I like how, to this day, movies for US consumption show idiots slamming into each other, side-to-side, repeatedly, yet these guys have mastered the PIT maneuver quite well.
I've gotta find some electric Eyetalian horns like that. Used to have a small air horn set, but I've never liked how the compressor is sensitive to moisture/grime/heat.
Mercedes, and likely other Euro makes, has, over there, a dash switch for a "city" horn and a "country" horn. Hell, I just want two so I can freak people out who aren't paying attention.
I'm gonna wire mine up with Italian-style horns on "country", and the four-tone Cadillac horns I've collected on "city".
I really like finding gray-market cars in the junkyard. They have all kinda neat stuff...like vacuum-powered headlight aim adjustment.
Awesome--they didn't miss a trick.
The Wreckord looks amazingly like an old Falcon but you can tell Omar wasn't really trying that hard to stop the Fiat. Which did have magic axles--you can tell after that one bad curb hit by the stadium, they did a cut away, there was a lot of odd smoke.
And I think we now have definitive proof where Caddy got their Euro-ad with the candles blowing out.
Great piece of video! Thanks!
@skaycog was here: Exact;y. And way better than the CGI car chases of today, were everything is fake and green screened, and the camera wobbles like crazy. These were the good old, 100% real car chases, unlike today.
@alexander_the_car_salamander: My all-time favorite though is Bullitt, because I love Steve McQueen and that Mustang. Did you know that Ford Motor Co. originally furnished 2 Ford Galaxies to be used in the chase, but they found the Galaxies were too heavy for the jumps, heavily damaging their suspensions. So, the Galaxies were replaced with the Chargers. The suspensions of both the Mustang and the Chargers were modified for the chase.
The Acura was uglified, while the Mazda 6 was blobified and softened. So yeah, there isn't much else out there to match the Regal's blend of FWD, sportyish pretensions, midsize space, and handsome looks. I tip my hat to GM, this is a legitimately good car, and I hope they make a performance version.
@Braff: From all knowledge of other audi products, not specifically the new s4...
No. Not the same system. Audi generally uses TorSen AWD system, which apparently has been vectoring all along. The exceptions to the audi=torsen rule are the A3 and TT.
Haldex (which is the system in this opel, and also in my new audi A3) is used mainly on vehicles with transversely mounted engines, platforms originally intended for FWD.
Sidenote: most people say that TorSen is superior. I can't say yet as I have only had my car for 1 month, and no snow yet :) Also, Bugatti Veyron supposedly uses a Haldex system.
@Braff/Jafoca: Sort of/not really. This is a transverse-mounted, FWD car with a power-takeoff unit sending power through a clutchpack between the front and rear axles combined with a clutchpack-operated lockable rear diff, as opposed to the Audi which has a true torsen center differential with a rear-biased torque split on dry pavement, coupled with two clutchpacks on the rear half-shafts for torque vectoring.
The "vectoring" of the haldex rear diff is a bit misleading (just like all the other marketing BS from haldex). It's a good system, but it's basically just a rear diff that can lock up. It has a single clutchpack on the rear diff that can lock the two halfshafts together, as opposed to something like the (heavier, more expensive, more complicated) tw0-clutchpack system used on the Audi and some (not all) of Acura's SH-AWD systems.
The Audi uses a system with a clutchpack on each of the rear half-shafts, which lets you disengage one of the halfshafts progressively. Because of the way differentials work, this effectively "vectors" torque to the other wheel.
The Haldex system progressively locks the rear axle, which prevents the inside wheel from spinning, but it doesn't technically vector torque to the outside wheel. Any situation where one rear wheel has a different torque split than the other would require one to have more traction than the other, and indeed, Haldex's examples show one wheel on ice, which is intentionally misleading, IMO.
That said, this system is better than having an open rear diff, and is cheaper and more compact than a system with a true center diff and two rear-axle clutchpacks.
Change the wheels, black out the brake intakes and exhaust surrounds, de-chrome the grille and trunk, and do something with the tails (tint?). It's a nice foundation, but I'm just not loving most of the finishing visual touches.
And 4,000# for a sedan this size with manual transmission? That's just incredible.
This is about as deserving of the GNX mantle as I am of valedictorian. I'm not bothered by the AWD 4-door bit, but it won't embarrass Corvettes. I'd accept the Grand National badge though. Or, really, however I can get it - throw Daewoo badges on, and I'd still drive the crap out of it.
But still, clocking in at a small dog shy of 2 tons is disturbing.
@Pessimippopotamus: actually it was a Pontiac that became a Saturn that became a Opel.
While they came out around the same time, (actually the GT came out first by a weird quirk if I remember right) the Sky was designed for Saturn and moved to Opel, not the other way around. #buicklacrosse
@Jim Topoleski: Well, if we want to go back that far, it's going to be
The Pontiac (Solstice Concept) that begat a Chevy (Nomad Concept) and a Saturn (Curve Concept) that never was, that begat a Vauxhall (VX Lightning Concept) that almost became an Alfa Romeo that became a Pontiac (Solstice) and a Saturn (Sky) that became an Opel (GT) that didn't become a Vauxhall and became a Daewoo (G2X) instead. #buicklacrosse
@tonyola: I had one of these. Only my wife's Datsun F10 was more industrial. On a hot day the vinyl seats would mold to your body; you literally had to peel the car off of you. #buicklacrosse
@Jim7: A Datsun F-10? Oh my. I haven't seen one of those in ages. Those had the biggest googly-eyes ever. The wagon looked at least semi-normal by Deep-Malaise-Japanese standards. The hatchback coupe was something else altogether. #buicklacrosse
09:13 PM
I'm good with that.
I like how, to this day, movies for US consumption show idiots slamming into each other, side-to-side, repeatedly, yet these guys have mastered the PIT maneuver quite well.
I've gotta find some electric Eyetalian horns like that. Used to have a small air horn set, but I've never liked how the compressor is sensitive to moisture/grime/heat.
Mercedes, and likely other Euro makes, has, over there, a dash switch for a "city" horn and a "country" horn. Hell, I just want two so I can freak people out who aren't paying attention.
I'm gonna wire mine up with Italian-style horns on "country", and the four-tone Cadillac horns I've collected on "city".
I really like finding gray-market cars in the junkyard. They have all kinda neat stuff...like vacuum-powered headlight aim adjustment.
06:59 PM
The Wreckord looks amazingly like an old Falcon but you can tell Omar wasn't really trying that hard to stop the Fiat. Which did have magic axles--you can tell after that one bad curb hit by the stadium, they did a cut away, there was a lot of odd smoke.
And I think we now have definitive proof where Caddy got their Euro-ad with the candles blowing out.
Great piece of video! Thanks!
04:33 PM
04:26 PM
06:01 PM
06:16 PM
Btw, I spotted a video of the Top 10 car chases
06:34 PM
07:07 PM
Thanks!
08:52 PM
11/23/09
Grand National, though...I'm good with this.
Personally, I want this package in an automatic, and I'm not anti-Jalop, or anti-manual, just can't do it, long-term, any more.
Caution, the really fun hobbies can kill you...if you're doin' them right.
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
No. Not the same system. Audi generally uses TorSen AWD system, which apparently has been vectoring all along. The exceptions to the audi=torsen rule are the A3 and TT.
Haldex (which is the system in this opel, and also in my new audi A3) is used mainly on vehicles with transversely mounted engines, platforms originally intended for FWD.
Sidenote: most people say that TorSen is superior. I can't say yet as I have only had my car for 1 month, and no snow yet :) Also, Bugatti Veyron supposedly uses a Haldex system.
11/23/09
The "vectoring" of the haldex rear diff is a bit misleading (just like all the other marketing BS from haldex). It's a good system, but it's basically just a rear diff that can lock up. It has a single clutchpack on the rear diff that can lock the two halfshafts together, as opposed to something like the (heavier, more expensive, more complicated) tw0-clutchpack system used on the Audi and some (not all) of Acura's SH-AWD systems.
The Audi uses a system with a clutchpack on each of the rear half-shafts, which lets you disengage one of the halfshafts progressively. Because of the way differentials work, this effectively "vectors" torque to the other wheel.
The Haldex system progressively locks the rear axle, which prevents the inside wheel from spinning, but it doesn't technically vector torque to the outside wheel. Any situation where one rear wheel has a different torque split than the other would require one to have more traction than the other, and indeed, Haldex's examples show one wheel on ice, which is intentionally misleading, IMO.
That said, this system is better than having an open rear diff, and is cheaper and more compact than a system with a true center diff and two rear-axle clutchpacks.
11/23/09
#tips
11/23/09
Yeah, you know me.
11/23/09
And 4,000# for a sedan this size with manual transmission? That's just incredible.
I'm still down with OPC, just saying.
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
But still, clocking in at a small dog shy of 2 tons is disturbing.
11/23/09
11/10/09
11/10/09
What about the Vauxhall that became a Saturn that became an Opel that didn't become a Vauxhall and became a Daewoo instead?
11/10/09
While they came out around the same time, (actually the GT came out first by a weird quirk if I remember right) the Sky was designed for Saturn and moved to Opel, not the other way around. #buicklacrosse
11/10/09
The Pontiac (Solstice Concept) that begat a Chevy (Nomad Concept) and a Saturn (Curve Concept) that never was, that begat a Vauxhall (VX Lightning Concept) that almost became an Alfa Romeo that became a Pontiac (Solstice) and a Saturn (Sky) that became an Opel (GT) that didn't become a Vauxhall and became a Daewoo (G2X) instead. #buicklacrosse
11/10/09
Nothing is really new. Who here remembers the Buick Opel by Isuzu (yes, that was its official name)?
11/10/09
11/10/09
@Jim7: A Datsun F-10? Oh my. I haven't seen one of those in ages. Those had the biggest googly-eyes ever. The wagon looked at least semi-normal by Deep-Malaise-Japanese standards. The hatchback coupe was something else altogether. #buicklacrosse