*warning, not for the faint of heart!*



So I posted some pics of the crossfire I recently picked up on a car forum that I frequent. Most of the folks favor BMW, Nissan, Mazda, Audi/VW, and Porsche cars, which a few GM products thrown in. I thought it would get everyone in a tizzy posting pics of the crossfire and in fact the reaction from a few people was rather priceless.

Not to keep you guys waiting any longer, here's the link (assuming you are both bored and brave!): http://forums.motivemag.com/zerothread?id=4067001

tom

 

I love the... "why didn't you go for the 2007 SRT-6"... hmm... there aren't any... its just that all the '05 owners take such good care of their cars they look brand new.

+1 for good detailing...


EDIT: read the second page... you need to tell the guy who keps putting it down that he is an idiot. tell him to get his facts straight. the chassis on the crossfire is from the '97-'04 R170 MB SLK320 as well as 200 and 230 (and SLK32)... People need to learn to research before they think...

 

And the vomit guy is a tool too-

Its says he owns GTI and Honda Accord??? Is he seriously putting down the Crossfire with that stable?


Thats like me putting down someones 350Z when I'm rolling around in a Ford Taurus and Civic.

 

You could always ask them to research reliability and repair records.

I think the VW's have some issues in that regard.

Something I read somewhere...

 

Not all the comments are bad. At least they didn't say the dog taking a dump joke.

You should remove that ugly dealer tag. And, what's up with only one light on in the last photo?

 

We need to post the dog picture for reference - it's funny even for us Crossfire owners. Most comments were positive. What about all the Chrysler Engineer retuning which really does make this a different car than mercedes.

 

You're right now all comments are bad, but you should read the 2nd page. That's where the dog doing a #2 comment is made.

I will definitely get the tag taken off in due time. Maybe this weekend. Any recommendations on how to do this short of using a heat gun?

In the last pick, I took a photo of the car with the passenger side "city light" on. It's something that a lot of VW guys wish their cars came with stock and spend a few hundred dollars bringing their cars to "euro-spec".

 

I did mine with hair dryer and dental floss. Heat it up for a few minutes and it should come off easy. Fishing line works too.
I discovered the "city lights" by accident when I went out one morning and only one side of the lights were on. At first I thought something was broken.

 

You guys should read the second page, it gets pretty rough.


Could you explain to me the rengineering that chrysler did to this car? Is there a good PDF available online that explain the history of this vehicle. I have to imagine the whole design and engineering story behind this vehicle was pretty interesting!

 

I may see if I can borrow a hair dryer in that case! Sounds easy enough.

Yeah, I accidentally left the city lights on all night recently. I didn't realize I turned the switch too far to the left when I turned off the lights. And of course, I've used the CC stalk as the directional as well!

 

so what do the vw guys use the city lights for? ive always thought they were useless

 

I figured they must be a safety element for short term parking on tight European streets.

 

Realizing that I'm just making fun of myself by my next comment, most VW guys put them on their cars to be posers at car shows. Luckily, I never got much into the car show stuff. But yeah, most folks throw them on at shows or simply install them to show judges they have yet another (pointless) mod. I tried to do the VW/Audi car show thing a number of years ago, but frankly, it sucked. I was so much happier when I took my VW out of the shows and started doing HPDEs and autocrosses. The people are just much cooler at driving events.

I was considering using the city lights the next time I park on the street in Philly. However, I realized the only thing this will do is give my car some negative attention when it comes to thieves and meter maids!

 

but what is the difference of having all the lights on instead of just one side? is it brighter or what

 

and what do you mean thieves? do you keep them on when the car is off and your away from it? im so lost on the point of only have half the cars lights on

 

The only purpose of being able to illuminate one side of your car with the parking lights is for parallel parking in the city, moreso a city with narrow streets. In the US, with the use of parking lots and garages, they are pretty much useless. And if you don't ever go into a crowded city they are also useless.

I believe the correct use (the owners manual goes into detail on this) of these lights is to illuminate the side of the car that is facing the street so that oncoming traffic doesn't hit your parked car. This makes much more sense in europe, though there are some narrow city streets in the US where this could be handy. And yes, they are designed to work when you are not in your car, when it's parked. So if you went to the biggest city near you to have dinner and got a spot on the street that required you to parallel park, you would park the car, set the city lights to the side of the car facing the street, open the door, lock it, and walk away. Once you close the door, the parking lights on the side you set, will be lit (after the fog lights and parking lights that normally illuminate when you get out of the car shut off). And presumeably you won't come back to your car later and find it was hit by someone who didn't see it.

However, the more likely scenario is that some slime bag notices your car parked and that it has one set of parking lights illuminated. Boom, scumbag notices your car and decides to investigate, and maybe he decides to help himself to your car or its contents. Or, maybe the meter maid walks up and down the street and notices your city lights. (S)he'll then know how long you've been there as you will be the only one with city lights on. In fact, they might even think there is something wrong with your car. Confusing people can be fun though!

 

oh ok i was going to say i dont see how there is a difference in parallel parking with one side of the lights on as opposed to having all the lights on, i could actually see having all of them on being easier to park! but if they are used to keep on when you turn the car off and walk away wont they kill the cars battery after some time?

 

Yes, indeed, they will wear out the battery if kept on for a while. The manual recommends to use the lights only when you are away for a short period of time. I would say 3-4 hours would be fine, though I left mine on all night and the car started fine the next day.

 

Here is a link to "Chrysler's" side of the Crossfire "re-engineering"
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2632193/11

 

Good article, thanks for posting it, it's one I haven't run across yet (although they did manage to get the SRT6 coupe and roadster production figures reversed).