Crown

JR-550:

it all because of the import duties (according to Trump) Has nothing to with the quality.

US companies always seem to have ignored Europe as a major car market, for whatever reasons. 

GM took a beating with Opel but I'm not surprised here. Ford did a clever thing (after years!) by bringing the Mustang to Europe but way too late.

They missed out on lot of opportunities, including Chrysler with Jeep and even Dodge but now I guess it is too late.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Audi R8 V10 Plus (2016), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)

I think you are comparing new European cars to old American cars. Easy to do. Now compare a ten year old VW to a ten year old American car and the differences are not so major. Both fall apart and age like any mechanical thing. It is just a matter of time. There is no magic. 

Not seing US cars in some european country in not only because of the build quality ( which used to be a big issue but not so today ) , it has A LOT to do with national preferance to his own car makers . 

In Switzerland , we see quite a lot of US cars, loads of Mustangs , loads of Jeeps , and loads of Tesla . Not so much of the others expect for some occasional Camaro , Corvettes, Cadillac , and a few Ford pick ups , like the Raptor .

As we do not have to protect our own car industry ( we don't have one ) + we don't have that engraved subconscious national preference for home brands, we are much more open to the other car markets . Just look also at how many Japanese or Corean cars we have compared to Germany or France .

 The consumer here will choose according to what he gets for his money, and for example, with the Mustang you get a lot for your money compared to a same priced Golf or A3 .  You get more plastic , less perfect fits, but a huge powerful engine , a look that people like , and a car that is actually probably for fun on sub urban traffic congested roads . 

Sweeden , Finland also have quite a few US cars .  Germany and France are not Europe , just a part of it . 

 964 Carrera 4 --  997.2 C2S , -20mm -- 991.2 GT3 RS 

Gnil:

Not seing US cars in some european country in not only because of the build quality ( which used to be a big issue but not so today ) , it has A LOT to do with national preferance to his own car makers . As we do not have to protect our own car industry ( we don't have one ) + we don't have that engraved subconscious national preference for home brands, we are much more open to the other car markets . Just look also at how many Japanese or Corean cars we have compared to Germany or France .

 The consumer here will choose according to what he gets for his money, and for example, with the Mustang you get a lot for your money compared to a same priced Golf or A3 .  You get more plastic , less perfect fits, but a huge powerful engine , a look that people like , and a car that is actually probably for fun on sub urban traffic congested roads . 

Sweeden , Finland also have quite a few US cars .  Germany and France are not Europe , just a part of it . 

US cars aren't competitive in Germany, their prices are often too high and there are no official dealerships available for certain brands/types, only grey imports.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Audi R8 V10 Plus (2016), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)

Gnil:

Not seing US cars in some european country in not only because of the build quality ( which used to be a big issue but not so today ) , it has A LOT to do with national preferance to his own car makers . 

In Switzerland , we see quite a lot of US cars, loads of Mustangs , loads of Jeeps , and loads of Tesla . Not so much of the others expect for some occasional Camaro , Corvettes, Cadillac , and a few Ford pick ups , like the Raptor .

As we do not have to protect our own car industry ( we don't have one ) + we don't have that engraved subconscious national preference for home brands, we are much more open to the other car markets . Just look also at how many Japanese or Corean cars we have compared to Germany or France .

 The consumer here will choose according to what he gets for his money, and for example, with the Mustang you get a lot for your money compared to a same priced Golf or A3 .  You get more plastic , less perfect fits, but a huge powerful engine , a look that people like , and a car that is actually probably for fun on sub urban traffic congested roads . 

Sweeden , Finland also have quite a few US cars .  Germany and France are not Europe , just a part of it . 

Fully agree.  A French person can look out at their streets full of Renault, Citroen, etc. and says - nationalistic? Moi?  And of course every country that manufactures is the same.  Interestingly, one could argue that the US is actually less nationalistic than EU countries that have their own industry, as combined market share of Japan, Korea, and EU cars is very significant (as I recall domestics have only about 40% of the market).

2017 Range Rover Sport S/C,  2009 Porsche 911S

This is the GT2 RS that belongs to a guy that lives close to my place . He owns a pretty nice collection of cars, mainly Porsche . He is the one that managed to order officially 2 '' R '' .

Check out the inside xx  detail options 

The car is absolutely breath taking in real life . Best color for the Gt2 RS 

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 964 Carrera 4 --  997.2 C2S , -20mm -- 991.2 GT3 RS 

Gnil:

Check out the inside xx  detail options 

The car is absolutely breath taking in real life . Best color for the Gt2 RS 

It does look lovely. What is the name of the colour? The interior is visually appealing but a little comfort orientated No? Against the ethos of the car . There again, he probably has a second more track orientated version as well .

Sorry to say but... I have to agree. Really like the exterior colour as well as the interior, but the GT2 RS is too technical, raw and focussed for it. I’d bet it would look tremendous on a Turbo S, both inside and outside.

By the way, looks like he ordered the leather center console in combination with the painted frame for the climate controls. Any reason for that?

Not so sure about the interior, but absolutely love, love, love the exterior paint. 

Even for a car like the GT2RS. 

We're at the point where you can be the fastest or just sound like you're the fastest.



The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

Obviously he configured it for street driving . He owns CGT, 918  etc ... , actually he buys anything interesting coming from Porsche.  A very big and special collection . He is not a track junky . Just likes to drive his cars . Uses one of his R as a daily . 

Personaly I would also have buckets seats inside etc... but for his use this car looks gorgeous . The combinations work perfectly . Each choice of colors or material works well and gives a nice general feel, different from what we usually see .

I don't know the name of the exterior color , but it is the metallic blue that we used to see on the Turbos from the 80's . 

 964 Carrera 4 --  997.2 C2S , -20mm -- 991.2 GT3 RS 

Epic if u can get this done by the factory 

Owner is surprised his car is so much slower...  No surprise if you mess with the factory setup. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hFoIHNK9Ls&t=539s

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Audi R8 V10 Plus (2016), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)

What is the point of launch control drag racing?

Kobalt:

What is the point of launch control drag racing?

Making a fool out of yourself?  

My son, he is 15, asked me why this GT2 RS owner brought the car to the drag strip instead of a race track? 

Just kidding...never understood the attraction of drag races in modern street legal cars but to each his own I guess. 

I was just trying to point out what this guy did to his GT2 RS and why it was so much slower than the 720S. He straight piped the car and removed the cats, absolutely deadly sin on a bi-turbo charged car without the proper software adaptation. 100 hp more? I think he got at least 20-30 hp less.  On the dyno, the car may have gained power but we all know that real world test results often differ from dyno claims.

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Audi R8 V10 Plus (2016), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)

Kobalt:

What is the point of launch control drag racing?

They are Americans, they can't do corners

Going fast in a straight line is racing enough for them.

Americans can take corners and have also always been expert at drag racing. It is Europeans who are the one trick pony and can’t appreciate drag racing (although 0-60 or 0-200 times still seem to be very interesting to all).  Don’t even get me started on ovals. They are not so easy  

Let me tell you this for certain. I have been to many types of live racing. Countless F1 events etc. In each case I would love to jump into the car and try it. No problem - except for drag racing. Go watch Top Fuel once in your life live and then let me know if going straight fast is something you dare to do!!  I would not want to go 0-325 mph in 4 seconds for all the money in the world.  Fucking insane. Pardon me.  

Leawood911:

Americans can take corners and have also always been expert at drag racing. It is Europeans who are the one trick pony and can’t appreciate drag racing (although 0-60 or 0-200 times still seem to be very interesting to all).  Don’t even get me started on ovals. They are not so easy  

Let me tell you this for certain. I have been to many types of live racing. Countless F1 events etc. In each case I would love to jump into the car and try it. No problem - except for drag racing. Go watch Top Fuel once in your life live and then let me know if going straight fast is something you dare to do!!  I would not want to go 0-325 mph in 4 seconds for all the money in the world.  Fucking insane. Pardon me.  

Oh boy, what did Nick start here...  

Speaking of drivers in the US: I spent over a week in Florida recently and never encountered so many bad drivers in my life.  Absolute idiots. Left, right, different speeds, no turning signals, cutting off other people, tailgating other people, passing them, then suddenly braking for no reason and slowing traffic down, etcetera etcetera. 

Driving like this in Germany would cause one accident after another. 

No wonder there are so many cops on the roads in the US, they urgently need it to keep drivers under control. 

Yes, 99% of Americans can't take corners. I can confirm that. At least the drivers I always had to deal with in the US.

We spent the holidays at a friend's beach condo and he isn't from the US either. When we talked about driving and traffic in Florida, he said that he has a friend who is a highway patrol cop and this guy has his own theory: The problem seems to be the very young age Americans take their driver's license exam and start driving. Most of them start driving at 15 or 16 and usually, they are basically kids which aren't really "fit" for driving and acting responsibly. So they get used to driving like jerks from a young age on and continue to do so during their adulthood. This is just a stupid theory but maybe there is some truth in it. The driving exam in the US is also way too easy compared to other countries, so no surprises here either.

Please don't misunderstand me: There are some good drivers in the US, mostly those who do some professional track racing and/or who join those driving ed events on a regular basis. The regular population? A catastrophe. 

Just for comparison: The US had over 100(!)% more traffic deaths compared to Germany and we have no general speed limit. Talking about deaths per 100000 citizens and/or per 100000 motor vehicles, so it is a good comparison.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Audi R8 V10 Plus (2016), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)

The problem is that the standards for driving in the US are much lower than in Europe, the license is much easier to obtain (it is a joke in comparison), training is much less, and also culturally there isn't as much importance placed on driving safety as in Europe, that is why seatbelt use is much much lower, texting while driving is more common or talking on the phone or eating, etc. And because mobility in the US is much more dependent on the car the age spectrum is also wider, very young and very old driving in the US (I remember driving the car myself to school when I was 14 years old, unthinkable in EU). Add to that the greater amounts of imigrants driving from countries with no driving culture and also the higher alcohol and drug use and you have the huge difference you see on how people drive in general, it is appalling.

That said, like you said there are plenty of good drivers in the US just like anywhere else, it is just that they are shadowed by the more numerous mediocre drivers which are the ones you actually notice when you drive there. 

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⇒ Carlos - Porsche 991 Carrera GTS

Carlos from Spain:

The problem is that the standards for driving in the US are much lower than in Europe, the license is much easier to obtain (it is a joke in comparison), training is much less, and also culturally there isn't as much importance placed on driving safety as in Europe, that is why seatbelt use is much much lower, texting while driving is more common or talking on the phone or eating, etc. And because mobility in the US is much more dependent on the car the age spectrum is also wider, very young and very old driving in the US (I remember driving the car myself to school when I was 14 years old, unthinkable in EU). Add to that the greater amounts of imigrants driving from countries with no driving culture and also the higher alcohol and drug use and you have the huge difference you see on how people drive in general, it is appalling.

That said, like you said there are plenty of good drivers in the US just like anywhere else, it is just that they are shadowed by the more numerous mediocre drivers which are the ones you actually notice when you drive there. 

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⇒ Carlos - Porsche 991 Carrera GTS

 Oh, I forgot something else I noticed in the US: 90% of the drivers are driving and...texting.  My kids have the habit to always look inside the cars next to us and they always say that the drivers hold their cell phone in their hands, texting or just looking at it. There are so many ads in the US warning drivers to drive and text but it gets only worse in my opinion. I noticed a similar trend, mostly with young(er) people in Germany too. People are so bored in their boring cars that they try to keep themselves busy by looking at their phones and/or texting. Idiots. 

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Audi R8 V10 Plus (2016), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)

Florida is an exercise in patience  :-)

The problem starts with the driving licence . Friends of ours who moved to Florida had their 16 year old kid take the driver's license .

For the theory , he could redo it as many times as he wanted , one after the other, ( just had to pay each time ) until it was right enough to get it .

For the practical part ... he went to a big parking lot , had to do a few maneuver there , like park between the lines ( no other cars around ) .... the best part was : when he had to ' simulate ' a start on a hill .  As no hill there , he just had to imagine there was one     Basically , they just give you the drivers licence . 

Once back in Europe, the kid could not drive properly . his father made him take a few driving classes, eventhoug his US driver's licence got automatically exchanged for a Swiss one 

 964 Carrera 4 --  997.2 C2S , -20mm -- 991.2 GT3 RS 

Well, now apply that, for some even technical studies, like Architecture, from dozens of countries. Southamerica in general, but also Iran , Belgium or Italy, for saying some i know well. I've been really in shock several times about it

Gnil:

.... the best part was : when he had to ' simulate ' a start on a hill .  As no hill there , he just had to imagine there was one    

I guess they did some "simulated winter" driving too?  

i have driven in many places and nothing is on the strict level of european roads.

north Africa, West Africa, Middle East...you need a tank to feel safe on the road. what a mess

GT Lover, Porsche fan

991.2 GT3 manual, 991 GT3 2014(sold)

Cayenne GTS 2014

RC, taking Florida drivers as representative of the US is like taking Roman drivers as representative of Europe.

Gnil:

the best part was : when he had to ' simulate ' a start on a hill .  As no hill there , he just had to imagine there was one    

and let me guess... it was an automatic and had to imagine the clutch too  

⇒ Carlos - Porsche 991 Carrera GTS

waiting for PDK:

RC, taking Florida drivers as representative of the US is like taking Roman drivers as representative of Europe.

Wasn't better anywhere else in the US...  (Hawaii, Arizona, California, Utah (maybe here a bit better), Nevada, Colorado...). Florida, California and Hawaii were the worst though I have to admit.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Audi R8 V10 Plus (2016), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)

It doesn’t matter where in US, the fact is that Our country has absolutely the WORST drivers as a majority, of any civilized nation on Earth, only some 3rd World places can compete with the idiots driving cars here.

Do not argue this, you know in your heart it is true.

absent:

It doesn’t matter where in US, the fact is that Our country has absolutely the WORST drivers as a majority, of any civilized nation on Earth, only some 3rd World places can compete with the idiots driving cars here.

Do not argue this, you know in your heart it is true.

 

Not really. When have you been to South America, Eastern Europe and/or the Middle East/Asia lately?  

The main problem in the US is the traffic density: You don't have a couple of cars on a road but masses of cars and when some of the drivers mess up, well... 

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Audi R8 V10 Plus (2016), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Mercedes C63 S AMG Cab (2019), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)

Leawood911:

Americans can take corners and have also always been expert at drag racing. It is Europeans who are the one trick pony and can’t appreciate drag racing (although 0-60 or 0-200 times still seem to be very interesting to all).  Don’t even get me started on ovals. They are not so easy  

Let me tell you this for certain. I have been to many types of live racing. Countless F1 events etc. In each case I would love to jump into the car and try it. No problem - except for drag racing. Go watch Top Fuel once in your life live and then let me know if going straight fast is something you dare to do!!  I would not want to go 0-325 mph in 4 seconds for all the money in the world.  Fucking insane. Pardon me.  

You know, you just proved my point. 

Drag racing is born from accelerating and going fast in a STRAIGHT LINE. Between stop lights a stuff, there is no cornering involved. 

Those 0-something times are just a reflection of a car's mechanical grip in a straight line, the horsepower being put down, the the aero drag. No driver skill involved. The only driver skill needed is to keep the car going in a straight line. That's it.

Oval racing, it's from NASCAR, and NASCAR was born from bootleggers trying to out run police in a straight line too. Simplest of the oval tracks is basically 2 straights linked by 2 giant 180 turns that let them keep the speed as fast as possible. But those NASCAR guys do have great car control skills, not easy to go around a turn at such speed. And there are plenty of footage of them saving a loose car from the wall too.

Circuit racing never quite caught on with the American crowd. The skills of carving corners got lost on them. They simply cannot equate. Most American roads are long and straight, grid like. Not too many curvy winding roads, apart from the mountainous states on either side of the continent. 

For rest of the world where their country is not flat, negotiating curves, up and down hills and mountains are a fact of life,  people can equate that better with circuit racing. Don't forget, circuits are corners linked by straights, so racing on straights are still being tested, with the added challenge to put down power when the car is not even straighten out yet. 

A non-flat circuit time will be more relevant than a drag strip time, simply because a circuit basically exercise all of a car's performance parameters, not just horsepower. 

Rings time gaining importance is exactly this reason. It is better than say a modern flat F1 circuit simply because the car has to negotiate inclines, on and off camber moments. 

1/4 mile racing is big in American simply because a lot of intersections are spaced appropriately for those drag racing moments. 

The 0-something time, or say 60-200km/hr or anything involving higher straight line speed is of relevance to the autobahn, either for passing speed or merging speed from onramps.