Car enthusiasts?

[Kupar 12,313]

6 hours ago, Hamster245 said:

Reliant Scimitar

Ooh! ❤️

[GenericUsername 1,030]

The 2000s had the best car designs. I used to know every make and model when I was a kid. Now, basically all cars look the same. Boring lol

[oliver2 3,889]

2 hours ago, GenericUsername said:

The 2000s had the best car designs. I used to know every make and model when I was a kid. Now, basically all cars look the same. Boring lol

SUVs with unnecessarily large radiator grilles!

[GenericUsername 1,030]

17 minutes ago, oliver2 said:

SUVs with unnecessarily large radiator grilles!

Those looked cool. I remember thinking the Ford Excursion was such an epic vehicle as a kid. 😆

[Hamster245 518]

On 9/4/2022 at 5:59 PM, Kupar said:

Ooh! ❤️

Inherited through a family member who owned it from new. Sadly I found it very difficult to find a comfortable driving position so it was sold on. 

[Hamster245 518]

On 9/4/2022 at 5:58 PM, Kupar said:

I drove one of those ... company car. Loved it 🙂

I love mine, always wanted one. Been offered a lot to part with it, but I won't sell it. 

[Pontepee 62]

Funny you should mention those cars as I have both a mk1 fiesta, in this case a 1.3 ghia with xr2 brakes and supersport wheels, and a Reliant Scimitar, unfortunately the least cool one, the SE6. They were both daily drivers at various times in my youth from first passing my test until a few years ago. Then life got in the way and they are both now under cover waiting for me to have to time and money to bring them back to life again. Love them both. 

[Couple92 713]

I currently drive a Volvo XC40 as well as a Mercedes Benz 300CE-24. 
Previous cars include an Audi S3 convertible and a handful of Beamers. 
These are my babies (with me on the hood of the Audi as a bonus lol). 

[MidoriLemonade85 1,855]

On 9/8/2021 at 8:20 PM, Kupar said:

Well ... as of this week I now have a GT86 (manual transmission of course!) that looks something like the one below (this isn't my car). So far, so good

🙂 <- that's the smile on my face while driving it lol.

You need an emoji with a bigger smile for this post! 

[MidoriLemonade85 1,855]

On 9/3/2022 at 8:40 PM, Sexismygod said:

You can't go wrong with a car that looks like it was designed by the Jetsons.

Those fins ... what were they smoking when they drew that up and thought "Perfect!"?

Oh my god. Wow! 😍

[MidoriLemonade85 1,855]

On 9/9/2021 at 1:44 PM, Sweets said:

I’m not into the mechanical part of the car.  So I don’t know things like what horse power it has or all that stuff.  Since I first seen smokey and the bandit I’ve been into muscle cars.   The look and the speed.   This is my current car.  I finally got my purple charger.    My last one was garnet gray.  A dark gray.  I also owned a silver mustang.  I like the charger over the mustang.  Much more comfortable to drive.   My dream car has always been a 1971 hemi Cuda.    Purple of course.  

I have seen Smokey and The Bandit sooooo many times! 
That is a cool car! 

[MidoriLemonade85 1,855]

On 11/8/2021 at 2:57 AM, Kupar said:

It's no big deal to all you petrolheads out there, but I am feeling pleased with myself, as I've just successfully installed some after-market ultrasonic reverse parking sensors to my GT86. The hardest thing was getting the bumper (fender) off lol. And I only had one pop rivet left over after everything went back on lol.  The sensors work a treat, and crucially, the lights and other electrics still do too 🙂 

Well done, Kupar. ✅

[MidoriLemonade85 1,855]

On 11/29/2021 at 7:46 PM, Kupar said:

I managed a little controlled drifting on a circular skid pan the other day 🙂  Quite pleased with myself. I'd booked an hour on a slippy wet concrete skid pan just to get a sense for what to do when the back of my RWD, narrow-tyred GT86 starts to slide out. I know, of course, but it was good to feel it happening and practise correcting things in a safe environment rather than at 60mph on a roundabout with HGVs next to me. The low grip surface replicates at about 15mph what you would normally experience at about 60-70mph on normal roads. Switching off the traction control / electronic stability program as far as possible meant it was just down to my own steering and throttle control, and it got better with time until I wasn't spinning 360 degrees more often than maybe one time in 6 as I gently increased the speed at which I was going round the circle lol.

But for the other 5 times, by the end of the hour I had got sufficiently better that I was able to hold and maintain a controlled drift, rather than just regaining control, slowing down then gradually increasing the speed again. That was great fun, even if it was only at 15mph.

On my way to the skid pan I stopped off for a coffee at a service area as I was early. I'd been there about 5 minutes when about a dozen proper sports cars turned up - BMW M Series and AMG Mercedes of various kinds, a couple of Porsche 911s, a Jaguar XKR, I chatted briefly to one of the guys before he went off to speak to his mates - yes, they were going to a track day together at the same place I was going. I didn't see them again that morning, but I guess they would have had an interesting experience in the near-zero temperatures and gentle sleet. 

Wow, Kupar! That would have been amazing!!! 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

Watch out, Top Gear might come knocking on your door! 

[MidoriLemonade85 1,855]

On 11/30/2021 at 6:25 PM, gldenwetgoose said:

I can understand them being a little different from the norm in the big wide US of A,  but over here in Europe probably the majority of cars across most countries are hatchbacks with less than a 2 litre engine.

It's mostly a practicality thing - yes we have SUVs and 4x4s, we have executive saloons (sedans) like BMWs and Mercedes, but a lot of people want a smaller car that's easy to park, fuel efficient and cheap to run.  A small saloon (sedan) has the disadvantage that the boot (trunk) is also tiny, so when it comes to normal family life can be a problem.  Baby's pram, airport suitcases, new TV...  all difficult to get into a small saloon car, but in a hatchback no problem at all.  Flip the seats down if you have to and you have a minivan.

Kia are a later, but successful addition to the Asian manufacturer's over here in Europe too - nothing wrong with them in an age when most manufacturers are all offering similar specifications, warranties and the like.

(That said - I'd avoid the Kia Picanto if that even exists over there - I had one as a hire car and had to drop out of top gear to drive up a 7% hill).

Picantos always seem to be driven by people with far too much assertiveness for such a microscopic car. Or maybe cheekiness, I don’t know! They are cute but don’t have much substance. 

[MidoriLemonade85 1,855]

On 11/30/2021 at 6:59 PM, Kupar said:

Kia have been doing very well in the UK in the last year or so and have 5.7% of a very fragmented market here in 2021 so far, and growing fast (like their rival Hyundai). For comparison, Ford has 7.5%, VW 9% and BMW 7.1%. I know many people with Kias who are very happy with them. And @gldenwetgoose is right - hatchbacks are a very familiar sight on the roads of Europe because of their practicality. 

And 7 year warranty I believe! 

[MidoriLemonade85 1,855]

On 3/15/2022 at 9:44 AM, JDG said:

Hey you, don't be rude about the Picanto 😆

Just kidding ofcourse, but I've got one and it's actually a very very decent car I think. It's indeed lacking power (although it's also available with 100HP engine, considering how little the car weighs I think that'd be more than enough), but apart from that I think it's the best car in its class. Mine has lots of options (cruise control, leather seats, climate control instead of just "normal" a/c, sat nav, Android Auto, rear view camera, heated seats etc) which you can't get on a lot of these small cars and the interior really looks quite good I think. When I got this car, I've been looking at cars like the VW Up!, Seat Mii, Toyota Aygo as well, but those interiors were all quite cheap with a lot of exposed, bare metal. It seems to me that almost every car in this class has got that, but the Picanto has a really "grown up" interior with everything nicely upholstered. And it drives pretty good as well, but I live in the flatest country on earth were the curb is considered a huge hill, so even the lack of power doesn't bother me that much😁

Having said that, I really want my next car to be a little more powerfull though. My previous car was a 235HP Skoda, so it was a bit of a let down to get a 67HP Kia after that. But my Skoda was a 2002 car, so the Kia is much more modern and I really appreciate all the gadgets on it!

Yes they are gadget-filled. But so tiny! As I mentioned, Picanto drivers tend to be cheeky/assertive from my observations. Never rude or aggressive, mind you. Just when one goes past me I think “oh ok, tiny, bring it on then….!” 😆😆😆

[MidoriLemonade85 1,855]

On 5/27/2022 at 6:00 PM, Kupar said:

I don't think so Steve! We've had a discussion of the merits of the Kia Picanto quite recently, for example 🙂 (And I don't think many - any? - of us are in the market for a Bentley lol).

Picantos do always bring a smile to my face, even though I would probably never get one as it wouldn’t fit all my family members and their stuff in it! Kias are so much cooler now than they used to be. 

[Wetseat 223]

The only car that i liked enough not to pee in was my grandparents old 1950’s ford, i think it was a mid 50’s car and had a “three on the tree” shifter. I liked that car and despite my kink I don’t think i ever used it as a toilet. 

[likesToLick 9,686]

[willinglywet 236]

Since it is winter up here and half a meter of snow my classic car is now in the carage for a winter sleep.😁 It is nice to spend time in the carage and doing all kind of maintenance work for it during the winter time, making it ready for the next summer driving fun. For me this is like therapy hobbying around car in the carage and it gives me so much, i think all car guys can understand this.

Last year and summer was kind of a challenging for many of car enthusiast around here and i believe many other places in Europe aswell. Gasoline price were at peak in summer and cost around 2.65 euros/liter. Just to make it perspective that would be almost 13 dollars per gallon for USA, yiekes🤢 Despite of that i did used my classic for daily driver whole summer, it was costly but hey you cant but a price for living quality and it is just that for me. hehe.

Now the gasoline prices have come down a little and is around 1.80 per liter, not cheap at all but what you gonna do? Everythiing has got more expensive cause of the war in Ukraine in a year but specially the energy prices are truly horrible now. Although this is nothing to compared to the people of Ukraine, what they are experiencing is just something words cannot explain. Pure horror, wishing strength for the people on Ukraine.

Hopefully we have better year now in 2023 anyways.

[willinglywet 236]

On 10/7/2022 at 1:56 AM, MidoriLemonade85 said:

I have seen Smokey and The Bandit sooooo many times! 
That is a cool car! 

That second gen Pontiac firebird trans am is one of my favorite cars too!

[Kupar 12,313]

14 minutes ago, willinglywet said:

Since it is winter up here and half a meter of snow my classic car is now in the carage for a winter sleep.😁 It is nice to spend time in the carage and doing all kind of maintenance work for it during the winter time, making it ready for the next summer driving fun. For me this is like therapy hobbying around car in the carage and it gives me so much, i think all car guys can understand this.

Last year and summer was kind of a challenging for many of car enthusiast around here and i believe many other places in Europe aswell. Gasoline price were at peak in summer and cost around 2.65 euros/liter. Just to make it perspective that would be almost 13 dollars per gallon for USA, yiekes🤢 Despite of that i did used my classic for daily driver whole summer, it was costly but hey you cant but a price for living quality and it is just that for me. hehe.

Now the gasoline prices have come down a little and is around 1.80 per liter, not cheap at all but what you gonna do? Everythiing has got more expensive cause of the war in Ukraine in a year but specially the energy prices are truly horrible now. Although this is nothing to compared to the people of Ukraine, what they are experiencing is just something words cannot explain. Pure horror, wishing strength for the people on Ukraine.

Hopefully we have better year now in 2023 anyways.

Great to see you back on the forum!