Phatboy

Saw this in the paper today. Not like he was actively surfing the net for porn. Poor bastard was just opening emails someone sent to him, and they weren't even nude - they were on the cover of GQ.

What's that?

Nice, thanks.

Hey that's a great deal. Where did you have that done?

I found the C-NCAP testing of the X240 (known as the GWM Hover internationally). Make of the C-NCAP 4 stars what you will... not sure what it will get for ANCAP, probably 3 at most.

Holy freakin...is there anything you can't wrap? For a challenge, you should do a whole car one day You should go into business as a mobile wrapper Charles I'm sure you can make heaps servicing a good proportion of the imports in Melbourne.

Is there going to be one as well for like 20-30? I would think many skyline owners are in this age group.

China is, for better or worse, going to dominate the economic landscape. This year, it will overtake Japan as the world's second largest economy, trailing only the USA (which it will overtake in less than 20 years). It already has become the world's largest auto producer and consumer. While it may be true that its economic growth might be unsustainable, that's what they said 10 years ago. During the GFC China's economy grew nearly 9%, while developed countries contracted alarmingly. That is the kind of resilience we are talking about. I think in around 20 years time the majority of us will be driving Chinese or Indian-made cars. It is an interesting future. As more and more cars are being made, these cars will be getting relatively cheaper and safe and the stigma of "Made in China" may be lessened, while the Euro/Jap/US cars will become increasingly more expensive as they are priced out of the lower end and become a niche market for those wealthy and discerning among us. You cannot argue with economy of scale or cheap labour. Who would buy a similar car for double the price from Japan/Europe/US? The only way the carmakers from those countries have any chance of competing is to make the cars in cheap asian countries where labour is almost free, which is already happening. Many carmakers for example Honda and Mazda are already making their cars in Thailand.

That's the ute version. I think the X240 is 3 star. A 10 year old secondhand 4WD for that price is extremely unlikely to be 3 star. More like 1 or 2 star.

Haha I've got another good one: In all seriousness, Chinese cars in the past were absolute crap. The reason was that they were sold in China, which didn't give a crap about safety ratings. Why would carmakers spend millions of dollars of R&D and jack the prices of their vehicles up thousands of dollars for something that neither the government, the "regulatory bodies" or the consumers cared about? The only thing they cared about was price, and sometimes styling. Only now, because China wants to export cars, does it need to make cars "safe". Invariably when it started off the first few were crap, as they engineers had no idea what crash tests were, but steadily they improved. I think the NCAP 2 and 3 star cars that China makes now are a big improvement on those earlier models shown in crash tests. We went through all of this say 10 years ago when Daewoo, Hyundai and other Korean cars started to be sold in Australia. Yes the first few were cheap and nasty, but nowadays they are similar in reliability to locally made cars, and have become mainstream. The same will happen to Chinese made cars in 5 years time.

Has anyone had any experiences with Great Wall Motors (GWM)? Their utes have been on sale here for about a year or so, but I have never seen them on the road, and their X240, the budget SUV has been on sale for a few weeks I think. Drive's X240 road test X240 on youtube I was actually looking for a basic SUV as I needed more space than the skyline could handle, and came across it. For something similar spec from other carmakers you would expect to pay 15k more at least. Full 4WD with low-range gear, good ground clearance, leather seats, airbags, power everything, 8 speaker sound system, alloy wheels, aircon, 3 year 100k warranty. That's all standard for under 24k driveaway. The chassis is based on the Toyota 4Runner. The 2.4L 4cyl petrol engine is sourced from the old Mitsu Outlander. Quite anaemic, only 100kw/200nM. They proudly announce 0-100 kmh time of less than or equal to 20 seconds Based on Mitsu/Toyota parts, shouldn't break down too quickly but I guess only time will tell if it lasts beyond the warranty period. That said though, you could sell it easily after warranty for half price so that's still only 4k depreciation per year - a hell of a lot better than what you get with a new expensive SUV from other carmakers. I think the main drawback is the fit and finish of some of the interior fittings as well as the slow engine, but I don't expect much more from this price. Hell, my friend's Mazda 2 was about the same price driveaway. Just wondering if anyone had any experience with GWM cars, and this one in particular.

Haha nice

If you're not a member you won't get access to the member's subforum with all the details about cruises - and you can't actually go on a cruise either (something about not being a paid car club member = no cruise insurance or club CAMS permit or something? not sure). You can still go to the 101 random ones in the Events section, but the members cruises are where it's at. I strongly encourage ppl to join as the membership funds club activities and we really get it all back with awesome cruises run by awesome execs and the odd BBQ. Also, for many of those who haven't joined, you'll only hear about the members cruises once the wrap-up thread with photos is up in the general section eg., too late.

Damn... was hoping for something else

Yeah, looking forward to the annual GOR cruise. Last year was great. Renew/sign up ur membership guys!

Shit! Sorry, don't have one. Does insurance cover it? Just pay the excess?

Black R33 GTR Nepean Hwy 1750 Black R34 GT-T with Xenons down Queens St 1850 White R33 GTS Wurundjeri way 1900

I have the solution - automatic ejector seats a la 2F2F-style They'd have to work on the design so it wouldn't cripple you. I'm sure some kind of airbag cushioning + parachute technology combined with small detonation charges on the A+B pillars to pop the roof off would be suitable. The car would have sensor technology so that if it detects a high-speed crash is unavoidable, the ejector mechanism would deploy. Lost control and a second away from crashing into the tree? No problem, we've got you covered

The Land Rover Discovery 4 already has 360 degree cameras, so you know exactly what's going on around all sides of the car. Disco 4's cameras I would love to own one of them... pity it keeps breaking down.

What the hell is that massive bonnet array on the WRX cop car?

Looks good Charles. Just wondering if you have any info about what to do when the vinyl starts expiring. Does it peel off or just fade? Is it easy to remove to replace a new layer? Or would you just wrap another layer onto the old one?

Apparently buywise are pretty good: http://www.buywiseinspections.com.au/ Was gonna use them before the sale fell through

I've got a pretty basic, beginner setup. River/Pier, 4 kg line Soft plastics: 6/6" Escape with ET graphite/cork rod and Alivia 2500FB reel Bait fishing: 6/6" Jarvis Walker Fishhunter + spinner reel combo Surf, 9 kg line 12" Jarvis Walker Fishunter + spinner reel combo

Hahaha that's what I call a quick upgrade

Dude I thought my car was bad. I can understand if you're on constant boost. Are you sure all the usual culprits have been tested? O2 sensor, oil filter, injectors, fuel filter, AFR, you're not leaving the handbrake on ? There's a reason those cars need 200L/hr fuel pumps