Ben

That's cool. But +1 on those exhaust exits. What were they thinking with that? It must be incredibly loud. Don't open the windows because you're downwind of your own exhaust at all times. And the heat sink into the front tires and brakes having whatever passes for a muffler stuck just ahead of the tire... WHY???

YES, YES, 1000 times yes. Rolling coal and being in-your-face assholes is the cause of this. No one at the EPA had their panties in a twist about people racing Miatas or classic Porsches or any other semi-respectable thing. But then there were too many goddamn news stories about awful assholes blowing smoke at pedestrians, cyclists, and fuel-efficient cars, too many incidents of huge trucks parked where they shouldn't be or vandalizing charging stations for electric vehicles. And so people got mad. And while national agencies don't get motivated very often by public sentiment, when a lot of people get mad at a few people (particularly when those same few people spent their money on train horns and removing emission controls instead of lobbyists to cover their asses) that moves the needle. Unfortunately, though, once a person, business, activity, or industry succeeds in becoming the negative focus of a government entity, be it the IRS, the police, ethics commission, EPA, or whoever, that's basically waking the sleeping giant. You're in for a rough ride and it won't be finished until they say it is. It's a classically predicable story--assholes ruin a good time for everyone else. A few people, shops, and businesses are probably going to get fucked. Some of them will probably deserve it. Some won't. The good news is, this will all blow over at some point. The other piece of good news is if you're modding sensibly and not being an obnoxious prick about it, you're probably going to be able to continue to do that without realistic chance of repercussions. As several people have pointed out, it has always been illegal to tamper with emissions controls on road-going cars, and yet people quite happily have done it for decades, even in states like California which are about as bureaucratically uptight about it as it is possible to be. So I wouldn't sound the death-knell for motorsport just yet.

I installed some rockin' stainless steel mufflers on my M Roadster because I had Ferrari envy and I figured this would keep me from bankrupting myself by buying an actual Ferrari. I got them all lined up perfectly and tightened up but, based on how they sound and placing my hand near the joint, I'm concerned I may have a leak. Frankly, I can't bear the thought of tearing it all apart again and spending the amount of time it took to line them up in the first place (which was way too damn long). So, help me out. Where's a good muffler place to get someone to look at and possibly correct my craptacular install? TL:DR I need a muffler shop recommendation. P.S. I did search the forum and saw people recommended Eagle Muffler. But seems like maybe they closed?

Thanks guys! I'll check these out! Anyone else want to chime in? @ Geeto: I would go but I am out of state this weekend.

Hi everyone! My father is looking for a shop to restore his 1979 super beetle convertible. It is one-owner, garage kept, and perfect mechanically. But over the years it has developed some minor rust and the upholstery, fabric top, and other more delicate bits have succumbed to age - i.e., beginning to crack, rot, and tear. Would love to hear some recommendations on restoration shops that could do this kind of cosmetic restoration. Many thanks!

Society has a lot of problems. It always has. There are crazy people on the street (more now since we cut funding for government-run hospitals). But there always have been. There are murderers and would-be murderers in the world. But that's not new either. What is new and unique to modern America? Well there's a number of factors that may be making people more unhinged, narcissistic, disenchanted, and willing to become famous by becoming infamous. But there's one pretty obvious factor in play here. Guns are tools for killing. And in the past 200 years they've gotten better and better and better. They can do it faster. They're easier to own. Easier to operate. Easier to maintain. And we have more storefronts in this nation where you can walk in and buy one than there are Starbucks locations worldwide. And if that isn't good enough for you, we have gun shows where you can buy one without even the most basic form of regulation that applies at the actual stores. And people have been buying too. We have so many of these very efficient killing tools in circulation that if they were distributed equally, pretty much everyone (even infants) could have one. And so, guess what? We have a lot of killings. If all the guns disappeared tomorrow, would people still find ways to kill each other? Of course they would. But, if want to live in a society where there aren't quite as many mass-murder incidents, maybe we shouldn't have quite so many very efficient killing tools lying around? Some of you are going to say though: What about knives? What about cars? What about homemade bombs? Fine. True. You can kill people pretty well with those too (not quite as easily as with a store-bought gun, but pretty well all the same). So let me ask you a question: What if spray paint were banned tomorrow? Would you really try to tell me that it wouldn't cut down on graffiti? Would you really try to argue that there'd be just as much graffiti because the hoodlums would come vandalize with oil paints and a brush instead? If you want fewer efficient killers, have fewer efficient killing tools in circulation. There are other causes too, of course there are. But this is just not complicated and the only reason it has become complicated is because some of us love our efficient killing tools so much that we make it complicated to avoid facing an uncomfortable truth.

Just my 0.02, but engaging in any large dollar figure transaction without a lawyer who has played the game before is a bad idea. Lots of people will tell you some variant of, "I've done it and it was fine." And that's true, as long as nothing goes wrong, you can do any deal, no matter how huge, on a handshake and the back of a napkin. But in contract law (and particularly where real property is concerned) there are many traps for the unwary which, if someone has a problem with the deal later, can come back to bite you for huge money. I see cases all the time where, if people had spent a few bucks on a lawyer in the first place, they wouldn't have wasted years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation later. In a nutshell, going unrepresented in a big transaction is like driving your car without insurance. You may get away with it 100 times. But if it goes wrong once, it is REALLY going to hurt.

Hmmm... Currently using the 135i as my daily. But I admit I am intrigued.

Ah... Sorry to have assumed then.

Easy there, children. Fully aware my post doesn’t meet the requirements for a number of reasons. Just wanted to share some nice pics I took before I sold it. Hence my explanation? But, as you so astutely pointed out, reading is hard.

What's the thought on losing the JB4?

OK, in the spirit of full disclosure, I just sold this recently. But I feel this is as good a place as any to do an "in memoriam" tribute reel: I sure do miss it when I look at these pics...

Eh... I wouldn't take on a 12 year loan on a GT4 at 104k. I think those are coming down to $50k before they bottom out and that's a lot of depreciation to eat while paying interest. But I probably wouldn't worry too much about doing it on something that I could likely sell at or prior to maturity for principle + interest + profit. Say, rosa corsa manual F430? That said, I've actually never used a car loan (though I did lease the 135i before I bought it just to make sure I could return it if the N55 motor turned out to be a lemon). So maybe I'm more debt adverse than the game I talk.

Wish I had the skill, tools, and time to whip something that cool together. Looking forward to seeing it when it is finished.

I'm pretty sure that guy pooped a little bit.