Cars We Drive!

Originally Posted by redcaimen

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I'd love to get one, but I dont think they will pass California emission standards.

Thanks for the clarification, I looked it up and according to the US Smart website, they will be out in 2007.

Jon.

I drive a 2005 Infiniti G35 Coupe (it's black and it has the sports package)

The new model Smart ForTwo will have a longer front end to comply with the latest EU pedestrian impact regulations. This will also help get around some US regulations which have caused problems (apparently some minimum distance from front end to wiper stalks etc)


The public in Europe are somewhat wary of these latest regulations as it is feared the new cars from all manufacturers will look rather ugly in order to comply.


This will affect a car as small as a ForTwo more than most obviously.

Here are some spy shots of the new model. Hopefully it will have the same amount of character as the old model.

This might become my first car; a Daihatsu Copen with a 1300 cc engine





Went to the car dealer today and was quite impressed!

The interior is all black plastic and stuff but it has a metal folding roof (which opens or closes in 20 sec.), AC, ABS, heated seats etc.

1300 cc, 16V engine producing 64 kW at 6.000 RPM. Weight 850 kg. Uses about 6 liter of petrol every 100 km.

Of course it will only accomodate 2 people and when the roof folded into the trunk you have only 14 liters of space left...

Price is about € 22.000 but maybe in a few months there will be some cars available on the secondhand market.

What do you guys think? Is this a cool car or what... (I think it is nicer than a Mazda MX5, Smart roadster (uhg!) or a Mini cabrio...)

Originally Posted by 40kaas-nl

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This might become my first car; a Daihatsu Copen with a 1300 cc engine





Went to the car dealer today and was quite impressed!

The interior is all black plastic and stuff but it has a metal folding roof (which opens or closes in 20 sec.), AC, ABS, heated seats etc.

1300 cc, 16V engine producing 64 kW at 6.000 RPM. Weight 850 kg. Uses about 6 liter of petrol every 100 km.

Of course it will only accomodate 2 people and when the roof folded into the trunk you have only 14 liters of space left...

Price is about € 22.000 but maybe in a few months there will be some cars available on the secondhand market.

What do you guys think? Is this a cool car or what... (I think it is nicer than a Mazda MX5, Smart roadster (uhg!) or a Mini cabrio...)

The MX5 I think is the better car.

Jon.

After almost a year, I finally got the engine on my Viper put back together after a nasty rod and piston shattering incident due to insufficient oil pressure.


It made 710 hp and 700 lb-ft of torque on the dyno during break in (and it hasn't yet been tuned.) Not bad for a naturally aspirated engine.

Originally Posted by 40kaas-nl

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This might become my first car; a Daihatsu Copen with a 1300 cc engine Went to the car dealer today and was quite impressed! The interior is all black plastic and stuff but it has a metal folding roof (which opens or closes in 20 sec.), AC, ABS, heated seats etc. 1300 cc, 16V engine producing 64 kW at 6.000 RPM. Weight 850 kg. Uses about 6 liter of petrol every 100 km. Of course it will only accomodate 2 people and when the roof folded into the trunk you have only 14 liters of space left... Price is about € 22.000 but maybe in a few months there will be some cars available on the secondhand market. What do you guys think? Is this a cool car or what... (I think it is nicer than a Mazda MX5, Smart roadster (uhg!) or a Mini cabrio...)
That first one looks like a mass-produced facsimile of the Porsche 356.

Wow Kai! That's impressive. Viper's stock V-10 produces what...500 hp? What'd you do?

Originally Posted by 40kaas-nl

Click to expand...

This might become my first car; a Daihatsu Copen with a 1300 cc engine





Went to the car dealer today and was quite impressed!

The interior is all black plastic and stuff but it has a metal folding roof (which opens or closes in 20 sec.), AC, ABS, heated seats etc.

1300 cc, 16V engine producing 64 kW at 6.000 RPM. Weight 850 kg. Uses about 6 liter of petrol every 100 km.

Of course it will only accomodate 2 people and when the roof folded into the trunk you have only 14 liters of space left...

Price is about € 22.000 but maybe in a few months there will be some cars available on the secondhand market.

What do you guys think? Is this a cool car or what... (I think it is nicer than a Mazda MX5, Smart roadster (uhg!) or a Mini cabrio...)


Nice little car, the Copen got good reviews from the guys at Top Gear.
The MX5 is a better sporty roadster but for a nice good quality cabriolet, the Copen is a very good choice.

Originally Posted by Dakota rube

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Wow Kai! That's impressive. Viper's stock V-10 produces what...500 hp? What'd you do?

It's pretty much a full race engine now: New heads, forged rods, forged pistons; custom billet crank, etc. It was built by a guy who builds Viper engines for a number of racing teams in the US and Europe.

Same dude who builds Tommy Archer's? I knew TA and Bobby when they were racing on ice in the Upper Midwest in the 80s.

Kai,

A guy I know TT'ed one of his (he has a great muscle car collection) and has achieved 1278rwhp so far. He says it gets sideways at 100 in 5th when you step on it. Crazy!

Originally Posted by Dakota rube

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Same dude who builds Tommy Archer's? I knew TA and Bobby when they were racing on ice in the Upper Midwest in the 80s.

No. Tommy had his work done by 3R here in Denver, but switched last year to someone else (can't remember who.) 3R has done suspension work for me, but not the engine work.

The builder is a guy named Kevin Singleton of Exotic Engine Development.http://www.exoticengine.net/

He does Jim McCann's engine work for McCann's Speed World Challenge Viper Competition Coupe, and Viper engines for some of the European endurance racing series.

I could have had more power at less cost with a twin turbo or supercharger set up, but I wanted to keep it naturally aspirated. The boosted cars tend to overheat after a while, and I wanted a car I could flog for an hour at a time on the track and not have to worry about heat. What I ended up with is a slightly detuned endurance racing engine. The rest of the drivetrain has also been upgraded, with a Tilton carbon/carbon clutch, a beefed up transmission with closer ratio 5th and 6th gears, carbon fiber drive shaft, upgraded half shafts, Quaife differential, etc. The suspension has also been tweaked, with Moton shocks, stiffer springs, etc. I also installed a fire supression system, 6 point roll bar, 6 point seat belts, etc.

So, it's pretty much a street legal race car.

Yeah, my friend's is basically a car for bragging rights and once in a while to run the 1/4. He has a bunch of other cars that can handle a more extended pounding.

That's incredible Kai. What do you suppose top speed is? Is the mill even back in the Viper yet?