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The mighty God called “Automobile”!
[en] To do next time to karting [fun/auto]
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I’ll take my camera with me and hang it on my neck to share the 13 HP adrenaline with the others (some know what I’m talknig about!).
Great experience, btw!
Later edit: I added a video I made that day; forgot all about it at the time!
[ro] WKE interesant SI karting [Twitter]
5Stiu ca-i aiurea introducerea insa insemnarea (n-am avut unde sa incarc fisierul .pdf) va fi postata in mod automat pe Twitter si cum asta nu arata decat primele cateva cuvinte in descriere,m-am gandit ca trebuie sa fie ceva care sa va sara in ochi, sa luati aminte!:-)
@dianamaria,@bogdanaron,@adriansoare,@adrianpopescu ma bucur sa va cunosc si sper sa facem si-un Lasertag vineri!O sa vorbesc astazi cu Adi de la Fara Cravata, se ocupa si el de sala de acolo, de pe Grivitei si va tin la curent!
PS:Pe pagina a doua eu am condus kartul cu nr.3!Si asta doar pt ca nu a participat si @adrianpopescu 
[ro] Roata pentru masinile de F1 [auto]
0Am avut posibilitatea sa inspectez una. Slick si foarte,foarte usoara! Diametru jantei (BBS) este de 13 inch, latime 325.
[en] Volkswagen Eos weekend drive [auto/cars]
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I’ve been fortunate enough to receive a nice car to test-drive for a looong week-end (Friday to Tuesday). It was a Volkswagen Eos (car configurator available) coupe cabriolet, the one year old break-through model Volkswagen introduced last year. The engine was the new TSI 1.4L, 122 HP with turbocharger. Beautiful and modern design makes this car a serious candidate to a cross-country road trip!There is a big difference in motor-configurations across continents. While in Western Europe and America most motors are 1.6, 2.0 and 3.2 Liter petrol and 2.0 TDI engines, in Eastern Europe there is a big demand for 1.4 TSI engines which deliver 122 HP (having just turbo supercharger), 140 HP and 170 HP (supercharger and an exhaust gas turbocharger arranged in series) being a LOT sporty than it might seem.The standard means: 16 inch alloy wheels, LED tail lights, all airbags, disk brakes front and back, ABS< EDS< ASR, ESP,active headrests, central-locking with crash sensor,radio-cd with MP3 and 4 speakers (front), electromechanical servo-assist for the steering-wheel.My test car was more than a standard, with special alloy wheels (17 inch), Climatronic dual, “Plus” onboard computer, wind deflector in the back, Design Chrome&Style, Bi-Xenon headlights and washers, sport seats, an audio system with 10 speakers and 600 Watts amplifier, auto-pilot,heated seats.
After 4 days of driving more than 1000 km, I can summarize this:
Inside
Being a coupe cabriolet I wasn’t expecting too much space. But a lot of it is available. The dashboard is ergonomic (the ones driving the new Passat know about this), with all the controls at hand, with large, simple dials and nicely finished buttons.
The lateral windows are extremely big and wide allowing one to see over the shoulder without any obstruction. The materials used are top class and the finishing touches are perfect.It really feels like driving a Passat and one can’t tell a difference at times.
There is a wide sunroof which is standard. It filters the sun-beams very good and lets in a lot of light. One can operate it thru a button located at the back end of the front arm-rest, where the button to take the top down is also to be found.
The top is a hardtop and it takes 30 seconds to complete the operation. There’s a demo on the top link. The system is pretty smart: for example, it will memorize the temperature you had inside just before you let your top down and it will try to keep the same temperature while you drive in convertible mode. Also, by putting the top up again, it will command the dual Climatronic to switch back to your memorized temperature.
Note: buy the wind deflector in the back. It’s easy to deploy and it takes less than a minute.
It’s a must! Otherwise,your neck will be stuck in less than 20 minutes. Also, the front wind deflector (above the windshield and it’s standard) must be used in order to avoid currents passing thru the cabin.
Performance:
Knowing it’s a 1.4 petrol engine, I wasn’t expecting much. But it blew me away because the turbine has variable geometry which means it will work starting quite early featuring an impressive torque of 200 NM from 1,500 through
to 3,500-4,500 rpm.It has 80 percent of maximum torque starting at 1,250 rpm.
to 3,500-4,500 rpm.It has 80 percent of maximum torque starting at 1,250 rpm.
It accelerates constant from 60 to almost 200 km/h! Constantly and with power! This is also very economic: my consumption can be seen above. Keep in mind it’s extra-urban, and that the medium speed was just under 100 km/h. Also, the car had only 800 km on board thus being a bit lazy sometimes and eating up to 10% more gas.
At some point it was 6.9 l/100 km.
Rain came at times but because of the frontal wind deflector and speed (130-160km/h) we escaped clean. No rain entered the card even when it poured for 10 minutes! When hitting bad roads, however, the windows rattled badly and the car felt like coming apart. This wasn’t the case as the body is well reinforced. This was a problem with convertibles in the past but it seems like they were solved.
The ride was smooth, the handling of the car accurate. It responds well to sporty approach but tends to over steer pretty easy. This was something that caught my eye right away. When driving at high speeds it seems unstable and it was most of the times. This reminded me “convertible” is not the same as “sport”, though the motor seemed convincing most of the times. Driving with top down is a dream! You feel the air flowing, the smells surround you and the sky is THERE all the time. Also the light is coming from above and that’s not an usual feeling.
Earlier I said it feels like a Passat. And it is quite so. The power-train is quite the same. It’s smooth and very German: like a tank. The car feels sturdy and gives you confidence on the road. Road noise and wind at high speeds tend to get really disturbing once you pass 130 km/h mark but they are countered by the fine music system which is REALLY loud if you push it to 50%. At 90% you got to get out of the car and you’ll be fine.:-) Once you put the top on, the Eos will become a silent cruiser. Of course, when it comes to buying and ownership, this car is not cheap. Like any other convertible, that’s the main focus and you have to pay for it: it starts from around 23.000 Euro (varies from country to country), VAT included. And one must take into consideration at least 3.000 Euro in optional features. Other than that, it’s not expensive to operate , and the reselling value is quite high if you “remember” to give it up in just 2-3 years.I never thought of buying a convertible before but if I’d need one, I think Eos would be a good choice. Because it makes you feel alive and seek adventure everytime you drive it.
[ro] Confesiunile unui vanzator de masini [auto/life]
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Oh,acest subiect atat de drag mie! Oamenii sunt atat de doritori de masini noi, frumoase si lucioase, incat uita ca de multe ori altii profita de voiosia lor in ale cumparaturilor. Trebuie sa recunosc ca Romania nu este SUA. Sistemul lor este atat de diferit si mentalitatile sunt atat de contradictorii incat este greu sa faci o comparatie. Insa unele lucruri nu se schimba niciodata, iar oamenii sunt intr-o mare masura, la fel oriunde ai merge. Mentalitatea clientului este aceea a unui rege. I se cuvine totul, doreste totul, cat mai repede si cat mai ieftin. Daca se poate, gratis. ACUM! Maria Sa, clientul, nu cumpara produsul sau serviciul in sine! Noooooooo! El cumpara discount-ul! Si te cumpara si pe tine! Cum, nu mergi cu el acasa acum sa-i duci masina? “Hai, ca-s si io dragut cu tine, na, ia aici 100.000, sa ai de-o bere!”. Bai, ai innebunit?!!!! Revenind la masini, romanu’ cumpara “discount” in radio-cd, covorasele de cauciuc, 2 litri de ulei de motor, GPS, eleron spate si cateodata, carlig de tractare – intra draq unu’ in el si trebuie sa-i f&*^% aluia motorul, sa se invete minte data viitoare. Dar nu si in Statele Unite ale Americii! Acolo, omul vrea sa stie cat ii dai pe masina veche (buyback). Ah, si ce rata are lunar si care este avansul minim pe care il poate plati pentru una noua, ca daca o da pe-aia veche, doar nu o sa mearga pe jos. Acolo toata lumea are masina, chiar si imigrantii care nu locuiesc legal. N-am sa vorbesc de metehnele romanesti, ci de cele americane. Ale vanzatorilor de acolo. Ca p-astea de aici le stiu prea bine. Aseara am stat lipit de computer o ora citind cum functioneaza sistemul de vanzari auto in America. Un nene s-a metamorfozat din scriitor la gazeta (electronica) in vanzator de masini pentru a se pune in pielea vanzatorului. Ce merge, ce nu merge, daca noi,ca si clienti, platim sau nu pretul corect pentru un produs indispensabil. Articolul este o lectie extraordinara pentru cei ce vor sa-si cumpere o masina, cu toate ca majoritatea lucrurilor legate de leasing si imprumuturi bancare nu se aplica, lucrurile fiind mult mai transparente si mai bine puse la punct in Europa. Chiar si in Romania. Insa restul se aplica pentru ca suntem cu totii oameni. Insa chiar si asa, m-a ajutat sa inteleg mai bine de ce oamenii sunt speriati cateodata de vanzatorii de masini.
[en] VW Eos soon-to-be review [auto]
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Reminder: I am driving since yesterday a Volkswagen Eos 1.4 TSI , 122 hp.I’ll have it for another 2 days and I’ll be writing a short review about it!!!
PS: Impressing car till now!
PPS: So I did!
