Loving my Ride

[loftycomfort]

2002 BMW M Roadster- Black. 12 years old and still a cream-puff with only 40K kilometers.

I just happen to have a new pic taken last week here:

Love the roadster, Chuck. It looks fantastic!

Terry

[Scott R Wilson]

Some darned nice cars (and bicycle) here. My ride makes "ten ugliest cars of the last decade" lists but I love it anyway. When we first decided to move to Hawaii, research showed us we'd need a small pickup truck for hauling our garbage and other essential tasks. I started looking at Chevy, Ford, Toyota and other small pickup trucks. One day my wife saw a Subaru Baja going down the road, and suggested I look into those. I read up on them, and we decided that might be what we needed. All wheel drive, comfort of a car with a small truck bed, what more could you want?

I'd found out they were only made from 2003 through 2006, and only 30,000 were ever produced. Looking on line showed they were indeed rare. I finally found a 2005 Turbo model for sale in Gurnee, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago a good three hour drive from our house in Wisconsin. After I bought it at the end of last November and we drove it for awhile, we found it to be as perfect for our needs as we'd hoped. During the Christmas holidays I saw a 2003 Sport model for sale on a used car lot about two miles from our house. We test drove it, and my wife said she wanted it. So we bought that one too and sold her Saturn.

Here's the pair in Wisconsin, my 2005 Turbo is the silver one, her 2003 Sport is the yellow one:

When we made the move we drove to San Diego and shipped hers to the Islands, then drove mine on a tour of California before shipping mine from Oakland.

Here's my trucklet (or is that "cruck, for car/truck?) in Yosemite:

Parked amongst the Sequoias:

And here they are in our driveway in Hawaii:

[2qwik4u]

Are you kidding? I love the Baja's! I always wanted one, but when they were being made, I couldn't afford it. When I could finally afford it, I couldn't get one. I always wanted a Turbo in the dark blue. The yellow Sport would have been my second choice. Very nice!

-Dave

[Scott R Wilson]

Are you kidding? I love the Baja's! I always wanted one, but when they were being made, I couldn't afford it. When I could finally afford it, I couldn't get one. I always wanted a Turbo in the dark blue. The yellow Sport would have been my second choice. Very nice!

-Dave

Low mileage used Bajas are available, but you'll probably have to travel to get one and expect to pay a fairly high price. I found mine on AutoTrader online, last time I looked there were some very nice Bajas listed.

One warning about the Turbo, they can be costly. This spring about a month before we moved my car suddenly seemed to be less peppy and then one day it made the oddest "zzzzzzZZZT!" noise as I got off the freeway. If my radio had been on I doubt I would have heard it. The check engine light had come on a few days before. I'd had the code read and it was for a seemingly innocent "cam position sensor" fault. It made the noise again a couple days later, and I took it to the shop. Turns out there is a tiny oil filter for the turbo inside of a banjo bolt. The filter in my car had plugged and starved the turbo, and the noise I heard was the blades contacting the housing and the impeller assembly wobbling. I had the choice of a rebuilt or new turbo, but the prices weren't that different. My mechanic said he'd seen several rebuilts fail within a year, so I went with new. It cost me just over $2,000 for the whole assembly plus installation. I've read that many versions of Subarus used this same turbo, and turbos in general can often have similar failures.

Now the scariest part of this story is that the turbo had evidently seized at one point and broke the center shaft nut loose. It was still on the shaft by about three threads, you could easily spin it on the shaft with your fingers. My mechanic said that had the nut come off I would be buying a whole new engine. I did a lot of research and found advice similar to what my mechanic told me: to always use good synthetic oil and be absolutely religious about changing the oil and filter every 3750 miles, regardless of what the owners manual says. Some people advocated removing the banjo bolt filter altogether but others said not to. My mechanic said the filter was put there for a reason, he didn't recommend removing it. I went with his advice. Everyone also said to let the car idle for 30 seconds to cool the turbo before shutting off the engine every time I drive to prevent the heat from the turbo from burning the oil in the filter. It's a bit inconvenient but was not an impossible habit to develop.

Oh yeah, the check engine light code? As the turbo bearing wore it made more space between the bearing and shaft, which prevented the oil pressure there from being as high as it should have been. The cam positioning is driven by that oil pressure, so that's why I had the cam position sensor fault.

The Baja is kind of a heavy car, but handles very nicely and has a great ride. The standard engine produces 160 horses and is very adequate most of the time but just a little bit anemic on steep hills or in passing. The turbo boosts it up to 210 horsepower, and that puppy sails up steep hills like they are flat ground and jumps when I'm passing. If I had it to do over again, though, I wouldn't buy the turbo. I'm a grandpa and typically drive like one. I just don't need to have the excess power, plus my wife's Baja gets about three to five mpg better than mine even when I try to drive as fuel efficiently as I can. But I will admit that when I need to pass someone in a hurry and that car puts me back in the seat the way it does, I get a little grin going on...

Edited September 16, 2014 by Scott R Wilson

[2qwik4u]

A close friend of mine has a 2003 Subaru WRX that he has had from new. He's got over 150K miles on it and it's still running like a top. One of the first things that we did was put a turbo timer on his car. It was reasonably cheap and fairly easy to install. Most people that run them have tuned up turbo systems on their cars, but his is still stock. What the timer does is keep track of how hard the turbo is working by reading the boost pressure. When you shut the car off after your drive, it will continue to run the car for a calculated amount of time based on the boost pressure. That keeps the oil flowing through the turbo and allows it to cool down slowly and in a controlled manner, basically the same as leaving the car running, but you can take the keys out and lock the car and it will shut off on its own. He's had his installed for over 10 years now and has never had a problem.

-Dave

[Scott R Wilson]

A close friend of mine has a 2003 Subaru WRX that he has had from new. He's got over 150K miles on it and it's still running like a top. One of the first things that we did was put a turbo timer on his car. It was reasonably cheap and fairly easy to install. Most people that run them have tuned up turbo systems on their cars, but his is still stock. What the timer does is keep track of how hard the turbo is working by reading the boost pressure. When you shut the car off after your drive, it will continue to run the car for a calculated amount of time based on the boost pressure. That keeps the oil flowing through the turbo and allows it to cool down slowly and in a controlled manner, basically the same as leaving the car running, but you can take the keys out and lock the car and it will shut off on its own. He's had his installed for over 10 years now and has never had a problem.

-Dave

COOL!!!! I never knew such a thing existed! I will look into getting one as soon as we get past the lava flow crisis we're having here. If I end up having to buy a new house, car stuff will have to wait...

Scott W.

[speedlimit]

Just got it last December. Zoom zoom!

Edited September 16, 2014 by speedlimit

[Flyboyf18]

The first pic I will post is the 'Fun' car with the old daily driver in the background;

new daily driver later....

[Wayne]

Not a fancy speedster but my 2011 Santa Fe serves me well.

Wayne

[ElectroSoldier]

That surprises me. I'd have thought a BMW diesel would do way better than that, even around town.

It should, BMW lead the industry in diesel technology

[JohnS]

It should, BMW lead the industry in diesel technology

I agree. I had the opportunity to ride shotgun in a BMW 3-series Touring with a 3 litre twin turbo, on the Autobahn in Germany. We had the car up to 295 kph (~183 mph) and it had more power to spare. It was very quiet, and had little sensation of speed. I only got a feel for the speed when I looked sideways and saw the guard rail posts and the trees fly by in a blur. I've always been a big cubic inch-high horsepower kind of guy, but that BMW diesel really impressed me.

When I returned to Canada, everything seemed so slow.

[Airfixer]

My daily driver - 2011 BMW X5 xDrive 3.0d. Going to swap it for something electric next year.

My summer driver, though the picture was taken on a rainy day - 2009 Shelby GT500:

Rebuilt from an accident vehicle (low mileage of then 5500 miles) in 2012. Going to replace the Lambo-style doors (LSD) with standard Mustang car doors.

What can I say... It's fun.

Erik

Edited September 16, 2014 by Airfixer

[ElectroSoldier]

I agree. I had the opportunity to ride shotgun in a BMW 3-series Touring with a 3 litre twin turbo, on the Autobahn in Germany. We had the car up to 295 kph (~183 mph) and it had more power to spare. It was very quiet, and had little sensation of speed. I only got a feel for the speed when I looked sideways and saw the guard rail posts and the trees fly by in a blur. I've always been a big cubic inch-high horsepower kind of guy, but that BMW diesel really impressed me.

When I returned to Canada, everything seemed so slow.

I prefer petrol myself, dont much like paying £1.28 a liter though!

Ive driven quite a few BMW diesel cars (easier to say what I didnt drive than what I did) and they are all pretty much the same, the low torque is very nice too.

The bigger cars do that lack of sensation of speed even better, the auto box really takes advantage of the torque they have in the 70-100mph range and make it so smooth.

You should try a 7 Series, A8 or S Class if you think the 3 Series is smooth.

[Jennings]

Here's a pic of my new one (16 January this year) which I bought after an embankment and a piece of slick road and I had a tete-a-tete with my 2010 Fit... 2013 Civic Hybrid. Love it! Averaging around 44-45 mpg doing almost completely in-town driving.

[Spectre711]

1999 Ford F150! Not the best on gas but the 5.4 under the hood and 4 wheel drive does everything from getting me to work to pulling the 28 foot camper trailer o vacations. Bought it new in 1999 and it has just over 150K miles on the odometer.

My Favorite is the 1968 big block, 4 speed, Mustang GT. No current pic as the car is partially disassembled to prep for new paint. Have owned this one sine 1987.

Most recent project is a 1968 Mustang with the Sprint option. It has a 302ci 4V V8 with a 4 speed trans.

[Wayfarer 30]

There are very nice rides here. Love the fastback!!

Here are my rides.

Fusion family mobile mainly driven by the wife.

This is my beast and toy. I took the photo during a nuclear test.

Mike

[habu2]

Daily driver is an '02 Tacoma, nothing fancy. But I use it to haul and fetch parts for my mid-life crisis:

with a little work done under the hood...

[Vince Maddux]

Some darned nice cars (and bicycle) here. My ride makes "ten ugliest cars of the last decade" lists but I love it anyway. When we first decided to move to Hawaii, research showed us we'd need a small pickup truck for hauling our garbage and other essential tasks. I started looking at Chevy, Ford, Toyota and other small pickup trucks. One day my wife saw a Subaru Baja going down the road, and suggested I look into those. I read up on them, and we decided that might be what we needed. All wheel drive, comfort of a car with a small truck bed, what more could you want?

I'd found out they were only made from 2003 through 2006, and only 30,000 were ever produced. Looking on line showed they were indeed rare. I finally found a 2005 Turbo model for sale in Gurnee, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago a good three hour drive from our house in Wisconsin. After I bought it at the end of last November and we drove it for awhile, we found it to be as perfect for our needs as we'd hoped. During the Christmas holidays I saw a 2003 Sport model for sale on a used car lot about two miles from our house. We test drove it, and my wife said she wanted it. So we bought that one too and sold her Saturn.

Here's the pair in Wisconsin, my 2005 Turbo is the silver one, her 2003 Sport is the yellow one:

When we made the move we drove to San Diego and shipped hers to the Islands, then drove mine on a tour of California before shipping mine from Oakland.

Here's my trucklet (or is that "cruck, for car/truck?) in Yosemite:

Parked amongst the Sequoias:

And here they are in our driveway in Hawaii:

Thats it, I want one of those when its time for me to buy a new car!

[SonyKen]

All,

Here is my daily driver....2007 Chevy Monte Carlo SS. The only modifications that I have made to her is the tinted windows and the stereo. It has almost 1000 watts of stereo power in a combination of Kenwood and Alpine components. The 2007 was the last year that Chevrolet produced the Monte Carlo body style. It is also one of the last vehicles that had a V-8 engine coupled to a front wheel drive tranny. My job takes me 250 miles away from my home. But with over 300 horses under the hood and 1000 watts in the trunk, it makes for a sweet (and very confortable) ride for every one of those miles. Hope you guys like the pictures!

Best Regards,

Ken Bailey

(SonyKen)

[Clumber]

Wow - what a varied selection of vehicles the ARCers rock! I absolutely LOVE my Jeep and the only thing I would ever consider giving it up for is another JK but a diesel.

Or perhaps Spouse can get the Diesel JK and I can keep mine. (Her FJ is hell on my narfed L5/S1 disc.)

[Spectre711]

Mike

I haven't seen a LYNX in years.

Nice cheery Bomb! I can't imagine what your ride sounds like even though I use to drive a LN7 with a big hole in the muffler.

[Wayfarer 30]

Great attention to detail Spectre711. The Cherry bomb was an addition along with the entire exhaust system after some changes to the engine

[P-38 guy]

I have a 2012 Dodge Avenger SXT Plus. 3.7L V6. This is the day I brought it home new March 2012.Got the windows tinted about a month later. Only have 24K on it now.

Mike

Edited September 18, 2014 by P-38 guy

[Shaka HI]

Daily driver is an '02 Tacoma, nothing fancy. But I use it to haul and fetch parts for my mid-life crisis:

[..]

Beautiful! I wish I can find one -- unmolested (or tastefully modded)!

[Ishthe47guy]

2009 Jaguar XF I bought over here in the sandbox (the NY plate is a replica thats normally on my toolbox at work). It's got the 4.2 supercharged V-8, and it does move out smartly with a pleasing supercharger whine. It does have the typical electrical gremlins that British cars seem to be known for, but man, it takes corners like it was on rails and stops with a vengeance.

This suckers very much "pay to play". So far, I've dropped a couple of thousand on it to replace all 4 rotors & all pads, all the coolant hoses, and there are a bunch of them because the intercoolers are plumbed with engine coolant, a/c condenser (it's STIILL hitting 100+ every day), and got rid of the underwhelming Yokohama Advan sports for Michelin Pilot SuperSports (huge difference). Also replaced the stock air filters for K&N filters, and swapped out almost all the typical yellowish-white 3K incandescent interior and exterior bulbs for 5K LEDs for the more modern blue-ish white look, and added set of super bright amber LEDs for the front parking lights. I'm not going to try to convert the front & rear turn signals to LEDs because I'd rather not start cutting any wires, just sticking to the plug and play method.

Edited September 18, 2014 by Ishthe47guy