large_x7

ha ha. I'm sure you guys have all tried typing "french military victories" into google and clicking "i'm feeling lucky." classic. as a side note, none of the rioting has spread to inner Paris yet. it is all in the poorer (mostly Muslim) outlying communities.

Oh my god, reading about all this food is making me hungry! Seriously, go to Portillo's and get a Chicago style hot dog. It's a chain and they're all over. While Giordano's does make a good pizza, I prefer Lou Malnati's, which is a little harder to come by, but worth it if you can find one. Also, head down to the loop and go to the top of the Sears Tower. And hit up the bars and clubs in Wrigleyville, although if you're staying in Schaumburg, that is a little bit of a trek. I also usually tell people to check out the metro section of the Chicago Tribune before they go, cause there's always some band or some kind of cool performance going on. Better yet, you should go eat here!

Yeah, it debuted at the Frankfurt auto show last month. But there's already a bunch of legal types trying to prevent it from being sold in the EU

Yeah, my understanding from the Autoweek article is that this is supposed to be a GT car, not a track monster like the Enzo, so comfort is automatically #1 priority. And I do realize that this has been in development for what seems like 10 years, but the fact that its finally here and sounds to be really good is the exciting part. Of course, I can't afford it, so in the end it doesn't really effect me, but I can dream, can't I?

ha ha. it's funny when you win. Here's a cheat guide: 1 cupboard 2 monitor 3 coffee mug 4 ruler 5 stapler 6 umbrella 7 trash can 8 briefcase 9 fists 10 boss's pencil 11 wall 12 coat hook 13 chair 14 keyboard

Quad turbos must be the new "in" thing. Check out the new Bugati Veyron (finally released!): http://www.autoweek.com/article.cms?articleId=103261 My favorite quote: "Although the times are yet to be independently verified, Bugatti claims its new two-seater will hit 62 mph from a standstill in 2.5 seconds, 125 mph in 7.3 seconds, and amazingly, given it tips the scales at a rather portly 4300 pounds, 186 mph in just 16.8 seconds. For comparison, a Porsche Carrera GT needs 34 seconds to reach that last mark, and we don’t recall anyone describing it as slow." I wish we had a jizz-monkey icon, cause I would put it all over this thing.

Part of the reason nobody has a diesel over here is because the US diesel fuel is pretty shitty. It has a very high sulfur content compared to Euro diesel (hence the infamous diesel stink), and most companies really struggle to make a GOOD diesel that also passes emissions. Fortunately, the US diesel is changing in I think 06 or maybe 07, which is about the same time that several companies, including Honda, have announced a diesel for US release.

i'm in design, and they don't let us over to TRC very often. the test guys get to do all the cool driving stuff. i just sit behind a computer all day. i was actually over there last thursday to do driver's training, but that was the first time that i had been there in over a year. are you with ELP or MAP or through TRC direct? you've probably driven the civic more than i have! i've only driven a DX and an LX, but not the Si. i thought they were pretty nice for a small car. way better than anything else in that class, at least.

I'm not sure who on here really cares about Honda's anymore, but since I spent the last 1.5 years designing the interior for the coupe, I thought I'd share: http://www.vtec.net/articles/view-article?article_id=396413 http://www.vtec.net/articles/view-article?article_id=396475 I think it goes on sale in 2 or 3 weeks. Let me know what you guys think. Oh, and for the gas price complainers on here, the Hybrid is rated at 50/50 mpg, and the "real-world fuel economy" is supposed to be not that far off from those numbers.

I used it on the parts I had polished on the RX-7. But I've only had it running for about 2 months now (approaching engine break-in! ), so I can't comment on it directly. But I had read on the RX-7 forum that it works wonders, so I decided to give it a try.

Apparently, the kid was reaching out of the car to hit the other kid who was riding the bicycle. Not too smart if you ask me... http://www.funny-games.biz/videos/164-bumperhit.html

Reminds me of the scene from Team America. But that was still good, I've missed a bunch of the new episodes and haven't seen that one yet.

Damn, I really like Zettlers. They have a really nice selection of car cleaning products, probably the best I've seen anywhere in the city. I'll stop by if I can, but it's kind of out of the way for me. Good luck with the sale, though.

Guster rules! Currently: Tilly and the Wall - Let it Rain

if you listen, you can hear some guy say "Carl (?) broke the straps on the dyno." So I would think that it was strapped down, just maybe not very well. But props to the guy making the run, cause he certainly saved the car. I thought it was going to go over the edge.

So explain to me a couple of things: 1. How does this thing get away with "nearly oil free operation" All machinery with moving parts requires some sort of lubrication to operate. It looks like this thing would need to have an oil injection system just like a rotary engine. 2. Fewer moving parts than what? A V8? There are 8 parts per chamber (it looks like the "carriage" is made up of 4 individual pieces with a hinge, but I could be wrong), which is about 7 more than my rotary has. It's a neat concept, sure, but we're all gonna be driving hydrogen powered fuel cells before this thing sees any real-world applications.

Not that anyone on here cares about fuel economy (I drive an RX-7), but this week's Newsweek has an interview with Charlie Baker, chief engineer at Honda R&D, where I work.

Any place local that rebuilds alternators? Mine is fried. It isn't putting out a voltage at one of the terminals and has consequently drained my battery. I haven't ruled out getting a used one and just swapping out the guts, but it would be nice to get it rebuilt and add a couple of amps, if possible.

I've got one, if you want to drive out to Marysville to get it. I believe I got it at Ace Hardware (in Marysville), so maybe check Ace first. Otherwise, send me a PM.

I highly recommend the Tournament of Destruction at Route 66 Raceway, but it looks like that is not until next weekend. As for Ed Debevic's, I think it's fun if you've never been there, but for a true Chicago meal, I would rather go to Portillo's (just up Ontario) or Lou Malnati's pizza. Anyways, it looks like you probably already left, so let us know how it was!

I highly recommend the Tournament of Destruction at Route 66 Raceway, but it looks like that is not until next weekend. As for Ed Debevic's, I think it's fun if you've never been there, but for a true Chicago meal, I would rather go to Portillo's (just up Ontario) or Lou Malnati's pizza. Anyways, it looks like you probably already left, so let us know how it was!

just listen to a classic rock radio station for about an hour and then record it when it comes on.

Well, I called the engine builder today (Pineapple Racing) and they told me that it is actually somewhat common for that bolt to break out and to just assemble the engine without that bolt. So I am much more relieved today than I was last night. But I still have to take the engine and transmission apart to remove the piece that broke off, and that's a lot more time consuming than it sounds like! But at least its not a major operation.

sorry, I know I don't post a lot, but I need to vent about a certain inanimate object... My buddy and I were dropping the engine in the 7 tonight, and it's a bitch to get it to hook up to the tranny. So we started with some really long bolts, then tightened those, and then removed the bolts one at a time for progressively shorter bolts. Well, we got all the way down to the stock bolts, and we were tightening one of the bolts when POP!, one of the bolts gave out. At first I thought that the bolt had snapped in half, which would have really pissed me off, because we would have had to take the engine back out, and I would have had to remove the broken piece of bolt and retap the engine block. But that would have been the good situation. The bad situation that actually happened was that we BROKE THE FUCKING ENGINE BLOCK. graemlins/doh.gif There is a flange that goes around the back of the rear rotor housing where it attaches to the transmission that has all the threaded bolt holes in it and a piece tore off the engine and fell down in between the transmission and the engine. Not into the clutch housing, mind you, but it got wedged in between the engine and transmission. So now I have to take the engine and transmission back apart just to the get the piece out and see how big it is. My options at this point are 1)ignore the one bolt that I can no longer connect since it is relatively close to another one, 2) try and JB weld the piece back on (which always dangerous) 3) pay a shop to actually weld it back on 4) by a new rear rotor housing altogether and disassemble and reassemble the motor, ignoring the fact that I just paid $3500 to have this one ported and assembled by Pineapple. Gahhhh!! Sometimes I hate this car so fucking much! I haven't driven it since last August! FUCK YOU CAR!!! graemlins/finger.gif EDIT: I just realized I put this in the rong forum. Sorry, I've hada little to drink> But I'm going to watch Futurama now.

Yeah I tried that method and I got 4670 on my second attempt!