At church on Sunday I saw a brand new Golf R parked, black with 6-Speed stick. (Are all R's stick?) Wow, what a beautiful car.

I was hoping to see the Owner, but had no such luck. I know it's a sin, but I covet the car. <g>

 

More are actually DSG than manual. Dealers have a hard time moving the manuals as they are quite a bit slower. Obviously more fun to drive, but slower in every type of sporting event.

 

Ah, interesting about the R's Manual vs the DSG. Well put about the fun vs quick tradeoff.

I wasn't the recent winner of the $1 Billion plus lottery in SC, so the R will have to wait. <g>

 

Here's me a few years ago when I was single and without 2 kids! It may be a while before I can sneak away and get an updated pic!


2RISMO2 slays the Dragon

Y'all are right about TOTD being crazy sometimes. I actually liked Cherohala Skyway better, less people on it when our motorcycle club went. Warwoman was good too, not as technical but fun nonetheless.

 

Nice 2Rismo2! SV650?

My image was also prior to child and "adult" life. LOL I'm very late to the parenthood game so I had a lot of play time.

Still have my bike, but it's been in storage for almost 9 years and will be for at least a few more.

 

Good eye. Yup it's a 2005 SV650s. Still have the bike too, but like you it's mothballed haha

Here's another one, when I rode my brother's bike from VA to Mississippi and took the long way to hit TOTD. I did it over 3 days and camped along the way Cool points if you can identify it 8)



Virginia has The Back of the Dragon and I've taken the GK5 on it. Not as much traffic and way longer than TOTD. Back of the Dragon

 

Hmm...without googling images or studying too closely, I would guess it's a Vmax?

If wrong, let me guess again after a bit more studying. LOL

Agree about the TOTD. I have better roads right here where I live as far as less traffic and longer drives. Still something about that particular stretch of road though. It's not real long, but those 11 miles are intense!

 

You're on the right track with a VMAX, same era and engine type :)

 

I cheated and looked at a few images online. Honda Magna!

I've ridden one of those as well as the Vmax. I knew someone with a Magna that used it to tow a jet ski trailer. Was certainly odd, but he didn't have a car.

Used to go to Biketoberfest and Bike Week every year and demo everything offered. Had a lot of fun on bikes that weren't mine. LOL Was probably 1996 through about 2009ish. Probably my favorite bike was the ZX12R. I wish I would have bought one when available new.

 

Yup you got it. That one pictured is the VF700C, also dubbed the Super Magna. I've also ridden the VF1100C and that was surprisingly smooth and way faster than it looked. I think it was created to compete against the VMAX. I'm not surprised your friend could tow a trailer with it, the motor is very torquey.

 

Man, awesomely great photos 2Rismo2! Good conversation about TOTD alternatives. I'll have to check these out.

We were late to the parenting business too GAFIT, married almost 10 years before starting our family and me in my 40s. I wouldn't change a thing though.

 

Mrs. Alco and I were watching Wheler Dealers on the Velocity Channel (or whatever it's called now) and they replaced a Harmonic Balancer on a Corvette V-8. She asked me if her Golf had a Harmonic Balancer and I didn't know. So that I can keep my Man Card, does the Golf have one? I told her that I'd ask y'all here on our Wolfsburg thread.

Trivia: Steam locomotives required counterbalance weights mounted opposite the crank pins to help neutralize the reciprocating weight of the rods and cranks. (Not my photo) There was quite a science to this (note that the closest driver's weight is a bit larger than the other) and perfection wasn't possible. At high speeds, steam locomotives punished rail and track structure.


Steam Locomotive Driving Wheel Weights

 

AFAIK, all 4 cylinder engines from the factory have harmonic balancers. Many, our VW's included, have a harmonic balancer and even have balance shafts inside the motor to further reduce vibrations.

4 Cylinder engines are just not well balanced and require substantial counter measures. The need increases with displacement.

Of the currently manufactured car engines, I believe the inline 6 is the most naturally balanced engine.

 

Good call GAFIT 6 cylinder engines are inherently smooth. As far as I know all engines have harmonica balancers. I changed the one on my MINI with an ATI fluid damper & it made a noticeable difference, mostly felt at idle. Although I'm sure it helps right through the rev range.

Alco, Rolf the Golf has counterweights on the crankshaft much like those big beautiful steam engine drivers do. If it's not balanced it will really cause some expensive havoc.

 

Ah, very well then -- a harmonic balancer and crankshaft counterweights it is then. Thanks guys!

Perhaps it was in 2010 we test drove a VW 5-Cyl. (2.5L was it?) Jetta at a Dealership. The salesman said he could feel a vibration. I could not, but I was busy thinking about other facets of ownership. The Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon had (has?) a 5 Cyl. back then and I seem to think of Volvo too?

 

I never understood the reasoning behind an inline 5. Very unbalanced naturally and longer than a v6 or v8. It would be my last choice of engine designs.

 

Our Golf, Otto, is getting new shoes today.

The Hankook's aren't completely shot at 36k miles, but they are to the point where they hydroplane easily and have poor traction. To be fair, they had poor traction when brand new...now they are worse.

Going to give Yokohama Ascend GT's a try. My tire place has a $170 rebate and 30 day trial deal on them which makes them super affordable. They weren't in my top 3 choices going in, but it's hard to beat a big rebate and free trial. If they suck, I'll divert to the Bridgeston or Michelin's I went in to buy originally. I was looking for a performance all season tire with a treadwear warranty and v or higher speed rating. The Ascends are only an H speed rating, but have a 75,000 treadwear warranty. Given that our one year old Otto has 36k miles already, I need something that will last.

We'll give them a try.

 

The weirdest one I can recall is the VW VR5. Yes that's right essentially a VR6 missing one cylinder. To me nothing sounded finer than John Buffum's Audi Quattro flying down a forest stage with its 5 cylinder engine screaming. Oh boy!

My Plymouth Fire Arrow (aka Misubishi Celeste) had a crank damper, counter weights on the crank & 2 counter rotating balance shafts running counter crankshaft rotation to cancel out vibrations from that 2.6 liter lump of a 4.

 

Ditto for our VW motors. They have balance shafts running counter rotation to the crank. I had a Nissan SE-R specV Sentra. It was popular with those to remove the balance shafts. Little if any harm to the motor. They are there for driver comfort.

For me, I'll take an internally balanced v8 and skip all of the counter measures.

 

I remember my brother and I making snarky comments in the early 1980s about TV ads we saw extolling the new Cadillac cylinder deactivation system. The ad showed an LED display reading "4", "6" or 8" depending on load. My amused brother said "7" and "3". <g> Unsurprisingly, the technology of the day wasn't ready for prime time and as I recall, Cadillac quietly stopped offering the feature.

I'm guessing that variable displacement systems deactivate chosen cylinders to retain balance. Today's lightweight pistons and connecting rods help reduce vibration too I'd guess.