HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: lstowell@pyrnova.mis.pyramid.com (Lon Stowell)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: How do you set timing for optimum performance?
Date: 16 Nov 92 19:03:34 GMT
Reply-To: lstowell@pyrnova.pyramid.com (Lon Stowell)
Distribution: na
Organization: Pyramid Technology Corp., Mountain View, CA

In article <1992Nov13.230523.25852@gvl.unisys.com> rossi@gvlf9-q.gvl.unisys.com (Pete Rossi) writes:
>**NOTE** I am talking about older cars that don't have computers, etc,
>that dynamically set the timing.
>
>I would think that under certain conditions the 'spec' setting may not be
>the *best* setting.
>
    Yup.  Its a compromise that most ALL engines of that series will
    be able to use without pinging.

>Is there a way to determine a *best* setting other than by trial and
>error?  I would guess that you would have to start at the spec setting
>and just keep advancing it 1 or 2 degrees at a time until it starts to
>ping then back off.  Seems to me that this could take a bit of time to
>get it just right.  Any other methods?
>
   That is really about the best way to tune YOUR engine.  Set it
   for extremely light pinging at full throttle when in high gear.
   If that makes you nervous, back it off half a degree, but light
   pinging at WOT shouldn't hurt most engines.
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: fengxi@prancer.eche.ualberta.ca (Fengxi Zhou)
Subject: Re: G20 vs. Altima, Fast vs. Slow
Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 18:10:41 GMT

shyguy@ocf.berkeley.edu (David S. Shy) writes:

: As far as I can tell, speedometers are not really a measure of how fast
: a car can go.  (but this is only from my own personal experience.)  As far
: as I know and from my firends experimentations, *most* cars can go faster
: than what the speedometers says... except our family's '84 volvo... it
:
Well, the speedo on my 92 civic sedan says it can "possibly" reach 240kph 
(150mph?).  But I think I really need a pair of afterburners to do that.
From: squigg@gssec.bt.co.uk (Stephen Quigg)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: New '93 Supra???
Date: 19 Nov 92 12:47:09 GMT
Organization: BT Glasgow Systems and Software Engineering Centre, Scotland.


-- 
The new Supra has appeared in varios UK magazines (CAR , Autocar) ,in a
prototype form ,and it looks very long ,very low ,curvy sort of animal . IT
looks like a real sports car , which I hope it is ,because the last one
certainly looked like one , but was basically a dog ....

Stephen Quigg
squigg@gssec.bt.co.uk 
British Telecom , GSSEC , Glasgow
(Nothing in any of my mail represents my Employer in any way)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: rvkl60@aus18a25.sps.mot.com (Tom Mathes)
Subject: Re: Saturn Paint (Was: Re: Waxing New Car? (Saturn SL-1))
Organization: Motorola Inc, Austin, Texas
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 19:23:29 GMT

In article <24065@hacgate.SCG.HAC.COM> johnl@SDFSERV.hac.com (John Lee) writes:
>>I don't have an answer, but I *do* have an additional question for you
>>to ponder: the saturn is a 'plastic' car, with body panels that are
>>solid color (if someone 'keys' your car, they will gouge the fender but
>>will not leave an ugly off-color line). Does Saturn actually paint the
>>car?
>[...]
>
>Yes.  A rock took off a little 1"x1/8" vertical strip at the edge of
>the front bumper panel near the left wheel on my SC.  The plastic is
>transluscent with a slightly white appearance.  Since I have the
>two-tone silver/dark silver paint job, it probably wouldn't be that
>noticeable on the upper silver panels, but it's more noticeable on the
>darker lower panels.
>
>Saturn does sells touch-up paint for those minor scratches.  Saturn
>also claims that the paint clings to the plastic 10 times better than
>regular paint to steel, and that the Saturn paint is specially designed
>to flex.  From experience it seems to work well.  Someone opened a door
>into my car and left a small white paint "smudge."  His paint just
>wiped off when I washed the car leaving no visible damage.  And of
>course, no dings.  :-)
>
>I don't think the paint will stand up to a keying, though.
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>The crew faces deadly GURUs!  Next time on AmigaDOS: The Next Generation.
>	+--------+			John Lee
>	| HUGHES |
>	+--------+			Internet: jhlee@hac2arpa.hac.com	
>The above opinions are those of the user and not of those of this machine.

I can vouch that the paint will NOT stand up to "keying".  Some
jerk did that to my SC, for no obvious reason :-(.  There were some
long, hideous scratches left on my car, and underneath the scraped-
off clearcoat+red basecoat+primer was the plastic panel.

BTW, the plastic panels are really black/dark gray underneath.  What
you saw was the primer coat.  OR, maybe Saturn uses different colors
of plastic for different color cars (I doubt that, though).

Tom
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: sahul@loading-zone.Stanford.EDU (Zakir H. Sahul)
Subject: Re: Cruise Control w/ Manual Transmission
Organization: Stanford University
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 03:56:58 GMT

In article <1992Nov18.001539.17655@rchland.ibm.com>, essbaum@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Alexander Essbaum) writes:
|> |> stsshol@st.unocal.COM (Herb Lam) writes:
|> |> > 
|> |> > I have a '91 Mazda 626 with manual transmission along with cruise
|> |> > control.  I have only tried the cruise control to see how it operates
|> |> > but don't use it because I usually drive in fairly heavy traffic.
|> 
|> what if you change gears without touching the clutch (probably tricky if
|> you're letting the cruise control do the gas)?  what about pulling the
|> tranny into neutral while at speed?  will the engine rev maddly trying
|> to maintain speed?
|> 

My guess is that the cruise is killed if the driver does anything with the
brake pedal, the clutch, or the transmission.  After all, with electronic
control, this is not terribly difficult.  All the switches, pedals and
sensors send events to the ECU which prioritizes and processes them.

If the engine control program is event driven (interrupts!), then each of the
driver actions will be taken care of immediately.  Or if the program polls for
events every now and then, then the driver actions will be taken care of in a few 
milliseconds (on the order of 10ms).  Either way, a lot of smarts are built
into the program to avoid destructive conditions.  

One has to be careful that a positive feedback mechanism does not exist in the
code.  Also, safeguards such as putting a top limit on the amount of fuel
that is ever injected, keeping engine rpm below a certain threshold, etc, etc.
are used.

Neglect these things and .... you hear about the infamous "sudden acceleration"
(Audi) and a few others - clearly cases of "those bugs are really features". 

8-).





Newsgroups: rec.autos,alt.autos.antique
From: jws@billy.mlb.semi.harris.com (James W. Swonger)
Subject: Re: TIG+MIG welding = ?
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 21:02:42 GMT
Organization: Harris Semiconductor, Melbourne FL

 Briefly, both are modern welding process which are useful for joining 
thin as well as thick metal and use an inert shielding gas thereby 
eliminating slag. This makes it attractive to people who are interested
in the apearance of the weld or want to weld sheet metal (like car
hobbyists, for example). Both weld with far less heat input (and hence
distortion of thin pieces) than other welding methods. Both are arc-
based processes and require special equipment.

 MIG (GMAW) welding uses an inert shielding gas, typically argon or a
argon[CO2, O2, He, H2, N2] specialty mixture, to shield the electrode
and workpiece. The electrode is a continuous wire which is automatically
fed out of a special electrode holder/nozzle. This allows continuous
welding at a high rate. The MIG is usually operated in a constant-voltage
mode and the wire feed rate determines the current. This is different from
other types, which tend to be constant-current. The MIG electrode wire is
allowed to feed itself to the workpiece, sticks, melts from resistive
heating, arcs (melting surrounding material) and the whole thing starts over
again. The process spatters a bit, but produces fairly clean welds with 
low to moderate penetration. The choices for electrode wire are basically
mild steel or aluminum. This limits MIG machines to these types of material
(unless welds which are inferior mechanically to the workpiece metal are
acceptable). 

 Recently "gasless MIGs" have increased in popularity, largely due to low
prices at discount stores. A "real" MIG is able to use flux-cored wire 
without shielding gas, rendering the operation more like continuous 
SMAW (regular arc welding). A "gasless" MIG cannot do inert-gas-shielded
welding because it lacks the gas ducting, etc.

 TIG (GTAW) welding uses a nonconsumable tungsten (typically thoriated)
electrode within a shielding gas (typically Ar od He, whence the name 
"heliarc" derives). The arc does not transport material, only energy.
The filler material is fed into the weld puddle ala' gas welding. This
allows any conductive material to be welded and allows a wide choice of
filler rod material. Even things like magnesium may be TIG welded.
TIG requires some unusual equipment (high frequency arc stabilizer) for
use in some applications - like AC mode aluminum welding. TIG also 
takes relatively more skill than MIG welding to produce good welds.

 In general, TIG produces the highest-quality, best-appearance welds but
at a cost in operator attentiveness and training. MIG requires less training
and allows continuous (as long as the wire and gas last) welding but only
on a couple of material types.
-- 
##########################################################################
#Irresponsible rantings of the author alone. Any resemblance to persons  #
#living or dead then yer bummin. May cause drowsiness. Alcohol may inten-#
#sify this effect. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Billy!#
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: joec@fid.morgan.com (Joe Collins)
Subject: Re: Saturn SC 'quirks'
Organization: None
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 20:18:15 GMT

I own a 1992 Saturn SC with 14,500 miles on it - it was purchased in
June of 1991. Here are my comments on the car:

1-Cruise Control is fine and somewhat loud when disengaged but not
  all that bad. 
2-You need to watch where the lap belt buckle is when you close the
  doors. Leave it in the wrong place and when you close the door,
  you will damage the inside lower door trim. Both are mine were damaged
  but the dealer fixed the passenger side one last week (no charge).
  I will hold off fixing the driver side for a while.
3-The Rear seat is small with no leg room to mention - but again its
  a sports coupe.
4-The cassette tape machine occasionally grabs a tape and won't
  release it - be sure to insert your tapes straight.
5-Head room is tight - I lean the seat back a bit and that works fine.
  BTW I have a sunroof.
6-Bumpers - GREAT:
  I backed my SC into a solid metal pole at 5mph and only the slightest
  damage to the rear bumper. 
  I hit a (movable) food store shopping cart holder rather sharply and
  sent it 30 feet (it doesn't have wheels). It bent my license plate
  rather sharply but the bumper was undamaged in the least. I would
  guess I was going 10 mph at the time.
7-Turning radius is great, nice sharp turns.
8-Economy:
  Service visits are CHEAP:
     1,000 checkup - FREE
     3,000/6,000/9,000/12,000 - $25 or so each
     15,000 was $30
     The Dealership (Saturn of Rt 23, Pomptain Plains NJ) is TERRIFIC! -
       they go out of their way to please you.
  Mileage:  Town- 25mpg, Highway- 35mpg.
9-Lots of little nice things: car will beep if you leave lights on or 
   key in the ignition, etc
10-Horsepower is about 124 and thats plenty for this car. Engine is
  a bit noisy - reminds me of a triumph or mg of days past.   

Overall- this car is a *good* car and I am happy with it. I use it for
commutting and its fine for that. Its NOT a family car (rear seat too small)
but otherwise fine.
BTW-my other car is a `92 CAMRY XLE V6.

Regards,

Joe
joec@morgan.com



Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: jbii@HDFS1.acd.com ( John O. Bell II )
Subject: Re: Cadillacs (WAS: INFFINITI vs BMW)
Summary: Where do I sign?
Keywords: real life yeah right
Organization: Applied Computing Devices, Inc., Terre Haute IN
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 18:59:25 GMT

In article <Bxxw4D.B70@news.cso.uiuc.edu> mchaffee@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu (REAL LIFE?!?!  HA!!) writes:
>
>I don't know which one *YOU* would buy, but quite frankly, if I had the choice
>between an Allante and a Q45, I'd take the Allante.  If I just had $70K (if
>that is in fact the price), you wouldn't find either car in my garage.  Come
>on!  The Allante is a great car in a lot of ways, the Q is a good car in a lot
>of ways, but neither one is worth what they cost.  If I had $70K I could afford
>to blow on a car, and I needed room, you'd see me in a 750iL.  The only cars
>that come close are the $125K M-B 600SEL and the non-US XJ12.  Actually though,
>here's $70K worth of cars that would be a lot more fun:

>	Mercedes Benz 300SEL 6.3		$20,000  <=== ???
>	Austin-Healey 100-4			$20,000  <=== ??? 
>	BMW 3.0CSi				$20,000  <=== ???
>						-------
>						$60,000  <=== ??? (shyeah...)
>
>Save the other $10k for Austin-Healey parts and you're set.
>Now wouldn't that feel better than a Q45 or an allante?

I want to know how you got these prices, seeing as I was in C/U here recently
looking at cars... of course, I'm not blind to the extra $20,000 that you seem
to have overlooked. In Champaign especially, since it is a campus town full
of rich ivory-tower professors that have no idea what cars _really_ cost.

>-- 
>Michael T. Chaffee

Hell, I could be wrong... maybe the dealership is having a fire sale (yeah,
that's it, the cars caught on fire so they are half off :-7 ...). And if
you are gonna save what's left over for anything, save it for the cost of
the ream-you INSURANCE you'll have to pay on these vehicles. Hurts just
thinking about it...

Like I said, I could be wrong (sure wish I was... but I'm not that lucky).

John Bell
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: Berger@cup.portal.com (Mark - Berger)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: Looking to buy new tires.... (recommendations?)
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 22:03:02 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: usa

I replaced the original equipment Michelin MXV tires on my 88 Honda Accord
LXi sedan after about 55k of highway driving with Yokohama A509.  The 
new tires were much stickier in both wet and dry, and the steering response
improved remarkably.  I was very happy with these tires, and got about 48k
of mostly highway miles from them.  I have just lately installed a set of
Yokohama AVS U+4.  I liked the A509, but wanted a better ride and a quieter
tire.  That is not to say that they had been really noisy, I just realized
that I do lots of highway cruising, and was willing to sacrifice some
handling if the ride/noise could be improved.

However, so far, the tires (AVS) handle just as well, and also ride better.
I am not really sure if they are a great deal quieter.  I also feel that

the AVS tires repond to a turn in a more linear fashion.  I perceive a 
smoother deformation of the sidewall as the car makes a turn.  Go figure.

Additionally, the AVS U+4 has a higher treadwear rating than the A509, so 
they will probably last longer.

I highly recommend that you buy your tires from the Tire Rack (see any car
magazine).  They are very knowledgeable, the prices are right, and the tires
are shipped instantaneously.  I ordered the tires one afternoon, and UPS 
brought them the next day!  They are based in the midwest, plus they have
a warehouse in Reno.     Good Luck.
Newsgroups: rec.autos,misc.consumers
From: thearn@nmsu.edu (Tom Hearn)
Subject: Re: What radar detector should I buy?
Organization: New Mexico State University
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 17:52:19 GMT

I used to have a MAXON radar detector I got from DAK.
It has saved me countless times but last year I got
nailed by a cop with the instant on radar.
There wasn't much I could do about it.

Now I have a cobra trapshooter which has 3 bands (X,K, & Ka).
The Ka sure gives lots of false alarms due to the 
leaky detectors on other peoples cars.
I think the cobra is more sensitive than the MAXOn.

All radar detectors give false alarms.
This is because there are signals out there that have
the same frequency that youre scanning.
Theres no way to tell a police signal from a false signall
if they are at the same frequency.


From: tonyz@hpwrce.mayfield.hp.com (Tony Zugates)
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 00:18:43 GMT
Subject: 356 SC for sale
Organization: the HP Mtn.View Resp. Cntr.
Newsgroups: rec.autos

For Sale: restored 1965 Porsche SC to "good drivers"

1750 kit, dk blue original colour scheme, solex, matching numbers
and approx 10 k on rebuilt engine, all paperwork.  Original Calif
Porsche. This is the Coupe and is severely cool.

E-mail  for more info etc.










Newsgroups: rec.autos,rec.autos.driving
From: jnielsen@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (John F Nielsen)
Subject: Re: CONSUMER REPORTS
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 02:08:29 GMT

        Well, as I remember, they were talking about the Eclipse with
the DOHC engine (not turbo), which ends up being about $15K, which is
about 3K more than the Saturn.  I have to go home (home home, not the
dorm) to look up the particulars, but I will be back, with quotes..
The DOHC gives the Eclipse the same specs as the SC (Now SC2), and
similar acceleration, but trim level, and features are different...

---
Regardless of whether you are wright or wrong, good job!
At least there is someone with enough sense to back up
what they have to say instead of spouting stuff most
of which has turned out to be wrong. 

john
-- 
John Nielsen   MAGNUS Consultant            ______   ______   __  __	
                                           /\  __ \ /\  ___\ /\ \/\ \
Back Off Man I'm a scientist!              \ \ \/\ \\ \___  \\ \ \_\ \
      -- Ghostbusters                       \ \_____\\/\_____\\ \_____\
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: cka52397@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Slartibartfast)
Subject: Re: Practical Luxury Car
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 09:22:45 GMT

	As a response to the practical Luxury car thread:

	Range Rover


-- 
"The Clergy Dazzle us with Heaven or they Damn us into Hell"  Billy Bragg!!!!!
IIIII  L    L    IIIII NNNNN IIIII   Chintan Amin c-amin1@uiuc.edu DEPT of E.E.
  I    L    L      I   N   N   I   RUSH	YES FLOYD METALLICA PEARLJAM REM PG
IIIII  LLLL LLLL IIIII N   N IIIII   GO TARHEELS  GO CAPITALS GO COWBOYS 
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: cid@athena.mit.edu (Derek H Cedillo)
Subject: Intrepid and Ozone A/C (was Re: Whining about buying American cars)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 17:19:01 GMT

In article <1e4saqINN416@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> aas7@po.CWRU.Edu (Andrew A. Spencer) writes:
>
>In a previous article, v064mcqs@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (NEIL GANDLER) says:

>>                4. Chrysler's Cab forward cars. Which show remarkable 
>>engineering. And are the first cars to use non-cfc air conditioning which
>              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>dunno where in the hell you dreamed this one up at!
>
>>will help save aour environment as far as reducing the ozone layer. Not
>>to mention dual airbags, Excellent ride and value. Every magaine has given
>>it praise.
[rest deleted]

Quoted from advertisement between pages 54 and 55 of the Nov. 16th Issue
of Newsweek:

"The air conditioning refrigerant cools without harming the ozone."

Also, in the same advertisement:
"We've made extensive use of recycled materials to absorb sound and
 reduce vibrations.  And one day down the road, 90% of this car is 
 designed to be recycled.  Something we all can live with"

Proof enough?  Well, I guess it could be false advertising,
but they would be in a mighty lawsuit, because something
like that would definately be tested by outsiders.

*round of applause for the Intrepid*

Derek


-------------------------------------------------------------------
"He lived a life of going-to-do, 
   and died with nothing done"	       
		-J. Albery	     

In other words---JUST DO IT!
Newsgroups: rec.autos
From: nancy@hayduke (Nancy Feagans)
Subject: Re: What do you think about Grand AM?
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA)
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 17:21:02 GMT

In article <1992Nov18.033230.25978@geovision.gvc.com> barry@geovision.gvc.com (Barry Comer) writes:
>I had one for a few days while I was getting my MX-3 fixed(some piece of
>shit tried to break into it).  Needless to say I wanted my MX-3 back real
>fast.  The Grand Am was just not up to the standards of the Mazda.  The car
>looks like three different design teams were working on it and they tried to
>join all the pieces together with what ever it took.

My brother and I rented a new Grand Am while back in Michigan last 
September for a funeral.  Positive points: comfortable ride; decent
acceleration.  Negatives: the automatic trans was jerky when it
shifted. It had bizarre, 'half-wishbone' interior door handles -
more akin to the designer paddle-shaped faucet handles for your bathroom;
and power door locks - but no power windows.  These door locks sometimes
locked when you started the car; sometimes not.  Likewise the unlocking
feature.  The glove box was a *very* flimsey plastic drawer...the left
side framing as only about 2" wide while the right was a more stable 4' -
5".  The storage area in the dash just above the center console had 
something sharp - like a screw - protruding inside the compartment.  My
brother raked the top of his hand when he reached in to retrieve his
sunglasses.  Last but not least, the in-door shoulder belt (shudder!).
Ooops - almost forgot to mention that the engine sounded rather like a
wound-up Singer sewing machine with a bit of bass thrown in for good
measure.
 
Our overall impression was that the car was cheesy.  There was an obvious
lack of attention to detail throughout.  I couldn't wait to get back to
my Toyota after four days with the Grand Am.  My brother had a renewed
appreciation for his Mazda, too :-).  


-- 

Nancy J. Feagans     (818) 306-6423
Jet Propulsion Lab   nancy@jpl-devvax.Jpl.Nasa.Gov
"Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious."