[Packard V8]

In general, I still think German cars are superior to American ones... for driving.
Repair and maintenance... not so much.

For true; I have to forceably restrain myself from bidding on some of the older V8 and V12 hi-lux German cars offered on BaT. They sell for only $10,000 - $20,000; they are such wonderful cars to drive when all is right with the world.

However, when a $100,000 car is twenty years old, one should budget $1,000 a month for repairs and hope that's enough.

A family member has an otherwise excellent condition 2005 BMW X5 4.4 Sport, a wonderful SUV to drive, but the air suspension has gone TU. The dealership says, well, you got fifteen years out of it; most fail around ten years. Might as well replace it all while we're under there, because the rest will fail soon. Adding up new struts, air bags, sensors, computer and labor, it's possible to spend $5,000 to replace the shocks on a $5,000 car.

jack vines

 

[GregBrew]

I wouldn't even try to compare my performance-modified 2008 Honda S2000 to a Bolt. That would just be silly.

 

[Packard V8]

I wouldn't even try to compare my performance-modified 2008 Honda S2000 to a Bolt. That would just be silly.

Agree, Greg. Horses for courses. I wouldn't even try to use your Honda for a holiday Costco run during a snowstorm. That would just be silly.

I wll say the Bolt is the best-all-around-urban vehicle we've owned in sixty years. As to the hooligan issue, I've found I can drive our Bolt much faster and more often without attracting the ire of LEOs or proles than all the others we've owned during that sixty years. So quiet, so smooth, so generic, it's like it is invisible.

Back when I spent part of every week on some stretch of road across the entire US, often the two slowest vehicles on interstates were Corvettes and Harleys. They'd learned from bitter experience those flash rides draw unwanted attention of LEOs. I would pass them 10 MPH over the posted limit in my invisible rental-mobile.

jack vines

 

[Martin D]

Wait a minute. When did the cage drivers steal the hooligan moniker? I can’t acknowledge a car as hooligan unless it can do both wheelies and stop-ies like a true hooligan motorcycle. And a true motorcyclist might also add that it must also be a “supermoto” to be the original “hooligan bike”.

*”supermoto” is a motocross bike with street tires

 

[SteveWilson1983]

Nice post OP! My 2021 Bolt runs decently thru the curves with a surprising balance but, alas, does feel a scosh like a fridge, adore it just the same. The only ICE I hanker for is my current 6.0 liter 2500 Silverado (which pretty much just sits) and my old '93 K1100RS BMW.

Thanks! Ya, don't get me wrong, it's pretty good, thanks to the low centre of gravity, but after driving only the Bolt for months, I was struck by how much better the "feel" of my 14 yr old gti was, w it's higher c.o.g

 

[SteveWilson1983]

"We bought it for situations like the current administration in Washington DC is creating. Cut off the fuel, drive up the prices of fuel and force more people to do without heat/food/driving because they know what's better for us than we do. And they don't care about the suffering that occurs as long as they force us to do what they want.

Huh, that's ironic. Just this week I saw multiple American news stories criticizing Biden for asking opec+ to open up the taps..

You worry me a little.. needing cheaper oil sounds like someone's getting some "freedom" installed soon. Just stay the h*ll out of here, we already sell you ours. 😁

 

[SteveWilson1983]

Yup. Bought some metal wax carvers and scraped them by hand a few times. But later on I found a non-invasive method. I had the DSG tranny and I would drive at just the right speed where punching the gas would drop directly from 6th gear to the top end of 3rd gear. If I hadn't done it in a while I would get a huge cloud of gray smoke behind me as the gunk broke loose. I would have to repeat this 4 or 5 times until I no longer got any smoke.

Nice! After I did mine, I added methanol injection (got a used kit for free that my boss was never able to dial in just right) so I had a nice solvent running across the valves again. Haven't opened it up since, but I imagine they're still nice and clean.

edit: +1 for DSG "farts". I don't really care much for the lack of sound on an ev, but those were pretty sweet!

 

[SteveWilson1983]

Me too... when I'm in my wife's GTI (Mk7, 2018) I try not to think about how much better the handling, ride, seats, overall road manners, and interior materials/fit/finish are in the GTI than the Bolt. I too have the rear sway bar and rear Bilsteins in my Bolt, which help a lot, but it's still no GTI (ride- and handling-wise). My wife and I met because we both had Mk3 GTI VR6es at the time, so we are VW/Audi fans... I'm happy with my Bolt for now, until "the next thing" comes (maybe a hypothetical ID.3 R?).

Despite having liquidated our Audis (02 allroad, 01 S4 Avant, both 6MT) I'm holding on to my VCDS "HEX+CAN" cable

Don't do that.. don't even mention an ID.R.. you know how long you're gonna make the wait feel if we're already thinking about it?? 😄
How would you (and someone earlier who I now forget) rate the improvement of your suspension upgrades? I'm totally down for getting into mine if it'll restore a bit of that fun factor I've lost!

 

[SteveWilson1983]

In general, I still think German cars are superior to American ones... for driving.
Repair and maintenance... not so much.

I find American cars are the middle grounds.. you want a really low maintenance car? Go get a corolla.. it'll be super cheap, and you'll be bored as f*ck every time you drive it.
Absolutely agree on the German cars.. well, not all of them obviously, I'm sure there are boring ones out there too, but they definitely seem to put a little more playfulness into them, at the expense of unexplainable mechanical gremlins popping up from time to time

 

[SteveWilson1983]

Wait a minute. When did the cage drivers steal the hooligan moniker? I can’t acknowledge a car as hooligan unless it can do both wheelies and stop-ies like a true hooligan motorcycle. And a true motorcyclist might also add that it must also be a “supermoto” to be the original “hooligan bike”.

Ya, well you stole it from my gramma first, so fair's fair. 😁

 

[Jake from State Farm]

I miss my 15 MK7 GTI, loved that car but decided to replace it with something else. The GTI’s replacement never leaves the garage lol.

 

[PLP]

The GTI’s replacement never leaves the garage lol.

That's the thing.
All my cars are meant to be... driven.
Maybe I will be avoiding snow as I do not want to spend fortune on winter tires, but I will let it breathe the cold, winter air.

 

[Packard V8]

That's the thing.
All my cars are meant to be... driven.
Maybe I will be avoiding snow as I do not want to spend fortune on winter tires, but I will let it breathe the cold, winter air.

Up here in the northern tier, even if one chooses days when there is no snow, residue from the magnesium chloride used to de-ice the roads will attack the car, especially the aluminum wheels and the grit from the sanding will pit the windshield and fascia.

jack vines

 

[PLP]

Up here in the northern tier, even if one chooses days when there is no snow, residue from the magnesium chloride used to de-ice the roads will attack the car, especially the aluminum wheels and the grit from the sanding will pit the windshield and fascia.

jack vines

I agree. I live here as well (zip 48823).
Yet again - if the car does not leave the garage - what is the point of having it?
I bought it, I will use it. Especially those cars that give me a smile.

If it was a Chevy Equinox - I would not even want to seat in it.

 

[Packard V8]

That's the thing. All my cars are meant to be... driven. . . I bought it, I will use it. Especially those cars that give me a smile.

Agree completely, me and John Paul Jones.

I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way.

Maybe I will be avoiding snow as I do not want to spend fortune on winter tires, but I will let it breathe the cold, winter air.

Don't want to spend a fortune on winter tires, but no problem with letting winter road conditions have their way with the exterior? Your car, your money, your decisions.

jack vines, who puts on the best winter tires money can buy, because of necessity he will be driving in harm's way.

 

[SteveWilson1983]

Agree completely, me and John Paul Jones.


Don't want to spend a fortune on winter tires, but no problem with letting winter road conditions have their way with the exterior? Your car, your money, your decisions.

jack vines, who puts on the best winter tires money can buy, because of necessity he will be driving in harm's way.

Well, we've definitely left the topic of hooliganism ( ), but since we've arrived here, what did you get (winter tires)? I went w blizzaks, cuz I was too lazy to spend much time researching, and I know they're at least pretty decent.

 

[Packard V8]

At present, I'm using Nokian.

jack vines

 

[PLP]

jack vines, who puts on the best winter tires money can buy, because of necessity he will be driving in harm's way.

so do I.
I will just not spend money on winter tires for Boxster as I will not be driving it on regular basis in snow. I will pull it out only to have fun of RWD car in snow on summer tires

Q5 and Bolt are getting best treatment possible.
No, let me take it back - best reasonable, or best compromise.
Snow - Q5 Michelin, Bolt General. Hakapaanadlalalant - or whatever the name is - was too expensive and I would never really see improvement over Alimax Arctic.
The rest of the season - both on Continentals. Q5 - something, I do not remember, Bolt just received Pure Contact LS.

 

[Sean Nelson]

...I've found I can drive our Bolt much faster and more often without attracting the ire of LEOs or proles than all the others we've owned during that sixty years. So quiet, so smooth, so generic, it's like it is invisible.

Yeah, if you're not making any noise nobody seems to notice that you're driving wild. I guess that's why some motorheads love loud cars, but that's really not my thing.

 

[SteveWilson1983]

At present, I'm using Nokian.

jack vines

Ah, I asked the chevy dealer for the hakkaspalanta r3 (pretty sure @PLP and I aren't even close) but they didn't have any. Oh well, hopefully I don't slide around and more than desired.