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Check out my new service loaner!

Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
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May 23, 2002
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Check out my new service loaner!



No really, this car was a service loaner prior to me picking it up. I got it for about $20k off sticker, and it's virtually flawless, so I'm not complaining. In the first week, the infotainment randomly restarted 6 times and the sunroof developed a rattle. I had the software updated which took care of the infotainment and the sunroof I fixed by pressing the little thingee up and down a few times. It's been great since.

The car is an absolute joy to drive. Traction is incredible, especially coming from the american pig dog rav4, which couldn't accelerate from a stop sign without spinning a tire. This thing just moves. Handling is impeccable, I can launch it around a corner without thinking about it. It's quick, but not insanely so. When it's go time, it goes, and unlike an electric car, it keeps going, rather than falling flat on its face after the start. It's beautiful inside and it's pretty quiet too. My big complaint at this point is that the engine note is kind of a trombone-like blaaaaaaat and not remotely sonorous. Would be nice to have something more "exuberant" to listen to on my twisty roads, but hey it's still super fun to drive.

Will probably grab a roof rack soon. No trailer hitches exist besides a euro style hitch, and those don't have square receivers to fit a bike rack (plus they need to have the bumper taken off to fit). Maybe a spoiler, then some summer wheels to compliment the "lusso" wheels for winter.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,977
9,638
AK
Sandwich said:
Check out my new service loaner!



No really, this car was a service loaner prior to me picking it up. I got it for about $20k off sticker, and it's virtually flawless, so I'm not complaining. In the first week, the infotainment randomly restarted 6 times and the sunroof developed a rattle. I had the software updated which took care of the infotainment and the sunroof I fixed by pressing the little thingee up and down a few times. It's been great since.

The car is an absolute joy to drive. Traction is incredible, especially coming from the american pig dog rav4, which couldn't accelerate from a stop sign without spinning a tire. This thing just moves. Handling is impeccable, I can launch it around a corner without thinking about it. It's quick, but not insanely so. When it's go time, it goes, and unlike an electric car, it keeps going, rather than falling flat on its face after the start. It's beautiful inside and it's pretty quiet too. My big complaint at this point is that the engine note is kind of a trombone-like blaaaaaaat and not remotely sonorous. Would be nice to have something more "exuberant" to listen to on my twisty roads, but hey it's still super fun to drive.

Will probably grab a roof rack soon. No trailer hitches exist besides a euro style hitch, and those don't have square receivers to fit a bike rack (plus they need to have the bumper taken off to fit). Maybe a spoiler, then some summer wheels to compliment the "lusso" wheels for winter.
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You should check and see if these guys have any plans to develop a hitch for it. I had one and it was outstanding.
http://execuhitch.com/tow-hitches/

01b941fe206cdd9782cbf7c82f518614bf1f4f9a00_00001s.jpg
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,064
5,974
borcester rhymes
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,977
9,638
AK
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,871
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media blackout
Sandwich said:
Check out my new service loaner!



No really, this car was a service loaner prior to me picking it up. I got it for about $20k off sticker, and it's virtually flawless, so I'm not complaining. In the first week, the infotainment randomly restarted 6 times and the sunroof developed a rattle. I had the software updated which took care of the infotainment and the sunroof I fixed by pressing the little thingee up and down a few times. It's been great since.

The car is an absolute joy to drive. Traction is incredible, especially coming from the american pig dog rav4, which couldn't accelerate from a stop sign without spinning a tire. This thing just moves. Handling is impeccable, I can launch it around a corner without thinking about it. It's quick, but not insanely so. When it's go time, it goes, and unlike an electric car, it keeps going, rather than falling flat on its face after the start. It's beautiful inside and it's pretty quiet too. My big complaint at this point is that the engine note is kind of a trombone-like blaaaaaaat and not remotely sonorous. Would be nice to have something more "exuberant" to listen to on my twisty roads, but hey it's still super fun to drive.

Will probably grab a roof rack soon. No trailer hitches exist besides a euro style hitch, and those don't have square receivers to fit a bike rack (plus they need to have the bumper taken off to fit). Maybe a spoiler, then some summer wheels to compliment the "lusso" wheels for winter.
Click to expand...
if you wanna spend some money you could get a custom hitch for it. i had to go psuedo custom to get one with a 2" receiver for my impreza. any good custom trailer / hitch place could do it for you.
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,320
5,074
Ottawa, Canada
Sandwich said:
Check out my new service loaner!



Will probably grab a roof rack soon. No trailer hitches exist besides a euro style hitch, and those don't have square receivers to fit a bike rack (plus they need to have the bumper taken off to fit). Maybe a spoiler, then some summer wheels to compliment the "lusso" wheels for winter.
Click to expand...
Congratulations! looks nice.

re the rack, my buddy with a Leaf welded a rack that attaches to the hitch mounts on the vehicle frame, and has two bars that extend out the back. He then mounted his 1up roof rack to those bars. I'm pretty sure any roof trays would work. I'm not quite sure how the bars come out, but I think they are some sort of quick release.

if interested, I can ask him about it, and snap some pics. I think he did it this way because he moves the bike racks between three of his vehicles: a VW camper van with the same two bars off the back, and a motorcycle trailer that he can mount the 1up to...
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,064
5,974
borcester rhymes
Thanks dudes! I am interested to see what comes out of the woodwork in the next years. The Stelvio (SUV thing) shares much of its architecture with the giulia- that car seems to have plenty of hitches available for it, so I suppose I should crawl underneath my car to see if it's similar underneath. The euro hitch requires removal of the bumper and a swap of the bumper support. The stelvio appears to attach underneath to threaded ports.

I wholly subscribe to the "hitch is better" mentality, but I will probably never take more than a single bike with this car, so a roof rack isn't as painful, and it's only $240 plus whatever a tray costs (220?). I'm hopeful that a better hitch solution will become available in time.

Also, curbed two of my rims on the way home on friday, plus damaged a tire (I think superficially). Hooray for not understanding how wide your car is!
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,977
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AK
Sandwich said:
Thanks dudes! I am interested to see what comes out of the woodwork in the next years. The Stelvio (SUV thing) shares much of its architecture with the giulia- that car seems to have plenty of hitches available for it, so I suppose I should crawl underneath my car to see if it's similar underneath. The euro hitch requires removal of the bumper and a swap of the bumper support. The stelvio appears to attach underneath to threaded ports.

I wholly subscribe to the "hitch is better" mentality, but I will probably never take more than a single bike with this car, so a roof rack isn't as painful, and it's only $240 plus whatever a tray costs (220?). I'm hopeful that a better hitch solution will become available in time.

Also, curbed two of my rims on the way home on friday, plus damaged a tire (I think superficially). Hooray for not understanding how wide your car is!
Click to expand...
Yeah, but you are adding drag on top of the car that will cost you all the time, then lifting your bike up on top the crap that falls from it will screw up the paint, and you greatly increase the chances of slipping and dragging a pedal or something on top of the car. IME, just not worth it. Those euro-hitches are relatively easy to install, I did it myself, and all you'd need to do is have a shop cut off the ball attachment and weld a 1.25 on there. IMO, that would be simple and it wouldn't affect the resale or anything else. It's a solid setup.
01485b58075d49c118d593cf944c92402cb41a21c8.jpg
01474a1c8b5f43a8588327d9b2cb9231a3cb186d27.jpg
 
CBJ

CBJ

year old fart
Mar 19, 2002
12,874
4,214
Copenhagen, Denmark
The Euro style ball thing leaves me with some shitty Euro bike racks with mounting options for the bikes that look like they were designed in the 90s and with 90s plastic production quality :banghead:hi

I could have gotten a slick swing out hitch for the Volvo for only 2000 USD.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
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yeah, I'm not stoked on a $1000 hitch that needs $500 in installation, plus custom work for a 2" receiver. I'm confident that something will come along in time (or can be custom done, as people with quadroformagios have done), but I'm not keen on the bumper hitch.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,977
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AK
Sandwich said:
yeah, I'm not stoked on a $1000 hitch that needs $500 in installation, plus custom work for a 2" receiver. I'm confident that something will come along in time (or can be custom done, as people with quadroformagios have done), but I'm not keen on the bumper hitch.
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Keep your eye on Curt and etrailer, a solution will likely pop up like you say and it couldn't hurt to ask. My execuhitch was $400 (discount for bike rack-only version) and I got it shipped for cheap to my hotel in OK, then took it with me as my checked luggage back here. There were some good body panel resources for the 4-series so I was able to figure out how to remove everything pretty easily. $1000 just for the receiver is ludicrous. But it's Italian. Get used to it.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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Sandwich said:
yeah, I'm not stoked on a $1000 hitch that needs $500 in installation, plus custom work for a 2" receiver. I'm confident that something will come along in time (or can be custom done, as people with quadroformagios have done), but I'm not keen on the bumper hitch.
Click to expand...
Yea but you just said you saved twenty grand on the purchase price

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,254
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Sandwich said:
yeah, I'm not stoked on a $1000 hitch that needs $500 in installation, plus custom work for a 2" receiver. I'm confident that something will come along in time (or can be custom done, as people with quadroformagios have done), but I'm not keen on the bumper hitch.
Click to expand...
My XC40’s hitch was $700+ installed... at a discount. I feel your pain.

I wasn’t going to touch installation as it, like Jm’s apparently, required bumper cover removal.
 
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Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,977
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Thing about a 2" on most of those cars is that if you actually load a 4 bike carrier on there with bikes, you are over the tongue weight anyway. 2 bikes is the practical limit.
 
Toshi

Toshi

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Oct 23, 2001
38,254
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Jm_ said:
Thing about a 2" on most of those cars is that if you actually load a 4 bike carrier on there with bikes, you are over the tongue weight anyway. 2 bikes is the practical limit.
Click to expand...
Many of these vehicles are rated to tow 2000 kg+ in Europe. 10% tongue weight based off of that nicely covers a Thule 4 bike set up and 4 reasonable bikes.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
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Toshi said:
Many of these vehicles are rated to tow 2000 kg+ in Europe. 10% tongue weight based off of that nicely covers a Thule 4 bike set up and 4 reasonable bikes.
Click to expand...
2000+kg? I've looked at these as well and that's not what I saw for compact euro sedans. Usually like 1500lbs or so, nothing huge. I don't think that adding a bunch of weight on a lever not supported by wheels like a trailer is a good idea.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

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Jm_ said:
Well, that's not 2000+kg, I'm not aware of what BMW says for europe, but I doubt it's all that much. Those numbers seem extremely unrealistic, 3300lbs with a 4 door 2.0, the cars barely weigh that much. Doesn't add up IMO.
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but toshi read it on the internet. it's a good idea. just like leasing a car from a dealer in another state.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
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That link was exactly for what BMW says for Europe (ok, the UK). I skimmed it and saw up to 1800 kg listed for a 4 Series, which is what you have, right, Jm_? I think this backs up my assertions well, +/- 10%.
 
iRider

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
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Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
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Note that I'm not saying that towing 1800 kg with a 4 series is a good idea, trailer brakes or not. I'm just arguing that the tongue weight inherent in such a rated load means that a 4 bike hitch rack should be a-ok.
 
iRider

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,653
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Toshi said:
Note that I'm not saying that towing 1800 kg with a 4 series is a good idea, trailer brakes or not. I'm just arguing that the tongue weight inherent in such a rated load means that a 4 bike hitch rack should be a-ok.
Click to expand...
My post was meant to support your claims. :thumb:
Especially when seeing that the weights you are allowed to put on the car roofs (Dachlast) is in most cases close to being challenged with 4 bikes.
 
JustMtnB44

JustMtnB44

Monkey
Sep 13, 2006
840
114
Pittsburgh, PA
Sandwich said:
Check out my new service loaner!

Will probably grab a roof rack soon. No trailer hitches exist besides a euro style hitch, and those don't have square receivers to fit a bike rack (plus they need to have the bumper taken off to fit). Maybe a spoiler, then some summer wheels to compliment the "lusso" wheels for winter.
Click to expand...
Congrats, glad to hear it's fun to drive. I'm not digging the wheels though.
Check with these guys for a hitch, maybe they have one in the works. https://stealthhitches.com/

eric strt6 said:
my Mercedes came with an 1 1/4" hitch. I wasn't about to spend $$ to put in a 2" hitch. For around $20 I picked up a Reece 1 1/4 to 2" hitch adapter for my bike rack
Click to expand...
Ah, the ol' danger adapter makes an appearance.

Jm_ said:
Thing about a 2" on most of those cars is that if you actually load a 4 bike carrier on there with bikes, you are over the tongue weight anyway. 2 bikes is the practical limit.
Click to expand...
True.

Toshi said:
Note that I'm not saying that towing 1800 kg with a 4 series is a good idea, trailer brakes or not. I'm just arguing that the tongue weight inherent in such a rated load means that a 4 bike hitch rack should be a-ok.
Click to expand...
Your assumptions are incorrect. In Europe trailers are built differently with the tongue weight being lower so that smaller cars can tow them. Usually the tongue weight rating is 4-5% of gross trailer weight instead of 10% like in the US. Also a 4 bike rack applies the load much further away from the hitch than a trailer does, so the extra lever arm length also decreases the weight capacity.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,254
7,697
Heh. I was wondering if someone was going to bring up the Euro tongue weight bit. Fine, fine.

I'm still going to put a hitch rack on the back of a 911 if I ever get one. :D
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,977
9,638
AK
Toshi said:
Heh. I was wondering if someone was going to bring up the Euro tongue weight bit. Fine, fine.

I'm still going to put a hitch rack on the back of a 911 if I ever get one. :D
Click to expand...
Moar rear weight bias!
 
jdcamb

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,830
8,422
Nowhere Man!
Jm_ said:
Yeah, but you are adding drag on top of the car that will cost you all the time, then lifting your bike up on top the crap that falls from it will screw up the paint, and you greatly increase the chances of slipping and dragging a pedal or something on top of the car. IME, just not worth it. Those euro-hitches are relatively easy to install, I did it myself, and all you'd need to do is have a shop cut off the ball attachment and weld a 1.25 on there. IMO, that would be simple and it wouldn't affect the resale or anything else. It's a solid setup.View attachment 131860 View attachment 131861
Click to expand...
Did Jimmydean do that to your car?
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
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borcester rhymes
JustMtnB44 said:
Congrats, glad to hear it's fun to drive. I'm not digging the wheels though.
Check with these guys for a hitch, maybe they have one in the works. https://stealthhitches.com/
Click to expand...
I agree on the wheels, I am hoping to get a separate set of Summer tires on 5 hole wheels, bright or black, and keep these wheels as winter beaters.

That being said, this car looks remarkably better in person than in photos. I didn't want chrome nor lusso wheels, but they look spectacular in person. I would consider blacking out the chrome trim and getting black wheels to make it sport esque, or just keep the brightwork and get silver wheels.
 
johnbryanpeters

johnbryanpeters

Hero
Sep 27, 2001
36,075
16,503
Making moss sad in New Haven, Vermont
Sandwich said:
I agree on the wheels, I am hoping to get a separate set of Summer tires on 5 hole wheels, bright or black, and keep these wheels as winter beaters.

That being said, this car looks remarkably better in person than in photos. I didn't want chrome nor lusso wheels, but they look spectacular in person. I would consider blacking out the chrome trim and getting black wheels to make it sport esque, or just keep the brightwork and get silver wheels.
Click to expand...
Just make sure they're crabon.
 
canadmos

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,447
19,449
Canaderp
Toshi said:
My XC40’s hitch was $700+ installed... at a discount. I feel your pain.

I wasn’t going to touch installation as it, like Jm’s apparently, required bumper cover removal.
Click to expand...
My WRX was similar. The large diameter exhaust meant that the normal mounting holes on the under side for a normal aftermarket hitch receiver was virtually impossible to install.

Luckily a fellow STi owner pointed out that the Forester bumper bars with built in receivers will bolt right up to 2008-2014ish wtx/sti's. This required removal of the bumper cover, the original crumpled steel bumper and some carpet in the interior. Those OEM Forester bumper bars crazy expensive. But in the end it was worth it, the install was super clean and the receiver itself was about as hidden as it gets.

/coolstorybro
 
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