HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: aas7@po.CWRU.Edu (Andrew A. Spencer)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: FWD vs. RWD, Which is best.
Date: 15 Oct 92 23:02:22 GMT
Article-I.D.: usenet.1bkt9vINN3eo
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc12.ins.cwru.edu


Ok..no editor to quote with, so bear along..i am referring to the
article in which someone named vikas quotes someone named stephan
john..the article number on my system is 71445.  hope you all can
follow this..

V states that S's method was unreliable, using a stopwatch..i'd 
not argue with that, though sometimes it's the only way some of
us even have a chance to get an educated guess..however, this is 
not the part to which i wish to gain a response..i wish to ask 
about his reasoning instead..V states that he thinks that speedos
tend to lag under acceleration.  V says to try it out on some 
REAL cars...that you should accelerate to a given (read) speed 
according to the speedo..then pop it into neutral and watch the
speedo rise above the indicated stopping point, his arguement
(reasoning, should i have called it..sorry if i stepped on toes)
being that when the car is shifted into neutral, it will no longer
accelerate.  Now, i'm not necessarily qualified in these fields, but
i would like to place a counter argument..I would draw an analogy
to a person jumping off of the ground.  The time the person leaves
the ground, the only accleratory force acting on hime is gravity.
This is the limiting factor of height of a vertical jump.  Thus,
the moment of leaving the ground= shifting into neutral.  Now, 
as i have stated above, the force of gravity is what causes a vert
jump velocity to reach zero.  However, gravity does not (in ideal
physics..forgive me for a moment) play any part in horizontal 
motion.  Thus, my arguement would be not that the speedo actually lags
by five mph as V suggests, but instead that mementus forces of the
recently accelerated body is what causes this (ie..like jumping, there
are no longer accelerations, just an equilibrium..and since gravity
does not inact the deceleration, mementum is converted to an increase
in speed, rather than simply being lost to reverse accel..) Is this 
making any sense to anybody??  At any rate, of course in the real
world you have wind resistance, and frictional forces (wind, tires
and bearings..among others) which means that gravity does play a small
role in this, but not enuff to ofset the original momentum of the
body.  I bet the SHO would be a good study in this.or a ferrari
or a  lambo..or..hmm..wonder if anybody wants to provide cars and
a paycheck to let me find out..
thanx for indulging..feel free to respond..hope no flames tho..thanx
i try...
DREW
-- 
So my last quote was way off...i screwed it up.. i'll come up with 
a new one sometime soon....
From: tpickett@auspex.com (Tom Pickett)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: FWD vs. RWD, Which is best.
Date: 10 Oct 92 16:34:25 GMT
Reply-To: tpickett@auspex.com (Tom Pickett)
Organization: Auspex Systems, Inc.  Engineering

In article <1992Oct7.173315.23009@cabot.balltown.cma.COM>, 
welty@cabot.balltown.cma.COM (richard welty) writes:
> i'm kind of astonished at the historical ignorance floating by
> in this discussion.
Thank you!!!!


Tom Pickett 
tpickett@auspex.com
SHO  GOZE
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: mdm@bnr.ca (Diane MacMartin)
Subject: Gas mileage and gas cap seal
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 14:48:51 GMT

Could anyone verify/disprove the following - that is, is this just our
imagination, or is it real?

We had found that the gas mileage on the first half of the gas tank on
our 1981 Subaru (in 1981, that is) was way better than the second half. 
 We assumed that our gas gauge was non-linear but we kept track of the
distance travelled, type (highway/city) and amount of gas used, and
discovered that, indeed, our gas mileage varied whether the tank was
partially empty.  (If anything, we supposed the weight of the full gas
tank would make us get worse gas mileage!)

We were told that the vacuum created when the gas was consumed was
reducing our mileage, so we slit the rubber on the gas cap to allow air
to enter the tank.  Much to our surprise, we got better gas mileage on
the second half!

Now we are finding that our 1992 Toyota Previa minivan is exhibiting the
same symptoms.  Before we mangle the gas cap on this vehicle, could
anyone support our findings, or was it a case of wishful thinking?  Is
the fact that these are both Japanese cars significant?

-- 
Diane MacMartin       Bell-Northern Research, Ltd     Ottawa, Canada
mdm@bnr.ca            Any opinions are my own and do not represent BNR.
=========>> If this is printed on paper, please recycle it <<==========
From: james@koko.csustan.edu (Jonas Grumpy)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: Probe / Mercury Capri / Ford Capri - Which?
Date: 9 Oct 92 19:30:19 GMT
Article-I.D.: koko.1992Oct9.193019.20290
Organization: CSU Stanislaus

In article <Bvt5I5.7E6@cck.coventry.ac.uk> mei172@cck.coventry.ac.uk (guru) writes:
>In article <1992Oct4.232255.18081@koko.csustan.edu> james@koko.csustan.edu (Jonas Grumpy) writes:
>>
>>There is no way any peice of junk Mazda/Ford collaboration is going to live
>>up to the German Ford Capri. This car is pure gusto. Sadly the ones
>>that came to the U.S. never really got the powerful engines that would have
>>made the mustang look like the slug that it has been since '73. The German
>>Ford Capri remained in production all the way to '86 and in its final
>>form had a high comression CIS injected 3000cc V6 with around 155 hp.
>>There was also a tuned version available called the Tickford Capri with 200hp
>
>guru sez:
>	not only was irt tuned, it was turboed and body-kitted and had a fancy
>	leather interior. The car was a limited edition of (I think) 5000.
>
>	Still, it was an anachronism when it died, and Ford only kept it 
>	going because of sad idiots who thought it was a good car to cruise
>	around in at net, leering and shouting at women as they hung out of
>	the windows.
>
>	A true new Ford Capri would be a rebody of the next Sierra (CDW27, the
>	world car) in the same way as GM Europe did a rebody of the Cavalier
>	to produce the Calibra.

Your the second brit to display a hatred of this car. Why do you people hate
this car? Yes it may be outhandled by many sports cars but over here it was
better in all respect than anything to come from Britain. Attacking the 
car because of the people who drive it is silly. Over here I see the same
idiots driving by in Opels throwing bottles at bicyclists. So what? Unless
you think its politically incorrect to yell out the car window?? I do
agree that the capri should have been evolved into something like the Sierra
.
By the way is it possible to get anti sway bars for the Mk2 over there??
Are there any aftermarket sources with catalogs I could order?
-- 
C MYSIG  ASIG4U 1RADSIG 2BADSIG SIG U 2     U R SIG   1SIGDOG    ADOTSIG
 				The above advice is not to be taken seriously!
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: mshar@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Mike Mshar)
Subject: To the Guy with the `72 Lemans
Organization: Purdue University
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 04:43:56 GMT


Somebody from the rec.autos newsgroup mailed me, asking about using leaded
gas in his 1972 Pontiac Lemans with a 400 engine. Well, I was in the 
middle of replying, and my roomate picked up the phone and screwed up
the modem, so I lost your message. Here is what I was going to write...

I would check into your car, and find out whether or not it has the 
hardened valve seats or not. I am not positive as to whether a `72
Pontiac motor would have them or not. I had a 1972 Nova, and I ran
it without lead for a while. But eventually I switched to a lead substitute
with no harm done. If you find out your car does indeed have the hardened
seats, you don`t need to worry about using lead. Using lead won`t hurt
the engine, however, so if in doubt, I would use it, unless you have 
a catalytic converter. I don`t think that a 1972 model would have a 
converter, but I guess you would know for sure. A Haynes/Chiltons guide
would probably have the info, or you could contact a Pontiac dealer.

As to finding a dipstick, the best place would be a junkyard, especially
the kind where you go in and take the parts off of the cars yourself. These
places will sell anything and everything. I know, because I commonly frequent
one back home. Get lots of parts at good prices, and you get to check it
out before you buy them. 

Anyway, hope this answers your questions...


-- 
|       Michael G. Mshar        | My Life-Long Goal: To keep common sense    |
|   mmshar@mn.ecn.purdue.edu    | alive and keep the idiots from taking over.|
|  mshar@mentor.cc.purdue.edu   |     \\President, Nice Guys Anonymous//     |
|____>>> United States Steel, Mechanical Engineer, Technical Services <<<____|
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: basiji@stein.u.washington.edu (David Basiji)
Subject: Re: Saab 900i Problems?
Organization: University of Washington
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 15:23:15 GMT

wrat@unisql.UUCP (wharfie) writes:

>In article <12110059@hpmwema.sr.hp.com> almanb@hpmwtd.sr.hp.com (Bob Alman) writes:
>>    Wharfie is not the person to take advice on car reliablity from.
>> [ 172 lines of reposting deleted ]

>	Yeah, who told you that?  The same guy that taught you to use 
>an editor, putz?
>								wr

Would you two please take this somewhere else?

Dave

Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: welty@cabot.balltown.cma.COM (richard welty)
Subject: Re: PC's vs. Mac's... was: FWD vs. RWD, Which is best.
Organization: New York State Institute for Sebastian Cabot Studies
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 04:41:35 GMT

In article <13406@texsun.Central.Sun.COM> dbernard@thewho.Central.Sun.COM writes:

>>DON'T EVER DO THIS!!!!  If you are driving down the street with a 50 pound
>>sack in your trunk, and hit the brakes hard, that 50 pound sack is going
>>to fly right through the back seat into the occupants of the car!!

>	??  Does this mean no one should carry things in their trunks,
>	cargo beds, hatches, whatever??

geez.  my girlfriend and i were driving around yesterday with
4 short necked bmw 2002 differentials and the driveshaft and transaxle
from an alfetta sedan in the trunk.  if only we'd known how much
danger we were in.

gack,
  richard
-- 
richard welty                            518-393-7228
welty@cabot.balltown.cma.com
  ``if you can read this, mario, you're too close''
    -- bumper sticker seen on a CART safety truck
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: mike%jim.uucp@wupost.wustl.edu (Mike S.)
Subject: Re: taking fuses out
Organization: BITS, St. Louis, MO
Date: Wed, 07 Oct 1992 16:36:40 GMT


>How about a timer circuit also so that if the secret switch isn't flipped
>the engine would be allowed to be run for about 2 minutes? That would let
>the thief get down the road just a little ways so the police can actually
>prove he was a car thief. 

I was thinking of doing something like this, but how could it be
done?  The timer would have to be triggered by the line you were
switching.  

(ie, when current flows through the line the timer is attached to,
it will wait x minutes, then cut the line unless told by an external
switch not to)

Not exactly something you could get at Radio Shack, I wouldn't think.

Any tips from you engineers?

Mike
-- 
mike%jim.uucp@wupost.wustl.edu
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan)
Subject: Re: Chevy Kicks Fords Ass Again!
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 13:39:31 GMT


In article <891078p.15.718475575@ace.acadiau.ca> 891078p@ace.acadiau.ca (Trevor Perkins) writes:
>In article <1at7qsINNf8q@introl.introl.com> pete@introl.com (Pete Ikusz) writes:
>
>>
>>Get a life. We don't need this bullshit again.
>>I would rather have someone buy a new Mustang or a Camaro over a new
>>foreign car any day.
>>
>Ain't that the truth.  But which one do you choose.  I was looking into 
>these two to see how they are rated and the buyers guide I looked in 
>( can't remember the name - was Canadian for 92-93 models ) rated the Camaro 
>as unaccepable ( ratings - accepable, unacceptable, & recommended ) due to 
>poor reliability & shoddy workmanship.  The Mustang was rated 
>acceptable.  Not much better reliability, but put together much better.

The problem with "buyer's guides" is that they're not oriented towards the
type of driver who would purchase a Mustang or Camaro. They're oriented
towards the bread and butter station wagon crowd, the yuppie
econobox-driving crowd, the "mainstream" car buyer. Enthusiast drivers
need recommendations from other enthusiasts, not bean counters who
would choose a boring straight-line interstate over a twisty, curvy back
road.

>The new Firebirds do look nice, but I would still rather get a Mustang !

A man after my own heart! ;-)

Mustang is still the biggest bang for the buck in the ponycar market.
From: dbernard@thewho.Central.Sun.COM (Dave Bernard)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: top ten sellers of '92
Date: 8 Oct 92 15:59:54 GMT
Reply-To: dbernard@thewho.Central.Sun.COM
Organization: Sun Microsystems

In article <?jim@mwhhlaw (James P. Cavenaugh III) writes:

>	Think of all the development costs and manufacturing costs  
>(including inventory costs) of each additional model being offered and   
>how that number has gone up drastically in the past 20 - 30 years.   
>Then think of how the number of units to amortize those costs keeps  
>going down.  No wonder the American auto industry can't make any money.

Excellent points, but I think these things are factored in by the industry
(at least, if it has any idea at all what is doing).  Look at the price of
cars today compared to 20 years ago (when you could get what was then called
a compact car- around the size of today's Taurus- like a Ford Maverick for
under $1800 new, Spartan though it might be).  You'd notice that the price of
cars has outstripped the rate of inflation.  And although you might point to
things like EFI and emissions controls and ABS as adding incremental cost, you'd
also have to deduct things you no longer get, like chrome, wing windows, rear
windows that roll completely down, more metal and glass, etc.

In short, I think the industry model is to survive on smaller volume by jacking
up the per unit price.  After all, people no longer trade their cars in every 2
or 3 years, the way the auto companies used to exhort them to in the 50s & 60s.
We can no longer afford to, since the per-unit cost as a ratio of income is a
lot higher than it used to be (anecdotal evidence, which I will not support via
strict research).

	Dave
From: chrisn@tekgen.bv.tek.com (Christopher Nawrocki)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: Saab 900i Problems?
Date: 14 Oct 92 22:23:45 GMT
Article-I.D.: tekgen.1412
Organization: Tektronix, Inc.

Not wanting to start a flame war here but all of the Saabs (both Turbo and
non) that I have owned have consistantly cost _less_ to operate than any 
of the American or Japanese cars I have (briefly) owned...  Just my .02
worth
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: atovorni@engr.UVic.CA (Andreas  Tovornik)
Subject: Re: Suggestions for first time car buyer?
Reply-To: atovorni@engr.UVic.CA
Organization: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 18:18:05 GMT


In article 12175@scott.skidmore.edu, dcho@scott.skidmore.edu (douglas cho) writes:
>I'm a college student in search of a car. I admit that I've been
>ignorant of cars, and that now I seek your advice. Can anyone suggest
>to me a second-hand car that's pretty good? The more info. the better.
>I'm planning to spend on $10000 maximum including insurance.

I don't know what insurance costs where you are. I'd set aside $ 3000
of your $ 10000 for insurance and emergencies. What you have to do
now is get the best car you can for $ 7000. This won't be hard. I was
able to get two good years out of cars costing less than $ 500!

First, avoid front wheel drive. Despite what current advertising says,
front wheel drive gets expensive when you need to replace a clutch,
require transmission work or are unlucky enough to have a front-end 
collision. If you want a car that can stand up to punishment and 
occasional abuse without breaking, get something with a solid body-
on-frame construction. These cars are generally quieter than unit-
body cars and more comfortable.

You might think this type of car is boring and for old folks, but if
I was in the market with $ 10000 to spend, I'd get an old Buick, Olds,
Pontiac, or Chevy. The car would be full-size so there'd be room for
all my friends and all their things. Another advantage is that you
can temporarily sleep in them if you get evicted :=)

This type of car is a proven, RELIABLE means of transportation that
may seem expensive to maintain at first, but gets cheaper when it's
time for replacing breaks, mufflers, etc. Avoid cars built between
1973 and 1976 because the engines are inefficient, and suck a lot of
gas. Any year before or after Full-Size GM car will take years of
abuse if it's in good condition when you buy it. 

I drive a Sports Car now, but have owned four cars like the one
described above:     
                      '70 Monte Carlo (Excellent)
                      '73 Monte Carlo (Gas Guzzler, Low on Power)
                      '75 Monte Carlo (Gas Guzzler, Good Power)
                      '81 Buick Park Avenue (Excellent)

None ever left me stranded. Junkyards are full of parts for low-budget repairs.

Happy Motoring,

Andreas.

Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: condict@next19.osf.org (Michael Condict)
Subject: Auto Insurance
Keywords: Good, bad and ugly
Organization: Open Software Foundation
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 19:42:41 GMT

Would anybody who really likes or really hates their auto
insurance company please send me a short note about it?
(I am about to buy auto insurance.)  A simple:

	"I [hate/like] [Company X] because [ . . . ]"

would suffice.  Thanks.  I'll summarize for the net.  If
this has been done recently, please just send me a copy
of the summary.

Michael Condict
OSF Research Inst.
Cambridge, MA
From: kiisaka@csi.uottawa.ca (Ken Iisaka (the mad pianist))
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: Japanese Names  Was Re: Canadian names for U.S. Cars
Date: 13 Oct 92 03:40:08 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, University of Ottawa

In article <ldc9t4INNm9m@spim.mti.sgi.com> yhmok@luke.mti.sgi.com (Yeuk-Hai -Shark- Mok) writes:
>In article <1992Oct9.165102@usho21.hou281.chevron.com>, hhtra@usho21.hou281.chevron.com (T.M.Haddock) writes:
>|> 
>|>     BTW  Nissan means - masculine, brother, boy
>|>          Nassan means - feminine, sister, girl
>
>	Nissan (The car maker) means 'made in Japan' or 'Japanese made'
>and I'm not joking.
>

Well, not quite.  Ni-ssan is really an abbreviation for Nippon (Jidousha) 
Sangyo which stands for Japan (automobile) Industry.  The first character for
Sangyo (Industry) is the same as a word which means "made in...," however, 
Nissan does not really mean "Made in Japan."  "Made in Japan" in Japanese is
"Nippon sei."  "Nippon san" is more like "Produced in Japan."  No, in this
case, the "san" is not the same word as the one you use to say, for example,
"Iisaka-san" to refer to me.

Anyway, the word for brother is "Niisan" whereas the word for sister is
"Neisan."  There are many other variations, though.

Gotta take that Japanese 101 course, dude.
-- 
Ken Iisaka               \ NEXT RECITAL  |12:00 pm, Thursday, January 7th, 1993
kiisaka@csi.uottawa.ca     \ Produced by |National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
AI Lab, University of Ottawa \ CBC Stereo|Berg        Sonata, b minor, op. 1
H: +1 613 237 6642 W: 564 8155 \ 103.3 FM|Mussorgsky  Pictures at an Exhibition
Xref: sparky rec.autos:23661 rec.autos.tech:13776
From: bradstoc@ravel.udel.edu (Craig A Bradstock)
Newsgroups: rec.autos,rec.autos.tech
Subject: Re: Pontiac Fiero problems?
Keywords: Fiero, problems
Date: 8 Oct 92 23:12:08 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Delaware

In article <BvtDtB.2Lx@cmptrc.lonestar.org> neal@cmptrc.lonestar.org (Neal Howard) writes:
>In article <1aqs7sINNllp@bigboote.WPI.EDU> damong@hongkong.WPI.EDU (Damon Francis Gentile) writes:
>>---When Bertone made a new proposal for Fiat, they came up with the X1/10.
>>   Fiat sent it to Lancia and they produced it as the MonteCarlo, called
>>   Scorpion here in the US. If you have ever seen a Scoprion (they were
>>   only imported to the US in '76 and '77, and only 177 were imported in
>>   '76.) If you have ever seen a Scorpion/MonteCarlo, you will notice an
>>   incredible coincidence that it looks stunningly similar to the '92
>>   Fiero....
>
>The last year model of the Pontiac Fiero was 1989. 
>
Make that '88.
From: edcrwfrd@unlv.edu (Edward Crawford)
Subject: Re: Interesting article about Japanese trade policy...
Organization: UNLV
Date: Sat, 17 Oct 92 00:00:58 GMT

You where criticizing American Car Companies and you claimed
that the sales figures proved that the Japanese are better.
Did you know that Japanese car sales are falling? Did you
know that 2/3's of the big three companies sales are
rising <grin>. Did you know that Japanese Auto firms now seem
to be following US automakers instead of acting as trend setters
like they did only a couple of years ago? Did you know Toyota
had a 56% drop in profits?

From: maurice@hp-ptp.ptp.hp.com (Maurice Liang)
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 01:36:27 GMT
Subject: Re: Why not a Taurus SHO Wagon??
Organization: HP Pacific Technology Park - Sunnyvale, Ca.
Newsgroups: rec.autos

  A friend of mine was the Taurus Program Manager at Ford for awhile.  At the
  time, I asked him the same question.  The answer was, they didn't feel there
  was enough of a market for a SHO wagon.  Too bad.  

  I even went as far as investigating buying a SHO engine from a junkyard
  to put in our Sable wagon, but I spoke with the Project Manager on the 
  Taurus @ Ford, and he said it would be major surgery to convert the
  Sable to take the SHO drivetrain.  Apparently, mounting points, radiator
  supports, etc. have to be moved.  

  They regretted not making it match better, but that's the way the designs
  ended up.

  Add me to the list of SHO-wagon would-be owners...

  Maurice<Viperholic> Liang
   

Newsgroups: rec.autos