Auto Enthusiasts/gear Heads

[Pepe']

Please don't be too rough on me but I've got to ask. Any hybrid cars on the road in Thailand.

Toyota Prius etc

[KevinN]

Well PEPE,You should know all of this,being a BAJA runner and visitor,but some folks think that 4X4 makes you a superhuman,and it maybe does,if you are careful and don't get in over your head and go somewhere you don't belong.But without precautions,a 4 wheeler is a sure way to get in trouble.

I have worked in the TUNDRA above the arctic circle to the deserts of Saudi to the Jungles of Guatemala and Viet Nam, and I have seen 4X4s do some fantastic things,but have seen a lot of folks get in trouble because they thought that one made them invincible.and only GOD can do that for ya.

[Pepe']

Yes I have seen the limitations and dangers of 4x4's.

You just missed my previous post

[Begs]

I have a Toyota Tiger 4WD SR5 pick up, i hardly use the 4WD as i am usually on Normal roads, but i am glad to be able to engage 4WD if the need arises, like going to the in-laws in loei and being able to pull the truck up to the house, instead of parking 50 metres away and walking down the track in the rain, as i did when i rented a D Max Isuzu 2WD.............

The D Max is a good Motor, i hired a 2WD 4 Door, 3.0 Turbo diesel, very nice, but i got stuck in some soft mud, The 4WD has no problem.

I would have liked a 4WD DMax, but i was buying second hand, so the Tiger was the best i could do. 1999 , 90,000 kms , 395,000 baht

I have ridden a motorcycle in Thailand since 1990, never had a bad accident, but oh so close many many times, i am 49 this year, time for 4 wheels i think.

[Pepe']

Begs,

How about Hybrids? Do you see any around?

[Begs]

Begs,

How about Hybrids? Do you see any around?

I cant say that i ever saw one in Thailand, i am in Tokyo at this moment, i have seen a few here.

Tokyo is a great place for Cars, here a Lexus is still a Toyota, and on Friday and Saturday nights the guys with their modified cars come out to Play, (its like Gran Tourismo 2 on the Playstation), Some of those Nissan Skylines are very very fast

[Guest chingy]

pepe you live in SD you should see plenty of those import racer on saturday night, they are in the hundred, try drive around SD on saturday night around midninght you will see plenty of those fast car

[KevinN]

PEPE, I have never seen a hybrid here either,I dont think they have them, But like has been said,in some areas of the south of calif. they do have the RICE BOY racers out showing off and racing on the streets trying to kill people. Some of the rice grinders are very fast,even by muscle car standards,,they do turn some quick times,, but when you wreck one,you don't have much left, but a honda VTEC will give a 4000# charger SUPER BEE a good run,coarse the tires and wheels on the mopar weigh more than the honda. check out the RICE BOY sites,very interesting,one is sponsored by a Thai fella.I think it is www.riceboys.com

[350torana]

Hi Just reading this post, I am newbie/novice , but real petrol head. Have a uc sunbird 78 torana converted to a 350 chev sitting back in Tasmamia (Australia) gathering dust . Have to say sometimes in the land of smiles when sitting in my wife's Hyundia Excel at the lights I get the fever . For sure any Aussie or American musle car could leave Japanese pick ups in thier dust!!! Including Brit cars, they still produce Cortinas right. Sorry, I guees only Aussies and Kiwis know what i mean

Saw someone post thier list of 5 fav cars, so will have my 5 cents worth

1 Plymouth Barracuda ( I think it was Joe Dirt who said" i want to get myself a hemi)

2 Holden Torana LX, LG SLR , SLE just as good

3 Dodge Charger "Boss Hog calling Roscoe , GET THEM DUKE BOYS!!!"

4 Any pre 90's Caddillac , plush carpet, fluffy, dice, shit load of horsepower, pimp, enough said .

5 All those other cars not mentions...Mustangs, Camaroes, Corvettes, Holden Monaroes, Commodores , Valiants...... and even Fords Falcons/Fairmonts...remeber Mad Max 1 ?(Road Warrior)

Maybe all this is off topic. But imagine this kinda cars going head to head with some LAS Beamer, Merc or japananese car . Reminds me too much of Fast and Furious . Only good Jap car is wrx or skyline.

Sorry, long post, but had too many Chungs tonight. Btw any Aussies out there saw a light orange Valiant Charger (Chrsyler for Americans) in good condition parked in a Min Buri service station a few days ago (How the ###### did it get here). Any other sightings of downunder cars???? seen a few Belmonts not sure what though, i think Hk,Hg

Cheers

[Pepe']

350toranan,

I like most of your favorites.

Remember though, I don't believe you are comparing apples to apples.

Yes there is alot to be said for smoking your tires and laying down a sixty foot patch before going very fast in a straight line. I used to love it.

However take an AMG Mercedes or even a stock Euro version M3. Overall handling and performance, no comparison to the old muscle cars.

Either of these models can sqeeze a little speed out as well

[350torana]

Pepe,

I agree with what u say . Handling, performace, luxury ...all important . Guess that is why we have two car family , one for the family..one for Dad

[chonabot]

350 , try an Aussie/American car against an Aston Martin Virage or Lotus Esprit/Elise/Exige, TVR Tuscan. Nice Brit cars.###### sexy to look at too.

For the lighter wallet you can pick up a nice Ford Sierra Cosworth for the price of a packet of crisps.

As for Jap cars , yes Impreza WRX is nice but P1 is twice as nice , Supra Twin turbo, Mistubishi EVO8 ( 0-60 = 4 sec) .

I like Yank muscle cars but they are a loong way behind these creatures.

Cortina?

[Pepe']

Yes all dream cars and hard to beat, but not impossible. My original orientation is practical motoring in Samutsakorn.

We can dream though...

[Guest chingy]

350 , try an Aussie/American car against an Aston Martin Virage or Lotus Esprit/Elise/Exige, TVR Tuscan.  Nice Brit cars.###### sexy to look at too.

not the same price catagory (stang $18-20G) (Aston Martin, lotus $50-100G) give me the extra cash and i'll change the pony in a rocket.

this is the American version of Ford Sierra Cosworth

i agree the Impreza WRX is a very nice car indee, very easy to tune, lots of power, i seen alots of them in bangkok

[chonabot]

Is that a Focus? Looks quite radical

btw Lotus Elise £10k s/hand.

[Guest chingy]

we don't get the Ford Sierra Cosworth in the state, don't know why though, after all it is still a ford, yes most people wanted them just like skyline, since we can't have the Cosworth, we use focus as a base, its the same car with less horse power

in the state the lotus is very expensive, i wish i can get it at that price.

[chonabot]

I do like the American pick ups like the Dodge Ram, Ford Lightening and Chevrolet SSR, They are selling for a lot more over here than in the States I reckon. Cuts both ways.

I drive a Ford Scorpio ( family car,ugly but efficient) and have just bought a nice 3 litre Alfa Romeo Spider for fun. The american car I would most like though is the Dodge Viper , awesome!

[Pepe']

Any theories on why there are not any hybrid cars in Thailand?

The Toyota prius is reasonably priced. I test drove one here and was surprised at the pick up.

Also is the Imprezza a Subaru?

Don't the streets in the suburbs tear up the suspsensions on these rice burners?

[chonabot]

Pepe' yes the Subaru Impreza seems to be reasonably common in Bkk along with the odd Skyline , they're all 4wd and v v v hard springs/suspension. I wouldn't fancy driving into too many pot holes. The build quality on these cars is very good but ultimately they are lightweight in the panel department. AS you know they are sooo easy to modify with a chip or a piggyback ECU and cheap also. I had a Nissan 300zx twin turbo a few years back , ran 300 bhp stock , added a JWT ( Jim wolf) chip a few boost pipes in the throttle bodies, re-tuned via the ecu. Instant 70bhp gain! All for £100 sterling. I believe a few chaps in Thailand are into that side of things plus the usual 20inch rims, HKS Drager Exhausts in cars that weigh around 1200kg. Cheap and nasty compared to V8 400ci blocks , but they do the job. AGree though there aren't a lot around, when you consider Tokyo/Hong Kong are not far away. I imported my ZX for £1500 pounds plus shipping when a UK Z would fetch nearly £9000. Wonder how much Thailand would charger for importing some nice Rice burners?

[Pepe']

I see my mistake.

When I say hybrid here I mean gas/electric. The kind of cars you're talking about are usually reffered to in the states as "tuners" but I have heard of them as being referred to as hybrids too.

Why no gas/electric hybrids in Thailand?

I love high performance but that chapter in my life is kind of changing.

[chonabot]

Yiikes! My mistake , I got a few posts out of it though , good luck in your search amigo!

[Pepe']

Does that translate into no gas/electric hybrids in Thailand?

[350torana]

G'day

I think we coulad debate all day and night over cars. Good thing is we all love cars. No matter, where your favouritism leads .

I am a relative newbie to the LOS but I think the reason we don't see many hybrid cars is because the enviroment is not really top of the list of concerns for Thai's. Just look at all the diesel pick up's, trucks and buses(espeically the lime green merc buses , have to be the worse drivers in Bkk!!)

Oh well, maybe i am old school but I still love look of chrome and grumble of a big block, very easy to get your hands dirty and tinker away on the weekend as well . Lotuses, Martins indeed impressive cars...if u are on her majesty's secret service and have a open checkbook

[Pepe']

350,

If this is debate, I hope it never ends.

It's funny, I've always reffered to my cars in the feminine, "she's my baby" or "isn't she a beauty."

Interestingly trucks were always guys. 66 Chevy C-10 was Zeus,

64 Dodge Power Wagon was Thor. I've got a 2001 Nissan Frontier now called

Ripper. Guess that can be unisex

[Guest chingy]

why do you keep asking why does thailand don't have gas/electric hybrids car, they just don't, they really don't care much for those car here in thailand, not reliable in thailand.

most thai don't even own a car, those hybrids is just a waste of automobil.

there are road in thailand to test out fast car, for example from BKK to Pattaya, the road is pretty smooth you can easily hit 140-150km.

[Pepe']

I keep asking because no one had given such a clear answer as yourself yet.

" they just don't, they really don't care much for those car here in thailand, not reliable in thailand."

How do you know and why not reliable?

"there are road in thailand to test out fast car, for example from BKK to Pattaya, the road is pretty smooth you can easily hit 140-150km."

Road racing in Thailand has got to be the stupidest thing you can do on what are already the most dangerous roads around!!!

My road racing days are over, thank God.

[davethailand]

thats the tollway way from chonburi to bang na, i've done it at 250km in a celica gt4. the road from pattaya to the tollway is crap.

[chonabot]

Celica gt4 a niiiice car

[Guest chingy]

speeding doesn't mean that you have to race.

yes i meant tollway, what are the spec of the gt4, back in the state im not into celica, i think the body shape look aweful

[chonabot]

speeding doesn't mean that you have to race.

yes i meant tollway, what are the spec of the gt4, back in the state im not into celica, i think the body shape look aweful

The Celica GT4 was a 4wd rally designed car , 3 stages ST165/ST185 and ST205.

ST185

0 - 60 6.7secs ish UK 202bhp JDM 225BHP

E/W C/L A/C the usual sometimes sunroof

The CS has a more aggressive fuel map, grille on bonnet not a scoop, and different bumper

5K will get a CS / RC with 40,000 miles nice unmarked

The 3S-GTE engine is very strong as are turbo's if looked after

internals can take 350BHP as standard

CS / RC keep value better than standard 185

Group 16

25MPG

Smoke, rattles from diff mounts

Releif valve - £20, downpipe £250 CS version is better to tune due to

better mapping as standard

205

0 - 60 5.6 secs

Well specced

WRC is the Homologation edition (not a limited edition) WRC has Anti

Lag, Intercooler spray bar fitted as standard

Better than the 185

Group 17

24mpg

Front suspension and the usual

Same as above - stock pistons can take 375bhp crank and rods can take

550BHP - a couple of hunderd quid well spent should see 280+BHP

Copied spec off another site , not pretty cars but great value for money.