Automobiles

[jerk]

my mustang bullitt is awesome but it is also a gigantic piece of shit.

[jerk]

Ah, so this is where I can ask about cars!
Looking at a used Accord for the wife, don't think we can go wrong there. But I'm thinking about a Ford transit for myself, seems like if would work for the small deliveries I do to NYC and might be good for going to bike races. Anyone know about them?

underpowered and a fucking noisy scary nightmare on the highway. unless all your bike races are in nyc, get something else.

[drbdr]

my mustang bullitt is awesome but it is also a gigantic piece of shit.

Care to expand?

[jerk]

Care to expand?

yeah- it sounds great. it drives great- you can't really get in trouble with it because its geared so low and is so loud that you don't really end up driving a 100mph. that being said after three years of ownership the thing creaks and clanks and it's nothing driveline or suspension related- it's the shitty fit and finish with the body and the dashboard, the speakers and the the doors and all that shit.

there is no way you can compare this thing to a 3 series- those cars are so solid and so well made. the funny thing is that ford is also about a decade ahead of chevy in terms of fit and finish.

i love my mustang though. it really is a great car- especially for america.

[drbdr]

yeah- it sounds great. it drives great- you can't really get in trouble with it because its geared so low and is so loud that you don't really end up driving a 100mph. that being said after three years of ownership the thing creaks and clanks and it's nothing driveline or suspension related- it's the shitty fit and finish with the body and the dashboard, the speakers and the the doors and all that shit.

there is no way you can compare this thing to a 3 series- those cars are so solid and so well made. the funny thing is that ford is also about a decade ahead of chevy in terms of fit and finish.

i love my mustang though. it really is a great car- especially for america.

Thanks.

I could say nearly the same thing of my Mitsubishi Evo MR, which I've had for six years. I still love driving it (creaks and all) but unless you've taken it out on a road course, you'd have a hard time appreciating its virtues.

Btw, we also have two Fords in our garage.

[Tom Officer]

underpowered and a fucking noisy scary nightmare on the highway. unless all your bike races are in nyc, get something else.

Ok, well it might be to my advantage that I'm deaf in my left ear and wear a hearing aid in my right! Can't imagine it's much worse than driving a cargo van, I almost never race in the city, usually it's 2 hrs tops from home. Any thing farther away I gotta be super nice to the wife and borrow her car! I'm planning on taking one out for a test drive when i get some time in the next month or so.

[Jason Musgrave]

So apparently my folks are getting the only ZL1 Camaro coming to Western North Carolina next year. Just shy of 600 ponies - pure insanity!

[Eddie]

First On Race Day.

16 years and 208K miles in my Ford F-150 and recently added an A4 to the stable. Pretty solid mix for our needs.

[WayneJ]

Ok, well it might be to my advantage that I'm deaf in my left ear and wear a hearing aid in my right! Can't imagine it's much worse than driving a cargo van, I almost never race in the city, usually it's 2 hrs tops from home. Any thing farther away I gotta be super nice to the wife and borrow her car! I'm planning on taking one out for a test drive when i get some time in the next month or so.

Tom,
The Transit in this country is the Connect model with a small 4 cylinder engine. I believe in 2013 model year, Ford is bringing the Transit (not sure if it will include the Connect) in with a diesel engine option. It's worth waiting for.

[rmplum]

+2. I get paid to drive stuff and some the current Ford offering are very very good. The new Focus is a great, entertaining car right out of the box. Spectacular shock tuning. If I had to buy a car with my own $ it'd be right up there. Same goes for the Mustang 300 Hp and 30 mpg? That's far better than our 300Hp model does). And the Flex is one of the comfiest road trip cars ever ( I'm still not a fan of the exterior styling though).

Honda is traditionally good, but the recently redone Civic and RAV4 look like lazy hashovers of old product. Accord is still segment competitive imo.

[SeanEasley]

Just got one of these...I feel pangs of guilt and silliness driving what is basically a race car for the street, but gawd is it a hoot! I justify it slightly with it's AWD practicality (yea right!)

I've been a AWD/sports car fan for a while and figure its only a matter of time before we won't be able to get cars like these any longer (probably a good thing in one sense)

[72gmc]

I also like AWD cars. They are rolling justification for higher driver's license standards, however. Seems every knucklehead with a WRX thinks he is a performance driver (it's not a car I see women driving).

[drbdr]

I feel pangs of guilt and silliness driving what is basically a race car for the street, but gawd is it a hoot! I justify it slightly with it's AWD practicality (yea right!)

I've been a AWD/sports car fan for a while and figure its only a matter of time before we won't be able to get cars like these any longer (probably a good thing in one sense)

I hear you Sean. That's why I plan on keeping my Evo.

[Jason Musgrave]

I can't wait to drive a BRZ/FR-S. That thing is gonna rock.

[quickag]

After considering and driving a bunch of stuff (and I own a really nice TT Subaru BH5 wagon), I just can't see buying anything other than a Boss 302 or a new Evo MR. Sure, the finish isn't up to Audi/BMW standards, but I can almost buy both for the price of an M3.

The Evo is almost in a class by itself. It really is that fast. It really does have that much space in the back seat. It really does have that big of a trunk. The new double clutch transmission is sublime. As of now the alu block seems to be holding up to tuning as well as the old 4g63 block. The mechanical grip is amazing...almost unreal for a car at this price range.

It could be lighter. It could have more feedback. But as a dad with two girls, it's unlikely I'll ever find another that I can hand to my wife to drive to the store and then take to a track day without changing a single thing. Well, I'll save the BBS LMs for track days. In gold, of course.

[rmplum]

I can't wait to drive a BRZ/FR-S. That thing is gonna rock.

It does rock. Driving something with a Cg that low is all kinds of fun on the street. I've spent many hours sitting in the thing trying to figure out if my kids will fit at all comfortably in the back seat.

FCTi

[davids]

It does rock. Driving something with a Cg that low is all kinds of fun on the street. I've spent many hours sitting in the thing trying to figure out if my kids will fit at all comfortably in the back seat.

FCTi

It's about time the MX-5 had some real competition. That thing makes a lot more sense for a cold climate sports car than the Miata. Very, very cool.

[rmplum]

yeah, I'm excited about it, and it's been fun to work on.

[th_boone]

This summer our '02 Volvo S40 was totaled out, and our hand forced, we picked up an off-lease '08 Audi A4 Avant with only 29K miles. Audi Certified, extended warranty through 2014. Came down to either that or a new Subaru Outback, which were in short supply, and which, once outfitted in any way similar to the B6 Audi (leather, non-CVT tranny, sunroof, etc.), cost $10K more than we paid.

BTW, natnoj - back seats do not fold completely flat as you noted (although the old Passat and new Jetta wagons do), I've slept back there about a dozen times now, and it's really not that bad. Just imagine you're sleeping in a Craftmatic Adjustable and consider it a good thing. Dog doesn't seem to mind either.

Mucho thanks to those who spoke up in this thread and to Delicious (who owned two B6's at the time and just traded one for a new B7) for the info and inspiration.

Very nice. Is your 08 a 6-spd? Shame that in 09, the newest body style, the dropped the 6-spd. My two chief complaints, no good diesel wagon options and no manual transmissions.. Only one, Jetta.

[robin3mj]

Very nice. Is your 08 a 6-spd? Shame that in 09, the newest body style, the dropped the 6-spd. My two chief complaints, no good diesel wagon options and no manual transmissions.. Only one, Jetta.

We got a TDI Wagon 2 years ago and it’s been great.
6-speed, nice and comfortable, 45+ MPG on the highway.
My only gripe is that the rear cargo area is somewhat shorter than my 2000 Golf was- a combo of the floor being higher(?) and roof lower. I used to be able to stand up 2 bikes in my Golf (rear seats folded down), front wheel off and seatpost out. No such luck on the current Jetta wagons.