ashsimmonds
11th March 2004, 08:17 AM
well, kinda. :D
on another forum, some guy from the states (i'm in oz) mentioned his first car was a monte carlo, and well... just read:
(full discussion available here http://forum.racesimcentral.com/showthread.php?t=140245 {warning, BMW discussion dissolves into ferrari vs fiat 8) } )
As far as which is better for a rookie, I'm conflicted. I firmly believe that a FWD car in general is more predictable and safer at the limits of adhesion. Unfortunately, when I was a teen, I took that feeling of safety as a challenge, and put my cars into all kinds of terrible situations (my Subaru was jumped until the front bumper bent from catching on landings, and my Mk2 Golf was routinely driven with a copilot instructed to randomly yank up the e-brake).
When I got my first RWD car (a '79 V6 powered Monte Carlo), I learned that it wouldn't tolerate the shenanigans I subjected my previous cars to. The first night I drove it in the snow saw me offering to help an unlucky homeowner replace his destroyed shrubs in the spring after I removed them from my rear wheel wells.
not talking about the Lancia Monte Carlo by any chance? http://forum.racesimcentral.com/images/smilies/lovies3d.gif
I have this awful feeling he is talking about a Chevy Monte Carlo; a car whose only respectable relative is the Buick Grand National which I once rather liked in a peverse way - sinister black with a Corvette engine. Much cooler than the Corvette itself.
Oh, heavens no! That would imply automotive class, which I didn't develop till later in life. No, this was a clunky yank tank, complete with a hood long enough to go camping on, a factory paint job that looked just like primer (at least the burgandy was the same color as the rust), and a V6 that would have been sporty in a car that weighed 1,500 pounds less.
It was missing several motor mounts, so you could hold it with the brakes, rev it in Drive, and the engine would fling around under the hood violently enough to make teh front of the car twist up and down like the car was on hydaulics.
It also had some mysterious oil leak that didn't ooze until the engine was shut off. However, it would leak directly on to the exhaust, creating a massive amount of smoke. On multiple occasions, I would drive somewhere, park, walk away from the car, and have someone run up to me exclaiming, "Dude, I think your car's on fire!" Oh, how I wished....
In my defense, I only bought the car because it was dirt cheap (I paid $75 for it, put $50 worth of work into it, drove it for a year, and sold it for $100). I needed a second car as I had a hard core newspaper delivery route that involved (I did the math) 600 gear shifts per morning for the route alone.
My poor Golf stood up to the abuse for months before the clutch/brake pedal assembly began to bend down towards the firewall, so I needed a second car to cover while it was in the shop.
An interesting note, at that point the Golf had 275,000 miles on it, while the Monte had 112,000. The Monte only survived the paper route for a single week before it developed several new rattles (many of the deliveries were down dirt roads), a transmission leak, and a hood latch that rattled itself to death. Asside from teh bent pedals, the Golf fared fine, going back at it for another 6 months before I quit the job....
When I sold the Golf, it had 315,000 miles on it, and still ran and passed inspection. The Monte on the other hand, needed a new engine and transmission before it was fit to drive. Those Mexicans built me a fine car!
here's a link to the pic he posted:
http://forum.racesimcentral.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164079
enjoy. :lol:
on another forum, some guy from the states (i'm in oz) mentioned his first car was a monte carlo, and well... just read:
(full discussion available here http://forum.racesimcentral.com/showthread.php?t=140245 {warning, BMW discussion dissolves into ferrari vs fiat 8) } )
As far as which is better for a rookie, I'm conflicted. I firmly believe that a FWD car in general is more predictable and safer at the limits of adhesion. Unfortunately, when I was a teen, I took that feeling of safety as a challenge, and put my cars into all kinds of terrible situations (my Subaru was jumped until the front bumper bent from catching on landings, and my Mk2 Golf was routinely driven with a copilot instructed to randomly yank up the e-brake).
When I got my first RWD car (a '79 V6 powered Monte Carlo), I learned that it wouldn't tolerate the shenanigans I subjected my previous cars to. The first night I drove it in the snow saw me offering to help an unlucky homeowner replace his destroyed shrubs in the spring after I removed them from my rear wheel wells.
not talking about the Lancia Monte Carlo by any chance? http://forum.racesimcentral.com/images/smilies/lovies3d.gif
I have this awful feeling he is talking about a Chevy Monte Carlo; a car whose only respectable relative is the Buick Grand National which I once rather liked in a peverse way - sinister black with a Corvette engine. Much cooler than the Corvette itself.
Oh, heavens no! That would imply automotive class, which I didn't develop till later in life. No, this was a clunky yank tank, complete with a hood long enough to go camping on, a factory paint job that looked just like primer (at least the burgandy was the same color as the rust), and a V6 that would have been sporty in a car that weighed 1,500 pounds less.
It was missing several motor mounts, so you could hold it with the brakes, rev it in Drive, and the engine would fling around under the hood violently enough to make teh front of the car twist up and down like the car was on hydaulics.
It also had some mysterious oil leak that didn't ooze until the engine was shut off. However, it would leak directly on to the exhaust, creating a massive amount of smoke. On multiple occasions, I would drive somewhere, park, walk away from the car, and have someone run up to me exclaiming, "Dude, I think your car's on fire!" Oh, how I wished....
In my defense, I only bought the car because it was dirt cheap (I paid $75 for it, put $50 worth of work into it, drove it for a year, and sold it for $100). I needed a second car as I had a hard core newspaper delivery route that involved (I did the math) 600 gear shifts per morning for the route alone.
My poor Golf stood up to the abuse for months before the clutch/brake pedal assembly began to bend down towards the firewall, so I needed a second car to cover while it was in the shop.
An interesting note, at that point the Golf had 275,000 miles on it, while the Monte had 112,000. The Monte only survived the paper route for a single week before it developed several new rattles (many of the deliveries were down dirt roads), a transmission leak, and a hood latch that rattled itself to death. Asside from teh bent pedals, the Golf fared fine, going back at it for another 6 months before I quit the job....
When I sold the Golf, it had 315,000 miles on it, and still ran and passed inspection. The Monte on the other hand, needed a new engine and transmission before it was fit to drive. Those Mexicans built me a fine car!
here's a link to the pic he posted:
http://forum.racesimcentral.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164079
enjoy. :lol: