My How You Have Grown

[niky]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

And my 2013 Fit is right about the same weight as my 1989 Accord was.

But the Fit is more powerful, more economical, and according to the EPA, has more interior volume, to boot.

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Depends on what exactly you mean by more. In this case, I think "less is more" applies. It's rather like adding 100 lbs to your Sports Illustrated swimsuit model or Chippendale dancer - not something most of us would think of as an improvement :-)

I think the more appropriate comparison is boxers.

The old Accord was a middleweight.

The old Civic was a welterweight.

The new Civic is a middleweight. Which would be a bad thing if it still had the same power and reach. But it packs the same punching power and range as the old Accord. Beyond that, it has a stronger chin than either the old Accord or Civic.

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Nameplates are deceptive. You have to look at how much space you get for the same weight, old to new.

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The Mirage is another nice case in point.

Our current Mirage weighs as much as our first non-American car, a 1983 Ford Laser (Mazda Familia). Same weight, but the Mirage is quicker, has a smidge more passenger volume, and if you were to crash the two into each other, I know which I'd rather be in.

Granted, the Laser was more fun to drive. But the exhausts and suspensions on those things fell out of the car before the ink on the warranty was dry. Also, I don't think I would ever be able to coax 30 km/l out of the old carbureted 1.3.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by samwichse

Subs are not just for shaking things, some of us use them listening at a reasonable volume.

Of course people who use speakers for listening. rather than annoying people outside their vehicle (and sometimes a mile or so away), go unnoticed.

Though I'm not really sure what filling in the deep bass is supposed to do. To me, the stock speakers in the Miata do a more than adaquate job on things that have considerable bass, say Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition", or Beethoven's "Battle Symphony" with the cannon. Maybe if you're trying to emulate one of these https://www.unr.edu/cceer/facilities...t/shake-tables on the cheap?

PS: OK, deep bass = vibration from underseat speakers, Now I get it :-) But doesn't that count as distracted driving?

Originally Posted by RedDevil

Each speaker was easily 20 times as heavy as the tinny speaker Honda put in, which had a hump on the back containing the coil and all less than one inch across.
The Boston magnet alone had a larger diameter than the whole Honda speaker.

But that was your choice, no? I dare say you could have found perfectly adequate speakers that were much lighter. So better quality than the Honda OEM, and lighter.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Of course people who use speakers for listening. rather than annoying people outside their vehicle (and sometimes a mile or so away), go unnoticed.

Though I'm not really sure what filling in the deep bass is supposed to do. To me, the stock speakers in the Miata do a more than adaquate job on things that have considerable bass, say Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition", or Beethoven's "Battle Symphony" with the cannon. Maybe if you're trying to emulate one of these https://www.unr.edu/cceer/facilities...t/shake-tables on the cheap?

My Insight came with two speakers from the factory, which sounded like something out of the 1800's. Replacing them with aftermarket, moving up to 4 speakers and amplifying them helped with bass, but for it to sound remotely good required maxing the bass settings in the head unit, and resulted in distortion at relatively low volume. Adding a separate (small) sub helped tremendously - I expect the housings for the speakers are just lousy, and there's little that can be done to help them.

Plenty of other vehicles have much better sounding factory audio though, and a sub is probably unnecessary.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by niky

The old Civic was a welterweight.

The new Civic is a middleweight.

Which wouldn't be a bad thing, if there was a welterweight available. But there isn't.

Nor do I think the boxer comparison is really apt, since what they're doing is getting the welterweight to qualify in the middleweight class by upping his body fat.

[Xist]

The only time I replaced a radio in my eight cars was when the stock one died in my first vehicle. I also bought new speakers, but discovered the old ones had come unplugged. The new stereo and original speakers worked well enough, but the CD player was an eBay special. It was quite possibly the least expensive one that I could find.

Guess how well that worked?

I do not believe that it remembered my radio presets if I turned off the engine. It appeared to have a graphic equalizer, but the whole thing went up and down with the volume, not specific ranges. CDs only skipped when the car moved.

Then someone stole it and my speakers. I thought it was hilarious. I am not sure how long I went without a radio, but the transmission went out, and I bought my first Accord.

I still have those replacement speakers in a box. Do you think they are worth anything?

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

But [buying high end Boston speakers] was your choice, no? I dare say you could have found perfectly adequate speakers that were much lighter. So better quality than the Honda OEM, and lighter.

It was my choice, definitely. But I doubt any lighter car speakers come close, even today.
I went to a specialist audio shop and they quickly lost interest in me when I said I needed speakers for a 10 year old Civic. Take the cheapest Pioneers or leave. They are good enough.
Well sorry but I’m used to my high end home stereo with an X amp and Y speakers, etc, I was not really into buying that there for my car.
Eyebrows to the ceiling. Sir! Please come upstairs, we’ll show you the real stuff....

You can buy complete sets for one of those speakers. And I bet you they were pretty damn linear all the way down to 20 Hz. Three wishes from Roger Waters made my belly nervous, even at moderate volume. No need for subwoofers...

The audio foam was what really finished it off. And it gave the doors a Maybach like thud. Closing them turned heads, as it sounded that unusual!

[freebeard]

Prolly the nicest audio environment I had was in the Notchback with the Grateful Dead rondel on the nose.



Nor radio, bare metal interior and dual 40mm Solexes with no chokes, and K&N filters.

It sounded like Gabriel's trumpet.

edit: Oxford comma.

(those wheels on the oval window bought my Dasher)

[Hersbird]

One summer I worked full time over minimum wage for 3 months and saved most of it to buy a car stereo. A JVC cassette head, a 100watt amplifiler/equalizer, and 2 Jenson 6x9s for the rear deck. Now you can buy a better setup for 1/3 the price, and i can make as much money as I did that whole summer in one good overtime shift. Some $10 ear buds plugged on it my phone sounds better as well.

[redpoint5]

Hummer - 7,850 to 8,100 lbs - 10 MPG
Hummer H2 - 6,400 to 6,600 lbs - 11 MPG
Hummer H3 - 4,700 to 4,900 lbs - 15 MPG

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I know it's a totally different situation, but it's quite surprising that a good old Jeep is actually shorter and narrower than a Volkswagen up! city-car.

Originally Posted by Jez77

Yep cars keep gettin bigger so manufacturers have to keep introducing new smaller models.

Corolla got too big so yaris and echo were born.

No wonder Toyota had to develop different bodies for the JDM Corolla, with the most noticeable difference being the width. That's because of regulations that put cars over 1,70m width, 4,70m lenght, or both, at a disfavorable tax bracket.

Landcruiser got too big so prado and Rav4 was born. Current Rav4 is nearly as big as the landcruiser we had as kids.

Suddently, it got me to realise the size of a J40-series would be much more suitable for city-driving than most of the current soft-roaders out there.