Motortrend's Cars - Gojira

[CAMAROBOY69]

@motortrend
Looking great. Every little detail always helps. Plus like you said, its comforting knowing you wont have to worry about them.

I love seeing old car parts next to brand new replacements.

Me too. Its always so fun to see the progress on the GTP members cars.

 

[motortrend]

I love seeing old car parts next to brand new replacements.

Me too, I never got a picture of the end links but that was by far the worst, you could move them round with one finger and felt much less linear than the new ones.

Drove the car today in the dry and I'm really amazed at how much the handling changed with such a little change, I have a lot more confidence in the car now. Can't wait to get the front suspension sorted out.

Been getting a low coolant message in the last couple of days. Topped it up, hopefully that fixes it or if I take it to the mechanic to get it checked out it's hopefully a bad hose or something inexpensive. Fingers crossed.

 

[Ibonibo]

Good work 👍

changing those bushings on a older car really makes a huge difference. Good thing you ordered brushes that can be exchanged with normal equippement.

Are you planning swaybars too?

 

[Zyla]

Strut tower bars are also a good way to go, if you haven't gotten one yet.

 

[motortrend]

Good work 👍

changing those bushings on a older car really makes a huge difference. Good thing you ordered brushes that can be exchanged with normal equippement.

Are you planning swaybars too?

Maybe some time from now but the car actually feels way more planted at the rear right now. After I do the struts I'll start saving up and maybe get the H&R bar. I have to say it feels really good right now so I'm not in any hurry.

Strut tower bars are also a good way to go, if you haven't gotten one yet.

Dinan sells one but the general consensus is that the E39 chassis is well designed and stiff enough as-is, people who put the strut bar in don't notice a difference. The strut bar is more eye candy than anything really and for $300 I'd rather replace some worn engine bay parts and get it looking newer.

 

[X5.]

Top stuff @motortrend . Think your E39 looks great and I like what you've done with it. Is the E92 yours as well?

 

[motortrend]

Top stuff @motortrend . Think your E39 looks great and I like what you've done with it. Is the E92 yours as well?

Thanks! The E92 is my father's, hopefully eventually mine they're Very different cars despite having V8s. Both great fun (the M3 more) and comfortable (the M5 more)

 

[motortrend]

Made a video of a short drive, wanted it to be longer but I got a low tire warning so I headed back
(went down to the 20s PSI range). Also, I apologize for the blurriness, the lens was sort of dirty and fogged up.
So here you go, a little bit of skidding and some dreaded wheel hop:

 

[Katiegan]

For some reason, I love on board videos like this. Cool music too.

 

[motortrend]

For some reason, I love on board videos like this. Cool music too.

Yeah I prefer on boards to an externally mounted camera, I just need to set the exposure right and maybe put a polarized lens in front so that the outside is more visible. QOTSA FTL

 

[Crash]

Nice music, similar to what I listen to in my car as well.

What camera are you running and how did you mount it? Also, did you leave DSC on?

 

[motortrend]

Nice music, similar to what I listen to in my car as well.

What camera are you running and how did you mount it? Also, did you leave DSC on?

I'm using a cheap eBay camera that's about $40. I bought it from someone locally so I don't know where he got it and it has no name but I'll attach a pic and see if that helps. It looks much better in other recordings like the one I posted when I got it, the lens was just blurry and there was a lot of glare from the wet. It's mounted on the rear glass since it's not long enough to mount on the sunroof.

When you see me reaching for the center console I'm turning off the DSC, with it on there is absolutely no way of getting sideways unless I'm being completely insane and trying to crash. From experience it always comes on before any slippage and always keep it on during normal driving because you never know where there will be a slippery bit of road and you're not being fully aware.

 

[Clark]

I see you're like me in that video: you can't resist pulling out of a junction sideways in the wet

 

[X5.]

Thanks! The E92 is my father's, hopefully eventually mine they're Very different cars despite having V8s. Both great fun (the M3 more) and comfortable (the M5 more)

The e92 is something else, owned one for a year, awesome vehicle but do feel the e46 has a certain rawness to it.

Awesome video, gotta love that roar and the music. Can't go wrong with QOTSA!

 

[motortrend]

I see you're like me in that video: you can't resist pulling out of a junction sideways in the wet

When there's no cars ahead or behind, a warmed up engine, and a wet road I just can't help it (unless I'm really tired or sleepy). Hey, we might as well be driving FWD cars if there's never any oversteery fun

The e92 is something else, owned one for a year, awesome vehicle but do feel the e46 has a certain rawness to it.

Awesome video, gotta love that roar and the music. Can't go wrong with QOTSA!

Thanks! I Also like gangster rap, EDM, and various pop but I went with something people wouldn't be annoyed by if I uploaded the recording

The PO of the M5 had owned an E46 M and didn't like it because of the harshness. I bet I'd like it especially as an occasional car. The E46 Is definitely a better choice right now if you want a track car but like I said the versatility of the E9X is very impressive

 

[motortrend]

Yesterday I bought some plastidip and decideed to mess around a bit, liked the outcome so it's staying like that for a while

Also fixed some broken tabs by using glue to put them together. Not a fan of that approach but I wasn't going to buy a whole new bumper just because of a couple of tabs. Here's a picture I took today of the dry plastidip after a wash late yesterday

So today I had one of the best days of my life:

(There's a supercharged ariel atom behind the X6M)
Visited a friend of my parents' house. That red NSX has 800+WHP on race gas, I rode in it running low boost at mid 500s, it was absolutely amazing. We got pulled over by the cops because they wanted to check out the car and before leaving they told us to do whatever we wanted the joys of supercar ownership. I have to say the sound and feel of the boost building up with the induction noise right by your ear is absolutely insane. Speaking of insane, that TA is quite crazy, never have been in something with so much grip and braking power. I'm 6'1 and really couldn't see much out the window, maybe because of the seat adjustment. It's a crazy car, it drones inside, it's harsh, it throws you areound and it's absolutely great, just not for a daily driver. Also got a ride in an M6 E63 ESS supercharged. That thing felt like a video game, the sound just feels unreal, it doesn't even sound very car-like and I say that in the best way possible. It's a very comfortable car that gets into VERY high speeds without you really noticing, I liked it a lot. Finally I got to drive the Z8 to move it to his other storage and I felt like I was in a movie. The car feels like a classic roadster with modern interior touches, everything is quircky and cool inside and outside. It's not a car you really want to drive fast, even though it has great torque from that S62, it just feels extremely special to cruise around in. Didn't get a ride in the Gallardo because hell 4 cars were enough and they were the more special ones and the atom was decomissioned due to some suspension parts IIRC. All in all, amazing day.

TL;DR: I want them all, especially the Z8 and the NSX

 

[Harry6784]

We got pulled over by the cops because they wanted to check out the car and before leaving they told us to do whatever we wanted

I'm moving to Puerto Rico....

 

[Katiegan]

Normally, I don't care about supercars, but holy 🤬 I'm jelly. Should've got more pictures of that NSX though.

 

[Clark]

I don't think anybody could say no to a bright orange Viper.

 

[motortrend]

Normally, I don't care about supercars, but holy 🤬 I'm jelly. Should've got more pictures of that NSX though.

I was too busy enjoying the view and trying not to drool all over the car, there are more pics online of the same car so here you go.

The engine is fully built with stuff from Lovefab and put together here in PR

 

[Katiegan]

I was too busy enjoying the view and trying not to drool all over the car, there are more pics online of the same car so here you go.

The engine is fully built with stuff from Lovefab and put together here in PR

 

[Ibonibo]

Dude. Very nice. That Z8 , that Viper , THAT NSX , you see were this is going.

Awesome choice on the plastidip. Gone jump in it too soon, already made my order

 

[motortrend]

Dude. Very nice. That Z8 , that Viper , THAT NSX , you see were this is going.

Awesome choice on the plastidip. Gone jump in it too soon, already made my order

Thanks, where do you plan on using it?

 

[Ibonibo]

Dipping whole cars. Starting of with the crap cars, so I have a bit of experience to platidip mine, later down the road.

 

[motortrend]

I was saving up to get the struts soon but… of course something is broken. Took the car to a wheel repair place to get a vibration checked out and as they were lifting it up I noticed the rear left toe was all over the place. Got close and noticed I could move the wheel in and out about 2-3 degrees. Not good. Noticed the bushing of the upper control arm seemed to be moving too much so I went to get the part to replace it. Turns out the bushing had gone all the way through the hole and was on the other side. The rubber seal on the other end was also completely shot. Pics:

Yeah, that bad.
Thing is, there was still some movement and the only likely culprit was the toe link, so I rushed to the parts store, came back home with the new one and installed it with the help of my dad.
Here's the movement after changing the upper control arm.

Pics of toe link install

Took it out for a short drive, feels good over bumps, less sound but the car obviously is WAY out of alignment so I'll take it to get aligned on Monday and then I'll give it a good go again.

 

[Ibonibo]

Nice work. You approching an really tidy M5. Awesome. Step by step.

The worn one looks really shot

 

[motortrend]

Nice work. You approching an really tidy M5. Awesome. Step by step.

The worn one looks really shot

Thanks! Hopefully by next year most will be sorted and then it's just keeping it in good condition, one thing at a time. Yeah the sway bar bushing was completely on the other side of the part, it was insane

 

[Zyla]

Finally got around to watching your driving video. Sounds good! I loved the power slides as well.

 

[Crash]

Ok, I've got a question about your nav screen. When you press the cassette eject button on the top right and the nav screen slides out, what happens if you press the cassette button again? Does pressing the button a second time retract your nav screen? What happens if you don't press the cassette button again? Does the screen eventually retract itself? How long does that take your car?

I think I'm having some problems with the nav screen sliding in and out mechanism.

 

[motortrend]

Ok, I've got a question about your nav screen. When you press the cassette eject button on the top right and the nav screen slides out, what happens if you press the cassette button again? Does pressing the button a second time retract your nav screen? What happens if you don't press the cassette button again? Does the screen eventually retract itself? How long does that take your car?

I think I'm having some problems with the nav screen sliding in and out mechanism.

If I press it one more time it slides back in. I haven't tried to leave it there for a long time open but I've left if for about a minute while putting a cassette in and it didn't retract by itself IIRC. I haven't had any problems with it *knock on wood* although it produces some annoying rattles over bumpy roads.