Author |
Message |
rogertvr
Advanced Member Username: rogertvr
Post Number: 356 Registered: 1-2003
| Posted on Monday, September 19, 2005 - 12:51 pm: | |
I've got... Seat Ibiza Cupra 20VT - not too thirsty but not much space in it either. Subaru Impreza Turbo - thirsty-ish but useable space. And this thing - runs on Shell Optimax at horrific cost, drinks at a horrific rate too and there's no space at all! Rog |
lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq
Post Number: 678 Registered: 7-2004
| Posted on Monday, September 19, 2005 - 1:35 pm: | |
A Ferrari by any chance? Bill, tgo |
rogertvr
Advanced Member Username: rogertvr
Post Number: 357 Registered: 1-2003
| Posted on Monday, September 19, 2005 - 2:05 pm: | |
Nope. |
alembic76407
Advanced Member Username: alembic76407
Post Number: 393 Registered: 5-2002
| Posted on Monday, September 19, 2005 - 2:06 pm: | |
Rog I was hoping you still had your TVR, WOW what a car!!!! if you want to ship your TVR to me, Gas in Oklahoma is $2.33 a gallon, I think I can feed it and give it a nice warm place to call home David T |
rogertvr
Advanced Member Username: rogertvr
Post Number: 358 Registered: 1-2003
| Posted on Monday, September 19, 2005 - 2:09 pm: | |
Yes, I've still got it, David. I don't use it much though, but that's always been the case. Regardless of the cost of fuel, it still brings a massive smile to my face every single time I drive it :-) Even if the UK is completely littered with speed cameras... Rog |
mpisanek
Member Username: mpisanek
Post Number: 54 Registered: 1-2005
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 12:05 am: | |
I used to have a 1976 chevy 3/4 ton dually pickup with a 454 cubic inch engine. It had twin 4 barrel carbs on it along with a few other mods, and on a good day with the sail up going down hill I could get about 6 miles to the gallon. I'm glad that I'm not feeding that thing now. We used to go to Mexico to fill up and get gas for $0.50 per gallon. Rog, what kind of mileage are you getting on your TVR? It is a great car! |
guineapig
Junior Username: guineapig
Post Number: 24 Registered: 9-2005
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 7:23 am: | |
I used to drive a citroën C5. Great car with lots of space for bass gear. Here's why I don't drive it anymore... Btw, this was not my fault. I had the 'right of way'. Now I drive an Opel Astra as a replacement car. A new car will be on order soon. Company cars are great, no? |
jacko
Advanced Member Username: jacko
Post Number: 332 Registered: 10-2002
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 7:27 am: | |
oops, looks pretty bad Tom. As a regular cycle commuter into edinburgh, I know if I exercised my 'right of way, all the time I'd probably be dead by now. (a statistic borne out by this mornings BBC scotland news) Graeme |
guineapig
Junior Username: guineapig
Post Number: 25 Registered: 9-2005
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 7:39 am: | |
Luckily, nobody was hurt. And I didn't really exercise my right of way. It was a crossroads with extremely bad view to the side, so I had to drive a bit on the crossroads to check for other cars. The other car was driving real fast, I didn't see it coming and I didn't have the time to react. Before I even knew what happened, everything was already over... It was pretty surrealistic. The police came by and the officer said that people shouldn't TAKE their right of way but they should RECEIVE their right of way. I told him that I thought that people should GIVE the right of way. That shut him up actually. Guess he couldn't argue with that, because it's in the law that way... For me, this was the first caraccident I ever had. I really am a carefull driver... (Message edited by GuineaPig on September 20, 2005) |
rogertvr
Advanced Member Username: rogertvr
Post Number: 359 Registered: 1-2003
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 7:58 am: | |
Mpisanek - Thanks for your kind comments on my TVR! I get about 21mpg if I'm careful, but that can get down to (gulp) 8mpg if I'm trying really hard! Rog |
adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan
Post Number: 614 Registered: 6-2002
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 8:10 am: | |
Tom - as someone who recently passed the exams I should know ... You cannot basically take right of way, you must receive it. The fundamental traffic rule in Europe is something like "everyone participating in traffic must act in such a way that other participants are not hindered". If you don't give right of way when you must, you are in the wrong, and if you take it when none is given then you could also be in the wrong. Living in an area where people drive pretty wild (The Hague) the trick I learned was not to engage in eye contact when you have right of way, like when you're on a roundabout and people don't want to wait for you. Works like a charm. - But of course that wouldn't have helped in your situation. I seem to remember Belgians drive way too fast all the time, and you have these 90 km roads with lots of local traffic crossing and no traffic lights ... Does Luik still have those fly-overs with crossings in mid-air? |
guineapig
Junior Username: guineapig
Post Number: 26 Registered: 9-2005
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 9:13 am: | |
I don't know about Luik. But I can imagine they're still there. In Flanders, a lot has been done on traffic safety. Most 'intercity' roads now have a 70km/h limit and lots of traffic lights. Anywayz, I'm not a fast driver at all. And everything depends on where you're driving. Try Brussels, everybody takes right of way and if you don't take it yourself, well, you won't be moving. In my case, rest assured that I was totally in my right. Belgian law, as far as I know, says you have to give right of way... |
lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq
Post Number: 680 Registered: 7-2004
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 9:35 am: | |
My theory of driving is something like this: "I am an excellent driver. Everyone else on the road is a moron who should never have been allowed to get a license. If there is any possible mistake they can make, they will make it. Therefore I need to expect them to screw up, be ready for it, and have planned out what I am going to do when they screw up" So, even if the "rule of the road" says that you should take your right of way, I will assume the other driver is an inconsiderate twit who will ignore the rules. I then make sure the other car is actually yielding before I take my right of way. The problem is that there are two things in this world that every man thinks he is good at. One of them is driving. Roger: rogertvr - the car is a tvr - just give me the Homer award and write "Dohhh!" across my forehead. I've don't recall seeing a TVR like yours, only one that has a kind of high, cut off rear end, maybe a little reminiscient of a Triumph GT6+ (and this was MANY years ago). Very nice looking auto. What does it have under the bonnet? I may be a yank, but I've worked on enough British cars to know why they drink warm beer in England. (For those who don't know, the answer is Lucas refrigerators, as in "Lucas, the Prince of Darkness" or how about "Lucas, the anti-Alembic"). Bill, tgo |
keith_h
Intermediate Member Username: keith_h
Post Number: 190 Registered: 2-2005
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 10:08 am: | |
I'm not sure of Belgian driving laws but here in NC the law is you have to yield to the vehicle already in the intersection. In this situation if you hit the vehicle you are at fault not the vehicle in the intersection. This is true even if you would have the right of way under normal circumstances. Whether the officer attending the accident writes a citation or not is a different subject. Keith |
edwin
Member Username: edwin
Post Number: 86 Registered: 5-2002
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 3:11 pm: | |
My Subaru is actually the latest in a line of Subarus. My first was an '83. I was leaving a gig in the mountains just west of here at 2:30AM on a Monday. I had just been telling all the other folks on the gig what great car I had and how they should all ditch their SUVs and get Subarus. Feeling very proud of myself and my car, I made my way down the canyon (up to 10% grade at points, very curvy and with a creek next to the road the whole way). About 3/4 of the way down, a truck comes around the corner coming up the canyon and all of a sudden all I see is green and the next thing I know, I am wearing the windshield. For a split second, I think "I'll just stick my head out the window and drive the rest of the way home." Luckily, at the particular stretch, there is a strip of gravel to my right between me and the creek, so I can pull over without too much difficulty (instead of veering into the creek, which would have been instant death due to my gear being right behind me). It turns out that a porta potty flew off the trailer behind the truck, who was going probably 60mph and right into my grill and then into the windshield. I was going 30, so that's a combined impact of 90mph. A little faster on either of our parts, and I would have been killed by the windshield. As it was, it messed up my right wrist and arm and my car was completely totalled. My next Subaru (a mint Outback purchased from retired couple from California tricked out with everything) was totalled after I owned it for 5 months. I was driving along and the Ray Brown trio came on the radio. As it came up to the bass solo, I approached a light that was turning yellow. I could have blazed through, but I wanted to hear the bass, so I stopped. As I was listening to Ray play, a car going through the intersection made an illegal left into oncoming traffic, totalling another car that veered off and hit me, just sitting grooving to Ray. Really pissed me off! Damn kid totalled 4 cars with a dumb move like that (the car that hit me continued on and totalled the SUV next me. I could see the two girls in it, completely helpless as they came at me with no ability to steer their car or stop it). Anyway, it's all good now, but watch out. When they say the **** hits the fan, some of us mean it literally! Edwin |
valvil
Moderator Username: valvil
Post Number: 761 Registered: 7-2002
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 4:14 pm: | |
The general, unofficial traffic law in Italy is that if you get to the intersection first, you win. ;) Valentino |
son_of_magni
Advanced Member Username: son_of_magni
Post Number: 205 Registered: 1-2004
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 5:07 pm: | |
Adriaan, driving around the Boston area for the last 20 years I came up with the same thing. If you don't make eye contact they don't get the idea that they can pull out in front of you and you'll mash the breaks to avoid hitting them. Of course you have to take enough of a glance to know that they see you. |
byoung
Intermediate Member Username: byoung
Post Number: 123 Registered: 12-2004
| Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 8:25 pm: | |
Bill, I always heard it as Lucas, Satan's personal electrician. Brad |
rogertvr
Advanced Member Username: rogertvr
Post Number: 360 Registered: 1-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 5:37 am: | |
Bill, tgo:- It's a TVR Chimaera. It's got a Rover V8 engine in it. All of these engines started life as an ex-Buick unit http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/index.htm?engineroverv8f.htm However, by the time TVR have finished with them, it's 4 litres, outputs 240bhp in the guise that my TVR has and it has 275 ft/lb torque. The car weighs 1060Kg (just over an imperial ton), giving it a power to weight ratio of about 230bhp per ton without my chubby little carcass in the driving seat! As for performance - fairly rapid really. 0-60mph in 4.7 seconds, 0-100mph in 12 seconds and a top speed the other side of 150mph. Apparently :-) I hope this lot is of some interest and not just boring! Cheers, Rog |
jacko
Advanced Member Username: jacko
Post Number: 335 Registered: 10-2002
| Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 5:50 am: | |
Bill, I believe you're thinking of the Griffith.. http://www.gspovey.demon.co.uk/garage/tvr/models/griff400.htm A guy on our street had one for a while, Jeez it was quick. I always admired Trevor Wilkinson for the way he tried to squeeze the biggest, nastiest engines he could find into roller-skates ;-) Graeme |
mpisanek
Member Username: mpisanek
Post Number: 57 Registered: 1-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 6:32 am: | |
In Rome they have a saying. There are two types of pedestrians, the quick and the dead!!!! |
jacko
Advanced Member Username: jacko
Post Number: 336 Registered: 10-2002
| Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 6:34 am: | |
...and in America they have two types of music, Country AND Western ;-) Graeme |
lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq
Post Number: 682 Registered: 7-2004
| Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 7:29 am: | |
Yeah, the Griffith looks like what I remember, but this old noggin remembers it as a TVR. Did TVR make something with a siminlar rear end, maybe a little more triangular? Either that, or it's another case of cognitive dissonance. The other name that keeps creeping in is Bricklin - another cool low production British? car - by Marshall Bricklin maybe - that I remember drooling over before '70s Alembics replaced my lust for '60s Roadsters. Enjoy her Roger and, if she's anything like my old Bugeye Sprite, keep some locktite in the boot! LOL Bill, tgo |
jacko
Advanced Member Username: jacko
Post Number: 337 Registered: 10-2002
| Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 7:32 am: | |
Bill, the Griffith is a TVR. However, looking through the rest of the website I linked to, alot of the earlier TVR models looked pretty much the same, just different names. Graeme |
lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq
Post Number: 685 Registered: 7-2004
| Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 11:34 am: | |
Graeme: Thanks. At least some of my brain cells are still intact. I've had a weakness for British sports cars since I saw my first E-Type Jag in the early 60's at about 7 years of age. For many years I promised myself I would get myself either an E-Type or a Custom Alembic for my 50th B-day. The guitar won out. (As expensive as my Custom Further will wind up being, it is still A LOT less than a good condition Jag). But if anyone around here has an old Jag (XK-120, 130, 140 or E-Type, heck I'd even take a D-Type LOL) that needs a good home........ Bill, tgo |
ajdover
Advanced Member Username: ajdover
Post Number: 242 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 8:13 pm: | |
My Alembic transport ... |
jacko
Advanced Member Username: jacko
Post Number: 338 Registered: 10-2002
| Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 12:28 am: | |
Bill. I've had an MG Midget since I was about 20. It's badly in need of restoration - been in the garage for 7 years. For the cost of my Rogue early this year, I could have bought a new bodyshell, had it sprayed and got the car back on the road. The things we give up for music eh;-) Graeme |
gare
Advanced Member Username: gare
Post Number: 257 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 6:14 am: | |
Alan Does your Ram have a Hemi in er ? If so, what kind of mileage are you getting/not getting ? |
room037
Member Username: room037
Post Number: 60 Registered: 9-2003
| Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 7:54 am: | |
I love the car "LANCIA RALLY". It's often called production number "037". My call name means the collection room of 037. It was born 1982, then younger than my Dis-B and Fan head 5st. BUT! I have never driven with my basses. Hi Roger, Did you drive your TVR with dragon ? |
ajdover
Advanced Member Username: ajdover
Post Number: 243 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 9:02 am: | |
Gare, Yeah, it's got a Hemi. Gas mileage in the city is horrid. I'm getting between 12-13 MPG, sometimes less. I'm going to have it tuned up to see if that helps. Failing that, I'm going to install dual exhausts since I'm told that helps with mileage. Highway mileage is about 19-20 MPG, about average for American, V8, full-size trucks. The milage sucks, but it goes like stink and can carry just about anything. When I moved back to NC from Northern VA, I had all 8 (at the time; I've got 18 now) of my basses on the floor in the back seat (it's got the fold flat floor under the rear seats; very handy), and my Ampeg stack and BA115 Combo in the bed. Alan |