Today's Cars

Mitsubishi sucks. Id rather drive an American.

Mitsubishi does suck. About the only halfway descent thing Mitsu ever built was the first gen Eclipse FWD turbos, and even that was debatable.

^^^ those were fun pieces of shit, but still nevertheless a piece of shit. Trust me I owned 3 and 2 were turbos

90% of my cars have been Honda Accords and then Accura TL-X's as far as daily drivers go. I also have a 2001 Honda Odyssey van with 180,000 miles on it that has see well over half the states in the US. It's great for hauling my band gear and family vacations. I always have a toy car too. I bought a Fiero new in 1984 and despite all the bad review and the fact it was a POS, I kept it a long time and it was pretty reliable. As typical with GM bullshit of the era, it was the trim pieces that broke. The only major mechanical issue was the clutch and that might have been partly my driving habits!

My 1972 Lotus Europa TC is everything I love in a toy car. Multi carbs, very light, quick off the line. exotic body, mid engine...they just don't make them like that anymore.

Bikes or trucks for me.

Most fun car was my buddies '69 440 Six Pack Road Runner. It was one of the 388 A12 models they built with the blueprinted motor. I believe it was in order to qualify for an NHRA class.

A Graduation present from his folks. Almost the best thing about it was buying it. Here are a couple of teenagers asking the price. Dealer comes up with it. Friend says we'll be back tomorrow with a check. Car guy, "No financing?" Friend, "No." Car guy, "Not sure how we do that!"

Shailynn - you have much more experience with cars than I do. I find the Camry to be a good rental - as its reliable - and I like a rental that doesn't offer odd surprises. I like to keep with the major brands with rentals - as I don't trust some of those off brands - similar to Mitsubishi. The last thing I want is to break down in a questionable area because the guy at the rental counter told me the Suzuki samurai was just as solid as the h2 -

Clubber: That Roadrunner is worth a lot these days if it's restored. Doesn't even have to be original if the paint is nice!

Well in all fairness, the Samurai IS as reliable as a Hummer...which is to say both come with a full time mechanic.

rock,

My friend died some years ago and had traded the car in on a truck. I did talk to his son about trying to locate it, but nothing ever came out of it. :(

Good point rockstar666 - neither one is highly reliable. I remember riding in a samurai - and I couldn't get my knees in - as it was so tiny. Riding shotgun through the holland tunnel at about 4 am - on a frigid January night - with that crappy rag top -

I had a new 1970 Dodge Challenger 440-6pack r/t also a graduation present plus money I saved from working after school that car was a chick magnet and soo much fun. It's long gone but I still remember it well.

You would think I would be loyal to the Detroit automakers but my last two cars have been a Toyota Camry and an Acura RL. Extremely happy with both.

I just bought a Lexus RX over the weekend. Haven't taken delivery yet so I'll let you know.

I rent either a Jeep Cherokee (snow) or a cadillac when I travel. Since 2002 my personal driver has been a WRX. Best car I ever owned? My favorite care ever? My red with black stripes 1970 Chevelle El Camino SS 396.

I went with my Dad in the 60s to negotiate his every two year purchase of a new station wagon (a business vehicle that would typically accrue 50,000 miles in that period.

I jokingly suggested that we should get a Hemi so he could do his errands faster. We all had a good laugh, and the salesman (who happened to be the owner) told us about an indulgent father who had bought his son a Hemi for his 17th birthday a couple months before. One week later, he trashed the engine - racing in reverse!

Definitely a major league idiot, lol

Since a number of Ins companies wont insure a Suzuki, I stay away. I look for a Fusion or Explorer in the Rental lot since I can easily sync my phone. Otherwise a Jeep.

I have never driven a Mitsubishi Lancer, but I would not have expected there to be anything usual about driving one.

You know that Lancer was one of the Chrysler A body names, for the station wagon version.

Sometimes though rent-a-cars are not kept up. I had an old Plymouth Reliant rent-a-car and it barely ran. Probably the spark plugs were getting burned away, as it was extremely hard to start. Also the lowest automatic transmission gear was way too high. 3 speeds only.

Otherwise most of the new cars I believe are okay. Mostly I have preferred low fuel consumption cars, and stick shift. I've always liked minimalist cars. Most of the new cars, even the smallest of cars, are still way too heavy in my judgment.

In future times, I might go for cars that are more for head turning, cars that are really just for show.

I take notice of rockstar describing his Europa. I've always liked those. No back window as I remember.

I have seen a BMW Z8 a couple of times. Neat, looking rather like the early 60's Corvettes. About $140k as I remember. V-12.

There was supposed to have been an 8 cylinder BMW Z5 also. Read about them in a magazine review, but never actually seen one. Like the Z3 and Z4, but just bigger.

Very few two door 2 + 2 cars made now, except perhaps by Honda / Acura. I would like to see these come back.

SJG

I've never owned a foreign car and it's doubtful that I ever will at my age. I've been pretty much of a Ford man and only really had one bad one.

My son has a 2014 Subaru WRX limited addition. He had to wait 6 weeks to get it and paid $37k. I have a 2015 Mustang GT that I got immediate delivery on for about the same price. His is blue mine is ruby red. He has driven my Mustang and says that I'll beat him on a straight away but he'll take me on the curves.

Guess which one is the chick magnet? He doesn't even get noticed and I get it every where including at the Ford dealer.

Good to know this.

SJG

Three Japanese cars and a street-legal Japanese dirt bike in my garage. G35 coupe, Forester for the snow, and a bright yellow Honda S2000 which is my favorite car of all time. The s2000 is extremely light, mid engine, grips the road in an incredible way.

We are both Jeep people. Mrs sea showed me some hot pink 4 door wrangler with a lift kit, humongous tires and all the off road accessories she wanted. Only $60K or so. I just rolled my eyes. She doesn't need that to drive 5 miles back and forth to work. i love my lifted grand cherokee limited with all the bells and whistles but my dream is to get a 4 door wrangler I can lift up and load up with everything. Only problem is I've never had a car payment in my entire life and refuse to ever have one so I'll have to walk in one day and just pay for it. Won't be this year. We're about to lay out $20K for some other upgrades.

Now she wants us to get an older 2 door wrangler so we can really lift it and get some massive tires so it's good for the OHV camp not far from us.

What makes me laugh my ass off every time are the rednecks around here who have an old suzuki and have it lifted with bigger tires or the guys in huntsville who actually lower it and have the low rider tires sticking a foot outside the wheel well. the rims and tires cost double what the vehicle cost.

That Honda s2000, nothing else like that, 9000 rpm redline, 240hp naturally aspirated from 2 liters.

SJG

I read in a magazine about the Ford Focus RS.

Now remember, Focus is the continuation of Ford Escort, and it is not that little or that light.

But they say 2.3 L super charged to 350hp!!! And then with all wheel drive.

Now the same engine is available longitudinal in Mustangs. While Mustang's may be chick magnets, there is not much cabin room in them, on account of the large center tunnel. And then with the gas tank in the overhang, there is not much room in the trunk either.

Focus is huge inside.

But, only 4dr hatch back. No 2dr hatch back.

My own actual purchasing of cars has always been much more fuel efficiency oriented.

SJG

Gnosis - Secrets of the Kabbalah youtube.com

Most fun cars I've owned were '70 and '73 Fairlady Z's.

With the model 2000, you could get 4 horizontal carburetors.

SJG

No sorry, that was for the 2000 Roadster, like the 1600 Roadster. 4 cylinder cars.

Fairlady Z? I though that was something you could only get in Japan, a special version of the 240 Z, but used by Japanese Highway Patrol.

carscoops.com

Were you in Japan? Is this when and where you learned to love Asian women?

:)

SJG

And notice the mirrors mounted on the front fenders. I'd before taken note of this carscoops.com

en.wikipedia.org

I’ve rented a couple of Nissan Altimas in the last year or two and liked it better than the Camry – the Altima was really smooth on the highway and very good on gas.

Nissans are really high tech and computerized cars today.

SJG

I've owned "Chick magnets". When they're in the parking lot and you're some where else they lose their power. You still need game. Talking about the car ain't game, it's lame.

You don't talk about the car. Understood.

We have some Viet Coffee Shops here with outside seating, and in that culture in general guys are showing off their cars. Though there those are usually BMW's and MBZ's.

:)

SJG

SJG, First, never in Japan. :(

The first Z I bought in '71. I got it via an Air Force guy that imported it here. It was destroyed in hurricane andrew in '92. It took years to find another. The '73 I went to TX in '01 and bought it. Not sure how it got here.

They were sold in Japan as normal Nissan's and imported here as Datsun's. A war thing I think. Both were right had drive. I got rid of the '73 when I needed room for my Harley stuff.

The mirrors were there because the streets in Japan are so narrow, at least that is what I've heard.

As for the pre Z roadsters, they had dual carbs, but often they would be swapped for Webers that gave the appearance of four carbs.

Some of the 2000 cm^3 roadsters, as I had read, did have 4 horizontal carbs.

Well I mean the main thing is they have 4 air horns and they all open together. How many castings there are and how many float tanks there are is not important.

Most 4 cylinder cars fire 1-3-4-2, or they fire just the opposite. So if you hold up the crank shaft with 1 up, then 4 is up, and 2 and 3 are down.

So if you want two progressive carbs to work right, you need to put one on 1 and 4 and the other on 2 and 3. This can be done, but it is not easy.

So for example Trimuph TR4's can have dual carbs. They are screwy and they need some equalizer pipe or something.

Anyway, most 4 cylinder is one carb , one throttle body fuel injection, or 4 carbs.

Now on the inline 6 engines this firing order issue is not usually a problem. ONe guy I knew took the spark plug wires off of a 280zx and did not know how to put them back and so the car would not run. I helped him out.

But the Z cars with dual carbs, they are okay. No scavenging problem.

Some V12 Ferrari's had 2 carbs on each bank, some 3 per bank, and some 6. No problem.

Actually the screwiest cars for intake and exhaust issues are usually V8's.

I was also looking at pics of the Fairlady Z's, and those look to be 6 cylinder, but only 2.0 liters. Some looked to have 6 horizontal carbs.

But if those are like the regular 240Z, they are just a 4 cylinder version of the Datsun 510 and pickup truck engine. The valves and ports are all on the same side, and the cam pushes down on a cross bar to open the valves. The gap adjustment is on the opposite side of that cross bar.

But some look to be 4 valve per cylinder, for the Fairlady Z. So those must be completely different engines.

So I guess there are different versions of these cars. But what I did not know was that people were getting them in the US.

You buy a new car, then you are just a guy with a new car, and that wears off. But you find an old car you really like, a really special old car, then that will get more and more special each year.

You have good taste in cars.

You know that Nissan GTR, the 3.8 liter supercharged version of 350 and 370Z. Some that I have seen are also right hand drive, like they were made for Japan.

That is interesting that Air Force people were importing the cars. Never done anything like that myself. Interesting.

SJG

Mitt Romney's Warning democracynow.org

SJG,

Mine were both 2 liter 6 cylinder. Both had two carbs, each feeding 3 cylinders. The one you saw "Some looked to have 6 horizontal carbs." may have been a Z432. It was a double overhead cam 6 with, as I recall 6 stacks. Quite rare, it seems.

:)

SJG

I can't say enough about my Vettes. I've had 2, a white, 95 C4 with lake pipes and my current rare one, a metallic green 97 C-5. The 97 has a standard 350 hp engine, the car is one mile slower top end, 143 mph, the older one was faster. I drive fast. I had a 16 brand new C-7 for a test ride last week. 465 hp, stock. DAYUMM !! What a beast !! Only $54,000 out the door with a supplier discount. I can hardly wait until it comes out of the factory.

^^^ I checked out a 016 Vette last week great ride, my situation won't allow me to use a two seater as a daily driver. I think I'm going to end up with a new CTS6 I'll make up my mind in April and buy it in May.