Got a question about cars? (2 Viewers)

[Shell]

i know they do, but i sometimes feel it's always just too much. I'm all for understanding why cars do things, but i also love going driving and just enjoying it because the feeling.

i dont know, i just seem to find forums like this missing the point in driving and cars

I get what your saying Brad! i know shit all about cars. like the mechanics of them. but damn do i love driving them.

 

[loquasagacious]

Getting to know your car mechanically enhances the driving experience, over time you learn mechanically why your car behaves in a certain way - and then how to change it. How your driving changes how the car behaves mechanically and ultimately how modifying your car will change its feel when driving.

 

[DaddyK]

The problem with this part of the forum is the giant ego's we all have. We all have a common interest and think we know more about cars than the next person. Is this were an actuall car oriented forum then we would all get along im sure of it.

 

[loquasagacious]

I suppose we all commit alot of hit-and-runs in our ego-mobiles..........

 

[7th Sign]

tell me what kind of exhausts are illigal?

 

[braad]

Getting to know your car mechanically enhances the driving experience, over time you learn mechanically why your car behaves in a certain way - and then how to change it. How your driving changes how the car behaves mechanically and ultimately how modifying your car will change its feel when driving.

The problem with this part of the forum is the giant ego's we all have. We all have a common interest and think we know more about cars than the next person. Is this were an actuall car oriented forum then we would all get along im sure of it.

yeh, i understand knowing your car equals a better experience, but i dont see why people cant be content with just knowing all of it, the egos annoy me. With each post i make i know there is room for error, and i will generally accept if someone says otherwise, there's no point being stubborn and limiting your knowledge because you have to feel like you're right (even if you clearly arent)



7th sign - i dont know, there is a Dba level you're not supposed to pass at a certain rpm or speed (drive-by test??)

 

[loquasagacious]

If NSW does it like they do here in the ACT what you have to do is (in neutral) rev the car to 4500rpm and if the dB are under the acceptable ammount then you pass and the exhaust is legal, if not it's not.

As far as 'kinds of exhaust' goes the only legal issues are: they must have a catalytic converter, they must fall below the dB level and they must not have an illegal baffle or restricter plate.

Given what exhausts do there arn't really different kinds, the differentiation is pretty much on size and generally speaking the larger the louder. There are less restrictive cats which might eke out an extra couple of hp, there are straight through mufflers which will reduce back pressure (important in a turbo application) however will make it quite loud. Other than that the difference lies in how pipes are bent - well if they are of if they are welded joins.

If you want the loudest exhaust possible then you're probably looking at 2" extractors, 2-3" from the cat and a 5" canon style muffler.

As a warning though if you do this to an excel it isn't going to impress anyone......

As an indication of the hassles exhausts can be a make of mine has a series 2 Rx7 with a turbocharged series7 engine he has something like a 3'' system with four mufflers (straight through though) and failed because it was too loud. The guys at the exhaust shop made up an illegal baffle that cut the exhaust to effectively 2'', coupled with the warning "if you get caught with this we didn't give it to you". So down to the pits again and he got lucky - revved to 4.5 and failed but a young guy was on and got him to try again at 3.5, this time he was under. As a warning though it chews prodiguous ammounts of fuel and he can't get insurance on it.....

 

[SlipStream]

tell me what kind of exhausts are illigal?

To be eligible for a pink slip your car must be roadworthy, which means complying with all Australian Design Rules (ADRs). The ADR concerning noise emissions is 90dB, which in my opinion isn't quiet but it isn't loud either. If you exceed 90dB you can't renew/register your car, and the cops may pull you over and give you a defect notice. Most of the buzz boxes you hear on the street are likely to be defects.

 

[loquasagacious]

Definantly do not remove the cat, $5000 on the spot fine, bad for the environment and only the most marginal of power gains.

 

[S13WPN]

there is a Dba level you're not supposed to pass at a certain rpm or speed (drive-by test??)

Yeh im pretty sure it's a stationary test the police do with the db meter sitting just behind the muffler. The amount of revs required for testing varies with what your car redlines at i think...
There's a silencing device you can get from autobarn which you can turn on and off from inside the car but its like $200

 

[bowman]

If NSW does it like they do here in the ACT what you have to do is (in neutral) rev the car to 4500rpm and if the dB are under the acceptable ammount then you pass and the exhaust is legal, if not it's not.

As far as 'kinds of exhaust' goes the only legal issues are: they must have a catalytic converter, they must fall below the dB level and they must not have an illegal baffle or restricter plate.

Given what exhausts do there arn't really different kinds, the differentiation is pretty much on size and generally speaking the larger the louder. There are less restrictive cats which might eke out an extra couple of hp, there are straight through mufflers which will reduce back pressure (important in a turbo application) however will make it quite loud. Other than that the difference lies in how pipes are bent - well if they are of if they are welded joins.

If you want the loudest exhaust possible then you're probably looking at 2" extractors, 2-3" from the cat and a 5" canon style muffler.

As a warning though if you do this to an excel it isn't going to impress anyone......

As an indication of the hassles exhausts can be a make of mine has a series 2 Rx7 with a turbocharged series7 engine he has something like a 3'' system with four mufflers (straight through though) and failed because it was too loud. The guys at the exhaust shop made up an illegal baffle that cut the exhaust to effectively 2'', coupled with the warning "if you get caught with this we didn't give it to you". So down to the pits again and he got lucky - revved to 4.5 and failed but a young guy was on and got him to try again at 3.5, this time he was under. As a warning though it chews prodiguous ammounts of fuel and he can't get insurance on it.....

my mate got defected on 5" cannon

did u guys know that blow off's are now defects???
my mate got fucked over the other night
he has a datto 1600 with C18 Turbo. it is all enginered except for front mount intercooler. but coppers fucked him up for new legislation about blow offs, leaking oil(every fucking car in sydney) an cannon. FFS he drives the thing like a grandma. pick up the lebbo's who have the shitboxes that have so much rust they fall to pieces. cops are good. dont get me wrong. but there are some bad arse ones to

 

[7th Sign]

my mate got defected on 5" cannon

did u guys know that blow off's are now defects???
my mate got fucked over the other night
he has a datto 1600 with C18 Turbo. it is all enginered except for front mount intercooler. but coppers fucked him up for new legislation about blow offs, leaking oil(every fucking car in sydney) an cannon. FFS he drives the thing like a grandma. pick up the lebbo's who have the shitboxes that have so much rust they fall to pieces. cops are good. dont get me wrong. but there are some bad arse ones to

is your mate lebo?

because i got a few mates with dads who are coppers and if you a nice aussie kid with a semi done up car they usually let you go easily, but if your a lebo apparently they make up shit...pretty tight and racist imo.....

 

[braad]

is your mate lebo?

because i got a few mates with dads who are coppers and if you a nice aussie kid with a semi done up car they usually let you go easily, but if your a lebo apparently they make up shit...pretty tight and racist imo.....

true...but i've seen a fair few lebs give coppers heaps of shit they didnt deserve

 

[loquasagacious]

As far as you're mate goes I think BOVs have always been illegal based on the same dB as exhausts. I must beg the question why he didn't get a recirculating one as opposed to presumably a trumpet.

As far as oil leaks its got to be pretty bad to be done for it - they have also always been illegal, why do you think they check for them when they do an inspection for rego.

As said before with exhausts you don't automatically get defected for having a canon - you get defected for having a canon ripping out more than 90dB.

Finally lets face it anyone cruising around in a pimped/riced car (you know kits, stereo, lowered, mags, exhaust) is asking for police attention.

 

[*~Dazed~*]

question- front wheel drives... i think thats what its called, i could be wrong though.
What's the deal? Like what is the difference in terms of driving and what not and why would a car have that? Positives/negatives etc etc.

 

[erawamai]

question- front wheel drives... i think thats what its called, i could be wrong though.
What's the deal? Like what is the difference in terms of driving and what not and why would a car have that? Positives/negatives etc etc.

The engine drives through the front wheels. Cheaper to produce. For the average motorist front wheel drive makes no difference. Front wheel drive the car is pulled, rear wheel drive the car is pushed.

In terms of handling up to 7/10ths a fronthwheel drive car is fine. From then on (7/10ths to 10/10) a rear wheel drived car provides better handling. But for 90% of people out there its really a non issue.

 

[Shell]

lol i only found out the other day that my car is rear wheel drive. LOL. uhh at least i think thats what my brother said

 

[*~Dazed~*]

so basically it doesnt have to mean shit to me. Good to hear.
Thanks.

Most cars are rear though arent they?

 

[erawamai]

so basically it doesnt have to mean shit to me. Good to hear.
Thanks.

Correct Dazy.

Most cars are rear though arent they?

All small cars are (Bar the BMW 1 series).

Holden Commodore

Falcon

All BMWs are RWD.

All Mercedes except the A class


All VW's are FWD.

All subarus are ALD

All mazdas FWD

All Toyotas FWD

 

[loquasagacious]

The FWD story:

First introduced on the original mini it was an engineering revolution.

FWD is more space efficient than RWD and cheaper to produce.

The differences in terms of use though are:

FWD's have more of a tendency to understeer that is to push nose first out of a corner whereas RWDs have more of a tendency to pull the tail around and slide out backwards. This was summarised on Top Gear as understeer runs you into the tree forewards, oversteer backwards. The reason for this being that in a FWD the engine must sit ahead of the front axle which adversly affects weight balance etc etc.

This said for safety reasons (eg understeer is alot easier for the average driver to handle) almost all new cars are built to understeer.

FWD's are more likely to loose traction accelerating off the line than RWDs as when they accelerate and the car squats the drive wheels (eg the fronts) have reduced traction. Whereas when a RWD squats it increases drive wheel (eg rear wheel) traction by increasing the weight on them.

Other than that the mechanical differences mean that RWDs are generally more straightforward and thus easier for the home mechanic to work on.

Finally FWD's having the engine ahead of the front axle effect how a car has to look by essentially elongating the portion of the car past the front wheels. Some object to FWD for this alone. The get around on this is essentially the engine bay intruding on the passenger compartment. Anyone who has seen a new VW beetle up close may have noticed the huge dash this is because the engine bay is actually recessed into the passenger compartment so as to make the funky exterior styling of the beetle possible.

As an addition seeing as eralqwgrefmi has introduced 4WD/AWD into the equation:

This just means that all four wheels are drive wheels which is both good and bad, it means that you have increased traction good for rallying and standing starts as you can basically put more power on the ground. However the downside is that it weighs more so lowers top speed and also increases drivetrain friction (ie the ammount of power lost between the engine and the road) so once again lowers speed.

As a note AWD/4WDs are still essentially a RWD or a FWD but just happen to be via some trick engineering also driving the other wheels. This is true in two ways the layout eg whether the engine is facing North-South or East-West and the torque split. That is to say the ammount of power being sent to the front as comparred to the rear.

As a quick example, I'll run through the compact 4WD segment.

The majorit of cars in this segment have EW engines and the majority of torque going to the Front (in fact some only drive the backs when the front looses traction). Some examples here are the CRV, X-Trail and Tribute.

Others though started life as RWD's and have had 4WD added as an afterthought in these the engine is NS and torque goes mainly to the back wheels. The most obvious example being the Holden Adventra.