What do you think?

RyosukeFC said:
No a new $10,000 car has to be looked for what it is (economy subcompact usually), even then it's hard to find a new car for as little as $10,000 these days (even with Korean cars). But compared to other cars in that entry-level price range, the GM offerings come up short.

When I was in auto shop in high school (in 1997-1999), everybody was saying how the GM vehicles were far better built than they ever have been. Of course they looked shiny and impressive at the time so it was easy to believe and fall into that mindset (buy into their marketing hype). Now that those cars are 10 years old I can personally attest to the inferior build quality of those cars. I have worked at an automotive repair shop and used car dealer. I have been exposed to a lot of cars. I have owned 2 GM vehicles, 4 Ford vehicles, 3 Honda products, and 1 toyota.

Look at for example a Grand Prix from 1997 with 120,000K and compare that to an Accord or Camry of the same age with the same mileage. Which one do you think is running better and has needed less maintenance along the way? The newer GM cars have no doubt improved, but their projected reliability is still below average according to Consumer Reports.

Yes, I'll say that GM vehicles are largely similar to what was sold even 10 years ago. Looking at the broad picture, have cars (foreign or domestic) really changed alot since the late 80s through the 90s to current? There are far more similarities than differences. There were overhead cams & multivalve enginges back then... with multi-port fuel injection, tall overdrive gears and good aerodynamics for good cruising fuel economy. Power has consistantly increased in the last 10 years (but cars have also gained weight). Some new technologies have emerged and safety has gotten better but nothing earth shaking comes to mind. Not much has changed since then other than aesthetics and convenience features. I don't consider myself ignorant at all.
Click to expand...

Very well said Mr. S. Couldn't have been said any better :D
 
UAL747400 said:
Ford on the other hand, only knows how to do face lifts. We still have the friggen mk1 focus over here!!! WTF FORD!!!!:banghead: Ford builds all their good cars in europe and screws over their mother country. Seems pretty bass ackwards to me. :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: Ford won't be in America much longer I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

There's a demand for performance-oriented production vehicles in Europe whereas Americans only want to see raw HP ratings and can CARE LESS about how the car handles and performs in varied road conditions (ie, anything more interesting than a straight line). But you know all about this anyway... I'm preaching to the choir.

Which cars do true auto enthusiasts lust after? (not talking about NHRA dragster fans...credit is only due to the engineers... NASCRAP doesn't count either) Name one American car that a true auto enthusiast goes "wow, I wish I could have one of those someday"...besides the Corvette (which across the years has seen some horrid examples...think the mid to late 70's). I think most people will suggest an early 80's Porsche 911, E30 M3, 1980's Audi Coupe Quattro, Supra, 300ZX, Third Gen RX-7, etc... not a "OOO! OMGZ it's a Mustang Mach 1, wow!!!" because all that crap car does is accelerate fast in a straight line.

Disclaimer: The above opinion is not to offend anyone who loves muscle cars. :D To each his own.
 
JaceTheAce said:
There's a demand for performance-oriented production vehicles in Europe whereas Americans only want to see raw HP ratings and can CARE LESS about how the car handles and performs in varied road conditions (ie, anything more interesting than a straight line). But you know all about this anyway... I'm preaching to the choir.

Which cars do true auto enthusiasts lust after? (not talking about NHRA dragster fans...credit is only due to the engineers... NASCRAP doesn't count either) Name one American car that a true auto enthusiast goes "wow, I wish I could have one of those someday"...besides the Corvette (which across the years has seen some horrid examples...think the mid to late 70's). I think most people will suggest an early 80's Porsche 911, E30 M3, 1980's Audi Coupe Quattro, Supra, 300ZX, Third Gen RX-7, etc... not a "OOO! OMGZ it's a Mustang Mach 1, wow!!!" because all that crap car does is accelerate fast in a straight line.

Disclaimer: The above opinion is not to offend anyone who loves muscle cars. :D To each his own.
Click to expand...

Who doesn't lust after the mach 1 mustang? Ever riden or driven in one? It does a lot more than accelerate in a straight line. I does A LOT more if you're a good driver. I know you don't like it, just playing devils advocate here since you picked that as an example. A pretty bad one at that. If you would have said v6 butthole stang, I would have left you alone. :)

Honestly, the "poor"(for the most part are only percieved poor because the driver sucks!) driving dynamics is what I like about american sports cars. (just a disclamer, I only like the old muscle cars from the 60s andj the new stuff coming out right now. There's a few exceptions, but for the most part 75-2001 domestics can rot to nothing in junk yards) You have to be a good driver to drive them at the limits. Not so much with a lot of other sports cars. The quote "A camaro can hang with 911s and m3s on a track any time it wants to, you'll just develope an extreme case of white knuckles and swamp ass when you do" while funny, is completely true. I've seen it!

Cars I lust for(realistic lusts of course :) ):
Imports:
Audi quattro S1
E30 M3(with the s14 engine!)
E39 M5
E46 M3
Porche 993 911
Aston Martin DB9
S14(kouki) 240sx
Datsun 240zx(probably gona do an LS7 swap into one of these someday)
Mercedes 190E(cosworth 16v only, screw the others)
All I can think of for now

Domestics:
Ariel atom(the second gen with the ecotech chevy engine)
67' mustang gt 350(like I'll ever be able to afford one)
69' camaro
67' shelby cobra 427
69' charger(big sloppy boat of a car, but I still want one)
67' Cougar(check)
94' "fox" mustang(for 7 second 1/4s and remaining street legal, there's only about 3 car chassis that can do this)
97' Cobra(IRS FTW, and the sound, oooh, pure sex)
taurus SHO(haha, I know I know, it's a damn taurus) :)
ZO6 corvette(super car performance and beyond for half the price AND reliability? Yes please!!)
Cadillac CTS-V(maybe)
New generation camaro(maybe)

Trucks:
97' s10 ZR2
82' toyota pick up(straight axels own all!)
94' F350(for hauling and towing ish)
CJ jeep
XJ jeep
88 Ford bronco(for hauling ass in the mud like a redneck of course!) :D
 
Datsun 240zx(probably gona do an LS7 swap into one of these someday)
Click to expand...

i rode in one of these (with a different LS engine, earlier, i dont remember which, it was around 2002) and it was bar none the scariest motor vehicle ive ever been in.

there was so much raw power bolted into that little frame that i thought the whole thing would just fly to pieces at any moment.

was neat holding the engine management laptop though and watching pretty graphs
 
TXaviator said:
i rode in one of these (with a different LS engine, earlier, i dont remember which, it was around 2002) and it was bar none the scariest motor vehicle ive ever been in.

there was so much raw power bolted into that little frame that i thought the whole thing would just fly to pieces at any moment.

was neat holding the engine management laptop though and watching pretty graphs
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's why I want to do it. :D An LS engine would be pretty rediculous in an E30 M3 too. Weighs about the same as those engines and makes that much more power. I don't know if I could bring myself to bastardize an E30 M3 with a chevy engine though. I'll cut up any other model and generation bimmer,:laff:, but the E30 is too special for that non-sense. :)

Hopefully the 240 you rode in had the LS2, the LS1 is pretty heavy(relatively speaking). The 2, 6 and new 7 are the balls. :cool:
 
TXaviator said:
all i know is that riding in it felt like sitting at the center of a nuclear blast.
Click to expand...

Was it a nice clean swap? I can't stand sloppy engine swaps. Cleanest one I've seen by far was someone put an Audi V8(forgot the designation) into the audi quattro S1 gruppe B homoligation. Friggen sweet! :nana2:
 
UAL747400 said:
Ford on the other hand, only knows how to do face lifts. We still have the friggen mk1 focus over here!!! WTF FORD!!!!:banghead: Ford builds all their good cars in europe and screws over their mother country. Seems pretty bass ackwards to me. :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: Ford won't be in America much longer I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's true. I think the escort ran from '92 (i think) until '05 was it? Anyway it seems like the GM vehicles turn over a little more often than ford. But then again they sold that damn Cavalier for a long time- probably close to 10 years. I don't want to get into the whole Ford Chevy thing lol.
 
RyosukeFC said:
Yeah, that's true. I think the escort ran from '92 (i think) until '05 was it? Anyway it seems like the GM vehicles turn over a little more often than ford. But then again they sold that damn Cavalier for a long time- probably close to 10 years. I don't want to get into the whole Ford Chevy thing lol.
Click to expand...

My brain melts everytime I think about the cavalier. So lets not go there either. :)
 
UAL747400 said:
I wanted to do ice auto-x this winter, but didn't get around to it. I figured that is as close to rally-x(as far as the driving style goes) as I can get.
Click to expand...

I've done the ice autocross in Devils Lake. It was a blast. I don't know if they offered it this year, they definitely didn't offer it last year. It was fun getting raw times matching those of WRX's in my stock civic with snow tires. Granted they had crappy all-season tires and the drivers were n00bs.

I love the WRX and it's on my list of cars to own someday (along with the S2000, and many others). But smoothness and finesse is important on the ice.
 
Are you into toyotas much? I mean, I see you have an MR2(?) so I'm assuming you like them at least a little. Anyway, I'm thinking of getting one of these:
celica.jpg

All I know is:
Last generation FR celica
GT-S had IRS
22R-E is a slow as balls truck motor but pretty solid
had 225 tires, which were big for back then
Recline headlights(cant decide if I like that or not. haha)


This would be a pretty good auto-x car to strip once I got done DDing it and moved onto something else. Mmmm, engine swaps. :cool: I'm of the mindset *throw a chevy small block(preferably the LSx engines) in everything!* That could be a "who wants to die in 2 seconds" car though. Might not be a good idea. :D
 
UAL747400 said:
This would be a pretty good auto-x car to strip once I got done DDing it and moved onto something else. Mmmm, engine swaps. :cool: I'm of the mindset *throw a chevy small block(preferably the LSx engines) in everything!* That could be a "who wants to die in 2 seconds" car though. Might not be a good idea. :D
Click to expand...

why not get the supra (same body style)
 
RyosukeFC said:
I've done the ice autocross in Devils Lake. It was a blast. I don't know if they offered it this year, they definitely didn't offer it last year. It was fun getting raw times matching those of WRX's in my stock civic with snow tires. Granted they had crappy all-season tires and the drivers were n00bs.

I love the WRX and it's on my list of cars to own someday (along with the S2000, and many others). But smoothness and finesse is important on the ice.
Click to expand...

I was planning to go there and drift the hell out of my car. No way a cutlass is gona put down a descent time with 35 dollar all seasons. Might as well do it in style. :D
 
TXaviator said:
why not get the supra (same body style)
Click to expand...

There's one sitting at my dad's shop that I can probably get for rediculously cheap. It's red and needs a head gasket. Only a girl can blow a head gasket on a 22R-E at 120,000ish miles. :banghead:

Another problem is that the car has been sitting on gravel for at least 8 years or so. 80s japanese metal+sitting= bad things typically. I won't decide until I can get it up on a hoist and check out the underbody. The body is a 7 out of 10 on condition, so I'm crossing my fingers that the underside is better. :o
 
I'd definitly consider one if one came along, but to me it's not a car I'm gona go out of my way to find. Even though I like that generation the best. There's many others that I'd do that for.
 
UAL747400 said:
There's one sitting at my dad's shop that I can probably get for rediculously cheap. It's red and needs a head gasket. Only a girl can blow a head gasket on a 22R-E at 120,000ish miles. :banghead:

Another problem is that the car has been sitting on gravel for at least 8 years or so. 80s japanese metal+sitting= bad things typically. I won't decide until I can get it up on a hoist and check out the underbody. The body is a 7 out of 10 on condition, so I'm crossing my fingers that the underside is better. :o
Click to expand...

sorry but thats not a supra then.

supras had the 5M-GE engine.

150hp (early-84)
160hp (84-86.5)
 
UAL747400 said:
Are you into toyotas much? I mean, I see you have an MR2(?) so I'm assuming you like them at least a little. Anyway, I'm thinking of getting one of these:
celica.jpg

All I know is:
Last generation FR celica
GT-S had IRS
22R-E is a slow as balls truck motor but pretty solid
had 225 tires, which were big for back then
Recline headlights(cant decide if I like that or not. haha)


This would be a pretty good auto-x car to strip once I got done DDing it and moved onto something else. Mmmm, engine swaps. :cool: I'm of the mindset *throw a chevy small block(preferably the LSx engines) in everything!* That could be a "who wants to die in 2 seconds" car though. Might not be a good idea. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah I think that car would be a lot of fun! It would be fun to have a RWD up here for screwing around in the winter. A kid back in my high school used to have the celica supra and seemed to have a lot of fun with it.

I was looking in to the Mk.III Supra for a while (the one with the 7M-GTE). It was built back when 230hp was considered a lot :D. They're heavy and have head gasket issues ([SIZE=-1]cast-iron block with an aluminum cylinder head equals chewed up head gaskets) [/SIZE]but despite that I think it would make a good high speed cruiser.
toyota-supra-photo.jpg

​
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top