RE: Gorman Ridge Rally

["Mike Zamarocy" <***mhdavion@earthlink.net***>]

Go Ron GO!

I am Ron Wood's self appointed cheering section! He is a great guy, and has
a very nice (and FAST) car (considering he does not have a factory team's
budget).

As for Toyota, I worked for them in Parts & Service for over 13 years, and I
HATE THEM! Don't get me wrong, they ARE great cars that hardly ever fall a
part, but there are 2 reasons:

1) Jap cars have NO SOUL! German and English Cars, with a spattering of
Italian Cars, have character and SOUL!

2)After working at the dealers, and being treated like shit (no benefits, no
stability, long thankless hours and many other beefs!) for so many years, I
vowed NEVER to buy one, and anytime they loose I REJOICE! As far as I am
concerned, both Toyota and Honda (& Acura) can go fry in hell! But I DO car
about Mazda <G>! And Nissan is ok, . . . .

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> [mailto:owner-quattro@coimbra.ans.net]On Behalf Of Ron Wood
> Sent: Thursday, August 27, 1998 7:33 PM
> To: quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> Cc: "c:program"@coimbra.ans.net; filesnetscapemailsent@coimbra.ans.net
> Subject: Re: Gorman Ridge Rally
>
>
> I am not debating that the 323 (or any other car with enough money spent
> on it i.e. the "Hyundai" of Paul C.) has the potential to be a very good
> car. I don't recall Mazda winning any rallies in the US, let alone a
> championship in the past 15 years or so. In 95, Peter finished a total
> of one event-not very much to brag about. Back when Rod Millen was still
> rallying the 323's with factory help, he still could not match John
> Buffum's speed or handling-how many titles did Audi win vs. Mazda back
> then ? Of course the current WSC cars are far superior to the older
> Group B cars, technology has advanced a great deal in the past 15 years.
> Audis were only rallied by the factory for 4 or 5 years vs. 15+ years
> for Toyota, I would hope Toyota has won more races in 3 times the amount
> of competition. Audi has sinced moved on to dominate many other forms of
> racing before being legislated out of being competitive due to their
> overwhelming advantage ( SCCA Trans-Am, IMSA GTO, BTTC, etc). Audi was
> probably responsible for the 4 wd revolution that has made rallying
> what it is today.
>   As to the superiority of the X-Trac gearbox, you will hear no
> arguement from me-for $ 65,000 it had better be the best. I am currently
> having 5 speed dog gears made for the 016 boxes by one of the top racing
> tranny constructors.
>   As far as Toyota's success in the US, it has not matched Audis or even
> that of the "Hyundai/Mitsubishi" conglomeration. We look forward to
> challenging your super Toy when it is finished, bring it out west to
> play.
> Ron Wood-Audis a plenty, toyotas in the rear view mirror :)
>