of overly styled blobs festooned with fake vents. By "field" I mean "Supra".

Air_and_Water

I've wondered recently if a non-turbo could eventually be offered as a base model. It would probably compete very favorably with the 2.0 Supra (and certainly undercut the price since the base model already does!), plus would have the added benefit of being offered with a manual, which the 2.0 Supra will not. If automobile production ever comes back to previous levels I could see Nissan wanting to sell a greater number, though certainly not in this era of limited inventory.

Air_and_Water

Left brain: It's a cool design exercise that shows intake tuning can be very effective. If implemented in an actual car it would crack to pieces in short order because the extreme length would put too much stress on the mounting points. Right brain: That is so cool! 😄

Air_and_Water

Restored cars are easier for me to tear into than a nice original car, which is why my car feels a bit like a trap. If it were "merely" restored then anything done to it could be undone, but with original paint anything done to it that isn't a bolt-on is irreversible. I have decided to have fun with it with bolt-on parts, including an engine with 2.5X the original power and that made me feel better, so I knew I made the right choice for me. All original parts will be restored and put away for eventual reinstallation.

Air_and_Water

They've gone from "The Ultimate Driving Machine" to "Beep-boop". 😞

Air_and_Water

I have always thought this was one of the most stunning designs of the era. It's one of those "lottery cars" for me, and very few of those tend to be expensive cars in my personal book. It's a car that if I owned it my heart would swell every time I opened the garage door. And I agree that it really makes modern BMWs look like the stylistic failures that they are. If I had one of those I'd open that same garage door and recoil.

Air_and_Water

The software in the S should allow for occasional brake usage just for that situation. Chevy's Volt was designed with a fuel tank bladder to remove air from the system and the engine was run periodically to prevent clogged injectors and whatnot. The brakes should perform similar minimal functions to maintain them. There's little that's worse for a brake system than sitting idle for extended periods.

Air_and_Water

"As Lexus has shown with its all-electric digital steering yoke the essential mechanical connections between car and driver could soon become redundant, but when it comes to such essential safety items and steering and braking, the question remains—should they?" Should they be removed completely and their functions controlled by a computer? Anyone who has ever had to restart a car to get it to stop glitching knows the answer to that one. Redundant backup systems are there for a reason, and that reason is sound.

Air_and_Water

Not if you wrap it yourself. You can do that on the cheap, as you only need to buy a roll of vinyl in whatever color you want. It's much more forgiving than paint to the novice, as it can be pulled up and moved to avoid wrinkles, then hit with a heat gun to remove the remainder. It still needs a good prep, but it's easier than paint. That said, I'd rather have actual paint, but if you want a change in look like that black hood and it's an original car, the wrap is removable, unlike paint.

Air_and_Water

Yes, stocks are a safer investment with a better rate of return, but you can't take a stock and execute a perfect 3-2 downshift at the apex of a curve and hammer the throttle coming out of it, as God intended.

Air_and_Water

If by "not good looking at all" you mean "awesome", then yeah. Because it's awesome. 🙂

Air_and_Water

Can you get a good* Ghia for under $20k nowadays? *not rusty

Air_and_Water

If by "shame" you mean "great because they kept them alive a lot longer than they otherwise would've been", then yeah. Was it masterful? No. Would Saab have died a much earlier death without their oversight? Absolutely. The last 9-5 was a fantastic car, but it was unfortunately a swan's song. C'est la vie.

Air_and_Water

Nah, it doesn't interfere. They cut that part out! 😉 I do think it's an illusion, as the perspective does make it look like it would occupy the same space as the pulley, but I *think* it would clear. It's just that the angle of the photo makes it look otherwise.

Air_and_Water · ‎19-04-2022

Octane is measured differently for aviation, as those are very conservatively built engines with lower piston speeds, so that "110" is not the same as 110 pump gas. It's *considerably* lower in octane. If memory serves there's something else about it that makes it inferior to pump gas for automotive use.

Air_and_Water · ‎19-04-2022

But not enough. This is a problem of political origin, nothing more. Congress often shows us they have no idea how mechanical things work, which is how we got first generation airbags killing people. They were specced to be able to stop a 160 lb. man traveling 30 mph with no seat belt, so they came out of the steering wheel like Muhammad Ali.

Air_and_Water · ‎18-04-2022

That's great and everything, but can you get an ethanol-friendly fuel pump diaphragm or carburetor kit? No? Bummer, huh?

Air_and_Water · ‎11-04-2022

"The old man would never have approved this and would have shot anyone even suggesting this." Ferrari would've sold toasters if it meant he could go racing. That was his real passion, not road cars.

Air_and_Water · ‎11-04-2022

Yeah, but what does Hurley Heywood know? 😉 That's a great story. 🙂

Air_and_Water · ‎08-04-2022

And now I will, too. There are aftermarket bumper covers that clean up that duckbill and the car looks so much better for it.

Air_and_Water · ‎06-04-2022

Show me a VW with that engine.

Air_and_Water · ‎04-04-2022

I would not, under any circumstances, leave my shift linkage in such a state. They were vague when new, but if that is indicative of the condition in the slightest then the car is not fun to drive, which is the major requirement in my old cars. A hidden kill switch is enough of a deterrent if the manual transmission (especially one with the dogleg shift pattern) is not.

Air_and_Water · ‎04-04-2022

The problem is that you're putting that percentage on a number that they didn't say qualified. It's the $76,000 car that's worth 635% more, but not necessarily the $16,000 one.

Air_and_Water · ‎01-04-2022

Engines do not "produce energy", nor does anything else. You can only convert energy, as it can neither be created nor destroyed.

Air_and_Water · ‎01-04-2022

Aaaaand there was an original serial at the movies, too. Obviously there was no Batmobile for that. 😉

Air_and_Water · ‎31-03-2022

That's exactly what this is supposed to be. Affleck's is the older, current version of this.

Air_and_Water · ‎31-03-2022

If by "one" you mean "none", then yeah. They're all overdone props. Well, except the unmodified cars from the original serial from the '40s. Those are just props.

Air_and_Water · ‎30-03-2022

It worked well for Porsche, even if it makes it obvious they're the profit-driven entity that they have become.

Air_and_Water · ‎30-03-2022

Then a Cadillac is a Chevrolet, I don't care what you call it. See how this works?

Air_and_Water · ‎30-03-2022

He's quite well known in both VW and Porsche circles. His work is exemplary and his reputation unequalled. I wish I had the disposable income to have him build a Type IV for me, in spite of the fact I like to build my own. I cannot do what he can no matter my budget. His research and experience are impossible to duplicate without spending decades and thousands of hours building.

Air_and_Water · ‎21-03-2022

"Still"? Of course. This truck isn't on sale yet. This is an electrical source on wheels and they'll sell plenty to contractors to be just that.

Air_and_Water · ‎15-03-2022

There are more people today who could use an electric car (even with its limitations) than there are electric cars to sell. Will it be a problem in the future? Probably, but that's the future, and predicting it has a long history of being wildly inaccurate.

Air_and_Water · ‎15-03-2022

They did, it's called the Audi TT. (I don't mean that to sound snarky.) It is exactly the same formula as the Beetle/Ghia, except that it has more performance and a shorter wheelbase than the Golf. The other difference is that they didn't have a different division in 1955 to sell a higher-end car.

Air_and_Water · ‎15-03-2022

I had several early buses, from a '60 Kombi to a '66 Double Cab pickup. I don't feel insulted in the least. Those things were death traps and nothing remotely resembling them could be sold in any first world country today. They were great for their time, but their time has long passed.

Air_and_Water · ‎15-03-2022

No, it will not. Look at it from profile, as you aren't sitting at the nose as it appears from the outside. They simply wouldn't sell it if it couldn't do well in crash tests. The Bulli (a previous prototype for a gas powered one) was cancelled because of the then-new offset crash test. It couldn't meet it without extending the nose considerably. This one doesn't have an incompressible lump, so it can meet that easily with a relatively short nose.

Air_and_Water · ‎10-03-2022

To me it's just weird that you can't use the headlight bucket as a footrest. 🙂

Air_and_Water · ‎10-03-2022

I've had several early Buses and I can guarantee that there is nothing built like them at all on sale today. The reason we didn't get the Bulli (one of the previous iterations) was because the offset crash test came out and that killed the design. This vehicle will pass that with flying colors. How? You sit behind the wheels. Waaaaay behind the wheels.

Air_and_Water · ‎09-03-2022

Delorean is planning on building two cars. One like the original and one that is a modern electric. We haven't seen the new car, as it has only had a couple of teaser photos released.

Air_and_Water · ‎08-03-2022

I agree completely. It's impressive from a technical standpoint, but to me at first blush every other car in the list is superior from a design standpoint. That, of course, is the point of custom cars, though. They didn't build it for me! 🙂

Air_and_Water · ‎07-03-2022

I've wanted one of these almost as long, but I've never seen one in the flesh. I'm a bit of a hot rodder, so I'd bump up the engine and make sure it had brakes to match. The rarity means I'd keep the original parts tucked away, but 125-150 hp would really wake this car up. 😄

Air_and_Water · ‎07-03-2022

It's easy to add horsepower to one of these, or any air-cooled VW for that matter. 🙂

Air_and_Water · ‎23-02-2022

There is no AWD, nor is there a need. Most AWD is sold because of marketing.

Air_and_Water · ‎22-02-2022

Look at electric vehicle sales as of 5 years ago compared to now. That's growth. This is disruptive technology and it's going to start taking bigger chunks of the sales charts. 5 years from now? It probably won't be half, but it won't be small enough to be ignored, either.

Air_and_Water · ‎21-02-2022

Agreed except for one thing. I don't want gobs of EV power coupled with swingaxle suspension! 😉 Batteries for the daily slog to work and back and carburetors for the weekend. 😄

Air_and_Water · ‎21-02-2022

This is a cobbled-together test bed (hence the name), not something they're trying to sell.

Air_and_Water · ‎21-02-2022

And 10 years from now? How about 20? Anyone saying they're a fad probably has ancestors who said the same thing when gas powered vehicles were replacing the horse. Sure, we older folks can drive gas cars until we die, but to ignore the upcoming wave of electric cars for a business is a death knell for said business. As for me I'd be happy to commute in an electric car and tinker with points and carburetors on the weekend.

Air_and_Water · ‎11-02-2022

I don't even have to click on it to know what it's about (but I did). Gear spacing is horrible on new cars because of the dictated shift points in the test and mileage requirements. It doesn't reflect the vehicle's weight, the engine's RPM range, gear spacing, or intent of the vehicle itself. It has almost completely ruined the fun of cheap manual cars. Many years ago I had a '92 VW Jetta GLI 16V, and I've never had a car that was a better match from its power band to its gearing. That car literally could not be built today because of that fact alone. It's gone. Because of a stupidly laid-out test. It could all be fixed if instead of requiring particular speed/throttle position/RPM they would let the manufacturer dictate those things, or at least present them to the EPA for approval for testing. Of course that won't happen, because it would mean a government agency giving up a tiny bit of its authority, which they never do if they don't have to (which they don't).

Air_and_Water · ‎10-02-2022

And yet modern cars are far more reliable than they've ever been. And it isn't even close.

Air_and_Water · ‎09-02-2022

Since automatics are inarguably faster, shift amazingly well, can be controlled through paddles and are reliable, the only thing left for manuals is the feel. With this system half of the feel is simply gone. No, thank you.

Air_and_Water · ‎08-02-2022

This is not like VW's Auto-stick/Porsche's Sportomatic. This actually has a clutch pedal, but the pedal makes a request to the computer to disengage the clutch. The VW/Porsche system did not have a pedal and used a simple vacuum servo to disengage a (very small) clutch, plus a torque converter to keep clutch abuse to a minimum. No, I don't want one. That said, it is exactly what I don't want in a transmission. I like the visceral feel of the clutch pedal, and finding the friction point when the clutch starts to engage. Modern clutch pedals already feel so removed from their mechanical origins that it is "less fun" than it was, so why would I want a robot to remove the last vestiges of clutch pedal feel? This deletes the direct mechanical link for... what reason exactly?