Stupid things non petrolheads say....

[CanAm]

scarble said:

jamieduff1981 said:

His directional tyres appear to be on backwards.

Makes it stop faster

Done on purpose on Caterham front wheels and not unusual; for better braking feel I believe (not in the wet maybe ). Knowing that particular driver, it will definitely have been done on purpose.

[DickyC]

And then there's a little knowledge...

A colleague's wife has a, "Standard three litre, normally aspirated straight six, Mercedes SLK with 300 horsepower."

I looked it up and reckon it's a standard, 3.2 litre, V6 with 218 horsepower.

It was the "straight six" that made me suspicious.

[Halmyre]

DickyC said:

And then there's a little knowledge...

A colleague's wife has a, "Standard three litre, normally aspirated straight six, Mercedes SLK with 300 horsepower."

I looked it up and reckon it's a standard, 3.2 litre, V6 with 218 horsepower.

It was the "straight six" that made me suspicious.

Some guys at work were talking about a colleague's car (can't remember make) which had suffered engine damage through over-revving. After a short discussion about whether it was a straight six or a V6, one pointed out that "it was a straight six until he over-revved it..."

[Mike_Mac]

The previous owner of my Supra enthused when he sold it about the 'great V6 sound' of the (I6) engine!

That should really have warned me a bit more than it did, as I later found wires joined with masking tape and all sorts of other joyful little 'bodges' that have kept me busy sorting since then...

[lufbramatt]

My wife told me this gem this morning. She got a lift home from her sister last week, and they had to fill the car up with petrol. My wife doesn't drive, but her sister has had a licence for a couple of years. Sister went to pull into a local petrol station, but my wife suggested she go to the next one as the one she had picked was quite expensive and the one down the road would probably be cheaper.

"How do you know how much it's going to be?" asked sister.

"What do you mean?" replied my wife

"Well how can you tell if it's expensive, aren't they all the same?"

"erm there's a big sign with the price on?!?!?!"

"oh I always wondered what that 129.9 sign meant."

she had honestly not worked out that petrol is sold by the litre and just assumed the pump knew how much it cost to fill the car up from empty.

[TREMAiNE]

I was speaking to a colleague at work on Friday, she's a nice girl who has just brought a new car (well, 11 plate), she is really pleased with it (good for her, to be fair) but thinks its so much more than it is, originally she saw it at the dealership for £17,500 but after several weeks they dropped the price to £7,500. It's a Chevrolet Cruze - now, granted I don't know much about the Cruze, but I'm fairly sure hers wasn't spec'd up to £40,000 when new like she thinks - from what I saw it was completely bare bones interior, not even equipped with leather seats. Oh, and apparently it has the grunt and feel of a proper American muscle car.

[irocfan]

TREMAiNE said:

I was speaking to a colleague at work on Friday, she's a nice girl who has just brought a new car (well, 11 plate), she is really pleased with it (good for her, to be fair) but thinks its so much more than it is, originally she saw it at the dealership for £17,500 but after several weeks they dropped the price to £7,500. It's a Chevrolet Cruze - now, granted I don't know much about the Cruze, but I'm fairly sure hers wasn't spec'd up to £40,000 when new like she thinks - from what I saw it was completely bare bones interior, not even equipped with leather seats. Oh, and apparently it has the grunt and feel of a proper American muscle car.

meh - it doesn't look offensive tbh

[Bibbs]

TREMAiNE said:

Oh, and apparently it has the grunt and feel of a proper American muscle car.

I think the Holden version in Korean. I can't see them making the car in the US too.

[yellowjack]

irocfan said:

meh - it doesn't look offensive tbh

Facelifted Vectra 'C'???

[Clivey]

yellowjack said:

Facelifted Vectra 'C'???

No, it's smaller than a Vectra. - It's Chevrolet's Focus rival in the 'States.

[Pebbles167]

The cruize (spelling?) Is a good looking car.

A metallic blue one with the white multispoke wheels turned up at work.

Based on looks alone id have one

[yellowjack]

Not saying it looks terrible, just that it seems to share a number of styling cues with the Vectra 'C'

It's better executed, and more modern than the Vectra, and given a side by side comparison, I'd probably change my mind, but the general shape does, for me, have echoes of the Vectra. Not surprising, I suppose, given the GM background.

[Willy Nilly]

Playo said:

"My Son's Fiesta 1.0 ecoboost goes like F~#*!"

100hp (or maybe 125) in a little car, it's likely to go quite well. When the Sierra was launched the 2 litre didn't have as much power as this Fiesta and probably used more than twice the fuel.

[bencollins]

jimmyboy85 said:

Jason Potato

i lolled

[Afromonk]

Willy Nilly said:

100hp (or maybe 125) in a little car, it's likely to go quite well. When the Sierra was launched the 2 litre didn't have as much power as this Fiesta and probably used more than twice the fuel.

Feel there is two sides to this.
As cars in general go these are quite a decent little motor on par with some of the early Japanese Kei stuff.
Tiny turbocharged engines, decent revvy power and high economy with parkers putting the 0-60 around 9 seconds (http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/ford/fiesta/hatchback-2008/57302/).
However I have a mate with one of these (the zetec s) and he goes on and on like its the fastest thing since the Thrust SSC when in practice a lot of thing beat it off the lights.

[Pebbles167]

This was one I heard today, from a person who KNOWS how much I love things motorsport related

Annoying bugger: What you up to this evening then?
Me: Oh not much, I'm looking foward to watching the F1 as I missed it earlier.
Annoying bugger: Oh! My dad watches the formula, he said it was good because spoiler won!!
Me:

I really was quite beside myself.

Edited by Pebbles167 on Monday 21st April 02:56

[sebhaque]

Pebbles167 said:

This was one I heard today, from a person who KNOWS how much I love things motorsport related

Annoying bugger: What you up to this evening then?
Me: Oh not much, I'm looking foward to watching the F1 as I missed it earlier.
Annoying bugger: Oh! My dad watches the formula, he said it was good because a spoiler won!!
Me:

I really was quite beside myself.

I had the same today. Family do:

Sebhaque: "Don't talk to me about F1! I don't want to know the result.
Family Member: "Of course. Hamilton won.
SH: "Why the fk would you say that? I wanted to watch the fking race.
FM: "I didn't understand."
SH: "Well it's the same as saying (FOOTBALL SPOILERS: LIV/NOR) that Liverpool won their match against Norwich 3-2.
FM: "There's no need to be a about it."
SH: "So don't spoil the F1 for me next time."
FM: "....okay"

ETA: retrospective quote edit

Edited by sebhaque on Monday 21st April 02:15

[Pebbles167]

sebhaque said:

Pebbles167 said:

This was one I heard today, from a person who KNOWS how much I love things motorsport related

Annoying bugger: What you up to this evening then?
Me: Oh not much, I'm looking foward to watching the F1 as I missed it earlier.
Annoying bugger: Oh! My dad watches the formula, he said it was good because Hamilton won!!
Me:

I really was quite beside myself.

I had the same today. Family do:

Sebhaque: "Don't talk to me about F1! I don't want to know the result.
Family Member: "Of course. Hamilton won.
SH: "Why the fk would you say that? I wanted to watch the fking race.
FM: "I didn't understand."
SH: "Well it's the same as saying (FOOTBALL SPOILERS: LIV/NOR) that Liverpool won their match against Norwich 3-2.
FM: "There's no need to be a about it."
SH: "So don't spoil the F1 for me next time."
FM: "....okay"

It's very annoying isnt it!

Oh, and cheers for reminding me that I just put a spoiler out! DOH!!

[jet_noise]

Dear All,

Pebbles167 said:

sebhaque said:

Pebbles167 said:

This was one I heard today, from a person who KNOWS how much I love things motorsport related

Annoying bugger: What you up to this evening then?
Me: Oh not much, I'm looking foward to watching the F1 as I missed it earlier.
Annoying bugger: Oh! My dad watches the formula, he said it was good because Hamilton won!!
Me:

I really was quite beside myself.

I had the same today. Family do:

Sebhaque: "Don't talk to me about F1! I don't want to know the result.
Family Member: "Of course. Hamilton won.
SH: "Why the fk would you say that? I wanted to watch the fking race.
FM: "I didn't understand."
SH: "Well it's the same as saying (FOOTBALL SPOILERS: LIV/NOR) that Liverpool won their match against Norwich 3-2.
FM: "There's no need to be a about it."
SH: "So don't spoil the F1 for me next time."
FM: "....okay"

It's very annoying isnt it!

Oh, and cheers for reminding me that I just put a spoiler out! DOH!!

A good friend of mine is equally rabid about his unsullied anticipation of a race already run. He once managed a whole week uninformed before watching due to work travel etc.

How long have you managed?

regards,
Jet

[telecat]

yellowjack said:

Not saying it looks terrible, just that it seems to share a number of styling cues with the Vectra 'C'

It's better executed, and more modern than the Vectra, and given a side by side comparison, I'd probably change my mind, but the general shape does, for me, have echoes of the Vectra. Not surprising, I suppose, given the GM background.

I have a 09 Cruze. They are well equipped in LT/LTZ form but not to £40k. The options list is so short I'd be worried if you paid £15K. Styling is good. Grip is really good. Grunt. Well the Chinese Built one gets the 180ps Turbo from the 1.6 Astra but the Korean and US built, (Yes it is built in the US), ones get the "old" 1.8 which is strangled by emissions these days. You can get the 1.4 140ps Turbo but it did not get to the UK.