Diesel

This is right before my tires get too hot to hold the course. Next time I'll slow down so I can get better times. d.

That's the fun part. d.

I get 27 with ac on, 28 in the tires, loaded with junk, driving 80+ and you can too. All you need is a hammer and beer. Lots and lots of dents will create a turbulent mojo around your ride that allows you to ignore the laws of physics. That's about as technical as I dare get otherwise I'd prolly blow you away with my cunning use of addition AND subtraction to derive a precise explanation. Or it could be the altitude I drive at. d.

This is some good stuff. I haven't been around for a while so I didn't even snap about my sig not being at the bottom with car info. -04 Forester X- So I'm getting new tires soon and I'll put my car on the lift befor the next auto X and rejust the camber. But before that is the Rally X:banana: . Is there any offical documentation on how to class cars for auto X? I was thinking about down sizing the battery to save weight. How many Duracells does it take to crank a 2.5? I have a trike pic of the forester somewhere I'll dig it up and post it. d.

I'm looking for ideas to get me better times while still remaining in H stock. What would be a good tire. Even with the crappy geolanders I still beat a few cars. I have been running 2 psi less in the rear tires and that helps the front get a little more bite. I was thinking about doing some suspension adjustments for race days. Can I cut my exhaust off and still remain in H stock? My guess is that would not be allowed but I don't know. Your prolly wondering why go through that much trouble to remain in H but imagine getting a worse time than a Forester X. It's a wagon that is }-{ <this far from being an SUV. Besides I'm having a blast with bald tires and no boost. d.

I have made a choice that will lower my risk of dying from heart disease or cancer; I've stopped wearing my seat belt. d.

I believe the law was put in place for stopping and turning not going. Sure there are many vehicles that need chains for going and this can be a problem but the highway patrol doesn't care if you plunk your car into the ditch but they do care if you cross a lane or slam into someone. If there is a GI Joes near you then get a set of chains from them. When your done with them they will take them back at the end of the season for a full refund, unused of course. I have z-chains and love them. They fit tight and go on super fast and easy. They made the daily drive up Willamette pass no problem. They also helped turn me into a menace coming down after the lifts shut down. If the patrol says to put on chains then put them on. All you really need to do is get outta sight then you can take them back off. d.

Your right about the hobart and miller but the tops in the "135 class" machines is the lincoln 135 + (not the 135 t). Its not a tapped machine so you get infinite control and no wire speed tracking. This machine is also over 500 bucks. Lincoln has a smaller machine but its just out on the market to be the cheapest of the name brands and I'd say its not very useful. Hobart is comming out with a strictly fluxcore machine that is supposed to be the simplest machine to use. Right now its $400 but I expect to see it under $300 after christmas. d.

I'd start with a dinged up forester. Install an LSD. Remove the stock exhaust from the cat back and install a smaller dia pipe with no muffler. Then I'd install a 10hp nos. Next I'd take the plasma cutter to the fenders/frame/pans so I could stuff some 29's under it with no lift. This is when I'd remove the front bumper and fab up something similar to the bumper in the other thread. I have my own ideas but they are similar. Lets see......remove carpet, dash, plastic, (the cup holders stay). Move spare to the roof and insulate spare well to hold frosty bevies. Last thing would be to insert disturbed "the sickness" into the CD and superglue shut. Of course people in hell want icewater too so I'll say that this would happen after I get the XT replacement for Dimples. d.

A lot of people jump into welding with an inexpensive mig, but that should be a 3rd or 4th tool purchase. First tool should be an oxy/acetylene rig. Metal has to be cut and shaped before it is welded and a torch will do both and it'll even weld. I actually prefer welding with OA as it requires less eye protection and it just feels more zen like. I can put together 20 ga sheet up to 3/16 stock, but I have to say that body panels are tough and a mig is way better for this. OA welding is tougher to learn but it really helps understand what a good weld looks and feels like. 1st-Torch (Harris or Victor) 2nd-Grinder good quality (dw402 or better) 3rd-Helmet Then you can get your mig and don't go to wallmart. Also on the list should be a good pair of welding gauntlets (gloves). Some welding machines come with a descent helmet but those deals are the exception, not the rule. I don't want to discourage anyone with a long list of tools to get. On the contrary if you get some good equipment it will be easier to learn and less discouraging to continue. I just think it is so cool to be able to come up with a design and then go out to the shop and fab it up. Right now I'm waiting for the next subie to come along so I can have Dimples to off road and mod.

I've posted this pic before. Is a Forester with the ungrippy Yuckahamas. Snow is 12+ and moderately heavy. The pile in front is from the bumper pushing snow. After I took the pic the car had no problem with just driving away (no backup and slam into the pile) although I did have to ride the clutch a little. We traveled about 50 miles in this stuff. d.

If the Mounties happened across something that "looked" stashed you can bet that you would get your car back in boxes. Not worth it. If you can't stuff it into your pants, don't take it. Besides what exactly would you shoot with a crossbow? Maybe if you put a bolt into your buddies foot you could run faster than him. The only thing I take across the border is a 12 ga that is the min legal length. Once I get to Tok I buy ammo for it. This is not how I wish to deal with bears but... When hiking a gun is too heavy anyway I only take it on river trips. Just remember that as soon as you step out of your car your entering the food chain, act acordingly. When you get there buy a fishing liscense and feast on the bounty of the earth. d.

I think it is Cassiar, but I doubt anyone cares. For winter drivin' on the Cassiar expect delays that could last for days if there is heavy snowfall. There are several places where the road passes through avalanche chutes. On the plus side the Heliboarding is cheap. The chopper pad is about 300 mi up the highway. If you do go up the Cassiar you'll have to back track to go to Liard. Lets see...there is a lot of gravel roads you can take instead of the regular highways but only in the summer. For the cold consider bringing along an intimate friend(s) nuttin' keeps you warm like pluggin' in the heater and they work well for walking to get gas. You'll also need to bring along someone who can't run very fast or is at least slower than you are because peper spray can really pi$$ of a griz. d.

Here it is one more time. The cheapest way to increase fuel mileage is lots and lots of dents. At 80+ with ac on cold, tire psi ~25 and cargo/passenger weight ~700 lbs I get 27. That's good enough for me right now. d.

We should stop eating Big Macs.

I totally agree with you about running these engines in the sweet spot (especially a diesel), but the diesel/electric thing is to avoid using a transmission. Imagine the maintence cost of replacing a clutch in a 1600 hp dump truck. "Hey Fred could you hand me that 21 centimeter socket" "In a minute Joe we're using the hoist to move the starter bolts. What diameter was that pilot shaft 6 inch or 7 inch" I always thought trucks would be good candidates for diesel/electric but it turns out that right now the mechanical coupling between the wheels and engine is the most efficent. d.

Trains were built the way they are not because its more efficent but because they are easier to build that way.

We'll never know what the actual cost of a gallon of fuel really is. The fuel industry and the govt have some big money ties with one feeding the other sorta coconsumptive. H2 fuel cells is definitely the way to go but that time is still a futuristic dream. What we need is to make our society run efficently with what we have (Scientific Amarican last month) and invest towards a better future. That issue of SciAm has some really good points about conserving energy. One kW saved at the point of use (gasoline or electricity) is way more than one kW saved ot the point of production. For the short term (next 50 years) diesel is the way to go. It can be grown in a field and it is way more energetic than all the other fuels. I would love zero pollution cars but I'm willing to compromise for something that is realistic in upfront cost and can be used for a long time.

Lets dispell a myth here. Locomotives are diesel electric because it was too difficult to build an automatic tranny to deal with that much torque. The have since evolved into something that is pretty efficent but they are still diesel electric because of the tranny issue. These are the only industrial engines that are diesel/electric. If this was such a great idea over the road trucks would have been converted decades ago. A hybrid shines in the city but on the highway they are no better. Hybrids have a nich but who wants to pay 20k for something that takes you to and from work. I miss my old Vegge-O-matic.

Your basically screwed in the hp increase department. I suppuse you could bolt on an electric squirrel cage or put on smaller drive pulleys or smaller dia. tires. How about a 50 shot nos job. I'm living with my non XT forester and I'm doing Ok. My advice is to really start flogging the car. Power braking, high rpm shifts, and tight cornering. Get used to driving the car like you stole it, use up some of the rubber, that way you know exactly what it can and can't do. Also nothing says get the f outa my way like dents on a new car. Hope this helps. d.

Wouldn't this be the case of the larger dia tires? You have changed the overall ratio making first gear like second. This is really an issue of compression and gear ratio. d.

Sounds like a classic thermostat problem. At least keep your fingers crossed. d.

Just wrap it around the tire in the center of the tread and tighten the hell out of it (hence the heavyduty). This will push the sidewalls out and the comp will do the rest. I guess on a side note I'd like to remove the recomendation of heavy duty 1" and say to just go with a 2" strap. I have some 1" straps that are rated to like 2000 lbs of pull but I doubt many people could find these. d.

A heavyduty 1" rachet strap to reseat tire beads. But this would be a moot point if you don't cary an air comp. d.

Not that you will really care but a Forester 2.5 na will hit top speed in 4th gear at 6000 rpm. It was a blistering (yawn) 105. It didn't have enough power to pull it past 97 in 5th gear. Maybe at sea level it would go faster. d.