[uucdigest] Monday, September 15 2003 Volume 03 : Number 6751
_________________________________________________________________ | | Search the ARCHIVES: | http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] | | Visit Richard Nott's Ultimate BMW Database: | http://www.bmwdatabase.com | | For all available Digest commands including unsubscribe/subscribe, | visit the BMW UUC Digest page: http://www.uucdigest.com | | Send SUBMISSIONS to [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Complaints? Send 'em to [EMAIL PROTECTED] if you must. | Technical Problems? Send 'em to [EMAIL PROTECTED] |__________________________________________________________________ In this BMW UUC Digest: RE: [uuc] anybody got a good sub-$9K 5-series or 7-series in or close to NJ? Re: [uuc] [OT] old tool restoration? Re: [uuc] anybody got a good sub-$9K 5-series or 7-series in or close to NJ? RE: [uuc] CCA Discounts for Businesses? <communist rants> Re: [uuc] Tire Patch Shape Re: [uuc] CCA Discounts for Businesses? <communist rants> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 07:42:14 -0700 From: "Marco Romani" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] anybody got a good sub-$9K 5-series or 7-series in or close to NJ? Jeez Gary. That's a bit rough. The clients could be "johns". Anyway, he could always put a set of those cool "spinning" wheels on it. Those things sure impress me. Matter of fact he wouldn't even need to buy real $2000 spinning wheels. He could go to Kragen and buy "spinning wheel" hubcaps. I'm not kidding. Marco amazed at the crap I see on cars today. Bling Bling - -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Gary Derian Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 6:35 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [uuc] anybody got a good sub-$9K 5-series or 7-series in or close to NJ? No $9,000 car will impress clients, unless they are idiots. If they are, he shouldn't want them as clients. Hmm... Buy a Hyundai and put Roundels in it. <grin> Gary Derian > Hey guys, > > My neighbor is looking for a 5-series or 7-series. Needs to be the > kind of car that impresses clients. > > Must be automatic, clean, and reliable. If it breaks, I'm going to > hear it - and I don't want to hear it! > > The issue is the budget - $9K or less doesn't sound like an E39 or > E38 unless somebody is feeling generous. Anybody have a super-clean > E34 or E32 for sale? > > - Rob > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 07:52:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Jason Daniels <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] [OT] old tool restoration? Put them in a bead blasting machine and clean them up. A fine layer of gun oil or PB B'laster will keep them from corroding again. Jason - --- Gilbert Hoffman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Gruppe: > > My grandfather died a while ago. Our family is just > starting to go through > the house to recover any worthwhile belongings. He > had a fair amount of hand > tools. Most of them have a full compliment of > surface rust due to years of > neglect. Is there a way to restore these tools to > their former states? Will > they always be rusty? Any insight would be > appreciated. TIA > > Gilbert ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 07:55:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Jason Daniels <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] anybody got a good sub-$9K 5-series or 7-series in or close to NJ? Unless they are cheap and they appreciate the frugalness of you driving a NICE older used car. Nothing makes me cringe more than a realestate person driving an $80K car. Oh did I say 6% commission? I meant 5 1/2%. Jason - --- Gary Derian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > No $9,000 car will impress clients, unless they are > idiots. If they are, he > shouldn't want them as clients. Hmm... > > Buy a Hyundai and put Roundels in it. > > <grin> > > Gary Derian ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 11:06:38 -0400 From: "Robinson, Lee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] CCA Discounts for Businesses? <communist rants> There are some really good points here. I don't have any experience working China--well, until next year anyway, but I have worked in two countries in Asia that are producing lower priced alternative to western manufacturers, Thailand & S. Korea. In both of those cases the workforce was well paid for the local stadard of living. Jamie makes a good point that there are other factors that more likely to result in lower manufacturing costs. In Korea, the companies are highly subsidized by the government which is backed primarily through foreign investment. In no countries in Asia am I aware of the enforcement or even consideration of environmental controls. Plants in the US spend millions & millions a year to satisfy the EPA. Bribes & palm-greasing are pretty prevalent as well as these up & coming countries are trying to push themselves into full industrialization. Keep in mind how many western countries (including US-based) are setting up shop in Asia, so they're getting a piece of the low-cost labor pie too. FWIW, I don't really think that the products coming out those areas are necessarily lower quality, they were just produced at a lower cost. Sorry, I've seen much more half-a$$ed work here in the US than anywhere else. The people working on those countries realize they have a good job & are better paid than they would otherwise be able to manage. I find it amusing that in a country where unions are so prevalent, that there is someone recommending another to vote on communism with his feet. Sorry, unions are socialist & communist. The US has fixed pricing, subsidies, import tariffs, anti-trust laws, etc. Not a true capitalism. By comparison, places in Asia are truly capitalist, where competition dictates the market price. Can you distribute it at a lower price with the same quality? Good, you win & your company, business, economy will grow. That's capitalism plain & simple. The reason BMWs are so popular in Thailand <OBMWC>? They are made there, meaning one only has to pay 100% tax on a new BMW vs. 300% on an imported car. You can get a 3 series for less than a Jetta, guess why there are no VWs? Keep in mind also, that the price of building industry in up & coming countries is proportionally higher than in western countries. I.e., it was a lot more of a strain for Bangkok Steel or Hyundai to pay $1200 (where local engineers would cost about $150/day) a day for western engineers than it would be for a US company. So each region must contend with it's own challenges in order to improve or maintain it industrial situation. While I don't find this an uninteresting discussion by any means--how the hell did we get here from Rob's refusing a CCA discount?!?!?!?!? I suppose that's one of the things I find so interesting about this forum. Lee->this e-mail comes to you from a laptop from an American corp (Dell) with all it components coming from Thailand, China & S. Korea. > -----Original Message----- > From: Jamie Howton [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, September 12, 2003 5:19 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Cc: 'Rob Levinson * UUC Motorwerks'; 'Ed MacVaugh' > Subject: RE: [uuc] CCA Discounts for Businesses? <communist rants> > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > <SNIP> > > At the expense of the less efficient manufacturers. Given > > that your own > > livelihood is at stake you probably do not want to admit > this, but if > > Chinese can manufacture something for 1/2 the price that is > > only 2/3 as > <SNIP> > > The fact that I am not likely to agree with you here has nothing to do > with my livelyhood "being at stake" as you suggest, it has more to do > with the fact that I think that you are wrong. You seem to think that > there is some kind of parity betweeen US and Chinese manufacturers in > the way that business is conducted. You are wrong. I do compete with > the Chinese in some markets, I ship parts to Hong Kong, Singapore and > Malaysia and I am very familiar with the way that business is > conducted. > Contracts are usually awarded based upon bribes, kickbacks and payouts > all of which are illegal business practices in this country. No > environmental controls are employed wahtsoever. No human > rights issues > are even considered. Very frequently vendors are not paid, ever. > That's how they beat us, not by being more efficient as you seem to > believe. > > > That's capitalism for you. > > If you don't like it, I suggest you look up communism and if > > necessary, > > vote with your feet. > > > > Ok Alex I'll take your advice. I am sure I can do something > to be more > competitive against the obviously more efficient Chinese > manufacturers. > > > Let's see as of now each of my 45 employees will only be paid > $0.37 per > day to maintain parity with our Chinese competition. Hmm > what else can > I do, instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to > make sure that my company doesn't pollute the environment I'll just > start discharging untreated waste into the air and water, that'll help > to level the playing field too. Forget about taxes, I'm not > paying them > and while we're at it no more unemployment compensation insurance, or > health insurance or vacations. What else, OSHA, forget about it, if a > few employees get hurt or killed along the way we'll just hire some > more. > > Or how about this, I join all of the other Walmart suppliers by firing > all of my employees and building a plant in China, things will be fair > then won't they. > > What you are referring to as "Communism" is the age old > discussion about > unfair trade practices. The Chinese system is communist, most of the > companies are state owned, funded and subsidized. Wage rates are held > at an artificially low level by the Communist government and there are > no employee benefits, employee safety or pollution controls. > > It's not capitalism at all. It's American companies trying to compete > in a capitalist sytem against communist governments who aren't even on > the same playing field as far as being good corporate > citizens. So when > your son or daughter can't find a job because there aren't any left in > this country you can tell them to vote with their feet and move to > Pakistan so that they can work in a tech support call center for $0.50 > per day. > > Nothing personal. > > Jamie Howton > 2002 330i > 1995 M3 > > > > > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 10:23:21 -0400 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Tire Patch Shape Visualize the footprint moving forward. When rolling straight, a tread element touches the front edge of the footprint and moves to the rear. When cornering there is a slip angle. That tread element touches as before, but now is deflected as it moves to the rear. As it deflects, it generates a cornering force. As the slip angle increases, at some point, the tread element begins sliding. In the front part of the footprint, the tread elements are building cornering, in the middle part, they are at peak, in the rear part, they are sliding beyond peak. A long and narrow footprint can be bent into a crescent by these forces. A short and wide footprint maintains its shape and gets all the tread elements to work together. Braking works well either way. Acceleration is far more complex as there are several conflicting factors. Weight transfer to the rear increases rear traction. Added torque to the rear decreases the traction available for cornering. The action of the limited slip causes power understeer or power oversteer at various times. In general, cars with more weight to the rear, and more power benefit by larger rear tires. Gary Derian > Back to car related topics ... > > I'm not sure that anyone has ever strictly proven it, but it seems to be a > pretty well accepted theory that for road course racing in a > production-based street vehicle, a wider, shorter tire patch is superior to > a narrower, longer tire patch. More specifically, holding all variables > constant, a 225 tire will outperform a 205 tire. Yes? (Remember, with a > constant vehicle weight and a constant tire pressure, you cannot change the > overall size of the tire patch) > > Now, it would seem intuitive that braking and accelerating would both be > maximized with the same shape tire patch since they occur in parallel > directions. But cornering occurs perpendicular to (or at least at an angle > to) braking and accelerating. This would suggest that they cannot all be > maximized with the same shape tire patch. > > In purpose-built racecars, you see wide rear tires but narrower front tires. > Due to the stiffness of their suspensions, I am not sure that you can > conclude anything regarding the optimum shape tire patch for cornering. > However, these cars would seem to make it clear that for accelerating, the > wider tire patch is best. Which leads to the conclusion that wider is best > for braking. > > So, is a narrower, longer tire patch superior for cornering?? Not that I > know of. I must be analyzing this too simplistically. Someone fill in the > blanks, please. > > Stan > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 11:17:40 -0400 From: ben keyes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] CCA Discounts for Businesses? <communist rants> Lee wrote: > I find it amusing that in a country where unions are so prevalent they aren't as big as you think. most of the automotive supply base is _not_ unionized (Visteon & Delphi excepted) and it's my understanding that ther there are almost no unions in most of the South, which is where much of the industrial development has happened in the last couple of decades, esp as it relates to transplant auto production. certain industries - Steel for instance, which you work with a lot - are still quite unionized, but I think that unions have largely seen a decline in membership as companies learn that if they treat their employees well they don't feel the need to unionize in the first place... Ben ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #6751 *************************** | | In memory of Michel Potheau - friend, enthusiast, founder of the BMW CCA. |________________________________________ | Please visit these UUC-approved BMW parts vendors/service providers: | (listed alphabetically) | | Autoscope-Motorsports - http://www.autoscope-motorsports.com | |==================================================== | | Koala MotorSport . BMW technical information, special tool sales/rental | http://www.koalamotorsport.com | |==================================================== | | Taylor BMW - http://www.taylorbmw.com - Doc Bimmer! | |==================================================== | Turner Motorsport Inc . The Ultra-High Performance BMW Specialist | 207 Elm Street, Amesbury, MA 01950 | 978-388-7769 / fax 978-388-4202 | http://www.turnermotorsport.com | |==================================================== | | UUC Motorwerks - BMW Performance Fine-tuning | and home of the Ultimate Short Shifter - accept no substitutes! | 908-874-9092 . http://www.uucmotorwerks.com |__________________________________________________________
