Jump to content

The New Car Fanatic Thread


Assman

Recommended Posts

On 9/29/2020 at 7:10 PM, TwiceHorn said:

I might consider a Civic SI or R or whatever if that whole practicality thing is an issue.  WRX?

Also, while it isn't going to hold a power-candle to your CTS-V (nothing you're looking at is), the ATS is another order of magnitude more fun to drive than my 2011 CTS coupe and can be had for an absolute steal (substantially under 30k with low miles).

How many miles on your CTS-V?  Thirteen years is a pretty good run for a fairly high-strung vehicle.

Edit:  forgot about market conditions, but last January, when I bought, Stingers and G70s were hard to find.  Also, super weird but what few G70s there were had like 1500 miles on them and not much break off MSRP.

There were a shit ton of ATS Sedans last time I looked.  I wanted a coupe again, so selection was considerably lower and price higher.  I saw a few MTs too, with a price break usually.

 

A0211D93-831D-4F6C-AAE0-E086307E7532.jpeg

020DDC7E-9BC3-4E55-8EE7-D5AFB66803F3.jpeg

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/3/2020 at 8:10 PM, Fat Bastard said:

Stingers are beautiful. Shit engine. But beautiful. If u debadged the Kia from it would think it was a 100k German car (from the outside). Shitty interior quality 

 

On 10/3/2020 at 8:20 PM, Bozo_Casanova said:

You mean the V6, right? I don’t hate the engine. I do hate the chrome trim on the fake side intake. Otherwise agree, it’s a gorgeous exterior design. 

The G70 and G80 are nice looking in the wild.

The T shifter bugs me, on Audis too.  Reminds me of my 83 Cutlass.  It was fine in 1983.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No one is "aspiring" to anything.

The output of a machine is an engineering decision.  Engineering decisions are made in a context, with a number of constraints.  Price is one of them, probably the most significant in the context of a consumer good like a car.

The Kia/Hyundai delivers 110/hp per liter.  Your M5 delivered 140hp per liter.  The Benz 150hp/liter.

The base prices are $41k, 110k, and 113k.

The Kia engine may not represent the final solution, but it is far from shit in its context.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, Anton Chigurh said:


I just had a sensible chuckle.

He's not wrong though.  Taco and 4Runner are new old-stock relics from 2002/2009 that could use another 60-80HP and two additional forward gears.  We've covered this already.

Edited by Gravy Train
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Fat Bastard said:

Stick to posting pics of homemade ice cream and taking pics of food at restaurants like u were a 17 year old Vietnamese girl trying to maintain Yelp Elite status. 

Dude, you can't go with "u" in a post like this. 

And everyone knows that we need @ERhine to get back to posting quality pornography. 

Edited by Prepuce of Doom
  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Fat Bastard said:

Stick to posting pics of homemade ice cream and taking pics of food at restaurants like u were a 17 year old Vietnamese girl trying to maintain Yelp Elite status. 

Some people love cars because they love cars.  Others love them so they can brag about them.  I think I know which column you fall in.

 

And even though I have a mere 450 hp, it's still too much for the streets.  Only takes a couple seconds to be hitting take me to prison speeds.  Doubt I'll have a car this fast again.  There's nowhere to open it up.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Gravy Train said:

He's not wrong though.  Taco and 4Runner are new old-stock relics from 2002/2009 that could use another 60-80HP and two additional forward gears.  We've covered this already.

The 4Runner is still running the 4.0 but the Tacoma switched to 3.5 in 2016 that is much better. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coincidentally rode in a 2019 G70 yesterday.  Answered my question if the back seat was large enough, and it was definitely a ‘not quite’.  Was x-shopping those with Stingers, and lack of a hatch + smaller back seat were concerns even if they are a little sportier.  Interior was gorgeous though, the diamond-stitched leather looked really nice.  
 

I’ll miss the sound of my V though, the turbos muffle quite a bit of the exhaust note.  Shame.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Homercles said:

Coincidentally rode in a 2019 G70 yesterday.  Answered my question if the back seat was large enough, and it was definitely a ‘not quite’.  Was x-shopping those with Stingers, and lack of a hatch + smaller back seat were concerns even if they are a little sportier.  Interior was gorgeous though, the diamond-stitched leather looked really nice.  
 

I’ll miss the sound of my V though, the turbos muffle quite a bit of the exhaust note.  Shame.  

For some reason, I just can't get into the diamond-stitched.  It looks odd to me and I can envision it getting worn pretty easily.

Besides my shifter and upholstery nitpicks, I like the cars.  Wish I could have found one gently used.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

And even though I have a mere 450 hp, it's still too much for the streets.  Only takes a couple seconds to be hitting take me to prison speeds.  Doubt I'll have a car this fast again.  There's nowhere to open it up.

That's no joke.  I couldn't make use of 300hp even getting on the freeway before I was up someone's ass, and with the 300 torque at 2000 rpm (and increasing traffic everywhere), it's even worse.  Even 50-70+ runups are hard to pull off until you get out in the sticks somewhere.

Almost every time I try to run out my car, and have to pull up short, I'm like what the fuck would I have done with an ATS-V except buy expensive brake pads?

Edited by TwiceHorn
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I only need to go so fast in a car.  I pegged the speedometer on an 87 Mustang GT in high school.  I later flipped that car while street racing.  I had a buddy who bought a 997 turbo with launch mode.  We found an empty stretch of road and he showed me what that was all about.  I don’t need to go any faster than that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah that was stupid and needless dick waving.  I had more fun driving a 96 Miata at full tilt than I often do trying to wring out the v while staying at legal speeds.  
 

I was shopping a 308GTB when I decided I was going to marry my now-wife, figured she wouldn’t be up for a constantly leaking garage Queen with no room for child seats...got the v instead...but I bet blasting that thing with half the hp woulda been more fun.  
 

Im thinking hard about a Stinger because I want a good blend of performance and practicality in a modern, warrantied package at a reasonable price...I’d been leaning V2 for years but another 150hp would be mostly wasted and I’m turned off on GM given the rancid reliability of my ‘07.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Homercles said:

Yeah that was stupid and needless dick waving.  I had more fun driving a 96 Miata at full tilt than I often do trying to wring out the v while staying at legal speeds.  
 

I was shopping a 308GTB when I decided I was going to marry my now-wife, figured she wouldn’t be up for a constantly leaking garage Queen with no room for child seats...got the v instead...but I bet blasting that thing with half the hp woulda been more fun.  
 

Im thinking hard about a Stinger because I want a good blend of performance and practicality in a modern, warrantied package at a reasonable price...I’d been leaning V2 for years but another 150hp would be mostly wasted and I’m turned off on GM given the rancid reliability of my ‘07.  

Don't think you ever said how many miles?  Was it unreliable for the first 75-100k?  We're on 20 ownership years of GM currently, with one water pump, one catalytic converter and an interior and exterior door handle (DIY, $40, 30 minutes).  Combined about 180k miles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

Don't think you ever said how many miles?  Was it unreliable for the first 75-100k?  We're on 20 ownership years of GM currently, with one water pump, one catalytic converter and an interior and exterior door handle (DIY, $40, 30 minutes).  Combined about 180k miles.

It has 100k miles now, but it’s been a problem for years.  Here’s a list of what’s been replaced since I bought it at 30k:

Steering rack (extended warranty covered)

Sunroof (trim broke, not cover by warranty)

Tail lights (flew off on 45 toll, put in aftermarket)

Windshield trim (flew off)

Coolant temp sensor 

Throttle position sensor (whole pedal assy)

Clutch position x2

Ignition key surround broke (not repaired)

Turn signal stalk (high beams randomly on)

Water pump, belts (huge leak)

Radiator (cracked)

Intake fuel line (pending repair for leak)

 

That list doesn’t include things over the years I’d expect on a 100k car...like both cats, brakes x3, tires x2, two bad door lock actuators, plugs/wires.  Major things keep breaking and I’m at my wits end.  

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Homercles said:

It has 100k miles now, but it’s been a problem for years.  Here’s a list of what’s been replaced since I bought it at 30k:

Steering rack (extended warranty covered)

Sunroof (trim broke, not cover by warranty)

Tail lights (flew off on 45 toll, put in aftermarket)

Windshield trim (flew off)

Coolant temp sensor 

Throttle position sensor (whole pedal assy)

Clutch position x2

Ignition key surround broke (not repaired)

Turn signal stalk (high beams randomly on)

Water pump, belts (huge leak)

Radiator (cracked)

Intake fuel line (pending repair for leak)

 

That list doesn’t include things over the years I’d expect on a 100k car...like both cats, brakes x3, tires x2, two bad door lock actuators, plugs/wires.  Major things keep breaking and I’m at my wits end.  

Eeesh, that's no bueno.

I still have a psychological barrier against running a car much beyond 100k or even to 100k, although I think that's more normal now than it used to be.  For me/us that tends to be about 8-9 years, which in and of itself means things are probably going to shit out of pure age, regardless of wear/miles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I’ve lived in Austin metro since 2002, and in that whole time I’ve had two cars...97 Prelude (still miss that car) and the V.  I’ve tended to hang onto cars for a long time but I’m starting to think I should bring in that timeline a bit once they get near 100k...but again my judgement is clouded by my Cadillac falling apart recently.  
 

This is why I don’t want a complex, older, higher performance German car for the same money...my buddies 325i had the whole coolant system replaced, my dads 530i had to have half the dash replaced due to entertainment/HVAC problems, friends A6 had extrinsic gremlins.  My sisters two GTIs have been reliable but I think I need more storage space and back seat room.  
 

I’d love an M3 or older V8 M5, maybe a CL63 or R6...but I’d rather spend my bucks on something newer, with a warranty and isn’t held hostage by German part prices.  

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Homercles said:

Yeah I’ve lived in Austin metro since 2002, and in that whole time I’ve had two cars...97 Prelude (still miss that car) and the V.  I’ve tended to hang onto cars for a long time but I’m starting to think I should bring in that timeline a bit once they get near 100k...but again my judgement is clouded by my Cadillac falling apart recently.  
 

This is why I don’t want a complex, older, higher performance German car for the same money...my buddies 325i had the whole coolant system replaced, my dads 530i had to have half the dash replaced due to entertainment/HVAC problems, friends A6 had extrinsic gremlins.  My sisters two GTIs have been reliable but I think I need more storage space and back seat room.  
 

I’d love an M3 or older V8 M5, maybe a CL63 or R6...but I’d rather spend my bucks on something newer, with a warranty and isn’t held hostage by German part prices.  

I tend to think of -Vs as kind of high-strung, like an M or AMG, but yours, IIRC they just dropped a big NA V8 in and beefed up the brakes and suspension, so really not all that bad from that perspective.

By the same token as my possibly silly 100k limitation, all cars are complex as shit these days and prosaic things like headlights are liable to cost $1000, so some of the things about krautwagen reliability and part cost apply equally to a Caddy or ricer or Volvo or whathaveyou. So my fear of that is probably irrational.

I passed on a -V because of fear of maintenance costs (just the routine-ish stuff like brakes), plus I'm just a cheapskate that has lived long enough to know that optioning the biggest, baddest everything is not all it's cracked up to be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...