geekhack
geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: mkawa on Thu, 25 April 2013, 15:19:33
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Hi folks,
I know people here aren't into cars and probably don't have Fiats, because they look like little eggs, but they're actually pretty cool.
Anyway, this thread is for some motorsports and enthusiast folks I know to collaborate in. Just ignore it if you don't own a fiat (but you should check one out if you're in the market!)
again, if you don't own a fiat, please ignore this thread and post in one of the other more general car threads. thanks
for those who are visiting from the fiat500usa forums. here is the concrete difference between how we deal with things at geekhack and how fiat500usa (the person, maybe one maybe more! who knows! his/her whois records are all anonymized, as is the payment account he uses to extract revenue from vendors!) deals with things.
Sherryton, a friend of mine and a vendor on the forum (as Originative), has been taking some heat lately, and frankly, the people giving him that heat have some pretty good reasons for it. Here are two links you might want to take a look at. The first is a group buy he organized that is lingering and not for good reasons (it's one of many negative threads referring to him right now). The second is the only action that has been taken on the part of an administrator (myself, and in fact, it clarifies that it is NOT an administrative response) in response to the various threads as of right now
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=32969.msg866513#msg866513
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=42043.msg843572#msg843572
We are a completely non-profit ad-free forum as a point of personal doctrine on the part of everyone on staff and the technical owner of our infrastructure (whose name and information are 100% public. frankly, most people here know who i am too). We are donation supported and volunteer run. Our infrastructure can support multiple forums (and already does). Every single one maintains the same doctrine (although staff obviously changes).
-kawa
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AN UPDATE!: from later on the in the thread, pulling it up below the OP because it's important.
AN UPDATE: fiat500usa, who is neither a fiat 500, nor the usa, nor someone who can figure out how to configure canned software on a lowendbox, has permanently banned me from his forum for "seriously? you have no idea what you are talking about." I'm not sure he is talking about running forums, because we do that here with aplomb, cars, because he knows nothing about them, or SEO, which would actually be true. I know nothing about SEO, because my friends all work on the search infrastructure and it would be plainly unethical.
this instance will be expanded to either a subforum or a full separate (but linked domain), fiat folks. i'm going to continue to hack on this car with y'all, and i'm not going to let Chris "Private, Registration FIAT500USA.COM@domainsbyproxy.com" whoever he is, stop me.
another update for geekhack folks: apologies for stickying this yesterday, it was a hasty indulgence on my part and i totally shoved it in everyone's face. the new forum will be going up as a car-based parallel to geekhack not as a part of geekhack (our front page is messy enough as it is :P).
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Reserved
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I have a Mini Cooper, it's close to the same size. Can I join this thread?
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My gf is Italian, does that count for anything?
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Rockin' the Volkwagen MkIV GTI still. Come back when I have money. :D
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None of those are fiat 500s. Foreshame.
Foreshame.
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I like Italian food, can I join?
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I like Italian food, can I join?
I had spaghetti for lunch, I think we're in
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FIAT = Fix It Again Tomorrow
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FIAT = Fix It Again Tomorrow
oh BOST
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FIAT = Fix It Again Tomorrow
oh BOST
You were on the right path when you said euro, but you got a fiat...
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minis are cool, as long as you accept that eventually our abarths will make it to D-stock (the new 2014 version anyway) and kick all your asses (ok probably not, but damnit we're going to make it out of G).
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Doesn't seem worth it to me when you can get a WRX for a couple more thousand than the abarths, and you get an additional 100 hp.
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For those of us that have figured out just how cool the Abarth is, shall we discuss grilles?
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1. Horsepower isn't everything
2. It's ~600 lbs lighter
3. The abarth comes with upgraded suspension and brakes that would increase the cost of the WRX if equipped comparably.
I love the WRX, it's my fanboy car to end all fanboy cars (besides the 300zxtt I own), but they aren't comparable cars.
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For those of us that have figured out just how cool the Abarth is, shall we discuss grilles?
yah, waiting for andy to join. we can do the grille group buy here no problem. trevc reported my PM on the other forum so i may be banned from there shortly anyway.
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Doesn't seem worth it to me when you can get a WRX for a couple more thousand than the abarths, and you get an additional 100 hp.
if you don't own a fiat, please ignore this thread and post in the general car thread, thanks.
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My car goes vroom vroom. And it is orange. The roof comes down, I get all the *****es.
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Howdy folks...... nice to see you all ;)
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For those of us that have figured out just how cool the Abarth is, shall we discuss grilles?
If you are referring to the Asseto Corse grill then count me in ;) I love that look. Can we also figure out a way to integrate the tow hook into that mod as well?
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hey redred, just fyi, i sent this to the forum admin (and got back a reply) after your complaint thread about madness was closed:
Originally Posted by mkawa
Hi there!
I'd just like to point out that redred hasn't actually responded to madness since the OP, even though madness has accused him of a large number of misrepresentations and outright lies. I believe that not only was your closure of the thread premature, but that it implicitly takes madness' side.
that's all! have a great day!
-kawa
Hi kawa,
Interesting, and I'm sorry you see it that way, but the way I see it both made statements and at this point I don't see how arguing is going to advance the situation. Having the conversation escalate to a war may be what some want, but I don't see how that helps the community. To me, they both vetted out their side equally and I ended it when I got home from work and before it spiralled into the ground - where it was most certainly headed. I dislike closing threads, moderating, etc., but I can't have the forum turn into a three ring circus and had to make the call. Believe me it wasn't a great day.
Best regards,
fiat500usa
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for reference, the vendor representative posted about 10 times with a bizarre rant about how his shop was a real shop, including a picture of one of those custom cruiser motorcycles, a very stock miata, a single lift, and then made a bunch of allegations about redred, using his real name without asking permission, accusing him of various pretty acrimonious things, and posting a number of completely irrelevant pictures and needless details about his shop employees. at no point did he actually address redred's allegation, or answer direct questions about the quality and design of his parts.
the administrator then locked the thread before anyone else could ask a question or respond to the vendor (who as far as i can tell is one of the primary sponsors).
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Im in the market for a new car.
My current sedan has a slippy transmission and might die in any minute.
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Im in the market for a new car.
My current sedan has a slippy transmission and might die in any minute.
Miata!
/jalopnik answer
What are you driving now and what are your needs in regards to all your transportation can do?
(slash maybe this should go in the general car thread?)
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For those of us that have figured out just how cool the Abarth is, shall we discuss grilles?
If you are referring to the Asseto Corse grill then count me in ;) I love that look. Can we also figure out a way to integrate the tow hook into that mod as well?
yah, there's a fellow in the uk that shagh and i have been talking to that makes nearly identical grilles for half the price (with silkscreening). i implicitly delegated shagh the task of getting him a US grill so that he can modify his design for the US fog lights. assuming he can do this, we can organize a group buy here to pay for tooling design and all the parts.
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hey redred, just fyi, i sent this to the forum admin (and got back a reply) after your complaint thread about madness was closed:
Originally Posted by mkawa
Hi there!
I'd just like to point out that redred hasn't actually responded to madness since the OP, even though madness has accused him of a large number of misrepresentations and outright lies. I believe that not only was your closure of the thread premature, but that it implicitly takes madness' side.
that's all! have a great day!
-kawa
Hi kawa,
Interesting, and I'm sorry you see it that way, but the way I see it both made statements and at this point I don't see how arguing is going to advance the situation. Having the conversation escalate to a war may be what some want, but I don't see how that helps the community. To me, they both vetted out their side equally and I ended it when I got home from work and before it spiralled into the ground - where it was most certainly headed. I dislike closing threads, moderating, etc., but I can't have the forum turn into a three ring circus and had to make the call. Believe me it wasn't a great day.
Best regards,
fiat500usa
Cheers kawa for that info. At this point I don't really care anymore. I said what I needed to say, and their silly responses and resumes show that they care more about their image than the actual, poorly designed product. The only thing I really wanted to respond to was a comment made by Boris. He stated:
"...if you recall Art contacted you a couple of times afterwards to make sure you were happy with the redo (last week)."
At no time, not once, did ANYONE contact me. That really bothered me to say the least. Posting their employee's resumes, pictures of the custom cars they have worked on and that stupid picture of the screws was just asinine!
I do want to clarify two things however: in defense of LuckyJay, I accidentally posted two things incorrectly. First of all I said they used a regular screw and cross threaded it. Arguing over semantics is a little silly, but I should have said "bolt", not screw. Secondly, I did put negative battery terminal when I meant to say negative battery lead. However, it was quite clear that most of you guys were smart enough to catch on to that.
Ironic that the vendor never once made any comment regarding my factual claims about the poorly designed product. No comments were made regarding the damage done to the filter during the 4th install. Yes that's right, 4th!!
I meant that post to be helpful to the community. I never once intended to attempt to extort money from the vendor or ask for a refund. My intention was to share my findings, which they clearly were not interested in at all.
Rant over.... cheers ;)
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he did???? sheesh! did he know it was just for a side project mini thread?
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Yay! Tapatalk works!
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redred, man that thread really bummed me out... what i didnt like was that they never owned up to the super****ty design in the first place. The Madness guys are all nice enough, but i think they cant keep up with their clients at this pace. I ordered a CF Lic Plate from them in March... still don't have it... will prolly be my last purchase from them.
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True enough Shaggie. I think they are nice guys too, which is why I was really bummed out when they went on the attack. Oh well, I guess in the end it just shows their true colors and that they really care more about selling product and making money. (which is fine if that's the business model you want to build off of)
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redred, the tow hooks are like $100 to buy. We can leave the hole for them, but they cost a lot for not much bling unless u need one for track comp. Just my thoughts, but i want everyone to be happy, so if u want it, we'll leave it.
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Uh so... Looks like you guys are the only two Fiat enthusiasts here. :)) They look like nice little cars, but I prefer riding my moped. :)
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the one time i went to madness (on the way to work), one of the salespeople would not stop bothering me about lowering springs (i came to get an RSD). i told him quite firmly when he first brought it up that i was not interested at all and why, and he spent the entire 20 minutes i was there coming up with ways to tease me about my car's ride height. it was a bit cute but a bit off-putting. when i told him i had to run to work and would be back at some point he said "no you won't". what?
oh hey, madness guys, you realize you're free to post here right? cool.
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I'm happy with whatever to be honest. ;) I would be fine with the Abarth grills without holes for the fog's as well since I have never once used them. I really love the simple clean look of the euro one personally. Just my 0.02
P.S. Do we always have to type in the verification text?? ;)
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first five posts. for spam reasons. we attempt to kill every other limiter on the forum software (although smf is a bit weird sometimes..)
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btw just looked underthe grill and i dont see a threaded hole for the tow hooks, do you guys?
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no i think they weld that to the 500AC chassis at the abarth racing factory. you can have a local fabricator do basically the same thing. just like they modify the strut towers so they don't suck.
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Uh so... Looks like you guys are the only two Fiat enthusiasts here. :)) They look like nice little cars, but I prefer riding my moped. :)
for now i guess. this may turn into a larger offshoot on the geekhack infrastructure (a subforum for example). there's actually more overlap than you would think. the_beast's laser guy can actually fab these grilles we're talking about too, but the guy in the UK we've been talking to has more experience and is super cool. hopefully he joins soon to chat (he was banned from the other forum for not paying). he is quite busy though.
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Oh! So you brought this tomfoolery!
/me goes to find his pitchfork.
Just kidding, welcome gents.
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I don't own one and while I do think they're really good looking and neat cars, I don't really want one either, I just want to post to say that someone put a Lambo V12 engine in a 500 and that is the most awesome thing I have seen for some time now. Sure, the 500 does look like a mini-hot-rod to make room for the beastly engine, but the sheer madness of it makes up for it.
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thanks mate... fwiw, I'm also a hacker, frequenting defcon since dc5. I'm decent with a gun and rosin, and I flirted with the maker scene for awhile too... friends with Joe Grand if that name means anything here. :-) I also have a buddy that's doing 3D printing hacker spaces here in SD. I'm more on the computer security side of hacking these days, but I keep it real with DIY modifications of synthesizers and in the studio and warehouses making live techno on the machines. Fwiw, the Abarth is the first car that has inspired me to hack in a long time.
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yes! that car has 580hp... complete insanity!
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there's a lot of FDM, SLA etc. rapid prototyping going on in SD. can you get time on any machines? we need machine time here for other reasons at the moment.
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even the reports of my posts and private messages have been either deleted or hidden now. tweak (and f500 mod) has not responded to my last simple question. *shrug*
i invite you guys to spread the word of an alternative (but hell, you don't have to, who really cares) -- i got a large number of positive PMs from people in the 5 minutes my post was visible.
oh well, time to make stuff!!!
eta: tweak is responding, sorry, totally false allegation up above. tweak is actually really cool. join us tweak!!!!
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chk ur pm's re: 3D
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trev: apparently neither of us were supposed to see the fact that you reported my PM, but despite making thousands in profit every month* off his vendors, the owner of the other forum can't configure his completely off the shelf forum software correctly. anyway, no hard feelings. welcome to geekhack! (or what might become fiathack, whatever!!)
*this could very well be a bit of an exaggeration. it might only be one thousand, for example. anyway, obviously we're quite aware of how much it costs to host a forum here and i've talked to some vendors who have paid and not paid so i'm guesstimating but i don't think i'm that far off.
ryephile: muahahaha, WELCOME TO HACKING
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AN UPDATE: fiat500usa, who is neither a fiat 500, nor the usa, nor someone who can figure out how to configure canned software on a lowendbox, has permanently banned me from his forum for "seriously? you have no idea what you are talking about." I'm not sure he is talking about running forums, because we do that here with aplomb, cars, because he knows nothing about them, or SEO, which would actually be true. I know nothing about SEO, because my friends all work on the search infrastructure and it would be plainly unethical.
this instance will be expanded to either a subforum or a full separate (but linked domain), fiat folks. i'm going to continue to hack on this car with y'all, and i'm not going to let Chris "Private, Registration FIAT500USA.COM@domainsbyproxy.com" whoever he is, stop me.
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Any reason why this thread is more deserving as a sticky compared to other off-topic thread? All I see is cross forum drama and replies between 2-3 people.
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Uh so... Looks like you guys are the only two Fiat enthusiasts here. :))
Make it three... ;)
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Any reason why this thread is more deserving as a sticky compared to other off-topic thread? All I see is cross forum drama and replies between 2-3 people.
I noticed that also, and while I welcome our new members, I don't exactly agree with the sticky.
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it was a very temporary indulgence to facilitate some unfortunate but necessary baby mama drama. hash seems to have fixed it for me. no worries.
also, apologies to the geekhack community for shoving this in everyone's face in OT as a sticky. what i will be doing is starting a parallel car forum that you don't ever have to look at, linked in theme and philosophy, but not the same domain.
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i got yer pm from fiat500usa forum. i'm actually an acquaintance of the forum owner. but that doesn't mean we can't get along... sorry you got banned or whatever.
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AN UPDATE: fiat500usa, who is neither a fiat 500, nor the usa, nor someone who can figure out how to configure canned software on a lowendbox, has permanently banned me from his forum for "seriously? you have no idea what you are talking about." I'm not sure he is talking about running forums, because we do that here with aplomb, cars, because he knows nothing about them, or SEO, which would actually be true. I know nothing about SEO, because my friends all work on the search infrastructure and it would be plainly unethical.
this instance will be expanded to either a subforum or a full separate (but linked domain), fiat folks. i'm going to continue to hack on this car with y'all, and i'm not going to let Chris "Private, Registration FIAT500USA.COM@domainsbyproxy.com" whoever he is, stop me.
Wow... cannot believe you got banned. Are you and Ryephile still going to stay in touch with Terry? Has Fortune been invited over here? Definitely interested in the coilover project.
It's shocking to me how many people have been banned from that forum. I know a couple of guys who were banned because they asked that the RRM bashing be controlled and instead they were banned. Very odd.
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I understand that you want to talk freely but why attack Chris? It is very common for people to not divulge personal information in domain registrations - so much spamming, fraud etc. going on these days.
Chris is entitled to run his business how he sees fit. Not sure why you think he shouldn't be allowed to make money?
Generational differences I am sure.
He has done a lot for the community up to this point and has good contacts inside of Fiat.
Anyways, good luck with this thread - sounds like you have some really cool ideas for mods and lots of enthusiasm.
I will keep dropping in to catch up if that is ok; if not ban me :D
AN UPDATE: fiat500usa, who is neither a fiat 500, nor the usa, nor someone who can figure out how to configure canned software on a lowendbox, has permanently banned me from his forum for "seriously? you have no idea what you are talking about." I'm not sure he is talking about running forums, because we do that here with aplomb, cars, because he knows nothing about them, or SEO, which would actually be true. I know nothing about SEO, because my friends all work on the search infrastructure and it would be plainly unethical.
this instance will be expanded to either a subforum or a full separate (but linked domain), fiat folks. i'm going to continue to hack on this car with y'all, and i'm not going to let Chris "Private, Registration FIAT500USA.COM@domainsbyproxy.com" whoever he is, stop me.
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i got yer pm from fiat500usa forum. i'm actually an acquaintance of the forum owner. but that doesn't mean we can't get along... sorry you got banned or whatever.
in that case let him know that (one, just one of) my problem is that he is operating a business anonymously. his forum users and customers (advertisers) have no way of knowing what his COIs may be, whether he is trustworthy, etc. we don't even operate a business here, and yet everything is public and transparent.
my problem is not that he is making money, but that he is doing so in a matter that is not ethically sound.
Regardless, our philosophy is to focus #1 on community, to sacrifice our own time and money to build that community, and to increase the greater good. I will be starting a "car forum" with that exact same philosophy that I hope will continue the fortune auto project, corse grill project, lightweight battery project, and ATM's various consumer-driven projects for the NAFTA 500 Abarth. In the long run, I hope it can do the same for many other gearheads and their cars and motorcycles as well (frankly, pretty much all the staff here are gearheads as it is, we often have trouble not diverging into gearhead territory during our meetings.. :P).
As for the ban, I expected it, as well as the flippant attitude from the owner. I feel that I know his type, that it is very similar to those that run other "car forums" on the internet, and I'm absolutely tired of it. I come from the academic world, which is not perfect, but not driven by pure greed and exploitation either (ok, some exploitation..). I have been part of various "car forums" with similar issues for over a decade and I'm ready to do my part to help change things for the better.
trev: welcome to geekhack :)
-Ming
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I had a Fiat 128, and I had a Lada 2107 which is a licence built Fiat 124. Can I join?
FIAT = Fix It Again Tomorrow
Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino
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in that case let him know that (one, just one of) my problem is that he is operating a business anonymously. his forum users and customers (advertisers) have no way of knowing what his COIs may be, whether he is trustworthy, etc. we don't even operate a business here, and yet everything is public and transparent.
yeah i'm really not gonna get involved in that. lets focus more on the cars.
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Well, this thread suddenly stopped... :-)
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FIAT = Fix It Again Tomorrow
*Fix It Again Tony
When I was much younger (like a little kid) the family had a Fiat, but that's about all the experience I've had with em.
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tentative name for new site: gearhack.org
stuff is happening, but several hundred things at once. on the upside, i should be able to install my ATM intake this week? i want updates from fortune!!!
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Sounds good! Terry from fortune posted today that the prototypes are in progress and product should be ready in 3-4 months
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FIAT = Fix It Again Tomorrow
I find it interesting that they've really taken a "clean slate" perspective to their "brand baggage". Fiats were clearly not considered well-made by American standards initially. Now, some of this may be environmental and usage-pattern based-- look at what happened when American railroads imported sophisticated German diesel locomotives in the 1960s-- and I'm not even going to start analyzing it. But you'd think they'd go for a very strong "We stand behind our product" message-- an outsized warranty, like the Koreans used to shore up their reputation, or a free-maintenance programme. Instead, they seem to be ignoring the "Fix it again Tony" meme entirely.
OTOH, I do find the concept of the 500e compelling. There's probably a sensible aspect to building an electric model with as many common parts as possible with the petrol one. For comparison, there aren't gonna be many Leafs in the scrapyard if you need to salvage a body panel.
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Sounds good! Terry from fortune posted today that the prototypes are in progress and product should be ready in 3-4 months
pictures!!
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FIAT = Fix It Again Tomorrow
I find it interesting that they've really taken a "clean slate" perspective to their "brand baggage". Fiats were clearly not considered well-made by American standards initially. Now, some of this may be environmental and usage-pattern based-- look at what happened when American railroads imported sophisticated German diesel locomotives in the 1960s-- and I'm not even going to start analyzing it. But you'd think they'd go for a very strong "We stand behind our product" message-- an outsized warranty, like the Koreans used to shore up their reputation, or a free-maintenance programme. Instead, they seem to be ignoring the "Fix it again Tony" meme entirely.
OTOH, I do find the concept of the 500e compelling. There's probably a sensible aspect to building an electric model with as many common parts as possible with the petrol one. For comparison, there aren't gonna be many Leafs in the scrapyard if you need to salvage a body panel.
italy had major labor problems in the 70's and 80's, the assembly workers didn't care. US fiat dealers had to come to a point that the cars recieved a full inspection by dealer mechanics to make sure the bolts were torqued properly and the fluids were all correct. they lost huge amounts of money paying dealers to basically rebuild the cars not to mention the rust problems from the russian steels many car companies had in the 70's before all these modern coatings.
fiat always gave a lot for the money, they had standard disk brakes on all models after they were released, twin cam engines, bucket seats, and some of the cars even had style. even the simple cars had personality.
alot of bad could be said about them but most of it would be true of any european car of the time. especially british cars.. (then again american cars at the time weren't known to be too good either) european companies just weren't large enough to do what american companies did with parts engineered to the application. lucas electronics were terrible, cheap pcb's and hand soldered, it was a joke. that's why magnetti marelli copied gm atleast gm could have there own IC's made up for the ignition modules. my father worked on foreign cars in the 70's and even roll royce had many american parts from door switches to the transmission. (bmw fiat and opel use gm transmissions on some rear wheel drive models too...)
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Sounds good! Terry from fortune posted today that the prototypes are in progress and product should be ready in 3-4 months
pictures!!
No pics yet. I will post some if they do
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blerg erg. just finished my ATM HCI install. almost pulled the TB and did that at the same time, but i'm going to wait until the next time i pull the battery (have one coming from batteryspace on ryan's suggestion after the scam artist took off on me. sigh)
eta: OH MY GOD. ATM'S INTAKE IS INCREDIBLE. BEST. SOUNDS. EVER. SO MUCH TURBO RESPONSIVENESS HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP
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Nice! I've heard good things!!
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other stuff has been happening. shagh made some good measurements that i'm going to have to walk him through turning into a DXF for a metal front grille with better airflow. ryephile and i have been *****ing about batteries, and i ordered one that will actually be delivered on monday. ryephile and i have also been *****ing about the evap jungle gym, and i ordered up my BOM that will be delivered and then implemented early next week
also i found out something super awesome that everyone else will find out next week.
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Not a Fiat but same company.
After 52.000 km my Alfa 147 is on its 3rd clutch. :D
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Its made by Chrysler and Its Italian that should explain the reliability issues.
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No, my 147 was built by Italians.
Fun fact, when I picked it up from my dealer I immediately returned it because the turbo wasn't working, as it turned out they connected some tubes the wrong way in the factory. :p
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hose clamps seem ot be the bane of line workers everywhere. so far i've discovered one completely forgotten clamp, and there are numerous complains of loose coolant system and charge-system clamps on the fiat forums (assembly line responsible for this car is chrysler's plant in toluca mexico). however, this is quite a bit better than the complaints i've seen about the focus ST (detroit, mich) -- completely missing clamps in the pressurized coolant system that dump their coolant 15 minutes off the lot (lol). and ford mexico (immediate unexplainable grenading, everything possible out of tolerance).
the most reliable plants by far are still the really well run ones in japan, germany and northern europe. these are second only by a hair to the well run japanese/german owned plants in the US and canada.
mazda is booting up a plant in mexico next year though for the next gen 3-series though, and mazda does not eff around.
anyway, to get back on topic, the sourcing of the for the 2011-2013 nafta fiat 500 is: USA engine, (dundee mich). chassis and body toluca mexico, transmission US/IT (USA for the base transmission, italy for the turbo and abarth). final assembly, toluca mexico.
so far, i've seen some hilarious stuff under the hood of my car, but the chassis and body are excellent -- better than my last car, which was 100% japanese sourced and built in Honda's flagship Suzuka plant (the one right next to honda's famous testing ground: Suzuka circuit :D, home of the japanese GP). that said, the suzuka-built driveline is a near pinnacle of automated motor assembly.
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Do you want to see a Fiat 500 with a Lamborghini Murcielago V12 6.2L 580hp engine?
http://www.oemmedi.it/video.htm
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hose clamps seem ot be the bane of line workers everywhere. so far i've discovered one completely forgotten clamp, and there are numerous complains of loose coolant system and charge-system clamps on the fiat forums (assembly line responsible for this car is chrysler's plant in toluca mexico). however, this is quite a bit better than the complaints i've seen about the focus ST (detroit, mich) -- completely missing clamps in the pressurized coolant system that dump their coolant 15 minutes off the lot (lol). and ford mexico (immediate unexplainable grenading, everything possible out of tolerance).
the most reliable plants by far are still the really well run ones in japan, germany and northern europe. these are second only by a hair to the well run japanese/german owned plants in the US and canada.
mazda is booting up a plant in mexico next year though for the next gen 3-series though, and mazda does not eff around.
anyway, to get back on topic, the sourcing of the for the 2011-2013 nafta fiat 500 is: USA engine, (dundee mich). chassis and body toluca mexico, transmission US/IT (USA for the base transmission, italy for the turbo and abarth). final assembly, toluca mexico.
so far, i've seen some hilarious stuff under the hood of my car, but the chassis and body are excellent -- better than my last car, which was 100% japanese sourced and built in Honda's flagship Suzuka plant (the one right next to honda's famous testing ground: Suzuka circuit :D, home of the japanese GP). that said, the suzuka-built driveline is a near pinnacle of automated motor assembly.
Honda's first generation rear wheel drive sports cars tend to understeer due to the 16 inch wheels they come included with and I wished NSX were more accessible as changing the clutch and spark plugs are too much of a pain taking around 2 hours or more because of its cramped mid ship layout.
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yep, and ironically their second generation rwd sports model (the s2000) was prone to snap oversteer (power off AND on) in the first couple of model years. they softed up the rear a bit (smaller rear sway diameter) and went rear staggered (wider rear wheels) after that.
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also, my lightweight battery and evap reroute kit are showing up today -- huzzah
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I've seen a white Abarth in my neighborhood, sharp-looking car.
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ah, but have you listened to it yet? :D
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also, my lightweight battery and evap reroute kit are showing up today -- huzzah
Looking forward to that!
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long and unfortunate day. stripped one of the insane hardened or galvanized or whatever seatbelt bolts trying to get it out. goddamn bolt is basically harder than any drill bit i own, so that was fun
and i threw a code but i have no idea what because it's shockingly hard to find a reasonable elm327 device and free software combo. seriously, what? this really needs to be a prime directive on gearhack. happened at idle so i suspect it was the throttle body. ordered mine way after the initial bad batch so question mark?
on the upside ryephile's reroute rocks and it turns out the headway batteries are a swap in for the factory battery, so that was nice
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Found this car today. Really love the aggressive front end!!!
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk263/staceydodds/Cavallino-LE1_zps3ce705ae.jpg)
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk263/staceydodds/Cavallino-LE-R-20131_zps434a7cd3.jpg)
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you're going on the palomar drive right?
seems to have turned into a pretty big meetup :O
i asked shagh already, but spread the word that i have a set of rear black '13 abarth cloth seats i'm getting rid of. if i can't find someone to take them i'm going to have to toss them or something, and that would be a serious shame (worst case maybe i can get my studio to take them? doubt it because of liability..).
ryephile's evap reroute is the real deal by the way. the headway headquarters starter batteries also real deal material so far, and the MPx bored out TB just throws a couple codes (2172, 0106/0105) a couple times while the ecu is figuring out the new fuel trims. after a couple cycles of this the ecu just figures itself out and everything works perfectly.
finally, if you're afraid of pulling vacuum lines, i have a bunch of extra emissions hose and am not in any way afraid of pulling the bizarre jungle gym of stock evap lines.
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Yeah I'm looking forward to it.
I'll pass the word along. You did the rear seat delete? Silly question, but what if you decide to sell the car?? Wouldn't it be best to keep the seats?