I told you Ka, if my daddy finds you sneaking into my bedroom one more time he’s going to kill you!
Last Call indicates the end of Hooniverse’s broadcast day. It’s meant to be an open forum for anyone and anything. Thread jacking is not only accepted, it’s encouraged.
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Last Call: Sneaky Pete Edition
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19 responses to “Last Call: Sneaky Pete Edition”
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“It’s a lovely little car, I was just defenestrating its capabilities.”
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Every hoon country has its legends and classics – your Corvettes and your Astons and your NSXs, etc. But, where you live, what do the most people (i.e. normal guys with average amounts of cash) actually hoon and modify? And why is it those cars?
Example, I’m Australian and we’re known for having a heap of ‘forbidden fruit’ muscle cars. Forget them.
Today, the old ones are all show ponies. The new ones cost the earth and are bought by near-retirees who drive in a manner that reflects their excellent insurance rating.
The cars that actually get hooned are beater Commodores and 20-year-old WRXs. Falcons and Evos – nope.
http://i42.tinypic.com/e8qqad.jpg
The Commodores are cheap, plentiful, rear drive and easy to mod with go-fast/make-loud parts. Meanwhile, all WRXs are quick and carry a lot of hoon cachet. The early ones (94-99) have reached the bottom of their price curve.
Sure, there are many other hoon-mobiles getting around, but these two cars predominate among Aussies who actually ‘hoon’.
So Americans, do people in your town talk ’68 Dodge Charger but walk ’98 Dodge Ram?
So Europeans, do people in your locale ponder Porsches while punting a Peugeot 206?-
Amongst my crew of middle aged Midwestern Hoons it’s primarily Miatas, e46 BMWs and Mustangs (most quietly pity the Mustang guys). The sad fact is there are fewer and fewer decent RWD candidates.
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Forgive me if this is way off, but I had the impression that by the mid-2000s BMWs crossed the self-wrench impossibility horizon. Or was the e46 the last of the ones that were more ultimate driving machine than “touchscreen-adjustable road-processing mobility solution”?
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I haven’t had one … although that may change in the near future. I’ve heard friends that do lament the loss of a proper mechanical limited slip diff but nothing about them being impossible to work on.
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I have an 01 E46 vert. Its just as easy to work on as anything else I’ve had. No unnecessary electronics in mine. And fun to drive. I don’t fit headroom wise in a miata unfortunately. That was our first choice for a fun car…
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My understanding is that the E46 is the last 3 series that one can work on. My E36 is a joy to wrench on, and I don’t think the E46 is much different, with the possible exception of the M3.
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Ppl hoon what’s plentiful, reliable, easy to work on, easy to find parts for. Aside from all things BMW, Scandinavia has the obvious:
http://www.hest.no/bilder//brukerbilder/18614/avsnitt/2916328.jpg-
Is that an 850 at the end?
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Rather depressingly, the Hoon Spirit is somewhat emasculated in the UK, which is one reason that I come here. Crippling insurance, congested roads and draconian legislature means that the vast majority of young folk prefer something new on “affordable” finance, or something older but with more emphasis on Show than Go, all wild camber, stripped paint and no ground clearance.
If I were an Australian living in the UK, and wanted something cheap and thoroughly hoonable, I’d be going the old Jag route. An X300 or XJ40 that hasn’t died from terminal rot is dirt cheap, grunty and tail happy. If there was more room at the inn I’d probably have one. -
Seemingly every Cars and Coffee crash involves a Mustang. I would say the most modded vehicle around here is the Chevy C1500, but for actual “Drive it like you stole it” maneuvers, the Blue Oval Pony takes the prize.
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Ireland is like the UK for crippling insurance, only moreso, with a pretty draconian tax system. It doesn’t help that the average Irish person regards someone driving a 2 litre petrol engine as some sort of insane hedonist. Mild modifications are treated by insurers like you’d just told them you use your car to transport plutonium rods and TNT.
I won’t bore you with the tax system again, but it’s designed to keep you in your peasant box. It’s not all bad though, we have an abundance of fun twisty roads, and rolling cheap tax for 30 year old classics.
I guess the answer to your question can be divided into two parts. What guys who simply want a “fasht car” buy and what the more serious enthusiasts buy.
Irelands still in the thrall of diesel and with only small engined cars as a reference point, a re-mapped VAG TDI is seen as a “rocketship”.
For those of us who are actually properly into cars, big power represents poor cash to fun ratio, for our little rural roads, you’re better off with an MX5 / Miata, it’s always the answer, no matter where you live. The one proper race circuit in the republic is quite technical too, it’s not a power circuit, so even here, big power doesn’t get you much. So it’s either that or a hot hatch. Lotus Elises are more affordable here than the US, so you’ll see quite a few at any trackday.
Anything Rally related is revered – AE86 twin cam or MK1/MK2 escort, but prices are nuts now. Used Subaru Imprezza Turbo/WRX are still attainable, but CO2 tax effectively killed off the model here post 2008.
With no car industry to protect, there’s little barrier to JDM imports, so you do actually see quite a few tasty cars around, even if you really do have to suck up the insurance hit. They’ve declined in numbers in recent years, it’s a combo of rising insurance, post economic boom comedown, exchange rates making imports less economic and rising prices for stuff like Skylines, Supras, Evos and other JDM 90s classic has meant many are exported. You can often get a better price to an overseas seller and on top of that, you can even claim back the import tax you paid on it. Despite this, many enthusiasts do at least try find buyers in-country to keep the cars here.
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Finally found the other valve adjuster retainer nut. The intake nut jumped the cam and was at the base of the exhaust valve spring boss. It was easy enough to fish it out with a dental pick and after a near miss on a Mars Climate Orbiter incident, I got the valves correctly adjusted.
Aaaaand it’s up on power. Crap. I should have done that a month or two ago. Had a great ride this afternoon. -
Dat ass
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Apartment for rent. Location features dramatic view. Off-street parking for up to five vehicles. Unit is accessible and affordable, with adjacent smoking area outside. Call for appointment; please no drop-ins.
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I didn’t realise the original Ka was so advanced.
It’s even compatible with Windows. -
About getting stuck: It’s hot (relatively speaking) in Antarctica. A Polar team had to abandon their Pistenbully for a week before they got to drive it out of the slush, with video:
https://www.nrk.no/urix/forskarar-bom-fast-pa-grunn-av-smelting-i-antarktis-1.13402515 -
The Beatles wrote a song about this.
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