So I test drove some cars today...

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: rudolphna
I was thinking this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O46E0gCF5os

EDIT: All the American car bashing aside, they make a good point.


No they don't, and they rarely do when it comes to American cars. Watch the Top Gear Lightning video, and you can see they very obviously sabotaged the dash so they could complain about panel fitment.

 

[silverrat]

You guys are too sensitive.

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: rudolphna
Sorry I should have clarified. Most muscle cars that don't have IRS won't do as well. IRS definitely would help immensely.


If it really did, why does the FR500S beat up on M3s, Porsches, etc. in Grand Am cup?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiKCaLRReB4

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: silverrat
You guys are too sensitive.


Not really, but I do like a little reality to go with my bee-S.

 

[silverrat]

The guy made an off hand remark about "mullet heads" and it turns into a thread hijacking about the glorious American V8.

There ARE slow V8s out there, are there not? I'm not talking about new cars, but there are plenty of 305 TPI drivers out there thinking there the cock of the walk.

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: silverrat
The guy made an off hand remark about "mullet heads" and it turns into a thread hijacking about the glorious American V8.

There ARE slow V8s out there, are there not? I'm not talking about new cars, but there are plenty of 305 TPI drivers out there thinking there the cock of the walk.


The guy made a comment about smacking down mullet-heads in American V8s with a Speed3, come on, was he not asking for this? If it was a STi or Evo, even lightly modded, I could see the comment, those cars will give a good number of your average V8 cars running around [censored] (especially from a dig); but a Speed3 will be huffing fumes from the vast majority of newish V8 performance cars.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: silverrat
The guy made an off hand remark about "mullet heads" and it turns into a thread hijacking about the glorious American V8.

There ARE slow V8s out there, are there not? I'm not talking about new cars, but there are plenty of 305 TPI drivers out there thinking there the cock of the walk.


Yes, I posted pictures of one

When you start spouting off stereotypes, you are bound to get a few backs up.

I had a buddy with a "425HP" (his words) 1980 350 Camaro that got dusted by my stock '87 GT. He would not believe me the car was only 225HP (because of course that would mean his was far less than that). When I did heads/cam/intake and, on a rich-tune, put down 270HP to the tires (~325HP flywheel) and could walk away from him at will; beat him with city-block length head starts he started questioning the "mullet logic" of "these parts mean I make this much power" which seems to not be exclusive to "mullet land" of course. I'm sure plenty of Import nutters think that their 6" [censored] cannon gives them 50HP too. And of course that K&N is another 25!

So yes, some retard in a 305 Camaro who thinks his 17 second car runs 12's might get a shocker from the car in question. But a bolt-on 5.0L that runs 12's would be an eye-opener in the other direction. Line-up beside a KB'd Termi and then things getting really interesting.... Even with turns in the road

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
So yes, some retard in a 305 Camaro who thinks his 17 second car runs 12's might get a shocker from the car in question. But a bolt-on 5.0L that runs 12's would be an eye-opener in the other direction. Line-up beside a KB'd Termi and then things getting really interesting.... Even with turns in the road

I think he'd need binoculars to see the KB Cobra's plate, I also think he'd be rather shocked/disappointed with a bolt-on 12-second Fox putting 10-15 cars on him.

 

[daves87rs]

Some good choices you drove there.


Hate the styling of the new 3 though. Yuck. Considering the new focus....I hope the rumors of the new ones starting near 20 grand aren't true though...that's quite a price jump.



Love the Fusion..

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
So yes, some retard in a 305 Camaro who thinks his 17 second car runs 12's might get a shocker from the car in question. But a bolt-on 5.0L that runs 12's would be an eye-opener in the other direction. Line-up beside a KB'd Termi and then things getting really interesting.... Even with turns in the road

I think he'd need binoculars to see the KB Cobra's plate, I also think he'd be rather surprised by a bolt-on 12-second Fox putting 10+ cars on him.


Yes, you'll recall my Maxima experience I relayed a few months ago when we were talking to BuickGN.

The reactions that some of these guys have is hilarious

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
So yes, some retard in a 305 Camaro who thinks his 17 second car runs 12's might get a shocker from the car in question. But a bolt-on 5.0L that runs 12's would be an eye-opener in the other direction. Line-up beside a KB'd Termi and then things getting really interesting.... Even with turns in the road

I think he'd need binoculars to see the KB Cobra's plate, I also think he'd be rather surprised by a bolt-on 12-second Fox putting 10+ cars on him.


Yes, you'll recall my Maxima experience I relayed a few months ago when we were talking to BuickGN.

The reactions that some of these guys have is hilarious

I don't recall the Maxima story, please retell.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
So yes, some retard in a 305 Camaro who thinks his 17 second car runs 12's might get a shocker from the car in question. But a bolt-on 5.0L that runs 12's would be an eye-opener in the other direction. Line-up beside a KB'd Termi and then things getting really interesting.... Even with turns in the road

I think he'd need binoculars to see the KB Cobra's plate, I also think he'd be rather surprised by a bolt-on 12-second Fox putting 10+ cars on him.


Yes, you'll recall my Maxima experience I relayed a few months ago when we were talking to BuickGN.

The reactions that some of these guys have is hilarious

I don't recall the Maxima story, please retell.

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL

I had a Civic race me when I was turning into Canadian Tire (not joking), I was slowing down (burping the gas in the 'stang and letting it drag on the down-shift, using compression as a brake) with my turn-signal on, and he's flying up beside me, balls-to-the-wall, and as I am turning the corner he's screaming "YEAH YEAH!!!!!!!! out his window like he just schooled me.

I also raped an entire gang of 5 ricers light-to-light up our longest street, they switched places and I destroyed all of them.

We got to the parking lot at the top of the street and we all pulled in. I knew a couple of the guys from their jobs, so it wasn't strange. Well one of the other guys I didn't know started telling me my car must be 400HP because I ate his Maxima. I told him that in no uncertain terms was the car anywhere NEAR 400, in fact it was 225HP stock with nothing more than full exhaust, underdrives, E-fan conversion and some timing added. He stared at me blankly for a minute or two.

I popped the hood to show him. He continued to stare blankly. I think he may have had a brain aneurysm

Some of the body kits on these cars are so poorly put on, its nuts. Like drywall screws, with the kit in full primer (and has been for two years) and then the 4-layer wings, which of course are necessary on an FWD car, just like 5x more rear camber than an M5......

 

[Thunderfan]

Mazdaspeed 3 is a [censored] quick car, but it's still uglier than all sin, in my opinion. I have a 2000 Mustang GT with an old school, weak little 2 valve V8, numerous bolt ons, 3.73s, a short shifter, and a nice sticky tire, and tune and I will embarass a Mazdaspeed 3 all day and night in a straight line...without a mullet and without spending 25 grand. Speed is easy to come by, but I guarantee you an old school muscle car in pristine condition running down the road is going to impress a heck of a lot more people than a new little Mazda with a big smiley face on the front of it.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
That wasn't a Track Pack car, hampered by less gear, worse brakes, and a looser suspension.


Yeah, the faster Mustang GT did have the Track Pack, but I suspect that most on the street would not. While the Speed3 is pretty quick, it certainly won't keep up with modern V8s or modified older V8s in a drag race. However, it could match or beat some common versions on a track and might even beat better cars in a short street race (depending on timing and the launch), and it can certainly beat some older ones, so MCompact's statement is realistic in many situations. Regardless, that comment was a (probably unintentional) troll job. I only threw in my info because the topic interested me enough to check out the Lightning Lap results and I figured I'd report my findings.

 

[440Magnum]

Quote:

I am marginally OK with Canadian-made cars, but mexican made? No Way! The reason why is because I see no indication that the cost of living or the prevailing wage is anything similar to USA or Canada. Since it is not, they pay third world workers pennies (which I do not have a problem with per se), but do not pass the cost savings along to me


I disagree with most of this, but at least you are thinking the process through. Most people just say, "its a global market, doesn't matter what you buy." I say bull.

As to the Canada/Mexico thing, I really do consider them pretty much equivalent to being "American" made. Heck, my 1966 Dodge was built in Windsor, Ontario. That's practically north Michigan, and the Big 3 have built cars up there for my whole lifetime.

And frankly Chrysler, GM, and Ford locating plants in Mexico has been a huge boost for Mexico's economy. Workers in those plants will probably be very quick to tell you that they get better pay and benefits than they could without those plants, and the payback has been quite good too- Mexican-built cars typically are VERY well put together. In its heyday 5 years ago, the PT Cruiser (assembled at the Toulca, Mexico plant IIRC) was one of the best put-together "big 3" vehicles out there. Yes, you can complain legitimately about some aspects of the PT's design (and since I own one, I do!) but you really really can't fault the assembly quality on them. Also, all the frames for GM/Chevy full-size trucks come from down there and head to the Arlington assembly line. And even just recently, it was line workers in Mexico who first noticed defective brake pushrod retainer clips in Ram pickups as they were building them, triggering a discovery of the same bad part in many other plants.

And the bottom line for me is that the corporate profits still come back north across the border.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
Originally Posted By: MCompact
My Mazdaspeed 3 needed a couple of warranty repairs early on but it has since worked its way back into my good graces. And it's so much fun to blow the doors off the mullet-heads who think that their 'murrican V8 is going to teach that stupid rice burning station wagon who's boss...

I would be happy to show you why my mullet-head 'murrican V8 is the boss of a stupid rice burning station wagon.

But I hope you enjoy estimating distance in bus-lengths.

+1 (and then some!!)

And my "mulletmobile" would even lap the sushi-wagon on a road course, or kill it in their 'twisties'.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: Ben99GT

If it was a STi or Evo, even lightly modded, I could see the comment, those cars will give a good number of your average V8 cars running around [censored] (especially from a dig)


Right you are, IF (and ONLY IF) their unwarrantied drivelines survive said launch from a 'dig'!!

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: rpn453
Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
That wasn't a Track Pack car, hampered by less gear, worse brakes, and a looser suspension.


Yeah, the faster Mustang GT did have the Track Pack, but I suspect that most on the street would not.


How did a TrackPack car show up without TrackPack tires?

Regardless, it beat the Speed3 handily which was the point.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: rpn453

However, it could match or beat some common versions on a track and might even beat better cars in a short street race (depending on timing and the launch), and it can certainly beat some older ones, so MCompact's statement is realistic in many situations.


That was exactly my point; I know an MS3 can't beat a lot of newer or modded V8s, but in my neck of the woods a lot of goobers think my MS3 is an easy kill when it isn't- especially from a roll. And I enjoy doing the same thing to idiot [censored]-canned ricers. It was more of a comment on the car's Q-Ship factor. As for HPDEs, I've found that I get just about as many point-bys as I give in any typical instructor group. That said, the MS3 has been a lot of fun, and it's helped me pass the time until I can find a nice M3 ZCP or Cayman S.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
How did a TrackPack car show up without TrackPack tires?


Maybe the previous user of that press car burned them off and threw some cheap tires on instead, or maybe the car had been used in winter driving conditions for which the P Zeros weren't suitable. Those are my best guesses!

C&D said that those tires alone made at least a five second difference over whatever the car had arrived with. I'd imagine they were all-seasons to have made that big of a difference.