1000 post discussion

This thread must continue until I reach 1000 posts!

I looked earlier and this post was vanishing down the page! g****** it it's shifted (do you like the way I (clutch slipped) that in?) up the page again. I check my trannie oil every couple of weeks (1000 miles or so) because Mits are notorious for eating their gearboxes.

To Kar Tune Man:- I could have sworn you'd be smoking a Ford Lightening or a Ram with a V10! Honda Civic? That's what Jewish ladies in North West London drive around in!

Get real us Brits had to service the s**theaps every day when all we had were British Leyland come Austin/Rover come Rover  come Honda Rover come BMW Rover come Shanghai Motor Co.  otherwise they fell apart, I think it was a gal. of oil every 300 miles on a Mini, early 3.5 V8 Rovers used as much oil as petrol, TR5s, well you couldn't go below 1/4 tank cause the damned mechanical fuel injection system fouled up etc etc. Why do you think we now build more cars than ever in this country and they are Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans? I'm also sick of young Jewish  and (Asian) Indian housewives (those not in Civics*) looking down on me from their SUV's and people carriers whilst they have on board one small child? (Usually on a 1/2 mile school run and on the phone) I agree with Sarcomax there especially now we pay $10 a gallon; oh give me back my Focus turbo diesel, 130mph and 45mpg!

* You guys got to look on Honda UK website and see the differences, especially the interior between US and UK Civics and CRV's. Do you have the type R?

Why do british people drink warm beer?

Because their refrigerators have lucas electrics in them too...

I've had some good rides in GB, mostly Fords and a few Rovers. The feel for the road is much better than anything short of a bimmer we see in North America (and it's more than just shifting with my left hand that makes them smooth -- I'm left handed . I've noticed over the years that Europe is usually a full series ahead of anything we see stateside. That's applicable across most manufacturers; some models never reach the states.

FYI: My experience is with newish rental cars that may have fallen apart shortly after I returned them, but I've never had problems with my rentals in UK (often keeping the car for a month or two and crusing at 100 mph on the M4 or treading up Kirkstone Pass to the Roman ruins).

Yes, the TR5 was pretty much trash; when I lived in Canada, eh, they were practically giving them away to anyone who could afford the maintenance. The TR6 we had since new was great; cruised well from the Rockies to New York and eventually on to Montreal. I also liked the TR4A for it's innovation mechanics and the TR3 for pure style. (I'm not old enough to have first-hand experience with the TR2). But my favorite was my 1956 Austin Healey 100/6 -- that was a classy ride. I might even give up a couple of those certificates that I have to get it back today (sold it when I went back to school -- oh, what foolish things some of us do for an "education"?).

So why are we discussing this stuff when the thread is about the 'van trashed by a Viper' (oops, I started another round of "we didn't do it; your transmission self-destructed!") Because it's fun and it lowers my blood pressure. And because we have a long way to go before reaching 1000, but if we try and if we work together, we CAN do it!

More later about the court case and other subtopics when I have time and need to raise my blood pressure . . .

Cheers,

Howie.... I won't drive an American made car... period! Tried a VW, a few years back...sucked.  4 Honda's, and 1 Toyota Tacoma.

Well here we all are again, boy is this fun, Sarcomax let's talk about Hummers or full sized US cars in Europe with their lousy ride, cardboard interiors and poor handling, no lets not, incidentally in  the UK we build the best cars in the world*,  we actually export Nissans to Japan where UK Nissans are a cult item. As for Kar Tune Man, Gary a confession:- 2 x Maximas, Prelude, Mercedes, Integra, Ford Focus, Audi (what heavy steering and poor fuel system) Vauxhall Astra, and Mits Galant so who am I to praise British cars. The Focus incidentally apart from the shape, you are still on face lifted Mk1, while we get the Mk III in Jan 08.

You must realise that we are going the way of the turbocharged direct injected diesel in Europe, except one Focus has the lovely 2.5 5cylinder turbo (petrol) engine from Volvo.

*All the Grand Prix ,  Indianapolis and Le Mans type cars are built adjacent to a twenty mile stretch of highway South West of London, McLaren's place is like a heaven on earth for a workshop afficionado, oh I've got to fly Snap-on and Mac are after me.

First car was a 78 oldsmobile with a wooden bumper and a huge tazmanian devil painted on the hood. Then it went 85 sentra (totaled by an idiot in a ford that did not set his ebrake, left it in neutral and then it rolled down hill and hit my parked car), 86 vw cabriolet, 90 944s2 cab (totaled by an idiot in a ford that turned left across three lanes...it would have been four, but my drivers door got in the way.), 01 celica gts, 02 wrx wagon (totaled by a drunk driver in a dodge truck...head on over 100 mph combined speed) and now the wife drives a legacy gt and I have the suzuki sv650. The porsche set me back a grand anything went wrong with it. I had a head gasket issue that warped the head and a voltage regulator issue that popped up a couple other problems. The celica had a transmission problem that long story short caused my three four shift getting on the freeway into an oil pump exploding three two shift. Fixed under warranty.

I had a 90 something (92?) accord for a few months last winter, but I don't really count that one since most of the time it was parked until I had the time to replace the oil pan and alternator. I had it for five months and was able to drive it for three or so before I sold it to get the bike.

My dad used to work for snap on at the corperate office...Nothing quite like getting tested prototype tools for free.

So I guess my quest to 1,000 posts can continue!