Sleepy Gulch

Post off topic or stuff that otherwise dosen't fit into a specific category here.
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Crazyswede
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Sleepy Gulch

Postby Crazyswede » Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:11 pm

Been kind of quiet around here lately. I for one have been working on my house every single weekend pretty much since January of 2016 and ongoing. When I am not doing house construction I am away for work with 50% travel. Working down in Greenville SC these days...fly down on a Sunday and come home on a Friday. My 9-5 is getting regular exercise driving to and from the airport..about a 260 mile round trip.
I am the 73%

swmeatball
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Re: Sleepy Gulch

Postby swmeatball » Wed Jan 25, 2017 5:23 pm

Yah sure is quiet, not that I have a lot to add, I do enjoy reading and absorbing the collective Saab institutional wisdom.

My 99 has a lovely dust patina, as does the motor I was messing with - pretty much complete except for hoses and I need to build / adapt a wiring harness for the megasquirt. Haven't touched any of it since, uhh, late 2015?! I'm building a distillery so my nights and weekends have been almost completely missing in action for about a year now, with a bit of luck we'll be open mid feb, cannot effing wait. A bit more luck and I'll have that car back on the road.

Here is something fun though, my buddy is fabricating motor mounts for this thing - they changed it to a 6 cylinder turbo diesel from the gas four banger, it races in the Sonora Rally.

IMG_20170114_152140.jpg
Gee Waggon

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Crazyswede
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Re: Sleepy Gulch

Postby Crazyswede » Wed Jan 25, 2017 6:32 pm

Cool. That a mercedes?
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hutch
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Re: Sleepy Gulch

Postby hutch » Wed Jan 25, 2017 7:28 pm

Yeah its certainly quiet around here these days, and I don't have much to contribute so I'm a part of the problem for sure. I hope people are still at least driving old Saabs and its more a matter of not updating the internet then getting rid of their 900s...

Its a good problem to have but I am mostly content with how my 900s are running and driving these days so I don't have much exciting work to share with anyone. I have a few things planned for this spring/summer but theres only so many posts of mine that can talk about my future plans that may never come to fruition :lol:

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Crazyswede
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Re: Sleepy Gulch

Postby Crazyswede » Wed Jan 25, 2017 7:40 pm

When I drive my personal car for work I get reimbursed for mileage....so a round trip to the airport is like $145 or so. I make at least two round trips per month....and this got me thinking it was like a car payment. So i started to ponder getting a new car or a lease just for the purpose of driving to the airport. So I looked at what was out there that I found interesting....the problem of course being that I have driven Saabs my whole life and even an old Saab is a much nicer car than most. So after looking the cars I had an interest in were (also the budget):

Mini Countryman with the 1.5 3 cylinder turbo engine and 6 speed fwd
Ford Fiesta ST
Ford Focus ST
Mercedes Metris
maybe a VW golf wagon

slim pickens...

For now though I still have a hard time with the concept of paying $20k-$30k for a new car...and its winter so i will just rack up the miles on the 9-5 until something else comes up...the car is approaching the 250k mile marker.
I am the 73%

swmeatball
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Re: Sleepy Gulch

Postby swmeatball » Fri Jan 27, 2017 11:35 am

Indeed a G Wagon, not sure what year, they are the only car in their class so they get to win every time. I do like those new little fords, waiting to see my first Focus RS in the wild, for some reason I've started to really hate the Minis but they seem like a good car.

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Re: Sleepy Gulch

Postby Crazyswede » Fri Jan 27, 2017 1:14 pm

I think that mini purists are not happy with the direction that mini has taken with the new models because they are not so mini anymore. However they still offer their traditional mini mini. The 2017 line up has a 1.5 liter turbo 3 cylinder engine and a 2.0 turbo 4 cylinder engine. However, they still get pretty poor fuel mileage for what they are. I would figure the base model mini would get 40 to 50 mpg yet they claim its 27 to 33 or that ball park. I did read an article on the euro mini and in the trim they tested it was getting 59 mpg...but in europe they have several diesel engines to choose from. I would kill for a small turbo diesel mini in any trim.
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Geoff
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Re: Sleepy Gulch

Postby Geoff » Mon Jan 30, 2017 1:23 pm

The EPA ratings seem to differ from real world MPG. Between my wife and I we've had 3 Mini base models (2010, 2011, 2012) all of which are rated 29/36 mpg by the EPA test standards (1.6L 4cyl, 6spd manual). In the winter, with studded snows, and driving like a jerk I can get the MPG down to 35-36. In the summer with "all weather" (summer) tires, driving normally we get ~38-39 but driving carefully we get over 40mpg (43 was our record). There's a few MPG to be gained running the stock 175/15 tires over the optional 195/15. I'm interested to see how the 3cyl turbo is for real world MPG as well as how much fun it is to drive.

The diesel would be awesome but until the US standardizes with the rest of the world on diesel emissions, the cars just won't be available here.

As for Ford, I looked into a Fiesta ecoboost (1L 3cyl turbo) but at the time I couldn't find any on the used market without driving 5 hours each way. I saw a Focus RS the other day, it looked pretty neat but the watching a grey-hair get out of it made me chuckle. That made me think that if I had that car I'd have no choice but to laugh at myself. But since I do that anyway maybe it's time for an RS?
The kind of dirty that doesn't wash off :eyebrows:

KPAero
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Re: Sleepy Gulch

Postby KPAero » Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:33 pm

I have a lot of projects I would like to do with my car, but Im sort of at a point where I want my own space to work in. Not real into renting something, but Im looking at options for purchasing/building.

In the mean time I joined the 9-5 owners out there back in September with an Aero wagon 5spd, and I've really been enjoying it. I do want to find a nice 900 to join it and probably get rid of my 9000.

I spend a lot of time around fords and if I was interested in buying a new car, (which I'm not) I would consider any of the Fiesta's or Focus with a manual, depending on what I wanted out of it. The Focus RS is also fun, fast and can make you smile. They all are super easy to shift without the clutch too, which can be fun.

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Re: Sleepy Gulch

Postby paulh » Sat Feb 11, 2017 9:06 pm

Crazyswede wrote:When I drive my personal car for work I get reimbursed for mileage....so a round trip to the airport is like $145 or so. I make at least two round trips per month....and this got me thinking it was like a car payment. So i started to ponder getting a new car or a lease just for the purpose of driving to the airport. So I looked at what was out there that I found interesting....the problem of course being that I have driven Saabs my whole life and even an old Saab is a much nicer car than most. So after looking the cars I had an interest in were (also the budget):

Mini Countryman with the 1.5 3 cylinder turbo engine and 6 speed fwd
Ford Fiesta ST
Ford Focus ST
Mercedes Metris
maybe a VW golf wagon

slim pickens...

For now though I still have a hard time with the concept of paying $20k-$30k for a new car...and its winter so i will just rack up the miles on the 9-5 until something else comes up...the car is approaching the 250k mile marker.


Can't recommend the Fiesta ST more, mine has almost 45k on it and the only issue i've had is a blend door motor going bad under warranty. I just had to do the brakes at like 38k, they still had a little meat left on them. I've also tracked MPG since new, and lifetime average has been almost 28mpg, lately tanks have been averaging closer to 29mpg, thats with mixed driving, an lots of WOT acceleration. The handling makes all other cars feel slightly broken though, that takes some getting used to.

Paul


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