Red Underwear, Cheap Fiats and Other Moto Stuff

[sphinxsix]

Since the 'Best vocalist' thread seems to be in a serious danger of being heavily derailed (which wasn't my intention when I mentioned 'cheap Fiat', which i think had started the process), I will allow myself to start a new thread on which, according to the OP will, nothing which is connected with underwear, cheap Fiats or other cars will be OT  

 

 

11 hours ago, accwai said:

 

 So does it have color matched underwear to look cool from below as well?

 

 

 

What does the spoiler do to improve handling?

 

As for the red underwear - the later 20V version had standard Brembo brakes as far as I remember, but I don't know if this counts..

I'm sure you could find e.g. many red Bilstein dampers if you looked under these Fiats' skirts as well.. Very sexy IMO 

 

As for the spoiler - remember problem with the first generation of Audi TT and its lack of stability at high speeds (some car journalists had some accidents related to this issue)? To improve it Audi engineers had changed the car's ESP and ASR settings, modified the suspension and added this little thing: 

 

 

which was said to add I think (I may be wrong though) about 20kg at 200km/h.

You can probably check it here if you speak German:

ttforum

Is it much or not.? I really don't know, actually. What I know is that Fiat had no problems with stability, had a really good grip for a 2 wheels drive hence I said - 'an optical must' actually the spoiler in mine was even more discreet than the one on the photo I had posted, looked probably exactly like this one:

but if you compare the car having it with the one without it..

 

BTW Audi TT had become more stable after the above mentioned changes but AFAIK probably mainly due to  the new electronics settings the new version was safer of course but didn't handle that well.. 

 

 

[sphinxsix]

Moving somewhat towards the high end of the price spectrum - if there was an unlimited number of zeroes on my bank account, I would probably get this one, build a private race track (and funded a forest to compensate for CO2 emission) 

 

 

 

 

[sphinxsix]

@accwai You always ask interesting but often quite difficult questions. I apologize I hate the idea of slowing down this thread but I need some more time to answer your interesting questions. Will do it a little later.

 

[sphinxsix]

1 hour ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

YES! 

I believe I can assume this question has already been answered with this radical 'YES'..

 

On 9/4/2020 at 4:03 PM, accwai said:

A quick internet lookup returns something like 60/40 weight distribution on the Audi TT across generations. What's the TT's dynamic tendency in general and how does adding 20kg at 200kph play into that?

First of all I would say that quite often the situation in which rear of the car becomes more dynamic/faster than its front isn't a good thing 

As for the role of the mentioned 20kg I actually asked myself this question but I don't think I can answer it (I also didn't try to google it). On one hand it doesn't seem a lot, on the other hand - its beauty as an addition to this (IMO) interesting looking car (IMO) is doubtful. So would Audi engineers add it if it wasn't really to some degree a helpful tool for solving the above mentioned high speed stability problems.? Is it possible that its main role was simply to shout - here's improved TT which is stable at high speeds.? 

I really wonder.

 

On 9/4/2020 at 4:03 PM, accwai said:

Looks like something called 918 is in Assetto Corsa's Porsche Pack 1:

Yeah, definitely 918's design was based on the Carrera GT which IMO isn't a bad thing. I've always used to say - the maker pays for a design only once - there is really no reason for any car to look bad, regardless of its price. 

As I haven't driven any of them - I can't tell you which one would I choose if I could afford and wanted to buy one them. I think it's quite possible it would be GT though  

I guess in such case I wouldn't be the only one - the very first Google result for 'GT vs 918':

Porsche Carrera GT Vs. Porsche 918 Spyder

 

One more remark - I used to be a (quite) fast driver in the past. The first month in which I got 4 tickets for speeding in the Netherlands (4-9 km/h over the limit) had convinced me I don't need a (quite) fast car anymore 

I also was (quite) interested in cars some time ago, nowadays this interest has mostly passed, I wouldn't say I'm an expert on any category of contemporary cars, I simply become one for a moment when I need to buy one 

 

[sphinxsix]

Being an ex(NL!) (amateur) mountain biker - I always used to ask myself a question - why would 0,05kg of a bike's weight matter in amateur mountain biking if e.g. my weight can change in at least 5kg range..? When I wanted a really good saddle I simply took 4 models from a dealer and went for a ride, changing them every 10km to see how they 'feel'. Not even once asked myself - which one is lighter and I think my lower back is still grateful for this approach 

A professional level is obviously a whole different story.

BTW do they already make driver shoes with carbon fiber laces.? 

 

[sphinxsix]

8 hours ago, bluesman said:

Laces??? Do you realize how much laces weigh???

No, I really don't know  What I know is that if one is thinking about getting rid of fillings in one's teeth to be 0.oooo3 sec faster during an amateur non-competition ride, things have probably gone too far.. 

 

8 hours ago, bluesman said:

But seriously, race cars are often limited by class to specified minimum weights.  Low powered cars can benefit greatly from optimal distribution of that weight. So every 5 pounds in the right places can cut a few hundredths from lap times.

Sure, the fastest guy on a go-kart track I used to attend for fun a couple of times before they limited the karts power due to some accident and it stopped being fun, was my ex car mechanic but he was not only a serious rally driver but also weighted probably around 60kg..

 

 

[sphinxsix]

39 minutes ago, Bill Brown said:

@sphinxsix kick us out or censor us if you want!

 

It doesn't come so easy.. you'd have to work much harder to deserve it.

 

[sphinxsix]

Is the problem with BMWs which Jeremy Clarkson described by simply saying (while testing the '6' which he liked) - 'you want everybody on the road to hate you - get a Beemer!' - a typically European one, guys.?

 

[sphinxsix]

35 minutes ago, Confused said:

Not anymore......

 

 

 

 

This clearly proves that I haven't been following the moto world recently..

So it's Audi now.. 

I wonder which brands will be definitely safe in the future.. probably Fiats.. 

 

[sphinxsix]

10 minutes ago, bluesman said:

...which have to be red.

To remain c..kproof.? 

 

[sphinxsix]

5 minutes ago, bluesman said:

To be easily seen by traffic moving around them when they stop running.

 

[just a riff on an old motoring joke about legendary Fiat reliability - the new ones are apparently almost as robust as real cars 🤪]

 

With an accent on 'almost' I believe, just like in case e.g. Alphas.

BTW mine was blue and I had chosen the right moment to sell it, didn't cost me a lot, I was probably lucky..

 

[sphinxsix]

The next owner of mine added a nitro, bigger turbo and some top gas (that was a crime for me back then!) installation. I had a chance to drive it after this tuning, IMO it simply had too much power.. He began to go to a race track, I've also heard he posted on Youtube a video on which the Fiat's speedometer reaches maximum and the car is still accelerating..  I think it's quite possible that in this version this was the fastest Fiat ever  (before the tuning the max speed was 250km/h). 

He had fun for 1 year before the engine spectacularly died.. (somehow not surprising, I think) 

[sphinxsix]

As for cheap  red Fiats.

Silverstone Classic, July 2011.

 

 

HISTORY OF THE CAR  Bought my car in 1985, a 1974 air cooled model for the grand sum of £50...

 

One more, red of course 126  

 

 

 

[sphinxsix]

Strange things happen not only on Russian roads.

 

 

[sphinxsix]

4 hours ago, Confused said:

I love the GT40, although I suspect I might be too tall to comfortably drive one.

 

A real car aficionado should be ready for (e.g.) an amputation of the excessive inches although deciding which ones to choose in such case could be a problem  

 

[sphinxsix]

1 hour ago, Confused said:

I think in my case that would be my head....

 

No way! Ears are attached to it! 

 

[sphinxsix]

I'm glad someone thinks of that more orless the same way that I do..  

Seems it's still BMW not Audi, at least sometimes.. 

 

 

[sphinxsix]

On 9/22/2020 at 8:58 PM, accwai said:

So what color of those brake thingies would be better performance? Red?

Or blue?

 

Are you joking.? 

If something is supposed to be fast it just has to be red!

 

[sphinxsix]

14 minutes ago, accwai said:

 

So would yellow be acceptable then?

 

 

 

In this car I'd personally be ready to accept it.. 

 

In case of this one ..I'm not so sure.. 

 

you-can-own-one-of-tom-hanks-favorite-cars-the-fiat-126p

 

What about you.? 

 

 

[sphinxsix]

On 10/3/2020 at 7:00 PM, accwai said:

The neighbor a few doors down has one of these:

Saw it for the very first time just a couple of weeks ago. A white one. I'd say this version is a 'muscle paint'..

 

On 10/3/2020 at 7:00 PM, accwai said:

It may look really fast but 126 is two numbers higher so yours must be better performance. Everybody knows you can't argue with math right?

I can only agree with that. We've all seen the 126 rally videos..

 

On 10/3/2020 at 7:00 PM, accwai said:

I'm no expert but station wagon is more of my thing:

The wife says cars must be practical and station wagon is as practical as one can get right?

I actually owned Golf III 2.8 liter once. Got my first station wagon ever 2 years ago without pressure from anybody (it's Ford Focus) - a very good thing for carrying bike(s) - a very important thing here - I guess I might have done more km's by bike than by car since I came to the Netherlands  Driving a car here is no fun. Everybody's slow on the road and there are cameras every 50m.. You pay for exceeding the limit by 4km/h. I have a friend who sometimes goes to Germany for a faster, highway ride (no speed limits) but for me this isn't fun either, secondary, winding roads e.g. in Alps are (were) my thing.. Maybe some day.. In some other car (with a bike rack, of course).. 

 

[sphinxsix]

Ok.. here are two questions addressed to everyone interested in sharing his (her..?) car passion.. I think this could be really interesting 

 

1. What's the favorite car you've ever had and why it's your favorite one.? 

 

2. Very simple - what's the car of your dreams, and again - why this one.?

 

As for me - I've actually already answered both questions, at least partially.

(yes my favorite one that I've owned was a Fiat  (a blue one) - it handled well, looked and sounded (huge Remus) pretty cool, also was the very first one in my city - so even some ladies happened to their heads )

 

As for the 2nd question (do I really have to explain - why.?!):

 

 

 

 

[sphinxsix]

23 hours ago, accwai said:

If 2 numbers up is good, up by 5 again got to be better a whole lot more:

 

 

 

I'm not sure I don't prefer this design style, it's also red so probably quite fast

(and it's 2 more numbers up!) 

 

 

23 hours ago, accwai said:

This is quite interesting:

 

 

 

My kind of road!

 

23 hours ago, accwai said:

The ASD active exhaust is rather decent too of course.

 

Do they also make an audiophile edition.?

 

[sphinxsix]

2 hours ago, fas42 said:

A more interesting view of a road mentioned earlier ...

 

 

 

Still tempted by an one wheel drive option.. Some cool roads and cool driving skills as well.. (is this sport really more dangerous for drivers than for spectators.?)

 

 

[sphinxsix]

1 hour ago, fas42 said:

 

Yes ... I wonder what the injury, etc, count is per season, drivers versus spectators ... 🙃.

 

More injuries (and worse case scenarios) among drivers actually, regardless what one might think after watching this video - I once googled it.

 

[sphinxsix]

Fiat factory rooftop test track in 1920s.