Non-Volvo car chat megathread

[abscate]

Watch out for fan belts with long hair!

Ouch!

[BlackBart]

Genius test driver and racer Ken Miles.
Genius fabricator and race engineer Phil Remington.
Ford GT40 prototype.

Ken Miles, Phil Remmington, GT40.jpg (52.72 KiB) Viewed 1511 times

[BlackBart]

Copper State 1000 stopping for lunch....

Some more info and pics from Sveedy's Copperstate Rally -

https://bringatrailer.com/2024/05/13/ev ... -car-show/

[dikidera]

Before I owned my S60, my first ever car was a S40 p1, terrible car but whatever, I drove it for nearly 5 years.

I really wanted to drive an Audi, and for a moment I had the ability to buy one, but I didn't like diesel and wanted the 4.2 fsi engine. That thing was an absolute fuel guzzler. My sights a few years ago were set on Q7 or A8(D3), but unfortunately other financial situations put a permanent stop on that and so I ended up with an S60.

I still have my sights set on an Audi, but who knows when I will actually drive one. Used car prices soared and are double what they were 2 years ago whilst salaries have not even managed to keep up with inflation.

I like large, roomy cars with a thick center separator between passenger and driver. This means Q7, A8 long version, even a CLS mercedes or the first gen A7, which are now also quite old. The A7 starts from a minimum of 16k USD and only goes up, to something like 20. For a used car.

[BlackBart]

My limited experience with Audis (2001 A4 Avant 1.8T) is the complicated engineering driven by packaging. The design (which is beautiful) causes systems to be packed into shapes where they don't fit simply, so the systems are twisted around and jammed together to fit within the body structure and suspension.

So you have high heat generating turbo engines with no room. Lots of heat shields. The turbo had no room around it at all. My oil pan had to fit over the front cross member and did NOT, so they notched it around so that it only held 3.7 quarts of oil. (The Golf engine was the same, but with a normal pan). The heat buildup and someone letting it go a quart down meant sludged up or coked oil passages. Their oil change spec should have been way more frequent. There was a class action lawsuit which replaced a lot of engines, but I knew nothing about that and bought one after the program expired. The original owner traded it in just before the first major timing belt maintenance so they wouldn't have to do it.
At 130,000 miles, in tip top shape, tuned, new coil packs, new synthetic oil, it spun the rod bearings in the middle of nowhere.

The way it's packaged, you have to take off four systems and all related plumbing and wiring, to get to the 5th system you are replacing, then put it all back in.

Just one data point. I'm frustrated to the point I won't buy another.

[dikidera]

True, and the 1.8t from that era is actually considered simple. The other engines 4.0 tdi, 4.2 fsi and possibly the V6 3.2 fsi are a different beast with the single most expensive thing being the chains and then of course everything else.

It's not something you can fix at home like the Volvo. And since then, they've only gotten complicated. However in terms of features, power, driveability and quattro, it is a more luxurious car than Volvo.

But if you are unfortunate, it is like I said, very difficult to maintain, with those multi-control arm linkages and whatnot. Timing chains at the back of the engine. Any engine service and the whole thing needs to come out, engine, trans everything.

[BlackBart]

Timing chains on the BACK of the engine - that was a brilliant decision. Especially when the “lifetime” chain ramps wear out.

I remember looking at the V8 in an S4 or RS4 Avant at a dealer and thinking HOW did they get all that in there? But what a blast that must have been, until the engine had to come out.

[BlackBart]

(More Alfa content, sorry...)

"Expo 67, aka the world’s fair for 1967, took place in Montreal, Canada. With a theme of Man and His World, Alfa Romeo was invited to display a vehicle representing the ultimate evolution of the automobile. Alfa brought a concept, designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone (ED - he also designed the Miura, you can see little bits of it here), and appropriately named it the Montreal. Despite its 4-cylinder Giulia Sprint GT base, Gandini gave it some mid-engine styling touches and the car impressed show goers so much that Alfa Romeo decided to offer a production version. Bringing the Montreal to market took longer than expected, and by its launch in 1970, the intended competition was cars like the Porsche 911RS. Consequently, Alfa got more ambitious with the engine and used a 2.6-liter V-8 inspired by its Tipo 33 racing car and equipped it with SPICA mechanical fuel injection good for 200hp. Nearly 4000 produced."
- from Hagerty

Montreal V8.jpeg (26.48 KiB) Viewed 1267 times

[matthew1]

What!? https://www.saabplanet.com/the-saab-top ... ct-camper/

448025858_767294155592653_3981185446000872639_n.jpg (52.1 KiB) Viewed 1134 times

447968329_767294198925982_6816851355863440409_n.jpg (39.16 KiB) Viewed 1134 times

toppola1.jpg (45.78 KiB) Viewed 1134 times

toppola.jpg (56.27 KiB) Viewed 1134 times

topolla.jpg (48.14 KiB) Viewed 1134 times

toppola-saab.jpg (63.77 KiB) Viewed 1134 times

[BlackBart]

WUT?? You can stand in only one spot.