Convertibles literally ARE chick magnets!

[blinkwatt]

I drive a Ferrari

Which model?

 

[CitizenOfTheWorld84]

2000 Ferrari 360 Modena F1

 

[wayword]

I live in Ahwatukee, a snooty suburb of Phoenix,

The reason why drop-tops are backfiring on you there should be OBVIOUS. You live in a fvcking DESERT! With a cloudless, shadeless sky that beams down sunlight like a magnifying glass and temepratures average 116! What kinda girl wants to ride around topdown in THAT???

NO, they wanna be enclosed in cool, dark, tinted windows with heavy AC!

C'mon people, use your common sense and adapt to your environments here! :wave:

 

[Yuriy777]

...
I bought it because I live about 10 minutes away from a faily nice, 10 mile twisty turny canyon road. That it gets the ladies hot is just a lovely side-effect.
...

That's when I nut myself. lol
:woo:

 

[WRX_is_like_SEX]

I'm quite proud to say, that my WRX does not attract girls because its a convertible, or a sex symbol or a penis extention . .(I.G - Modena , Mustang et.c) . .But attracts a very niche type of girl who like its sheer brutalty, vulgar agressive looks and gold wheels . . .And when they go for a ride it scares the sh*t out of them ,and they respect it even more(especially as it can comfortably p*ss over most convertibles)!

. . . . However . .Cars are as someone said , are a conversation starter, and women who only notice you for the car alone are perahaps not worth the time!But it may give more exposure and opportunities . .

 

[Archaxis]

That's the beauty of it. If you look, you can find early models (92-94 I want to say), for low-mid 20s. Sure it's got junk quality, it's hard to drive without passing out from the heat, the windows clip in and there are no exterior door handles, and parts aren't exactly cheap. But you're still getting a FAST car, and you're still getting an image, that while true or dedicated enthusiasts can see through, will still impress the average Jane Blow on the street. It's hard to find anything that will put such a dopey grin on your face for less money. That being said, I'm still not a Viper fan, to me it's the typical American thinking of "find the biggest sledgehammer you can find to drive in the smallest thumbtack you can find, then be impressed with yourself when it only takes one swing". But I still can't deny that it's kind of a bargain.

I'll argue the build quality is fine, you're just looking in the wrong places. Take a look at the chassis, the suspension pieces, etc. The interior has no bearing on build quality IMHO. Chrysler used substandard interrior and finishing materials because they dumped all the money into the chassis, driveline, and those monsteriously expensive CFRP body pannels (the hood $8000 - $10,000 to replace!!!). Yeah, the interior was drek compared to even an entry-level Bimmer... A better route would have been to skip dressing the interior alltogether and leaving it raw and racelike... that's what real performace cars should be anyway!

Just the same, in the end, it's a welded steel tube frame with proper SLA suspension at all four corners, with a wonderfully low CG, and decent ballance so long as you learn to use the throttle properly. You can't say much of the above for the gaggle of flimsy unit-construction, MacPhereson suspended gorified sedans grandstanding as sportscars... Not the greatest road car ever built (Mac F1, maybe), but way above the bar in any case.

'Course, my favorite thing about Vipers is the look on the 8 liter driver's face when I tell him he just got smoked by a 1.3 liter.

What car with a 1.3L can outlap a Viper, save for Hayabusa powered Caterham or similar?! Not that I have anything against small displacement engines (the displacement argument is completely retarded anyway, an engine's power-to-WEIGHT ratio and CG make it good or not... not its fvcking specific output or similar ricer/muscle-car mentaility garbage... a 5.0 liter Judd V10 weighs less than a Honda K-series after all).

 

[Archaxis]

Stay away from 98 and earlier,they KILLED clutches. Dodge designed the original cluthes too small and the engine shredded through them.

Yes they did... 500 lb-ft of torque will do that. Any heavy car with a big block is going to do so... especially if you are a dragfag and always pulling slip clutch starts. I did the clutch (that was mostly gone when I got the car) with and aftermarket Centerforce unit, I'm not a dragfag, I know how to heel-toe my downshifts, and I got very little wear at all over the 5+ years I had the car.

I was looking into Vipers but there are soo many killing points to me on them,the interoir is absolute TRASH. My step dad has a Durango, it was more classy on the interoir ,no joke. You have to be a good/trained driver to drive one daily,a slight touch of the throttle in a turn and you kick the back end loose. The car is American after all=no resell value,sorry but its true,look at Corvettes. Don't get me wrong ITS FAST and has seductive curves but those are not easy overlooked issues. None-the-less I will still buy a 01 Metallic Grey w/ White Strips GTS in the next few years.

Again, as I said before, I think Chrysler should have gone for a sportscar-purist interior, maybe a drop-in fiberglass tub, simple scuttle, a couple of Sparco race seats, harnesses, a nice gauge cluster (which they HAD, those SN's in the car are NOT cheap)... and just F'k the yuppie-pouser sh1t like leather Lazy-boy seats, carpet, etc. Just do it right... like a Noble, for instance. Luxury sportscar is an oxymoron anyway.

 

[Phrost]

So the question now is, how do we make the money to buy a convertible? Tips will be much appreciated

 

[squirrels]

If you can fit in a 350Z, you need to work out more.

I considered the 350Z 'vert as my next car, but there was no way I was fitting my 6'4 broad-shouldered frame in that vehicle. The shame is that there aren't many NICE convertibles out there that are affordable for the typical guy any more. The Stang...yeah, but it's too retro.

So I do the next best thing...ride a sportbike.

 

[Archaxis]

You're a idiot...straight up. Where'd you hear this from? Car and Driver? 80 year old man? God damn thats the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Um... it was either Evo or Top Gear or some other enthusiast publication... was probably Clarkson who's a far bigger aficionado (and driver, and ex-racer) than you or I. I haven't read C&D, R&T or similar trash in a while. In any case, chrome is a joke, and a dead art in the motor industry, and sadly lives on as the undead in incompetent form-before-function circles like retro-car guys trapped in the friggen' sixties, and glam-rap poseurs fascinated by shiny things and idiotically large wheels (ever heard of unsprung mass and it's effect of suspension frequencies... wait, that wasn't in an Emenim song so you wouldn't understand). But seriously, what form a modern motorsport uses chrome-dip on ANYTHING anymore? Please, spare me...

 

[S1NN3R]

What car with a 1.3L can outlap a Viper

My 430 wheel horsepower, T04R equipped 93 RX-7.

http://x11.putfile.com/3/8900052857.jpg (I even took that photo)

With the weight that I've got the car stripped down to, that's right about 6 pounds/hp. It did an 11.2@129, at sea level when it only has 365whp. And it's not even built to be a drag car, I've got 18x10s all the way around, with 285/30s, even in the front, and a fully adjustable suspension (tuned by myself). It'll peak about 1.3Gs, and maintain 1.18, best damned roadcourse car I've ever had.

Ladies love this car, too bad I've only got one seat, they don't like sitting on the passenger floorboard.

 

[blinkwatt]

S1NN3R to be fair about your 1.3L beating a 8L you should point out that you stripped the car for racing and have tuned the heck out of it. By the way,it is impressive what you have done to it.

 

[Archaxis]

My 430 wheel horsepower, T04R equipped 93 RX-7.

http://x11.putfile.com/3/8900052857.jpg (I even took that photo)

With the weight that I've got the car stripped down to, that's right about 6 pounds/hp. It did an 11.2@129, at sea level when it only has 365whp. And it's not even built to be a drag car, I've got 18x10s all the way around, with 285/30s, even in the front, and a fully adjustable suspension (tuned by myself). It'll peak about 1.3Gs, and maintain 1.18, best damned roadcourse car I've ever had.

Ladies love this car, too bad I've only got one seat, they don't like sitting on the passenger floorboard.

Ah yes... Wankels. I tend not to keep them in mind since only ONE car company insists on building the things. They offer low CG's, and tight packagaing... unfortunately thermally, they're inferrior (thus requiring a larger cooling package, and more drag), the fuel consumption is poor, and they can't be stressed members, and apples-to-apples, they aren't as reliable nor will they achive the same output as a piston motor... particularly compared to the current era high-rpm units (Think Cosworth or Ilmor, NOT Chevy or Honda). In any case, I almost bought a 3rd Gen RX7 that was a fire salvage to build it into a race/track car (was pondering a WRX STi H4 swap though ). They are great budget machines and a fine starting point for a trackday car if you're one of those people who likes building up cars (i.e. not me, I'm a designer not a constructor).

In any case, your car is modifed, and I refuse to get into that my/this-guy-I-know/this-car-in-a-magazine's modfied car is quicker than a stock Viper third grade pi$$ing match. I've seen it plenty of times on the car forums: It quickly goes to: "Well, there's a 1000 bhp race Viper"... and eventually ends at some combination of: $2 million+ 2005 Formula One car / $8000 250cc shifter kart will kill your RX7, and my Viper. Leave the "my car is faster than your car" sh1t up to Ross Brawn and Flavio Briatore. Only they have equally unlimited budgets, similar time, scope, and resources, and (theorectially) a level playing field to spank their provibial automotive monkeys at each other. I stay out of that crap. I've got a Lotus Elise now. It's less fast than my Viper, and a hell of a lot more fun to drive, espcially concidering I don't have Fernado Alonso's driving talent or budget.

 

[S1NN3R]

In any case, your car is modifed, and I refuse to get into that my/this-guy-I-know/this-car-in-a-magazine's modfied car is quicker than a stock Viper third grade pi$$ing match.

Yeah, I didn't intend to either. I'm not saying my car is better or worse, I only said I like the looks on Viper driver's faces when I tell them what beat them, and you asked what would do it. So I told you. You didn't specify "what factory stock vehicle..." Though, I should say, the "$2 million+ 2005 Formula One car" thing wasn't really a good analogy. I've got about $25k total in my car, and an older Viper will cost about the same, so dollar for dollar, my car is a good match up with the Vipers.

If it makes you feel any better, it's not just Viper drivers. I also like the looks on the faces of Z06/Gallardo/DB7/Mustang Cobra/LS1 car/Supra drivers as well..

On a side note, I wasn't terribly impressed with the Elise. I put about 500 miles on one in 24 hours last year, and it was a spritely little thing, and the experience of driving it was enjoyable, I couldn't get over the understeer at the limit and the heat in the cabin with the top off. Though, in the context of this thread, I did get 4 numbers from some really shallow b!tches throughout the course of the day.

 

[Archaxis]

Yeah, I didn't intend to either. I'm not saying my car is better or worse, I only said I like the looks on Viper driver's faces when I tell them what beat them, and you asked what would do it. So I told you. You didn't specify "what factory stock vehicle..."

If it makes you feel any better, it's not just Viper drivers. I also like the looks on the faces of Z06/Gallardo/DB7/Mustang Cobra/LS1 car/Supra drivers as well..

Though, I should say, the "$2 million+ 2005 Formula One car" thing wasn't really a good analogy. I've got about $25k total in my car, and an older Viper will cost about the same, so dollar for dollar, my car is a good match up with the Vipers.

Oh absolutely... no disagrement here. The Mk.III RX7 is an undeniably great car, weither you like the engine or not... proabably the best sportscar to come out of Japan... ever. Like I said, I almost bought a salvage to do a similar build-out to yours but opted out when I thought about not having the time or energy to do so. I'm sure there are plenty of other owners (including the ones spanked) in the same boat as myself. I just like my cars "done" when I get them. :yes:

It's not that I/they're any less of a car enthusiast, building out cars just isn't my/their forte. Some just discuss the market, others, like myself, revel in design. I've probably got as many hours in designing cars as you have in building them. To each his own. Though, here in the U.S., for some reason, to many, a car enthusiast is one who works on or builds up cars... and that's it. I've got a torque wrench... but the steering wheel (and AutoCAD) gets used more.

I noticed that we're WAY off topic here... though I always like a good car convo (I declare the subject of cars getting girls as complicated, at best ) so I'll send you my E-mail address and we can continue spieling about it there if you'd like. Your car is quite slick, BTW. It's nice to see a car that modfied sans the faux-livery. Paul Walker and Vin Diesel would be so dissapointed in you, though.

 

[BacardiGuy]

Archaxis, I tried to PM you, and send an e-mail through the forums, but you have it disabled I guess, so I'll jsut post this here.

I'm curious as to what exactly your job is, or is car design just a hobby? I ask because I'd like to do something similar after college. I considered industrial design but opted to major in mechanical engineering instead because I wanted more of a technical education as opposed to a more art oriented one. If you do so professionally, any information about how you went about getting into the field, the job itself, typical salaries in your line of work, or any other input you may have would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ValleyDJing]

and glam-rap poseurs fascinated by shiny things and idiotically large wheels (ever heard of unsprung mass and it's effect of suspension frequencies... wait, that wasn't in an Emenim song so you wouldn't understand). But seriously, what form a modern motorsport uses chrome-dip on ANYTHING anymore? Please, spare me...

I gotta admit man...that was good, touche or however the **** you spell that word!

But seriously, idiotically large wheels? your starting to sound like my grandpa, and last I checked, he wasn't much of a dj. and who gives a **** about motorsports? as long as the females are getting all worked up over my chromies, I see no reason to ditch them.

and what was that unsprung mass/suspension frequencies garbage you're talking about?

 

[ValleyDJing]

93 RX-7.

garbage...just plain 13 year old rust bucket garbage man. i'm sorry

 

[S1NN3R]

garbage...just plain 13 year old rust bucket garbage man. i'm sorry

We all have things that we like. You like "18 chromies" and "hood scoops". I like cars that are actually fast instead of poser-racer V6 Mustangs. To each his own.

 

[blinkwatt]

We all have things that we like. You like "18 chromies" and "hood scoops". I like cars that are actually fast instead of poser-racer V6 Mustangs. To each his own.

How true that is. In today's society many kids think that headers,cams and exhaust,"chipping" are the way to go?! They need to fully harness their cars and then expand off that. Another misleading idea of today, "the bigger then engine the better". Fools...my small stock 2.5L Boxster can outdue a 5.0 Mustang in straight away and my Boxster isn't even built for speed. Whatever happened to "properly tuning a car",more speed=more brakes. I see people give their cars 200 more hp and leave the brakes stock?! Have any of the kids these days even heard of strut bars,port & polishing,losing weight or a single drivetrain mod?