Topics

8461

Automotive Discussion / I had a Corvette so I know a 2-seater is not practical or legal for...

« on: July 19, 2016, 12:26:40 AM »

..4 passengers so this mom should've just done Taxi, Uber, or bus or rent a car that can transport 4 people...:

A Pennsylvania mother is accused of stuffing her children, ages 3 and 5, into the trunk of a red Corvette and then riding around town.

Hanover Borough Police pulled over the two-seat sports car on July 10 after getting a 911 call from a person who saw someone placing two children in the car's trunk.

Authorities say the mother, 29-year-old Jessica Reger, was in the passenger seat. She faces two misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person.

A call seeking comment from her public defender wasn't immediately returned Monday.

The 28-year-old driver, Ilena Blackburn, has also been charged with recklessly endangering another person.

No attorney information for her was available in online court documents.

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Automotive Discussion / Like my in-law's Ferrari, sometimes it's not the initial price of the car that..

« on: July 18, 2016, 11:51:36 PM »

..kills you, it's the ownership cost. When he told me tuning up his car cost $10k, I thought it was high but not really when compared to this guy's car:

The Real Cost of Owning a Bugatti Veyron Is Extraordinaril y Massive

​Carl Hartley​ is 28 years old, and he drives a Bugatti Veyron. Here's what that's like.


Tom Hartley has been a luxury and performance car dealer for forty years, and his son, Carl continues the family business. That allows him not only to have access to all the cars you can think of, but also afford to have a Bugatti Veyron as his personal ride. Even if he only put 2500 miles on it since he joined the club.

His car is as understated as Veyrons get, with comfort seats instead of the sportier ones, and a two-tone paint job in grey and a silver they call off-white.

As you have probably heard before, that 1001 horsepower engine and the weight that comes with it demands unique tires from Michelin which Bugatti claims expire in just five years (Michelin says their normal tires last for at least a decade), meaning that they will charge you £32,000 (around $43,000) for the new set and the service even if the tread looks brand new. Knowing that a regular check with an oil change costs roughly $20,000 for a Veyron, this is hardly surprising.

Neither is that if you are a 28-years-old male, your insurance company will charge the price of a nice new car every year for your Bugatti's coverage. It's a hard life, ain't it?

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Automotive Discussion / What's fair?

« on: July 12, 2016, 11:46:01 PM »

If true, lay these two idiots on the pavement and have a car go back and forth over them to a slow painful death is fair imo. Still too many Fast and Furious wannabees out there even if the racer is "44 years old".. :

73 year old grandmother dies after street-racing cars hit her SUV on Lindbergh Boulevard, police say


FRONTENAC, MO. - A street racing incident on a well-traveled road turned deadly, and now two men are being charged with manslaughter.

The crash happened Friday night just after 9. Frontenac police say 73-year-old Kay Koutroubis, a grandmother of five, was driving her Toyota SUV southbound on Lindbergh Boulevard when she was hit by the two men racing.

The horrific scene unfolded right in front of Kreis’ Steakhouse, right during the Friday night dinner rush.  Employees say restaurant patrons and staff witnessed the crash, and some went outside to help.

Koutroubis had been driving home from a close friend’s house. She was excited. Later this week, she was supposed to go to Florida, to spend time with her grandchildren. But fate had different plans.

The drivers who struck her SUV were allegedly intoxicated and racing each other. Thirty-nine year-old Haven Sooter, driving a BMW, allegedly rammed into her. Police said her SUV spun out, then was hit again, this time by the other racer, 44-year-old Scott Bailey(pictured above), driving a Mustang.

Sooter's picture was not available because he was taken to the hospital following the crash.

Koutroubis was taken to the hospital, complaining of stomach pain. After two days of fighting for her life, police say she died Sunday from internal trauma injuries.

It’s a devastating loss for those who were close to her. She’s survived by family including two children and five grandchildren. She sang in the choir at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

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Two Wheel Forum / Anime X 2-Wheels

« on: July 08, 2016, 02:15:51 AM »

Saw these paint jobs at the Anime Expo and thought they were pretty cool... :

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Automotive Discussion / Don't care much for giant wings and fart cans on these riced up cars at AX but..

« on: July 08, 2016, 02:11:44 AM »

..love the anime style paint jobs/decals, and glad they were on display for us to see close up... :




































The paint jobs look good on bikes too.. :

8466

Food Forum / Bought this per recommendation and loving it

« on: July 08, 2016, 01:45:37 AM »

Satay is one of the main ingredients for my pho so I've avoided pho restaurants that don't offer it. This just become my new favorite satay for my home made pho  :

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Food Forum / Bought this per recommendation and didn't like it

« on: July 08, 2016, 01:41:01 AM »

It was too sweet so I actually like my home made version better:

8468

Automotive Discussion / Guess this Subie owner really hate "D2"

« on: July 05, 2016, 11:00:09 PM »

Took this photo in SoCal:

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Automotive Discussion / Good!

« on: July 05, 2016, 03:05:26 PM »

Hopefully it'll a message out to other illegal racing/side show idiots that don't care about innocent others sharing the road's well being to begin with...

CHP officers shoot and kill driver in Fullerton during street racing investigation

Less than an hour before they fatally shot a 19-year-old driver in Fullerton on Sunday, two undercover California Highway Patrol officers watched one pickup truck after another pull into the parking lot of the Santa Fe Springs swap meet. 

Gradually, the number of trucks and off-road vehicles swelled from 10 to 50 to nearly 80, authorities said.

The drivers had come for a “sideshow,” an illegal car rally in which motorists show off their skills, and many began spinning tire-scorching “doughnuts” that filled the air with acrid smoke.

The officers, part of a task force investigating street racing and other outlaw driving events over the holiday weekend, called for marked cruisers to break up the gathering.

As the law enforcement units arrived, a red Chevy Silverado pickup truck fled the area, blazing along side streets at speeds approaching 90 mph, according to California Highway Patrol Lt. Charlie Sampson.

The undercover officers followed the pickup for five miles, stopping on a dead-end street in Fullerton about 10:50 p.m.

The truck made a U-turn and barreled toward the CHP officers, who opened fire, Fullerton police said.

The truck struck another vehicle before driving toward the officers, who were exiting their vehicle when they opened fire, according to another law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation. The truck struck the undercover cruiser either during or immediately after the shooting, the official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

The driver of the vehicle died at the scene, and his 18-year-old passenger was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Sampson and Fullerton police. It was not clear if the driver knew he was being followed by the undercover car, Sampson said.

The deadly clash highlights what many Southern California law enforcement agencies see as an increasing threat to public safety in the Los Angeles area — caused by a thriving street racing scene that has grown more dangerous for civilians and police alike in recent months.

The officers involved in Sunday night’s shooting, which is now under review by the Orange County district attorney’s office, were part of a larger deployment from the CHP’s Southern Division, Sampson said.

The agency had received information that several car and truck clubs from the Bay Area had planned to travel to Southern California to take part in sideshows involving off-road vehicles, Sampson said.

This year, similar rallies involving car and truck clubs from the Bay Area drew nearly 500 racers to the South Bay, Compton, Watts and unincorporated areas of South L.A., police have said.

In response, the CHP’s Southern Division deployed a swarm of marked cruisers and undercover officers to try and break up the rallies starting at noon Sunday, Sampson said.

The meet the officers were trying to disrupt had been moved three times Sunday, from South Gate to Rosemead to the Santa Fe Springs swap meet, Sampson said.

Relocating sideshows through cryptic Instagram posts and other social media blasts has become a common tactic on the street racing circuit in recent years, one that makes the drivers’ movements harder to track, according to investigators.

The identity of the driver who was killed was being withheld pending notification of his family, according to Fullerton police. The surviving victim, an 18-year-old male, was shot in the arm and is expected to survive, police said.

Sampson would not identify either officer involved in the shooting, but he said they had been with the CHP for 15 and six years, respectively.

The agency had received information that several car and truck clubs from the Bay Area had planned to travel to Southern California to take part in sideshows involving off-road vehicles, Sampson said.

This year, similar rallies involving car and truck clubs from the Bay Area drew nearly 500 racers to the South Bay, Compton, Watts and unincorporated areas of South L.A., police have said.

In response, the CHP’s Southern Division deployed a swarm of marked cruisers and undercover officers to try and break up the rallies starting at noon Sunday, Sampson said.

The meet the officers were trying to disrupt had been moved three times Sunday, from South Gate to Rosemead to the Santa Fe Springs swap meet, Sampson said.

Relocating sideshows through cryptic Instagram posts and other social media blasts has become a common tactic on the street racing circuit in recent years, one that makes the drivers’ movements harder to track, according to investigators.

The identity of the driver who was killed was being withheld pending notification of his family, according to Fullerton police. The surviving victim, an 18-year-old male, was shot in the arm and is expected to survive, police said.

Sampson would not identify either officer involved in the shooting, but he said they had been with the CHP for 15 and six years, respectively.

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Automotive Discussion / Reporter, remembered you asking about micro cars, how about this Nissan 2-seater

« on: June 29, 2016, 11:26:39 PM »

I saw this the other day so I took a photo of it to show you:

8471

Automotive Discussion / Nice little surge from Kia as they even passed Porsche according to JDP

« on: June 22, 2016, 05:34:30 PM »

Despite adding sophisticated electronic safety features and touch screens that once were prone to glitches, most automakers improved their reliability scores this year in an annual survey of new-car buyers.

The latest survey by the J.D. Power consulting firm determined that quality improved for 21 of 33 auto brands in the survey. This year's scores improved 6 percent over 2015, double last year's increase and the biggest jump in seven years. And for the first time in 27 years, a brand for the masses led the pack as Kia edged out Porsche as the automaker with the fewest problems.

"It has become clear that automakers are listening to the customer, identifying pain points and are focused on continuous improvement," said Renee Stephens, vice president of U.S. auto quality at J.D. Power.

Touch screens, voice recognition and Bluetooth technology have long been bugaboos for automakers, and for years they have brought down scores in the surveys. But last year automakers turned a corner, and this year they improved even more, Stephens said. The improvement in part is due to people getting used to new technology, but automakers also are simplifying the devices, taking out screens that seemed cool but were hard for users to grasp, she said.

The study also found that U.S. nameplates collectively scored better than foreign-based competitors for just the second time in the survey's 30-year history. And for the first time since 2006, mainstream brands had fewer problems than more expensive premium brands.

The 2016 survey of more than 80,000 car buyers from February through May found that Korea's Kia had the fewest problems per 100 vehicles at 83. It was closely followed by Porsche at 84, Hyundai at 92, Toyota wit 93 and BMW with 94. The survey asked owners about problems in the first 90 days of ownership.

The worst-performing brands were smart, Fiat, Volvo, Land Rover and Mini, according to the survey.

The average score for all brands was 105, seven problems fewer than last year. The Chrysler and Jeep brands, which for many years have been toward the bottom of the survey, showed the most improvement. Chrysler's problems fell from 143 to 114, boosting the brand from 31st place in 2015 to 20th this year. Jeep rose from 29th place to 18th, improving its problems per 100 vehicles from 141 to 113.

General Motors led all manufacturers with seven top finishers by segment, followed by Toyota with six.

GM's Chevrolet Spark led the city car segment, and the Buick Cascada convertible tied with the Scion tC for top sporty car. GM's Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain tied for top compact SUV, and the Chevy Tahoe was the most reliable large SUV. Chevrolet's Silverado won in both the light duty and heavy duty large pickup categories.

The survey is the first major assessment of quality for 2016 vehicles, and it's closely watched by car shoppers. Consumer Reports magazine's influential quality study comes out in October and includes other years.

Among the findings from J.D. Power this year:

WINNERS AND LOSERS: Kia, which took top honors, had only 83 problems per 100 vehicles. Mercedes' smart minicar brand was last with 216 problems.

MOST IMPROVED: Chrysler and Jeep climbed 11 places each. Jeep finished 18th with 113 problems, while Chrysler finished 20th with 115 problems.

BIGGEST SLIDE: The Jaguar luxury brand plummeted 24 spots to 27th with 127 problems.

Stephens said that brands with the most revamped models tend to score lower, while those with older vehicles that were carried over into the new model year score higher.

This story has been corrected to show that General Motors had the highest number of segment winners instead of Toyota.

8472

Automotive Discussion / Speaking of KTM, here's a Motor Trend article about KTM vs. Ferrari

« on: June 16, 2016, 11:35:23 PM »

It's a very well staged tug of war between a Super Duke and a LaFerrari  :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYCcUUgfpjk

http://www.motortrend.com/news/watch-ferrari-laferrari-play-tug-war-ktm-1290-super-duke-r/

8473

Automotive Discussion / The upcoming street legal X-Bow should be a fun track car given that KTM ...

« on: June 16, 2016, 07:43:22 PM »

...is a motorcycle company that has been pushing the limits lately with their bikes. At 1700 lbs and with 300HP, it should be a hoot to drive:

8474

Automotive Discussion / These ain't no cheap $20k Honda econo boxes with fart cans but ...

« on: June 15, 2016, 08:27:24 PM »

..the idiotic behaviors of these oil rich idiots are no different than others regardless of country:

Dubai police seize 81 cars for illegal street racing

An epidemic of street racing in Dubai prompted local police to crack down on speeders. According to the BBC, law enforcement officials in the Persian Gulf emirate seized 81 cars, demanding tens of thousands of dollars from drivers and owners for the release of their impounded vehicles.

With a high number of cars per capita – including a large array of exotic supercars – daredevil drivers in the oil-rich country have reportedly been staging illegal street races on the long, straight highways stretching through the Arabian desert landscape. License plates are often removed in order to avoid identification as drivers reach speeds approaching 200 miles per hour to evade police.,,

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Automotive Discussion / When I was in Icleland, I felt these vehicles were set up just right

« on: June 09, 2016, 07:42:33 PM »

I mean they are not too extreme with shocks and struts sticking out everywhere. Their set ups look sensible, practical, and functional but still look very good, durable, and rugged:














They know good off road tires too  :