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A few things to know before stealing my 914

hagerty.com

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Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#211

Post by pwg »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #95
gkoberger wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this context (a fun blog post), I disagree. I find it to be incredibly clear when someone is playing in a world they truly understand and love. Not to say one can't be hoodwinked from time to time, naturally, but for me it's not the "facts" that ring true. It's the joy and humor and love that is hard to fake.

A really good author could probably make this up. Some types of writing require that ability. Imagine you're writing about a fantasy world where everyone drives giant Bloops instead of cars. You might have a few chapters written from the perspective of a master Bloop mechanic. She's been fixing Bloops for as long as she can remember; she considers it her life's calling and she loves every moment of her work. The auth…

> A really good author could probably make this up

True, but what /really/ makes the humor in this article, when one has the domain knowledge to understand the technical details, is that every single technical humor bit is true and accurate, and brings back similar memories of similar ballets with similar vehicles from years ago.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#212

Post by throwaway0a5e »

hedora wrote: post #131
criddell wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The state of Washington is an interesting case. They had annual inspections and then somebody ran the numbers and found that so few cars were being flagged, that it was an enormous waste of resources. They got rid of their inspection requirement. More programs should be run like that. Set a goal, create a program, then periodically evaluate if the goal is still the same and if the program is effective.

Contrasting that to California, I had an old well-maintained Volvo station wagon. California tightened the emissions standards on that model until it failed smog (at 110% of NOX limit), and made me upgrade the catalytic to an after market one. It then passed at 85% the NOX limit. The state strongly encouraged me to send it to a Golden Shield mechanic. As part of the work, they "checked" the air intake filter and MAF…

>I'm convinced the whole thing is a make-work program that's holding our air quality hostage. (And I'm strongly for tightening emissions standards!)

My state on the other coast does (or used to) openly admit in the official training slides for the inspection license that the reason they have safety inspections is so that holding a state inspection license (they do a single license that covers both emissions and safety) is lucrative and therefore license holders have a financial incentive not to fudge emissions inspections.

Pretty much every business who is supplied a customer base by force of law gives the quality of service you describe.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#213

Post by prova_modena »

ho_schi wrote: post #132
BoorishBears wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most automatic transmissions are horrible because most cars are horrible. Good cars have good transmissions, regardless of transmission style. The ZF8 is an excellent transmission that's seen everywhere. PDK does justice to the most performant modern Porsches in a way that manuals struggle to keep up with. Even relatively small volume DCTs like the one in the 4C are pretty great these days.

ZF8 seems to be used by Audi only for cars sold in America? btw. ZF means Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen. Which is owned by the Zeppelin Foundation. Which was founded to support the built of Zeppelin Luftschiffe and social purposes. Weird story. And the Zeppelin Foundation was for a long time owner of Cherry. The company behind most mechanical keyboard switches. They should've kept that, growing business area - mechan…

It's been used by numerous manufacturers in addition to Audi, including BMW and seemingly every FCA/Stellantis brand. I've driven a BMW 5 series fitted with one and I can confirm it's a great transmission that is smooth and capable during normal driving, but has reasonable sportiness when required.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZF_8HP_transmission

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#214

Post by LanceH »

theluketaylor wrote: post #158
giarc wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not always the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog. I knew a guy that was an incredible mountain biker, won all the races he entered etc. He used to show up with crappy bikes probably 10lbs heavier than everyone else... he'd still win. Sometimes you either have it or you don't, and all the equipment in the world won't help you.

In this case a 914 is close to the perfect car for autocross. They are super light, so they change direction like a fly. The mid engine layout means they have excellent balance. Autocross is a low speed event, so the lack of power isn't the penalty it would be on a larger circuit. With modern tires a 914 should do extremely well.

The mid engine induced balance and short wheelbase on the 914 just made it ridiculous for autocross. It was like playing a video game where you stick to the ground. I certainly raced more powerful and faster cars, but it was possible to coax everything out of the 914 with an ease that few other cars could match.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#215

Post by mdoms »

Hagerty is about the only automotive journalism left that's worth reading and I am so grateful they are still around (and still improving at a clip). I you have even a cursory interest in cars their Youtube channel is excellent. Jason Cammisa joined then Hagerty team last year and is now producing the absolute best car content on the web.

I doubt anyone from Hagerty is reading this but genuinely thank you for making the car content you do. Automotive journalism sometimes feels like a dying industry but you give me hope.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#216

Post by everybodyknows »

> The dual Webers don’t have chokes and you’ll be squirting fuel down the barrels with the accelerator pumps for the necessary priming regime.

The engineering Puritan will want to know that the Webers are a retrofit, a hack for escape from the factory's refractory -- but cutting edge tech in the 70s! -- VW electronic fuel injection. The EFI "brain" was a box the size of a small modern laptop, stuffed with individual transistors, inductors, capacitors and resistors.

No one in North America, it seemed, had any idea how to diagnose an internal fault. The owner's options were to buy a secondhand brain taken from a junked car, presumably there for some other reason, or the Webers. Junkyard brains were refundable, but the several hours installing, testing, and possibly uninstalling were not, so careful deliberation was in order.

Access to the brain, like most engine compartment work on the 914, demanded the sort of agility, strength, and determination required of large-animal veterinarians, with access for most tasks from underneath, wedged as it was in a sort of triangular gap below and behind the seats and ahead of the rear trunk and transmission.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#217

Post by rmk »

cjrp wrote: post #44

It's funny how much the starting procedure reminds me of a fairly-modern Cessna 172. If it ain't broke...

Welcome to General Aviation, where you can still experience vintage technology from the sixties and seventies! But also proof that a wimpy 180-HP thing is way more fun than a 500-HP BMW M3, simply because of the fact that it flies :)

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#219

Post by robohoe »

rootsudo wrote: post #141
gkoberger wrote: post #42

This is one of my favorite styles of writing. I have absolutely no clue what this person is talking about and have no interest in cars, yet I read every single word. I love when people have such a deep knowledge of something that they can write an essay as unique and thoughtful as this. It reminds me of Kitchen Confidential, Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman!, or any rant about British politics by David Mitchell.

It's quite fun, but anyone can pick it up in a few days if you join a few great Car forums that remain, or, ick, facebook groups and reddit groups. The discord groups are more of casual conversation and making fun of each other/new people who are trying to DIY. The BMW car forum is good, bimmerforums.com. Pelicanpart forum is good. BMW/Porsche GrassrootMotorsports is good. General racing, falls back to bmw/porsche/co…

Rennlist is huge in Porsche world.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#220

Post by KennyBlanken »

theluketaylor wrote: post #151
gkoberger wrote: post #42

This is one of my favorite styles of writing. I have absolutely no clue what this person is talking about and have no interest in cars, yet I read every single word. I love when people have such a deep knowledge of something that they can write an essay as unique and thoughtful as this. It reminds me of Kitchen Confidential, Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman!, or any rant about British politics by David Mitchell.

On the flip side, I know a ton about cars and actually own a german sports car of roughly this vintage and this rings incredibly true (and also hilarious). My car can't be locked due to fear of it never opening again, starting the engine requires a delicate balance of the right amount of throttle and prayers the battery has enough charge, and selecting first is a preposterous mixture of a delicate ballet and sledgeha…

On the actual flip side, there are plenty of people who properly maintain vintage sports cars instead of just talking about how much they know about them.

I get that door handles and lock cylinders are often made of easily-broken pot metal, but most owner communities have figured out solutions, or just live a little and recognize that a locksmith can easily get you into almost any vintage car if necessary.

The starting problems mean your engine is poorly tuned/maintained, battery issues are bad wiring or undiagnosed parasitic drain (or just buy a battery maintainer, dude), and thinking "my first gear syncro is worn or my shift linkage isn't properly adjusted, I should mash the shit out of it" are purely owner error / strongly counter-indicate "I know a ton about cars."

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