If you ever want some pure entertainment, Google for “yellow bird nurburgring porsche”. Amazing driving of a raw Ruf 911 around the ring.
Driving a Porsche is an art, and from what I've read a Yellow Bird is even more squirrelly then the 911 if you don't know what you're doing. I'd probably be dead in a week if someone turned me loose with one, those things are gorgeous though.
My pants would be equal parts full of an erection and shit assuming I could keep that car on the track. I can't so just mostly shit. That looks like a blast though.
It's old news, but if you've never seen the Get Away in Stockholm videos, you're missing something cool. This was the first one:
I can't believe that dude wasn't wearing a helmet. I love the comments: "This car is actively trying to kill him and he is making it his bitch."
Ruf is a high-end aftermarket Porsche shop... they take a normal Porsche, and have multiple engine and body mods that can double the horsepower of stock. They are fully authorized by Porsche, so much so that they have their own VIN numbers.. it's not a Porsche with bolt-ons, it's a Ruf from the factory. This was one of their major marketing pieces in the day, so much so that you could buy it on DVD in Porsche/Ruf shops. The only more "comfortable" video I've seen was Ayrton Senna test driving the NSX in loafers at the Suzuka F1 track. He showed up at a marketing event and then said, "here, I'll take it for a spin", and hopped in wearing a suit and loafers, and took it on a screaming hot lap. Watching heel-toe done with loafers is.... wrong.
Changing the front rotors on my 2004 Chevy Silverado. Why the hell do they put regular 9/16 bolts on the rear calipers, but some size torx on the front? Stupid. Anyway . . . I was able to use a 8 mm allen wrench to take out 3 of them, but the the fourth wasn't coming out, and I didn't want to strip the star. So, I've got to get a T55 for my socket. Several questions: - since I'll now have the T55 anyway, should I replace the bolts with something more standard? Several forums I saw, folks were saying just change them out - I guess to make it easier next time. But, like, I said, now I'll have the T55. - there was clearly something on the threads, like Loctite, I guess? It was hardened up like a mofo (hey, 360,000 miles will do that, I guess), and covered the threads still after I took them out. Is it Loctite? And, is it critical that I re-install them with Loctite or whatever again? I've been working on this truck for 14 years and removed and replaced a lot of parts. These are the first bolts I've encountered like this. I removed whatever was on there with some brake cleaner and a wire brush. I had a faulty caliper on the rear that I changed about 4 years ago, and I replaced the rear rotors last year. There wasn't any Loctite stuff on them.
Yes it's locktite, yes they suck to get out - try it in Michigan when they are rusted to shit - you don't need to add locktite when you go back together. If you are going to have the right tool I'd just put the bolts back in that you took off, if they aren't stripped just roll with them.
I don't think you fully grasp how much I HATE owing money on anything, especially a vehicle. Once my property is paid off, I'll worry about replacing the big pig...'til then I'll just keep it cobbled together.
Count your blessings - you could live in California. Took my 34 year old 911 in for a smog test. Smog guy says "that's not a stock exhaust". I explain it's the sport option. I didn't say it's my sport option, not the manufacturer's. Smog guys then says "that cat doesn't have an OEM stamp on it." I explain they didn't come that way. Well, at least that's how I bought it ten years ago. He should be happy, I just leave the cat on nowadays instead of swapping it in and out every two years. Then he can't get his wand in all the way (heh) and notes the car has two exhaust outlets, not one as in his book. I explain there are baffles in the exhaust to reduce the noise. Because it's a pre OBDII car it can't have the computer read and so a sniff test is required, and a reference to the imaginary sport kit comes that way. Actually posy cat mods are legal in California, but I'm getting a bit weary to argue legal nuances with him. He next notices the heat exchangers are not hooked up. I explain the heat exchangers are not smog related, but serve to heat the car's interior, which is true, but he still looks skeptical, I remind him the sniff test is clean and in fact very clean. Finally he gives me pass and I only have to pay double what a newer car costs. Oh, did I mention this was the fifth smog guy I tried? Two stopped doing older cars because the dyno is expensive to maintain/repair, one was busy and said I could come back in a week or so. One said the car was too low to get in the dyno. Not true. All this for a car that gets used for maybe two thousand miles a year.
I bought my '82 DP 935 in San Diego, and the guy I bought it from had "a guy" who specialized in re-tuning and passing old sports cars so that they would pass... it was almost his main line of revenue, other than some engine rebuilds. Drop your car off, he'd de-tune it, get it passed, re-tune it, and you'd get it back in a week. My car was classified as a "gross polluter" by California... and I took a fair bit of satisfaction in that. When I brought it back to BC they didn't have a dyno that my car could get up on (it was quite low profile), so they automatically passed it because they couldn't test it. California blows goats when it comes to cars and having fun.
A tow truck driver once tried telling me that I had an aftermarket front spoiler on my SVT Contour. And yes, I needed it towed a few times the first four years I had it, largely thanks to the first owner (9xxx miles) running (I think) a nitrous kit on it. Just a matter of what you hate more, I suppose. I could be putting my money into more responsible places than a new SS, that's for damn sure...
This is kind of interesting, although probably not feasible in the near future (Or in my price range.) Lamborghini and MIT team up on battery-free electric supercar
Interesting idea, and I have to applaud any corporation that fires a whack of money at a smart group of engineers with a, "let's see if anything comes of it" attitude.
Anyone have experienceon the six speed auto trans in the 2007+ Chevy/GMC 2500's? Most reviews seem positive but real world is different.* The 2006's and older had the 4L80E 4spd that I'm very familiar with. *The wife's Infiniti has an 8 speed auto and I hate it. Since the gears are so close, it seems like it never stops shifting. 65mph on the freeway and go to speed up just a bit? Kicks down a gear. Any small adjustment in throttle and it'll up or downshift.
My work truck is a 15 Chev 2500 with the gas engine. I don't notice it shifting any more then it should, start going up a big hill it will down shift once go up the hill then shift once it start going flat again. Only thing I hate about it is way to high for a 2wd. I thought they actually bought me a 4x4 when I first saw it. It is even too high for a 4x4.
My ‘12 GMC has 149k on the clock and I’ve had zero issues with the transmission. They don’t shift that different that what you are used to.