Smokey

he can't afford a ZR1 though. I pissed off a C4 owner last summer at Nelson when he was on 275 r-comps and had to point by my measly 240hp car running 235 street tires and weighing at least 100lbs more.

howdy neighbor. Feel free to stop by if you see me out sometime. I suppose that I shouldn't be complaining about your roommate's exhaust since my FD isn't exactly quiet, but damn is that thing buzzy

a trunk my man! I will adamently admit that a C5Z if you can afford it will outperform any of the other cars mentioned here in handling/braking while keeping stock civility. I can't imagine a standard C5 being bad either, but I've never driven one to compare. I'm not a fan of the C4 idea though.

central college and hamilton rd. Westerville mailing address, but you're correct it's pretty much NA. It'd also explain where Ben had seen you before as he lives close. Is your brother on here? He has a nice truck, I'm willing to bet it's faster than anything I've got....but his roommate with the prelude has got to lose the exhaust!

welcome, I'm pretty sure I've seen your car in my condo complex before....remember the plates. Friends with the guy with the black lightning?

quite true, but at that power level it becomes a little less daily friendly. If you think that you're going to go F/I buy an OBD-1 car and go with either a kit from TRM (the racers market) or TT (technique tuning). As for mileage the main thing to look for is when routine maintenance has been done. Ball joints require replacing the entire front control arms which isn't quite cheap, and the stock radiator and water pumps are good for about 60K.

on bikes I'm assuming Ben? Cars welcome?

this man speaks the TRUFF! DO NOT buy one to drag race it though unless you plan on going F/I (read $$$) somewhere down the line. if...like you stated...a 14-ish quarter will satisfy your craving for power then read on. The e36 M3 will ride well, handle with just about anything on the road, and has excellent factory brakes. The biggest short coming of the car is that it's down on power by today's standards. Hell man, a new Camry v6 has more power than my car....ouchie. However for what I wanted in a car there wasn't anything that would do it better - that being a daily driver that was comfortable, looked good (opinion counts here obviously), and would still be able to hit the track (with turns) regularly and have lots of fun. While the ride isn't exactly thrilling or breath taking, I've had a really hard time finding a car that is more fun to drive. If you want to look at mine and take a ride sometime just let me know.

you're more than welcome to come up with us, just let me know.

I think that inorder to get my arms to reach we'll have to put it close enough that it could work for you. I'll just get you cute little pedal extensions.

hahaha...I did say RENTAL...we haven't discussed the terms...haha. Andy may be right, it could be worth it to bail while you can and ensure that you won't be worrying about your car during the day. You can just get it ready and go with us up to Nelson next Friday.

we can work on a rental program for my M3 if you want Sorry, nobody else other than my brother gets to drive the FD. In all reality if you need help with a thrash for prepping the BMW I may be able to help. I'd buy your spot from you, but I'm going to be busy this weekend trying to get my FD ready for the first Funday next week.

Ryan, I wouldn't sweat the details that much to actually avoid a Snell helmet. I think that the most important information that should be taken from that study is that ALL helmets are safe and the previous idea that DOT helmets were not as safe as Snell helmets is not true. When looking for a helmet, finding one that has an appropriate shell shape, size, and feel for your head is the most important. If your helmet isn't comfortable you'll be that much less inclined to wear it. When I looked for a helmet I went and tried on EVERYTHING I could. It was very unfortunate for my wallet that the helmet that fit me best was quite expensive, but it was also worth every penny when I put it on each ride and it fit perfectly.

That would be considered a Snell approved helmet. Since Snell has more strict approval standards every Snell helmet will be DOT approved but not the other way around.

sorry I don't have the time to read it this morning but I'm assuming it's very similar to the Motorcyclist magazine study done last year on the subject. -Edit, just realized it is the same article, which I read in the mag last year. Basically you're correct that Snell standards are for a harder shell that doesn't offer the same deflection as the softer DOT-only shells. This resulted in more g's being transferred to the head on Snell helmets. The helmet that tested the best in the article I read was an $80 vega or some crap. It's quite interesting and good to see people not just blindly believe that Snell is the end all-be all of helmet standards. To think that you're unsafe wearing a Snell helmet is a stretch for me though. If I could go back I would try to find a euro spec Arai which have the softer shells not normally sold to us Snell loving Americans. BUT...you're forgetting why I bought an Arai and it's because I didn't want a BRICK on top of my shoulders. I'd be interested to see what the additional pound or so of some of the cheaper and bigger helmets would do as far as neck injuries when someone slams the pavement and has their head flopping around.

I go to the VCA animal hospital on Sunbury Rd in Westerville. Do not have any complaints.

bmrparts.com - bavarian auto recycling...but shipping from CA might be a bit of a pain. You could always call them and ask if they recommend anyone closer.

my wife complains that I'm emotionally distant. but I do have a FD that I'll take you for a ride in to cheer you up.

looks like it could be a fun project. Welcome

wanna help me find a set of SSR professor MS1s for the FD next year?

thanks for the article Jones, I guess I was in la-la land when I thought they weren't going to make the switch anymore.

as always you're correct Nate, I was just referring to persons like me who unknowingly will get ethanol content in their cars when they haven't been tuned for it, which given the same fuel put into the motor will make the car run more lean.

I don't have much info on it off the top of my head and unfortunately don't have the time to look it up. But if I remember right the Energy Bill of 2005-ish mandated ethanol content in US fuels and it increases for the next few years. I believe part of this was to also stop the summer/winter fuels and switch to a standard ethanol content in fuels. This also sucks for those of us in the F/I community because ethanol content fuels tend to run leaner and don't have the same specific power available as pure gasoline. anybody here remember more details than me?

+100

chad I assume you're asking when they would go back to a pure gasoline and not an ethanol blend (typically called winter gas)? I thought that a year or so ago that they agreed to run the ethanol blend all year round? Hence....never would be your answer.