Stupid things non petrolheads say... Vol 2

[sebhaque]

A friend of mine visited over the weekend and had a nose around my C63.

Friend: "Looks impressive. Is it quick?"
Me: "Yeah, quite quick."
Friend: "Must be noisy!"
Me: "A little bit! Slightly more sensible than my old TVR though."
Friend: "What size engine is it?"
Me: "6.3" [yes I know, easier to point at the badges than explain it though]
Friend: "Jesus. That's like a Formula 1 car!"

I didn't have the heart to explain how his 1.8 Mondeo had a bigger engine than a modern F1 car. At least he entertained my hobby with me.

[Rawwr]

Rostfritt said:

A mate has a fiesta and it takes about the same amount of fuel and can do barely 200 miles on a tank.

Is that one of those V12 Fiestas or does your mate drive everywhere in reverse?

[Rick101]

sebhaque said:

A friend of mine visited over the weekend and had a nose around my C63.


Friend: "What size engine is it?"
Me: "6.3" [yes I know, easier to point at the badges than explain it though]

I always thought is was a 6.2L?

[giblet]

Rick101 said:

I always thought is was a 6.2L?

Yup 6208cc but marketed as a 6.3 in homage to the M100 which was Mercs first production V8.

[MWM3]

Rick101 said:

sebhaque said:

A friend of mine visited over the weekend and had a nose around my C63.


Friend: "What size engine is it?"
Me: "6.3" [yes I know, easier to point at the badges than explain it though]

I always thought is was a 6.2L?

Here, have a WHOOOOOSH

[Rostfritt]

Rawwr said:

Is that one of those V12 Fiestas or does your mate drive everywhere in reverse?

He does drive in a lower gear than I would most of the time. I think he might have been exaggerating a bit.

[framerateuk]

P5BNij said:

Strange isn't it? There seems to be some sort of default position which some car enthusiasts take where they can't stand seeing someone else 'poking their head above the parapet' so to speak, appearing to have more disposable income than them. I've experienced it several times while cleaning my cars or working on them on the drive, nothing that expensive really, forty year old usable classics which produce comments like ''more money than sense'', ''someone must be doing alright'' or ''it's alright for some...''! A mate of mine has had worse at work, he's recently retired but used to commute into work in his Maserati GT, after a few weeks went by word filtered down that management were not happy seeing his 'flash motor' parked alongside their leased Mercs and Audis and he was 'instructed' not to park it on company property anymore. Needless to say he just carried on regardless, but it caused no end of pointless agro until he took redundancy last month.

I was up my parents a couple of years ago with my Caterham. I was there for the weekend so parked it in my dad's garage (it wasn't the best area!).

It was my dad's 60th and there were lots of people over. Got talking to a family friend who used to tutor me for maths back when I was doing GCSE's. His son was there and was doing some sort of car engineering course in college, we were talking about cars and I took him out to show him the Caterham.

His dad came over, we had a chat about the car, my dad was out there too. Eventually he turned to my dad and said "Bank of mom and dad is it?". The bloody cheek! I was 30 at the time, been working as a software developer since finishing uni. In fairness to my dad he replied "Nothing to do with me! I wouldn't mind one myself!".

Just because your grown-up kids keep asking you for money doesn't mean everyone else's do the same....

[MWM3]

framerateuk said:

I was up my parents a couple of years ago with my Caterham. I was there for the weekend so parked it in my dad's garage (it wasn't the best area!).

It was my dad's 60th and there were lots of people over. Got talking to a family friend who used to tutor me for maths back when I was doing GCSE's. His son was there and was doing some sort of car engineering course in college, we were talking about cars and I took him out to show him the Caterham.

His dad came over, we had a chat about the car, my dad was out there too. Eventually he turned to my dad and said "Bank of mom and dad is it?". The bloody cheek! I was 30 at the time, been working as a software developer since finishing uni. In fairness to my dad he replied "Nothing to do with me! I wouldn't mind one myself!".

Just because your grown-up kids keep asking you for money doesn't mean everyone else's do the same....

I've had similar in the past, it is really frustrating.

[Superflow]

I was sitting in mine with a friend who had recently bought a BMW 320i,he asked me to rev the engine for him so i did up to 3500rpm,he then turned to me and said "yeah sounds just like mine".

I just nodded.

[CaptainCosworth]

WaferThinHam said:

Nanook said:

Right, but a Getz doesn't scamper about at seemingly tremendous speed then change direction really quickly.

A Clio RS is nippy. A Getz is an awful car. The fastest one they made was the 1.5d. It was not fast.

I've always taken "nippy" to mean; "Has no sound deadening so makes a racket when you boot it" and "Feels out of control during spirited cornering due to skinny Ling Longs being standard fit".

I've always thought "nippy" was a term used exclusively by non petrolheads when they get a slightly faster less slow car than before. So when my sister swapped her Metro for a Mk1 KA that felt nippy, and likewise when she traded that in the 1.4 Fiesta she replaced it with also felt nippy.

[AstonZagato]

Rostfritt said:

Rawwr said:

Is that one of those V12 Fiestas or does your mate drive everywhere in reverse?

He does drive in a lower gear than I would most of the time. I think he might have been exaggerating a bit.

My daughter has a 1.6 petrol Fiesta. It's surprisingly poor on petrol consumption.

[Blown2CV]

Rick101 said:

sebhaque said:

A friend of mine visited over the weekend and had a nose around my C63.


Friend: "What size engine is it?"
Me: "6.3" [yes I know, easier to point at the badges than explain it though]

I always thought is was a 6.2L?

it is.

[trowelhead]

Blown2CV said:

Rick101 said:

sebhaque said:

A friend of mine visited over the weekend and had a nose around my C63.


Friend: "What size engine is it?"
Me: "6.3" [yes I know, easier to point at the badges than explain it though]

I always thought is was a 6.2L?

it is.

I just agree and say yep 6.3 - most non car people don't appreciate the helpful correction

[sebhaque]

trowelhead said:

Blown2CV said:

Rick101 said:

sebhaque said:

A friend of mine visited over the weekend and had a nose around my C63.


Friend: "What size engine is it?"
Me: "6.3" [yes I know, easier to point at the badges than explain it though]

I always thought is was a 6.2L?

it is.

I just agree and say yep 6.3 - most non car people don't appreciate the helpful correction

My approach too. The 6.3 badges festooned around the car don't make it easy to explain to non-petrolheads, so I just point and say 6.3. I know it's an untruth, but when even the dashboard says "6.3 V8" then it's easier just to go with the wrong engine size.

Does irritate me a little as a C63 owner. What was wrong with either making the engine a 6.3 litre, or calling it a 6.2 V8?

[Cliftonite]

sebhaque said:

My approach too. The 6.3 badges festooned around the car don't make it easy to explain to non-petrolheads, so I just point and say 6.3. I know it's an untruth, but when even the dashboard says "6.3 V8" then it's easier just to go with the wrong engine size.

Does irritate me a little as a C63 owner. What was wrong with either making the engine a 6.3 litre, or calling it a 6.2 V8?

I feel your pain! My Morris 1000 van has an 1100 (1098 c.c.) engine as standard fitment. And no-one can tell! The confusion THAT causes! ☺

(It is also badged (and registered) as an Austin as it was one of those built within the last few years of production. But that is another story)!

[Mr_Yogi]

CaptainCosworth said:

WaferThinHam said:

Nanook said:

Right, but a Getz doesn't scamper about at seemingly tremendous speed then change direction really quickly.

A Clio RS is nippy. A Getz is an awful car. The fastest one they made was the 1.5d. It was not fast.

I've always taken "nippy" to mean; "Has no sound deadening so makes a racket when you boot it" and "Feels out of control during spirited cornering due to skinny Ling Longs being standard fit".

I've always thought "nippy" was a term used exclusively by non petrolheads when they get a slightly faster less slow car than before. So when my sister swapped her Metro for a Mk1 KA that felt nippy, and likewise when she traded that in the 1.4 Fiesta she replaced it with also felt nippy.

I think of nippy as a light small car. I referred to my old Aygo as nippy, small, light, revy engine, and short wheelbase made it maneuverable. It wasn't fast but around town it's lack of inertia made it feel, well nippy. Also compared to other small cars in the class above such as the fiesta and yaris which are a lot more refined it felt a lot more lively.

[CaptainCosworth]

A couple from the office in recent days:

1. Talking to someone recently about 'performance' SUVs (F-Pace, Macan, GLE, etc), the annoying woman a few desks away butts in with "are you talking about cars like mine?". She drives a Honda CRV...

2. Had a puncture recently, girl in the office says it serves me right, I was probably going too fast

[Bluedot]

CaptainCosworth said:

2. Had a puncture recently, girl in the office says it serves me right, I was probably going too fast

[Muddle238]

Walking out of work with a colleague this evening, just got dark. Walking past a 65-plate shiny black Hyundai i40, he says "that's a nice car, oh wait no it's not, it's a Honda."

......

[FIREBIRDC9]

I drive an MR2 and a daily.

I tell my colleague i am considering replacing my daily with either a Suzuki Swift sport or a Renaultsport Twingo. (a small, fun , revvy car)

My colleague points out his Diesel Seat is faster and has more horsepower therefore better than the cars i am looking at.......


Sigh......