Smash Boy

Thanks for the info Genie. The non dynamic steering ratio is bordering on the slowish side. Probably fine for most driving, but quick steering is nice when it's accessible. A nice compromise would be to keep the same Corsa/Sport/Strada settings but only offer one ratio. Instead of ranges, just pick one ratio...like 10.5:1 for corsa, 13.0:1 for sport, and say 15.0:1 for strada. I can imagine the varied ratios while moving would feel unnatural. 10.5:1 is fast as f***....like Caterham 7, Ariel Atom type fast. Would be awesome to have that type of ratio available if the driving roads suited it, you were in the mood, race track and you got the skill, etc. And for typical driving, something like 13-14:1 would be good. 16.5:1 for high speed driving, top speed runs.

VCR, that's pretty cool. I'll have to check it out sometime....I like seeing novelty items like that. What do you see as the ideal application for it? I was introduced by a sound vendor two years ago about this device called Solid Drive by MSE Audio. Basically it's a small speaker driver that will turn any surface into a "speaker". It's like a headphone driver with a self contained enclosure. For example you can place the driver face down (or even underneath facing up) a conference room table, and it will project sound throughout the entire table! And the sound quality is pretty good and full with enough low end to not sound thin. It will work on smaller surfaces and glass too. The conference room window might have sounded better than the table, and we all know how bad glass usually is. Of course, drywall is a big use for it too, but not one you could demo in 5 minutes. The demo I heard two years ago only worked with an amplifier, but now it seems like it's usable without one (for the sake of demonstrating at least). Now it seems they've divided the speakers individually for drywall, wood, and glass. http://soliddrive.mseaudio.com/ I can't seem to upload the image of it, but the link will show some pics. I believe the driver is maybe $200-300, and the rest additional. Cheap enough to play around with.

Yes, it would be. But at the same time, I think the 4c transcends value. Just like the C6 and C7 POS Z cars are more than just a "good value". You can have all the $$$ and still want these cars, I'm sure of it. In some ways a 4 banger is limited in what presence the car can have, absolutely. But in other ways this car will give thrills that a modern Lambo or Ferrari cannot, I'm pretty sure of it. And I would say the same thing of an Elise/Exige, which is comparable.

Hate to break it to you bud, but modern stuff did get worse over time. Not all of it, but a good chunk of it did. I'd rather have what was considered mid level in 1995 than the high end now. And certainly the high end Nakamichi from back then I'd have over everything old or new. The one exception are the Milbert tube amps which were great then and great now. Of course they are about $2-3k a pop. Amplifier wise, older brands I'd pursue Phoenix Gold, Xtant, Orion, Soundstream. The sound will be full, rich, warm, good bass, etc. Installed correctly it should fix your sound. There are a number of reasons for the downfall, mainly that audio gear is the one exception to the general rule of technology where you can't keep downsizing on parts and expect to get better or even maintain status quo. It's a lot more like cars than it is computers, cell phones, and other electronics. The "sound" that is considered good by the mainstream is easier to obtain on the cheap. That thin harsh sound that hurts my ears but is billed as "detail"....yeah. Also rap music, while I love it (the old stuff), ruined the sound of subwoofers. Too much emphasis on the very low bass, and then trading off bigger enclosures for longer cone excursion to achieve it, as if that were the brilliant solution. Same low bass but now it's slower than a Mack Truck and sloppy. BTW home audio did get hit a little bit with these afflictions but not as badly.

Damn, Elon Musk just changed his name to Horacio Pagani.

Tinny sound from a car system? Assuming it's not an actual wiring/equipment deficiency, what you could be referring to is an overabundance of treble/midrange suckout caused by an overly bright tweeter/too much treble boost and/or a high pass crossover on your woofers set too high. Typically in aftermarket systems in order to make them loud and play hard with a sub, the woofers in your doors are filtered in the 80-100 hertz range (sometimes higher). This means that the filter is removing a majority of the frequencies below that point so the speaker can play with less stress. The higher the frequency chosen, the less bass/midbass you will hear. The idea is that the subs will pick up the bass, but the reality is that you lose "fullness" in your sound when you do this. It's noticeable even with a subwoofer, and without one it would be brutal. Depending on your setup, anything from no high pass crossover, up to 60-80 hertz would be ideal. If you don't have a sub you should go without a high pass crossover. And you should install an amp if you don't have one. My very first ever car system, the shop high passed my 5.25" woofers around 200-300 hz, with my bandpass subs crossed maybe at 80 hz. Nice big gap over there....system had absolutely no midbass and I was still a big newb so I had the treble setting cranked to +3 or +4 (cringeworthy tuning!). It didn't matter in the beginning because the low end pounding novelty was fun. But even then I could tell something was wrong. So yeah, I once asked on a separate forum about 15 years ago, "Why is my system so trebley?". Since you say you haven't added an amplifier it's doubtful it might be this, but if you had an aftermarket head unit with built in crossovers, it could be filtered. Shouldn't be a difficult fix IMO. I'd recommend a good amplifier, run the speakers without any high pass crossovers, and make sure the door install is sufficient (i.e. solid mounting of speaker to door baffle, maybe add some sound deadening like Dynamat). Also check the treble and bass settings. I'd start with both at the neutral (0) position, and go backwards (negative) for treble and leave bass alone. Curious what speakers you are using?

I'm still curious why fmari was told what he was told.

Not sure how you would have a non 3 phase, residential service without a neutral? Even for 3 phase systems, only a pure delta would not have a neutral. All wye systems and high leg deltas are grounded and thus have neutrals. A pure delta would typically exist in industrial applications. Only time a neutral isn't wired is for 2 pole line-to-line (like for a dryer or large wall unit A/C) and 3 pole (3 phase) loads. A neutral wire is included in the wiring for a dryer, but it is there to serve the 120 volt electronics, not the dryer motor. Both single pole and two pole breakers are two wire circuits. The difference is that a neutral is not switched, hence you only need to interrupt one conductor not two for a single pole breaker. Hope that helps.

The real boon of electric motors to me is hybrid use, especially with a performance edge. Such an awesome way to provide a form of supplementary hp/torque without the typical downsides of forced induction. For this you gotta love electric motors in cars. To kill off combustion engines, is a different story. That much would be sad. All electric for an enthusiast car probably gets boring over time if it's your only special ride.

Where do you live JanDaMan? I'd keep it simple for now and upgrade your amplifier. Plenty of good integrated amplifiers to get the job done without having to get individual pre/power amps. If you already like the tonal signature of your current speakers, then this is the easiest way to get better sound without any real risks (assuming you can pick the right amplifier). It's always a very cool thing to see a great amplifier provide a "high end" experience on low end stuff. Pair a good $3500 integrated tube amp to any Best Buy speaker, and the experience will be a lot better than you could expect. Better speakers on top of that will naturally sound better, but in a way it's always been my M.O. to make these upgrades progressively. A lot of newb audio enthusiasts are hesitant to pull the trigger on mere four and five figure gear even if they drop that much or more on car upgrades. What's also cool is that this can totally be a buy as you go hobby. You can literally do it one piece at a time if you wanted to. Even if you had millions, I'd still recommend a somewhat progressive upgrade path as opposed to buying a "supercar" because your appreciation wouldn't be quite the same. It takes a few years to condition the ears to proper sound anyways. Everyone's got their opinions on this topic, but to me it's tubes only (no solid state). At the very high end, it's where you will end up anyways so might as well "learn" now instead of later.

I only saw torque estimates, didn't see anything about hp. 1500 hp would definitely be able to hit such a speed assuming everything else was on point. Being able to run an 8.9 with "only" 700 hp would be a different story. A car with front and rear electric motors can produce some very impressive acceleration figures relative to overall output. It's pretty ambitious to be shooting for a 250 mph target. If Lambo, Ferrari or Porsche announced such a thing tomorrow it would be surprising. All that acceleration with "only" a 170 mph top speed would be plenty. And being that Tesla is a newb in the supercar industry, I wonder how stable their car would be at such speeds. Downforce doesn't seem to be a consideration.

What are estimates of horsepower for this car? I'm very skeptical about it hitting 250 mph, or even 200. 250 mph in my mind is going to require in the 700-800 hp range, at a minimum. For a car like this, hitting ultra low ETs is the easy part. Going really fast will not be. It's the opposite of a big GT exotic that can hit 200+ with relative ease but will struggle to crack 10 seconds in the 1/4.

Good point on top speed. You can get all the acceleration in the world with great torque and so so horsepower. But top speed needs horsepower......even with great drag coefficients and light weight. 500 horsepower gets a Diablo up to around 200 mph, but an Ariel Atom with a superior power/weight ratio will not come close to sniffing such a high top seed.

This review reaffirms why I love these two marques so much. It never was one or the other. Great write up on the differences and thanks for posting it!

All I can add are Driftracer's wheels.

Congratulations, it looks stunning!!

Any updates?

Literally cannot say anything anymore.

Now that I think of Assman's original member name, it all makes sense now.

Creepy is in the eye of the beholder. 50 year old with game - sexy. 18 year old without game - creeper.

Of course. But looking at how the average car enthusiast views it differently even on tiny mid engine cars like this, it's no wonder the entire enthusiast car offerings are soft these days. We're lucky manual transmissions still exist on any level. The only knock for having manual steering is if you have to slow the ratio versus a power assisted rack. On cars this light you usually don't have to do that.

Did DeMuro complain about the steering's heaviness? He complains about certain cars with power steering having heavy steering. These are toys plain and simple. 4C is a niche car -- ~2000 lbs, no power steering, mid engine. It's aimed at a very specific individual as opposed to the Cayman or TTrs which are aimed at broader segments. I hate seeing a car being judged for not being jack of all trades, just like I hate seeing Porsches often praised for that very reason. I think compared to an Elise it's geared to be livable inside. An Elise/Exige is even more of a toy.

550 Maranello I think can be special with enough time. It's one of those cars that I felt was awesome when it was new then kinda faded out a little bit over the years compared to say the Diablo. But as a GT it had elegant styling, stickshift, and great packaging. The sound isn't as glorious as other Ferrari 12s (IMHO) which is one reason I hold it back compared to say the TR lineup. Very competent car. The issue in the short term are some of the parts and the availability of them. I'm told there's an issue where if the airbag becomes defective with the steering wheel then there are no replacement parts for it. For the purists that have to be 100% OEM that's a big deal. Not sure if Ferrari will make replacement OEM wheels. One other interesting item is I think the car can be every bit as valuable (if not more) painted in a color other than red. Titanium, gun metal grey, dark blue, black in particular I'd rather have then red. The Diablo should be worth more money but 20% tops.