Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Sliver

The Bronco and Jeep both look good and have some passion in their design.

My problem is with the Sante Fe, Tuscon, Rav, CR-V, HR-V, Escape, Edge, CX-7, CX-9, etc. etc. etc. etc. They all look like different versions of a castrated jellybean. Sales indicate people seem to love them, though, so what do I know.

People love them because they are unassuming and unoffensive. Your average consumer for vehicles does not want to stick out or show off but rather just blend in with every other vehicle in the mall parking lot. Design and styling doesn't resonate with soccer moms. In my lifetime as a car lover design has gone from pretty bold, innovative and somewhat daring on the exteriors but with pathetic and drab interiors to cookie cutter exterior design and a focus on interior design and technology. The innovation and focus is all about user experience and technology now.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

People love them because they are unassuming and unoffensive. Your average consumer for vehicles does not want to stick out or show off but rather just blend in with every other vehicle in the mall parking lot. Design and styling doesn't resonate with soccer moms. In my lifetime as a car lover design has gone from pretty bold, innovative and somewhat daring on the exteriors but with pathetic and drab interiors to cookie cutter exterior design and a focus on interior design and technology. The innovation and focus is all about user experience and technology now.

Also people are very brand oriented. There are people that continually keep purchasing the same brand of vehicles regardless of styling or its standing relative to the competition. There is a large contingency of people that just buy Honda's because they think they are still as reliable as Toyotas even though that hasn't been the case for a while and it seems even when Consumer reports drops the Civic as a recommended model, sales continue to be best in Canada and USA for the compact segment. It's why Mazda has had a difficult time as even though they sell vehicles on par or better than Honda the average consumer believes they are getting a better vehicle from Honda.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Sliver

The Bronco and Jeep both look good and have some passion in their design.

My problem is with the Sante Fe, Tuscon, Rav, CR-V, HR-V, Escape, Edge, CX-7, CX-9, etc. etc. etc. etc. They all look like different versions of a castrated jellybean. Sales indicate people seem to love them, though, so what do I know.

It's interesting how the most distinctive cars these days are ones that are based on designs that are decades old...Wrangler, 911, Bronco, G-Class, F-Type, Range Rover/Defender, Mustang, Challenger. These are often the cars that have the most passionate followers too.

The one thing those cars have in common is that they all have fairly simple silhouettes and distinct personalities. To me, great car design is like a good sports logo...distinct, but simple enough for a child to draw the shape of, so it becomes instantly recognizable to anyone. How many uniquely new car designs of the last 20 years can you say that about? Audi R8/TT? The SMART?

There are still nicer newer designs out there (personally I like the Lexus LC, Porsche Taycan, Lincoln Aviator among them) but yeah, so many things these are just a blob with a bunch of angry creases. These days there's too much focus on tech and styling, and not enough on the big-picture design impression.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by InglewoodFan

In a weird coincidence I was looking at Fiat based Westfalia camper vans last night thinking how cool it would be to get one of these in Canada.

Oh I'm all over #vanlife - would love nothing more than to do a build on a Ford Transit High roof extended with an Ecoboost....

Despite it's wider chassis making it a better van to build - consensus seem to be to stay away from the Promaster due to the usual FCA elements of crappiness.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Oh I'm all over #vanlife - would love nothing more than to do a build on a Ford Transit High roof extended with an Ecoboost....

Despite it's wider chassis making it a better van to build - consensus seem to be to stay away from the Promaster due to the usual FCA elements of crappiness.

I really want to get a camper van one of these days. When I was a kid my parents had a Ford Econoline camper van and it was awesome. I would like to get a Chevy based Roadtrek or similar conversion from the late 90's through the late 2000s.

[Sliver]

Hey, are valved exhaust available for any car? I like how quiet my CLS550 is, but sometimes I want to actually hear it rumble. Is that something I can do? Where would you take it?

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Hey, are valved exhaust available for any car? I like how quiet my CLS550 is, but sometimes I want to actually hear it rumble. Is that something I can do? Where would you take it?

There should be a valved exhaust for that model, not sure if it came with a factory valve. It won't be cheap though so be prepared to shell out upwards of $5,000. Most are controlled from your phone or a key fob sized controller.

https://www.vividracing.com/exhaust-...151444003.html

The other option would be adding a cutout with a valve off the midpipe, it would be much cheaper but far cruder and I would look to forums for examples to see if it's workable.

[burn_this_city]

Here's an ebay cutout you could have a muffler shop weld in. Would need to check the diameters ect.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-3...EAAOSwWXNe8pr-

[Sliver]

Holy crap, that's expensive. Guess I'm too used to modding Mustangs where everything is cheap. I'll look into the cutaway thing. Thanks man!

[TorqueDog]

If you're doing eBay cut-outs, keep in mind that our cars (M278-equipped CLS550, E550, etc.) have true dual exhaust. Manifolds into dual front and rear cats, dual mid-pipes, dual resonators, dual mufflers.

So you'll need two cutouts, and you'll need to figure out how easy it is to wire them to a single switch / control box.

[Sliver]

I think I'm just going to leave well enough alone. Valved exhaust would be cool, but not cool enough to make me want to go to a bunch of hassle.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I think I'm just going to leave well enough alone. Valved exhaust would be cool, but not cool enough to make me want to go to a bunch of hassle.

Honestly, the best exhaust 'mod' for these cars is to just chop the rear mufflers off and run straight pipes. Right off the bat, a great deal of sound reduction comes from the turbochargers. After that, we have our two catalytic converters per bank, which further muffles the noise. Then there are two resonators at about the mid-point of the cabin, which prevent the car from droning on the inside. The mufflers are just to get the car to 'Mercedes quiet'.

So unless you want to go through the hassle of sourcing the AMG exhaust from cats to mufflers, you can get that AMG noise on an M278 car by just ditching the rear mufflers. Car is quiet enough to drive around without being obnoxious by any stretch, and when you want to hear it, gear down and put your foot into it; you'll hear it. I've actually been told by several of my car enthusiast buddies that my exhaust is 'conservative', and that's even without considering it's a V8 putting out 550 horsepower.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Honestly, the best exhaust 'mod' for these cars is to just chop the rear mufflers off and run straight pipes. Right off the bat, a great deal of sound reduction comes from the turbochargers. After that, we have our two catalytic converters per bank, which further muffles the noise. Then there are two resonators at about the mid-point of the cabin, which prevent the car from droning on the inside. The mufflers are just to get the car to 'Mercedes quiet'.

So unless you want to go through the hassle of sourcing the AMG exhaust from cats to mufflers, you can get that AMG noise on an M278 car by just ditching the rear mufflers. Car is quiet enough to drive around without being obnoxious by any stretch, and when you want to hear it, gear down and put your foot into it; you'll hear it. I've actually been told by several of my car enthusiast buddies that my exhaust is 'conservative', and that's even without considering it's a V8 putting out 550 horsepower.

Oh sweet, that's a good idea. Easy to reverse at minimal expense, too. So you don't have any drone or anything? I'm sure you would have mentioned it if you did. Yeah, I'll probably do that.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

and when you want to hear it, gear down and put your foot into it;

You mean, beg and plead a computer and a bunch of heavy, needless equipment to change gears for you, because the manufacturer of your car deemed you were unable to do so on your own.



[/obligatory manual snobbery drive by]

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Oh sweet, that's a good idea. Easy to reverse at minimal expense, too. So you don't have any drone or anything? I'm sure you would have mentioned it if you did. Yeah, I'll probably do that.

No drone. If you're in auto (Efficiency or Sport) mode, and you're cruising along, it's almost as quiet as it is stock.

Just make sure the work isn't done by idiots. Turns out the first place I went to... well, they were idiots. You'll want them to make sure the tailpipes aren't coming into contact with the exhaust trim on the rear bumper fascia. But it's an easy mod and you're basically paying the cost of labour and a few feet of pipe. I kept my rear mufflers to go with the car when it's sold.

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

You mean, beg and plead a computer and a bunch of heavy, needless equipment to change gears for you, because the manufacturer of your car deemed you were unable to do so on your own.



[/obligatory manual snobbery drive by]

I AM TRYING, DAMN IT.

A couple price drops, 750+ views on AutoTrader, no e-mails or calls yet. Now I feel bad for how many times I've gone on AutoTrader 'just for the hell of it' to look at what's around.

[GoinAllTheWay]

I"m just gonna go ahead and ask this here as I don't want to be the guy to resurrect the winter tire thread.....

Managed to pick up a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 over the weekend and need to replace the tires and figured I'd just go straight to winters for now and worry about summers next season.

I've been advised to look at the Blizzak DMV2. Price looked decent and I've always been fond of the Blizzak winter tires.

Thoughts on these?

[bagofpucks]

Had the DMV2s on my old SUV and they are solid tires. Personally, I prefer the Michelin X-ice, but would buy the blizzaks again if there was much of a price difference. I believe Costco has a sale on now for the blizzaks too.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Table 5

A family member recently bought something similar to this from a Quebec company that uses a lot of European-sourced parts and design inspiration. It's pretty close to that Westfalia in look and feel. https://panoramicrv.com

It's nice to finally start seeing see RV/camper interiors that don't look like you're going to grandmas cottage in the 70s.

This looks awesome. $150K...I guess that’s the going price for higher end RVs. Everyone I know myself included seems to want one for a couple of long retirement trips but I wonder about the economics of it. I’d love to pick one up for a few years then get a decent resale.

[cral12]

any advice on a quick fix for a relatively small scratch/scrape on front fender around wheelwall that's showing a slight bit of rust?
(just wondering what products that might be out there that I should be looking at; I'm not Canada's most handyman and overwhelmed by plethora of options)

Thanks

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by edslunch

This looks awesome. $150K...I guess that’s the going price for higher end RVs. Everyone I know myself included seems to want one for a couple of long retirement trips but I wonder about the economics of it. I’d love to pick one up for a few years then get a decent resale.

That's significantly higher than what they paid, although they bought theirs before the Covid-induced RV/camping mania hit (apparently there is now about a 1.5 year waiting list) so maybe prices went up. But yeah, the prices of these types vans are pretty eye-watering now, especially ones with a Sprinter chassis.

I kind of like these Tofino's as well, as they basically ape the old Westfalia van with the pop top and layout, just not quite as refined in terms of design/finish. These will only set you back about $85K.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IztG...ture=emb_title