240Z.
So dirty.
[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
Datsun 510 aka the poor man’s BMW 1600.[/quote]
Yes Datsuns were super popular here in the early to mid-80’s. My brother’s friend had one. He saved up for a few years, bought one and delivered pizzas in it around the neighbourhood at nights for some extra cash. They were great little cars at the time. After the '73 oil crisis big cars declined in popularity with the onset of rally car inspired fast four cylinder cars in the 80’s that generation downsized their everyday car. And today with turbo and superchargers and more efficient engines; weight saving materials and technology big engines are likely to be only seen on a few specialty cars. I’ve always loved the low end torque and sound of naturally aspirated V8s but I also appreciate light weight, smaller cars. They’re much more fun to drive really. 911s have that feel of a go-cart so low to the ground with the low centre of gravity just gives you so much grip. That’s what I like about the Lotus cars as I mentioned on the Euro thread. And even the Mazda MX 5 is a great handling lightweight car despite its piss ant engine. I’d like to see a supercharged MX 5 in 6 speed manual. It’s the biggest selling sports car of all time so if they mass produced a turbocharged engine for them it could be done really cheap. Do some creative tuning to improve low end torque and overcome turbo lag. Bring turbine power to the common man.
[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
R34 GTR Nissan Skyline.
My favorite example of the Skylines.[/quote]
The Skyline and the WRX are the two entry level performance cars on the Australian market that have loyal fans and have been competing for years. And then there’s the old Ford / Holden muscle car and ute rivalry that goes back at least 50 years. I’ve always been a Holden man myself and prefer Commodores to drive. But I would certainly consider Japanese performance cars and would love to drive that Acura NSX with independent front wheel electric motors. I’ve always been against the idea of hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles but being able to independently add or subtract power to each wheel and the whole thing controlled by a super smart suspension system just sounds awesome. As I mentioned I’d love to see a car with an independent electric motor driving each wheel.
I’d like to see more cool features like launch control too becoming more standard in cars. And an N2O bottle with emergency booster button would be a pretty cool extra to offer on a performance car. I’ve never gone in for all those kinds of car mods but a boost button as an option on a stock car would be pretty cool. Maybe a button on the steering wheel or a cap on the gear knob like on the James Bond rocket powered car.
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
I’d love to see a car with an independent electric motor driving each wheel.
[/quote]
Mercedes already has you covered with the SLS AMG. Not 250 per wheel but it’s up there (up near 750 hp total iirc).
[quote]Broncoandy wrote:
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
I’d love to see a car with an independent electric motor driving each wheel.
[/quote]
Mercedes already has you covered with the SLS AMG. Not 250 per wheel but it’s up there (up near 750 hp total iirc).[/quote]
I didn’t know that thanks. I don’t keep up on the tech stuff. But some of these new AWD suspension / power systems are amazing. The future is going to be very interesting. Lots of amazing toys in the coming years.
This is a third generation Monaro. The new Monaros came in a range of different versions from the six liter V8 to the HSV GTS 400+hp version to the Pontiac version. They were really just living off the name because there are other Commodores with the same engine, very similar body that already fulfilled the Monaro’s function. But anyway Commodores are great cars to drive. Especially long distance in Australia which is what they’re known for. They’re like the Australian Grand Tourer. The biggest family cars and utes. Much bigger than those little Japanese toys. Isuzu? Bless you.
Commodores are known for their cheapo plasticky interiors. Not that they’re known to break or anything. They’re very reliable. Just cheapish interiors except on the high end, performance and luxury class. But you get very good value for money. An HSV GTS and the Club Sport V8s and Monaros will beat anything near their price range and they’re quality workmanship; tried, tested and built in Australia(mostly) and specifically for Australian conditions by Australian engineers(mostly) and Australian designers(mostly) and manufacturers(some Australian) but the company is going up end and closing the SA plant as I mentioned. I don’t know if tariffs on imported vehicles would be a good idea because obviously we’re already taxed way, way too much on cars in particular and everything else too and also because it wouldn’t help productivity and competitiveness. We have good steelworks and raw materials and top engineers and minds and innovators. We should be able to compete with Japan, Korea, America, China and the European manufacturers.
I’d like to see less focus on mass, standardised production from manufacturers and more range. I like it when a vehicle is offered in four or more different engines to choose from. And there should be more interior options, even unusual seating options like rear facing back seats or only front seats to leave extra space at the back. And luxury interior choices for the lesser cars. So you can upgrade the interior without the luxury badge. Just pay a few extra k for nicer seats and fancy wooden panels. The smokers options are being left out by some car makers now too which is a bummer I think even though I don’t smoke in the car and only smoke the occasional cigar anyway but it just doesn’t seem right to not have an ashtray and lighter in a car.
I mentioned my ute swag I use to sleep in my Commodore in another thread. I think car makers should concentrate on “lifestyle” cars more with cool features like the ute swag. The SUVs have always been a sort of lifestyle car and now they’re getting a power upgrade by a few makers they’re a pretty cool AWD option if you like to go the beach and off the beaten track a bit too. And they hold a lot of shopping.
I’d love to have Jay Leno’s garage and some time on my hands. I really enjoy driving so many different classes of vehicle and it’s so hard to just pick one or two to own. Even if you can afford to collect a few cars the insurance bills would go through the roof if you wanted to drive them all. So for me I’ll probably never own more than two cars at any one time.
Pictured is the Toyota FT-1 formula 1 inspired, concept supercar prototype interior. The steering wheel looks more like a helicopter stick and has a section at the top missing so it’s like two arms instead of a wheel.
Speaking of Australian cars as I mentioned I’ve always favoured and driven the Commodore whereas my brother drove the dreaded, rival Ford Falcon. But yes, the Commodores have a larger, more roomy interiors and there are so many different varieties and editions compared to Falcon and then there’s the HSV division and everything. They really are the top Australian car and always have been. Best family cars. Best utes. Best hoon cars for the money. They’ve got the classy options like the Senator, the Signature and the wealthy hoon Clubsport to the sturdy old VFs and VEs. I’ve always liked the lion badge on every hood and the centre of every wheel. A great strong animal. Cars are power fetish machines and should be named after wild and savage beasts like the Mustang and the Cobra and the Falcon and Commodore and Viper and so on. The lion is a great one and was popular in Rome like the Eagle. The Senators have a Gold badge and the lion on the Senators has two gold laurel wreaths encircling it.
And this is the gold Holden lion badge with laurel wreaths that looks great on the black Senators. Until recently there was no rival to the Holden HSV Senator. It was the car to have and I wanted one of course but settled with a lesser Commodore as an every day driver so I could get something even more special as a second car. And I haven’t decided on a second car yet. I could get just about anything within reason.
This is nuts, but look at the part where it’s showing the speedo. Look at how fast that thing accelerates from 140 to 200+!
That’s crazy. Lucky he didn’t roll.
Of course the new Ford XR-8 in Australia has the Coyote engine everyone has been raving about on the Mustang only they developed a supercharger specially for it and added the Ford Sports suspension that’s so highly regarded and thereby bumping the XR-8 up to near supercar class. Australian Holdens and Fords both punch well above their weight in performance and power which is why we should be able to run a profitable car industry. It’s just hard to compete with the bulk output of South East Asia, Europe and America.
My picture of the first generation Mazda MX 5 didn’t come out so I’m posting it here again. I’ve explained why I have a soft spot for these cars despite how old and woefully underpowered they are. It was in old manual MX 5s that I first learned advance driving techniques. Best selling sports car of all time and weighs only 2070 lbs. There’s something about driving light weight cars. They’ve got precision handling if they’re well balanced, low centre of gravity, aerodynamic with good rack and pinion tight steering.
Edited
[quote]Broncoandy wrote:
Eunos Cosmo. 2 liter twin turbo charged 300 hp rotory engine. Odd little car.[/quote]
I’ve never heard of it. Cool.
http://images.t-nation.com/forum_images/6/7/675c6_ORIG-image.jpg
Anyone driven a Wankel? They stopped making them in 2012. Wankel engines are popular with hot rodders as they have an inherent high power to weight ratio and tuning potential. The RX 8 produced near 280 hp stock from a 1.3 liter engine.