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I'm surprised you had that many issues with the Neon. They are generally good and reliable cars. You must have had a bad example.

Restore is simply motor oil with lead and copper suspended in it. It is NOT recommended at all and IS bad for the engine. It is a last resort for cars burning ALOT of oil. The suspended metals work their way into groves in the cylinder walls and prevent the oil from blowing by into the cylinders. That sounds good, but the downsides are great. It WILL clog the oil pump and any oil return lines. It even says this on the package. It will ruin any sensor it comes in contact with (oil temp, oil pressure, VVT, etc.) It will wear down camshaft lobes. It is actually a racing tool that some company bottled and sold to unsuspecting people at parts stores.

In drag racing it is used to hold a damaged engine together for 1 more pass. In drag racing, to score points, you are not allowed to change the engine block for the duration of the event. This prevents teams with more money changing engines every single pass and winning. It is not uncommon at all to 'burn up a cylinder' with these high horsepower engines. Basically that means that the piston rings no longer seal against the cylinder wall and you get oil blow-by in the cylinder and lose compression on that cylinder. When this happens, a team will dump in a quart of this stuff now labeled and sold as "Restore" (but the racing application uses it with 2-3x more metal additive) and although it will ruin the engine, it will seal the cylinder back up for probably 1-2 more passes, which is often all you need.

If you put that stuff in a 4cyl escort and it smoothed out the idle and restored performance, that engine was going to sh!t the bed very shortly anyway.

If you have a car engine that burns a bit more oil than is normal, all you want to do is change to a thicker oil. If the car needs 10w-30, change to 10w-40.

There are oils like Shell Rotella T6 (praised in the turbo car community) which contain magnesium (MUCH lower PPM than the lead/copper in Restore). These oils are GREAT for turbo cars as they help keep turbo seals intact and not leaking. When I bought my Speed6 it burnt a quart of oil every 1000 miles(on conventional oil), after changing it to Rotella T6(which is fully synthetic), I burn less than 1/2 a quart in 5k miles. The magnesium is MUCH softer and they use smaller particles than the lead/copper in Restore so it is perfectly safe for all engine applications. The tiny bits of magnesium form to the tiny imperfections in the turbo seals and the slightly heavier weight oil helps prevent seals leaking. If I added a can of Restore to my car the turbo would likely fail within 1000 miles.

One other completely safe way to stop car engines burning oil is to use fully synthetic oil.

If a car engine contains alot of sludge, a perfectly safe way to clean it is to substitute one quart of oil for one quart of ATF (auto trans fluid) for an entire oil change cycle (5k miles). ATF contains detergents and will clean the sludge easily without any harm to the engine.

 
Interesting; I'll remember that about the ATF (and about Restore!)
The Lemon went through a set of plugs on average in 10K miles (first set was 9K). It needed the A/C compressor replaced TWICE, brake master cylinder, door and trunk seals, main stalk switch twice, motor mounts, and it seems there were other things; all within the first couple of years (so fortunately most was under warranty). It was very loud (wind noise) at highway speeds.
 
Motor mounts are actually more normal than most people think. at 100k miles basically any normal car will need them replaced. Needing them in the first few years is weird though. Sounds like you got a bad one. I have seen plenty of very reliable ones.
 
Indeed. It was a poor choice then. I too heard the later ones were a little better, but that one pretty much soured me to Chrysler products. In any case, I prefer hatchbacks for their practicality and carrying capacity. I wouldn't mind finding an old truck to haul project materials though, like wood and PVC.
 
I too like hatchbacks. We are in the market for a car for my GF with a 5-7k budget.

Once I don't live in an apartment anymore and have a house, I will definitely buy a beater truck and trailer for project cars and such. Probably some mid-90s Toyota 5-speed T100 2WD.
 
I'm not going to buy an early 2000s Hyundai or Kia. Just way to many issues from way too many people I know. Also, you can buy a 2002 Elantra for like 2k or less, as they are considered beaters at this point. Here is a GOOD one for 2500: http://denver.craigslist.org/ctd/5213987254.html

We are trying to get something a bit better built and more modern.

It'll be Japanese for sure. Probably a 2002-2005 civic/corolla Something like this: http://denver.craigslist.org/ctd/5217281819.html But this one is overpriced because it is at a dealer.
 
I would not have touched Hyundai before I bought that one; too new and unproven. I'm on my third one now though, and have no complaints. We'd still have the Elantra Touring if not for the opportunity to get the Santa Fe thanks to a gift from my wife's father.
I do see a beater truck in our future, maybe in the Spring (if the poo hasn't hit the fan yet).
 
Silly question; what exactly is a "drift car?" My best guess is it is a car intended to travel in directions other than the one in which its wheels are pointing, i.e. it is intended to waste lots of rubber on the pavement, make a lot of squealing noises, and use a lot more gas than would normally be needed to go from point "A" to point "B."
 
You got it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrKzziZqpt0 this is drifting. A sport with levels from amateur all the way to world professional. I have competed in many levels of this sport but I have never owned a drift car myself, but I plan to change that.

A drift car is easy. You need: RWD platform, engine of any configuration making anywhere from 350-1200hp, lost of negative camber on the front wheels, very lowered suspension with little travel, hydraulic handbrake, manual transmission, LSD or preferably welded differential.
 
As emphasized in the original slickdeals post any email address works. There is no confirmation and no need of a key. ( I think I used bob@bobmail, it obviously doesn't exist.)
 
Not to disparage the skill of the drivers at all (I certainly couldn't do it), but "drifting" otherwise looks like a colossal waste of resources, much more so than any other [motor] sports I've seen. I think I understand racing, in its various forms, e.g. straight-line drag, oval track (various surfaces), grand prix, endurance, etc, but I didn't quite get the point of drifting.
 


It is a finesse sport. Very similar to ice skating. It is judged by a panel of people against a strict rubric. You win based on style. Drifting is often referred to as a cross between sumo and figure skating. The point isn't to be the fastest or first. It is to be the most technically correct. To get the bumper of the car within inches of the clipping points (judged zones) while maintaining the maximum angel at upwards of 90mph with another car less than a foot from your door.
 
That actually adds a great deal of clarity. One would hope then, that better methods could be found, that are less wasteful and inflict less toxicity on the participants (e.g. breathing all that burning rubber). This would lend itself well to small boats, or even jetskis, on a water course, or small hovercraft in an aerial course. The same finesse and accuracy would be needed, without the inordinate level of waste.
 
Ehh, I'm not sure. Generally you get very little to no tire smoke in the cabin at all. MUCH less than when you do a burnout at the beginning of a drag race.

It just wouldn't be as fun or as 'real', or as difficult if performed with vehicles intended to go sideways (watercraft).

I don't see this as more wasteful than any other motorsport. Runs are short, so little fuel is used. In a single event (maybe 8-12 runs) probably 1/50th the fuel is used compared to other motorsports. In one event you will go through significantly less tires than a NASCAR does during a race or a dragster does in a weekend event.

In terms of wear and tear on the cars, aside form crashing (possible in any motorsport, drifting is relatively low impact. In most forms of high level motorsports an engine lasts ONE event, in professional drifting, engines last multiple seasons with little more than oil changes.

Not that I am intentionally disagreeing, but drifting is one of the LEAST wasteful motorsports.
 
Interesting. The impression I got from the video was a phenomenal amount of burning rubber.
Don't think of it as disagreeing, think of it as being enlightening. I hadn't really considered fuel-usage though; that is a common use/waste across all motorsports. As to tires, I suspect the type and density of rubber used across different sports makes any direct comparison difficult, but it seems that only in drifting (more so even than drag racing), "burning" rubber seems to be a requirement of the sport, not merely an unavoidable corollary. What if it could be done with teflon or metal wheels on a teflon or metal surface? The comment about engine-life seems apt, and something I hadn't considered, although I understand that car companies study the wear produced during racing to improve their products.
The only thing I'll "disagree" about is the watercraft; I'm not sure they're intended to go sideways either. In a waterborne version of drifting, there would no doubt be strict requirements with regard to thrust angle of nozzles or props. Perhaps air-boats could be used?
 
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