That would just be so wrong.Originally Posted by OlongJohnson
Put an S54 in there as God and the Fatherland intended.
That would just be so wrong.
Put an S54 in there as God and the Fatherland intended.
Don't blame your Creator for the S54.
In case you missed the earlier discussions, a turbo Miata motor, even an old '99, will make more power than an S54 for a hell of a lot less money, weigh a lot less, be way easier to work on, need less working on, etc.
Or you could spend more money and put in a Honda motor. 300 hp at the wheels (S54 territory) NA with a 2.4, or turbo it and make 450-500 hp at the wheels with a well-engineered system and the 93 octane we have here in TX at the pump. And it's an aluminum-block 4 banger with Honda fundamentals.
I have all the stuff needed to turbocharge a '99 Miata motor in my garage. Just not the time in my life, or the roads to make having such a thing worth it less than a three-hour drive away. But my lizard brain still thinks reality is sports car paradise and won't stop thinking about stuff like that.
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Not another dime.
You gotta remember though - Bimmer guys think anything non-Bimmer is sacrilege.
I was in a car club with a kid who would not use anything non-BMW branded on his E46 M3.
It was fun to see how slow he was at autocross compared to my 'Speed3. I would thrash him and that chassis was definitely more than capable. Of course, we all got thrashed by the dude driving an '01 Integra Type-R with Bilsteins and R-Comps on it.
I always wanted to do a vinyl graphic setup with a list of BMW and Honda stats, titled "Heritage:"
First F1 win
First F1 championship
# of F1 wins
# of F1 championships
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Not another dime.
My favorite juxtaposition in the car world are these two exhibits in their respective brands museums:
In the BMW Museum they had a hanging display of all the rear emblems for their dozens (hundreds?) of models, where the emblems were held by fishing wire.
In the Porsche Museum they had a hanging display of trophies won with just the 911 held up by fishing wire.
The Porsche Museum exhibit was so clearly a shot at the BMW museum exhibit (and people say the Germans don't have a sense of humor). I have pictures of this, but they are on my server at home, I'll have to find them this evening.
Have to replace a car battery. (After being on a charger overnight, the battery droppped from 11.4V to 8.3V in about six hours of sitting with everything in the car turned off.) Dove in and did a swim around the world of car batteries this evening. Best deal, and not by a little bit, is the "Duracell" at Sam's Club. It's made by East Penn. O'Reilly (may need to verify this, as it might vary regionally) and NAPA batteries are also by East Penn, so it's reasonable to assume the only difference is the label. Sam's Club is enough cheaper than the others to pay for the membership on just the one item.
Annoyingly, some fricking a-hole somewhere assumed that because the coupe and sedan versions of the nameplate that my car is shared the same battery from 2010-2015, when the 2016 sedan was completely redesigned and took a massively larger battery, the coupe battery changed as well. It did not. Which means a whole bunch of stores will refuse to sell the battery that fits in my car once I tell them what my car is. That a-hole, wherever he or she is, can suck it.
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Not another dime.
I visited a car battery factory once. Assembly line. Whistle blew and they switched labels from brand x to brand y. Not sure that are that many differences to most traditional car batteries
Right. It's basically (formerly) Johnson Controls and East Penn. Johnson Controls has been systematically reducing quality in pursuit of profit for 20+ years. Ruined Optima, for example. Exide got out of the car battery business and licensed its brands to JCI. The market failure is that they supply the majority of battery brands through private labeling, so there is little competition to force them to do better.
It turns out that last year, JCI sold its battery business to an investment firm, so it now appears to be on the same plan for success as Freedom Group, Chrysler prior to bankruptcy and FIAT, Colt, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnso...ower_Solutions
East Penn is a much smaller company, and continues to make batteries that don't suck under their own (DEKA) and several other private labels. I'll spend more for an East Penn-built battery just to help keep a quality option around.
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forum...od_American_ma
Older link, but gives you some idea where the business has been:
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forum...-car-batteries
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Not another dime.
This is true. I have a e90 m3 and what I hate most about it is that it is a BMW. Bmw drivers eat sleep and breath BMW. I would have loved if Chevrolet made the SS a little smaller and about 3500 pounds or less.
Unfortunately there are virtually no cars that have 4 doors with a v8, rwd with LSD, and 3 pedals that can autox, do track days, and kind of blend in at the kids kiss and ride. Z06 had to go and I was fortunate enough to "compromise".
After two days at the Corvette owners driving school, I got to take this around the track. Makes me realize why the engine belongs behind the driver.
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