[Shotimes] Interesting...porting the intake

[Christian Andretta]

So is that Jaguar (or Jag-u-are as they pronounce it on stupid radio
commercials) just really another Ford with poor engineering?  Gimme a break
bitching about model coding has nothing to do with the performance and
quality of a vehicle.  Yes it can be argued that maintenance is more
expensive and parts are dealer specific.  I am not assuming that all
imported vehicles are better.  Merely that some are and that one should buy
a vehicle that suits them by using (IMO) country of origin/manufacture as
the last criterion.  Let me say this, I like my SHO, the idea, the quality,
the price and performance out of the box.  It could have and should have
been refined though, afterall I have a 99 (not a real SHO some of you will
say)  and they had 10 years to get it right.  Of course they still dropped
the ball.

-----Original Message-----
From: Neno Albert [mailto:neno@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2003 6:24 PM
To: Christian Andretta; shotimes@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: [Shotimes] Interesting...porting the intake


Hmm... To say American cars are inferior is totally against my beliefs.
There is absolutely
NOTHING that comes to my mind to make me feel any import is superior to
American cars. For those
who go out of their way to buy anything "imported" (in some cases only by
name and profit) is
extremely irritating in one very important and endlessly overlooked
manner... Not only are imports
normally a decent amount of cash over something equivalant in American
production, but their
maintenance is extremely pricey and most importantly, I definitely do NOT
favor working on the
damn things! That said, let me also add that something that is supposedly a
import "budget" car
actually can cost you an arm and a leg! For example, we almost always bump
into the same problem
with numerous Jap vehicles... What would that problem be, you ask? something
as simple as a ROTOR,
as in the brakes, is a dealer only item. More to  top that cake off is that
$158 dollar tab for a
rotor on a car that has the cheapest looks, feel, and comfort I've ever
experienced in my entire
life.

I also am not a avid fan of BMWs, Mercedes, Jaguars, Volvos, or Saabs. Not
only does their stupid
stud-lug design cause the tire to literally fall on you (does anyone know
the logical behind this
design?!?) but it adds to the cost of someone accidently stripping out one
of those stupid things
or better yet, snapping the head clean off of it! To add more to that, try
doing an alignment on a
Mercedes without contacting a dealer. Did you know that they do NOT list the
actual vehicles as
they are badged on the body? You have to know all this fancy mumbo-jumbo
like the engine size, the
type of chassis, wheel size, yadda yadda yadda. In other words, the
make/model listing is coded so
you can't tell what's what! I don't know if they did this to prevent any
tech to successfully
align their cars or what. The best, though, is Jaguars rear adjustments..
You have to shim the
axles(!!) for camber adjustments! What the HELL is wrong with these people?!

As much of a fool I am for saying that I'd never own a vehicle I can't
successfully repair myself,
realize that tasks like this would cost quite a few hundreds... For an
Alignment, that is. Brake
jobs can run into the thousands. I'm sorry, but maybe I'm not seeing the
relationship between, ooh
I don't know, Taurus' and $60k Bimmers?? You can keep your laser keys and
clumpy ride (yes, I said
clumpy. I hate the ride of a bimmer with 18"s and sport suspension and some
lame seats that just
add to the event of your spin feeling like someone or something is trying to
tap into it) and
I'll stick to a Taurus that doesn't seem to drain my wallet THAT much.

Neno - Feeling less American already witha  Yamaha motor rather then a 460BB
:(

--- Christian Andretta <passport@optonline.net> wrote:
> Buy the best product that you can afford and meets your needs regardless
of
> where it is manufactured.  Yes, I think it is important to support the
> American worker and the companies they work for but when they become
> complacent and build an inferior product there is no reason to buy
American.