Toyota owners "boring"?

[CBDFrontier06]

I test drove a 2.5 Altima the same day I bought my 3.5. I promise, it was a slouch. The car weighs within a few pounds of the 2002 - 2003 Maxima...but I didn't see them offering a 4-cylinder in it. Why? Power to weight in a 2.5 Altima, pardon my lauguage, sucks. I noticed you have a boosted Mercedes. Why not normally aspirated, if you're such an opponent of horsepower?

Marketing had nothing to do with my choice of engines, nor does more power necessarily make me feel safer. It makes my commute and my driving experience easier and less stressful. My experiences on Dallas highways dictated my decision for more horses. I got sick of having to floor my Sentra and pray for speed as I approach the highway. Same situation with my Ford Ranger, Mazda 3, Honda Civic(s) so I finally abandoned the 4-cylinder realm, hopefully for good. I don't race nor do I exibit speed...it's just nice to have when I need it.

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by CBDFrontier06:
Attaining highway velocity wasn't a white knuckle, prayer inducing experience like it was in my 4-cylinder cars.

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You don't have to wait until the on ramp joins the main freeway to start speeding up (and determining in what gap you're going to put your car).


I routinely merge onto I95 in 5th gear--and I'm going faster than traffic on I95 by the time the acceleration lane ends.

[ July 20, 2006, 04:45 PM: Message edited by: brianl703 ]

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by JHZR2:
Some how I manage to merge onto very fast, very full highways, with very short onramps, without issue... we dont get "texas sized" merge spaces around here

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In Pennsylvania, you often get about 25 feet and a "YIELD" sign.

 

[Win]

quote:

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Originally posted by JHZR2:

Ummm, yeah I dont do either and live in a heck of a lot more densely populated area of the country (the world even) than you do - come and see real traffic and real driving, then gauge my skill.

JMH

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Haven't driven much in Dallas or Houston, have you?

I think driving in Dallas or Houston is the absolute worst in the country. Way worse than L.A. or D.C.

 

[CBDFrontier06]

quote:

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Originally posted by brianl703:
You don't have to wait until the on ramp joins the main freeway to start speeding up (and determining in what gap you're going to put your car).

I routinely merge onto I95 in 5th gear--and I'm going faster than traffic on I95 by the time the acceleration lane ends. [/QB]

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I don't wait until I'm at the highway..the onramps onto I75 north of I635 are incredibly short....if you wanna be going 70 by the time you reach the end of them, you better have 200+ hp or a 200 mph tailwind.

 

[Quattro Pete]

quote:

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Originally posted by Win:
I think driving in Dallas or Houston is the absolute worst in the country. Way worse than L.A. or D.C.

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Having driven in both DC and Dallas, I'd say they're both just as bad.

 

[Blue_Goose]

I went from a 250HP Saturn Vue to 130HP (debatable) Toyota Matrix....I'll agree..the bigger V6 sure is nice when you want to merge or pass but I've adapted pretty well... Just gotta pick your spots and drive a little more defensively....no issue keeping up with traffic though...80 in a V6 is 80 in a 4 banger....

The V6 power is also nice when I want to make a lane change and need to pop in and out real quick but I'll trade off that little feature for the 37mpg I recorded on my last fillup

Ehhh like I said no worries with the 4...plus my wife still has her V6 3.5 Vue if I want to get that push me back in the seat feeling.

You guys talking about traffic don't have to worry about tunnels collapsing on you like in Boston

Goose

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by CBDFrontier06:
if you wanna be going 70 by the time you reach the end of them, you better have 200+ hp or a 200 mph tailwind.

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Or maybe decent tires and a willingness to take the curved portion of the ramp a little faster..

 

[brianl703]

After looking at US75 (it's not Interstate 75!), there are no ramps that curve. There are ramps from the frontage road to US75 which are more or less straight.

What is the speed limit on the frontage road?

 

[brianl703]

Using the satellite view on Google Maps, I compared the shortest ramp I could find on US75 with that of the ramp from Joplin Road East to I95 North in Dumfries, VA and both appear to have a similar length of acceleration lane (I made sure the satellite views have the same scale). That is where I routinely merge onto I95 in 5th gear with no problem. The major difference is that the ramp to I95 involves a loop, so drivers must slow down for that.

You're telling me you need 200HP or a strong tailwind to merge onto a highway with a similar amount of acceleration lane AND you don't even have a loop to deal with so at most you're accelerating from whatever the speed limit on the frontage road is? In addition I suspect that the frontage road and US75 are at the same grade so there isn't even an uphill stretch to worry about. Joplin Road is below the grade of I95.

In addition to all of that, there are longer on-ramps to US75 from the frontage road so you have the option of staying on the frontage road for a couple more miles till you come to a longer on-ramp, an option not available in areas such as the DC area where there are no frontage roads.


Frontage road = feeder road.

[ July 20, 2006, 07:18 PM: Message edited by: brianl703 ]

 

[JavaMan]

I guess I should drive a Toyota.

 

[01rangerxl]

quote:

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Originally posted by jmacmaster:
We'll see how boring people think they are next year when three different NASCAR Nextel Cup racing teams fire up their Camrys and start whaling on the Fords, Chevies, and Dodges.

http://toyota.com/motorsports/pitpass/index.html

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Their entry into NASCAR says nothing about their production models.

 

[milwaukee]

I have never witnessed a wizzing contest about "who can merge the best in a econobox" before.

Interesting.

Things do not appear to be well with modern car guys if this is the case.

 

[Drew99GT]

OH MY GOODNESS!! Thank you milwaukee for making me spew Coors Light on my darn laptop!! (for the record, I drive a Corolla with a 5 speed; never an issue merging because it's usually above 5K).

 

[JHZR2]

quote:

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I noticed you have a boosted Mercedes. Why not normally aspirated, if you're such an opponent of horsepower?

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Who said Im an opponent of horsepower??? Im an opponent of drivers who think they cant survive without 200+ hp under their hoods, who feel that cars dont have 'pickup' unless they have a v6, and who think they 'need' a v6 to be safe. For the record, my current cars all have under 200 hp, and my main drive (my saab 9-3), has a mere 175 hp... yet has the fattest torque band Ive seen outside a diesel. As for my diesel (which Im getting repaired and will take to 500k at least), I could have bought a 220 or 240D... In fact, that was my original intention. LOTS of people own them, and use them for highway driving, and LOTS of people love them for same. They do only have 61 hp, in a 3500 lb car (often with an auto trans!) but yet people seem to survive. I found my car locally, and it was like new. Enough said. I got 30 MPG repeatedly in that 20 year old car with 228k miles, and it saved my life. And, at full boost on a warm day it would make 120 hp at best - not exactly a horsepower winner, but it did exactly what was required of it, when required, with safety (cant help uninsued drivers running into you when stopped) Id like to see how many MPGs your altima is getting and how well it is running at 228k...

quote:

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Haven't driven much in Dallas or Houston, have you?

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Actually, as a chemical engineer, Im in houston about once a quarter. I was just in Dallas in late may... and??? traffic might build up bigtime at the big exchanges between interstates, and on the loops around the cities, but between 5+ lanes each way, plus service roads on each side with decently marked merge areas that have relatively long runups, there really isnt much of an issue anywhere Ive driven. If its traffic, its traffic, no need to merge to 70. And if its going fast, all those lanes and the service roads give you more than adequate space.

Unlike as Brian mentioned -

quote:

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In Pennsylvania, you often get about 25 feet and a "YIELD" sign.

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Which is the case all over the mid atlantic, and is very true... You have a stop sign, then a very short running space with a yield sign. Not exactly condusive to driving unless you know how to do it safely. Im sure these exist in DFW and Houston, and I didnt use them. But they certainly exist ALL OVER the densely populated midatlantic... it isnt just PA and it isnt just NJ. One of the worst is in DC. Since we have lots of military veterans... for anyone who ever lived in the Bellevue Navy Family housing in DC... care to comment on that merge onto 295 north (at exit 1) during times when the traffic is flowing??? talk about bad!

In other words, its like that all over, and somehow people have and continue to survive without issue.

Enough with the ******* match - Im allowed to disagree with your choice and viewpoint exactly the same as you can mine.

JMH

 

[CBDFrontier06]

Hmm...a ragtop 2-seater RX-8...I guess I haven't seen one of those yet

 

[grm386wa]

Ech em!! I must chime in here since I am 1) a male and 2) I drive a Toyoya Camry (sometimes)

Its my wifes daily driver but when we go somewhere together, I almost always drive...the rare exception being if I have been drinking...which is another thread all its own...but I digress...

If you were to be "tailing" my car from a distance on the interstate it would be extremely easy to figure out which one of us is driving it.

If the car is varying speeds and the driver is at 10 and 2 and making abrupt lane changes, its her...

If, however, YOU were to be varying your speed to keep from being "spotted" and you noticed a highly aggitated driver, whose right hand sat comfortably at the 1 o'clock position, constantly tapping their breaks to disengage the cruise control...all the while constantly scanning his mirrors (got an atta boy from my driving test person when I was 16 on this)....then it would be I.

Man I wish more people drove like me....

 

[Win]

quote:

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Originally posted by JHZR2:

I could have bought a 220 or 240D... In fact, that was my original intention. LOTS of people own them, and use them for highway driving, and LOTS of people love them for same. They do only have 61 hp, in a 3500 lb car

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And, at full boost on a warm day it would make 120 hp at best [/QB]

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61 to 120 Hp? In a 3500 lb car? And I'm assuming that, from the age of those dinosaurs, that's a gross, not a net rating.

I can't imagine driving a slug like that.

 

[CBDFrontier06]

Like I said earlier..I'm sure he's a fun person to get stuck behind on an onramp.

 

[brianl703]

Even more fun to be stuck behind someone with a 240HP whatever that still can't merge. I was behind someone driving a Nissan Murano who tried to merge at 40MPH into a 55MPH highway. The Nissan Murano has a 245HP engine with a 3800lbs curb weight...so...what was her excuse?

Seems to me that it's the driver, not the HP, that is the problem.