my car relativity theory

[Jetronic]

Every morning I get into my car, drive to the dealership I work (and I take a roundabout way to pep me up).

Then I have to work on Hyundais mostly and the occasional Mitsubishi. Much less goes wrong with the Mitsu's, so that's maybe once or twice a week while the Hyundais are lining up.

You'd think that working on Hyundais is bad enough, but after that I have to test-drive them aswell. Engines are noisy, have a narrow power band, the suspension is either soft or too firm but doesn't filter (my belly fat says so), brakes pedals are too soft, clutch pedals have no feedback, economy is sub-par, dashes rattle, cars get hot in the sun within seconds regardless of colour.... and a Hyundai with similar spec to my car costs more....

but then it's finally 5:15 PM, and I start the Alfa Romeo again. The diesel engine doesn't nail, pulling power from near stationary to redline (after warm-up of course), decent but firm suspension, crisp but not overpowered brakes, no clutch pedal to worry about, excellent economy once warm, no rattles, car was parked in the sun all day but is barely warmer than the noon temperature... The world is good again.

Disclaimer: the biggest hyundais we get are the Santa Fe, Sonata (i40) and Genesis coupe. I can't comment on the biger offerings as found in the USA.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Originally Posted By: Miller88
When I had the Taurus, I never thought I'd get anything smaller. I *knew* I hated small cars and that they just weren't for me.

Now? I'm complaining that the newest generation of Focus is "too big" and I will likely end up replacing the Focus with a Spark/Mirage.

Mine is a backwards theory of relativity apparently. I'm sure once I own a Microcar I'll buy the biggest boat on the market.
Spark and mirage are absolute garbage - I would go no lower than a Kia Forte - Thats a very good car. AT least the 2013 was before the pukey swoopy overstyle kicked in at KIA. Ive owned Garbage 2008 Yaris, 2012? Honda Fit and 2014 Nissan Versa.


The Spark has issues, for sure. Mirage is turning out to be a decent little car (have been following them). Cheap, simple and they seem to get amazing mileage. Only concern I would have would be the defective-from-the-factory snowmobile transmission ... which I would never buy.

 

[rjundi]

In my opinion as you get into the above average models especially family cars the difference is substantially less comparing models. Many of top sellers are rooting platforms for up models so they are quite good.

At the bottom of barrel cars(sub compacts) they are just that and not used for anything better.

Yaris is definitely bottom of barrel compared to its peer Corolla. However comparing a Corolla to Camry differences are less. Comparing a Camry to Lexus the changes much more subtle or even a top end car. I mean in normal driving not extreme cases that folks more dream about then actually do on public roads.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: Jetronic

Then I have to work on Hyundais mostly and the occasional Mitsubishi. Much less goes wrong with the Mitsu's, so that's maybe once or twice a week while the Hyundais are lining up.


Haha, I too work at a dealer with both of those brands, but on this side of the Atlantic my experience is the other way around. The Mitsubishis are a non-stop nightmare, whereas things go pretty smoothly on the Hyundai side. With Mitsubishi, there seems to be a higher ratio of nutty owners with nutty problems, so it may be unfair to blame it all on the brand, but still they entail far more headaches than the other brands we sell.

 

[hattaresguy]

Its all relative. I remember years ago when I had my S class my buddy and I went to look at a Ducati 996 he wanted to buy. The bikes battery was dead so the owner put it on a charger and as we got [censored]'ing he was like lets go for a ride and grab a 6 pack of beer, so we took his Bentley Arnage T, which is a truly awesome car. An hour later we came back, and my buddy test drove the bike.

After the Arnage T for the first time I felt like I was downgrading getting into the S. The interior felt downright cheap and spartan.

 

[fdcg27]

An old Civic is a lunar rocket as compared to a 240D.
An Accord is a race car as compared to a similar year Civic.
A Corvette is otherwordly fast as compared to any Honda, including the NSX.
You're right in that it's all a matter of what you've become used to.

 

[Cujet]

I drive a throttle by cable, Honda S2000 with a 407HP turbo setup with big tires.

Everything else is a non responsive, ill mannered, overweight, poor handling beast of a let down.

At least until it starts raining and I start sliding around. Then I'm happy to be driving almost anything else.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I've driven a lot of brand new cars,some high end and some low end. None of them feel anywhere near as solid and refined as my 20 year old Nissan.
Well that's because that 300z was one of the best designed and built cars ever made.