This weeks Autocar
Discussion
a lot of people are not willing to spend the money to buy the software to map late model injected yanks but even with the equipment we have a hard time trying to dyno a big hp 2wd car.Air fuel ratio and timing are so important and by pressing the wrong keys you could easily burn a piston or worse,but getting big hp and a daily driver can be achived in the US and im sure its only a matter of time before all that comes to the UK.CAMARO SS, im sure that owner of a 98 pace car will be on a mission when that camaro runs low 12s or even 11s next year and he will be left with no option but forced induction.if you cant beat them ,join them.
And now THIS week's Autocar gives us a bumper crop of American cars to sink our teeth into and I'm looking forward to some of these cars: a supercharged Crossfire, a turbocharged PT Cruiser and the Chrysler 300. Apparently, the Cadillac CTS-V that I want so badly fails as it cannot be converted to rhd.
However, interesting to note that the C6 HAS been engineered for rhd but nothing has been decided as yet. I wonder if they'll wait and see what the UK Press make of the car before making a decision. Perhaps with Clarkson relenting with an interest in the Ford GT, he'll be a bit more enthusiastic about the C6 which Bob lutz is touting as being better than anything in Europe.
However, interesting to note that the C6 HAS been engineered for rhd but nothing has been decided as yet. I wonder if they'll wait and see what the UK Press make of the car before making a decision. Perhaps with Clarkson relenting with an interest in the Ford GT, he'll be a bit more enthusiastic about the C6 which Bob lutz is touting as being better than anything in Europe.
Dont mean to pee on your bonfire but Corvette Engineering group said the same thing before the launch of the C5. Cant remember the exact quote but they were definately going to "service the RHD market".
As it turned out North American Vehicles group at the Elesmere Port plant couldn't service a lawn mower!
BTW, does anyone know what the current C5 parts situation is regarding main dealers? I went to buy some panels for a 2001 C5 this week and was told by Crownhill that all of the "main dealers" were having to re-negotiate there contracts for parts as GM had sold the NAV parts stock currently held in Sweeden to a company in Holland and there would be no parts until the contracts had been finalised.
As it turned out North American Vehicles group at the Elesmere Port plant couldn't service a lawn mower!
BTW, does anyone know what the current C5 parts situation is regarding main dealers? I went to buy some panels for a 2001 C5 this week and was told by Crownhill that all of the "main dealers" were having to re-negotiate there contracts for parts as GM had sold the NAV parts stock currently held in Sweeden to a company in Holland and there would be no parts until the contracts had been finalised.
Why not import your own from the US?
Depends on what parts you want but I've had a complete suspension system, 4 alloy wheels, a complete set of brake rotors and they've all arrived within a week via the very efficient UPS. And all a shedload cheaper than buying in the UK.
Get a quote on P&P first then when you've found the cheapest (usually Eastboard states for obvious reasons)add 3.5% import duty on the cost of the parts and then 17.5% VAT on top of parts plus import duty and a £10 UPS customs clearance fee.
As I say, it depends on the type of parts involved. Some suppliers don't want to know, others haven't got a clue there's a world outside the US, never mind a UPS delivery system but a lot are well up to speed. In fact, I'm just off to order a strut tower brace for the Zed.
Don't tell me...you know all this.
>> Edited by LuS1fer on Wednesday 26th November 19:58
Depends on what parts you want but I've had a complete suspension system, 4 alloy wheels, a complete set of brake rotors and they've all arrived within a week via the very efficient UPS. And all a shedload cheaper than buying in the UK.
Get a quote on P&P first then when you've found the cheapest (usually Eastboard states for obvious reasons)add 3.5% import duty on the cost of the parts and then 17.5% VAT on top of parts plus import duty and a £10 UPS customs clearance fee.
As I say, it depends on the type of parts involved. Some suppliers don't want to know, others haven't got a clue there's a world outside the US, never mind a UPS delivery system but a lot are well up to speed. In fact, I'm just off to order a strut tower brace for the Zed.
Don't tell me...you know all this.
>> Edited by LuS1fer on Wednesday 26th November 19:58
My experience has been that dealers held virtually no parts before and hold virtually no parts now. All that has changed is where they get the parts from when needed. It makes good sense to have everything in one place because then everyone knows where to go and that central depot is able to justify carrying a wider range of parts for what are low volume models. It is not uncommon for other brand dealers to call for overnight parts from the other end of the country or even abroad. At the end of the day as a customer all you care about is that the part arrives quickly, not where it comes from.
As always, the theory sounds fine but what really counts is how it works in practice!
As always, the theory sounds fine but what really counts is how it works in practice!
Interesting RHD markets for a US manufacturer are the UK, South Africa, Japan and Australia.
Australia has huge car import taxes. In Japan there is a kudos in having an imported - LHD - car.
Which leaves us and the land of carjacking. It's not incentive enough for many manufacturers. It's why supercars like the Enzo, SLR and Carrera GT are all LHD only.
FWIW I used to have an itegrale and if you've got the oomph then being on the wrong side isn't a problem when driving. It is when you use car parks though.
Simon.
Australia has huge car import taxes. In Japan there is a kudos in having an imported - LHD - car.
Which leaves us and the land of carjacking. It's not incentive enough for many manufacturers. It's why supercars like the Enzo, SLR and Carrera GT are all LHD only.
FWIW I used to have an itegrale and if you've got the oomph then being on the wrong side isn't a problem when driving. It is when you use car parks though.
Simon.
The day I see a genuine RHD Corvette on sale in the UK I'll eat my hat! They've always speculated about this from time to time but all we've seen so far are the Chevy Blazer and Cadillac STS, which I guess were intended to have mass market appeal. The chances of said "hat sandwich" must be one in a million.
I like driving LHD myself. As already said the power is there for overtaking so that isnt a problem and I find it better on motorways where everybody tends to drive to the right of the lane in order to see a bit further ahead, in a LHD you can sit to the left side of the lane and see miles !
The car park problem is a good point but my vette's not a daily driver so with the exception of the odd M25 river crossing its not a problem for me.
How about the daily drivers out there, do you find that a problem ??
The car park problem is a good point but my vette's not a daily driver so with the exception of the odd M25 river crossing its not a problem for me.
How about the daily drivers out there, do you find that a problem ??
[quote]Why not import your own from the US?
LuSifer - I would be very interested to hear more about your experiences on importing - service, pricing, ease of dealing with suppliers etc.
As you may know I am setting up an import service to bring american car parts in for people and you may be able to assist me with my research .
Could we talk by mail? - steve@moving-parts.com.
LuSifer - I would be very interested to hear more about your experiences on importing - service, pricing, ease of dealing with suppliers etc.
As you may know I am setting up an import service to bring american car parts in for people and you may be able to assist me with my research .
Could we talk by mail? - steve@moving-parts.com.
On the importing of parts front, I get everything except panels in the US. It is such an arse ache to get a hood/front fender/rear fender or anything else that is outside the UPS/FedEx maximum size/weight shipped that I have found it better for my mental health to get body panels from the UK dealer network. If you work it out after paying shipping and duty its not a hell of a lot cheaper to buy panels from the US (also if you have a customer waiting for his car back its a lot quicker to get the panels from Europe and the insurance pays anyway)
>> Edited by blackzr on Wednesday 3rd December 14:12
>> Edited by blackzr on Wednesday 3rd December 14:12
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