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Automotive News & Views The Test Drive That Shattered Your Dream
55 messages, Last post on Sep 11, 2008 at 3:58 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: wesleyg (Aug 19, 2008 6:56 am) Road testing the "classic cars of our dreams" is often a shock, although occasionally one is pleasantly surprised. "It depends". But let's face it, 60s American muscle cars were crude things. |
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 19, 2008 7:22 am)  As long as you didn't try to turn it would do a 13.5 second 1/4 mile. The front wheels would lift off the ground, the G force would drain the blood out of your head, and it was loud enough to drown out the screams of your passengers. Now that I make just a little more money I have gone in search of that same feeling. Test drives with today's cars that deliver that kind of performance just don't cut it. On a recent test drive of a Lexus IS 350, a car capable of that 13.5 second quarter mile, I noticed my wife was playing with the knobs on the stereo as I gave it all it got. Did time slow down over the years?
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I sort of had that problem back in 1974 when I bought an Alfa Spider. I had been running around in a VW Beetle, and then a Honda Civic. I came into some money, and bought a Spider. It was a great car and it handled beautifully. However, it was sort of boring to drive in that, at speeds that were "Prepare to meet Jesus" in the VW, the Alfa was as smooth as a living room sofa. So, logically, in order to recreate the sensation I'd had in the Beetle and the Civic, I had to drive much, much, MUCH, faster. I'm sure you all understand.  Gosh, I miss that car. |
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Like others, I also went to try out the Crossfire when it first came out. Unfortunately, I didn't even get to the actual test drive because I couldn't fit in the car well enough to drive it. That's a similar story to many vehicles for me. Boxster, S2000, TT, RX8. All ruled out for their lack of tall-person accomodations. The only one I actually drove of that group was the TT. In coupe form, I was close to fitting, so I gave it a spin. Wasn't until 10-15 minutes that I realized I couldn't live with it. TT wasn't really a "dream." But the others were. Lesseee... ummm... well, the only car that really comes to mind (at the moment) outside of the "fitting" problem is the A6 2.7T. I always drooled over this car. When I finally drove a used one, I was kind of disappointed. I liked it, but I didn't love it. It didn't live up to the "dream." |
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 08, 2008 6:14 pm) First time I drove the Honda Ody back in '04 the "All thing Honda is Great" media blitz went down in flames. This turned out to be a plain looking minivan that did not stand out in any way above any of the other minivans. Ended up with a Mazda MPV which is a lot better van. Who or what do you blame for this dis-connect? I blame Edmunds.  They built Honda Ody up to god like status like all the other web sties/mag rags.
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Replying to: jipster (Aug 19, 2008 11:50 am) |
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We considered an Infiniti G20 when it first came out. On paper it looked good: Everyone raved about the handling and build quality, it got good gas mileage, the dealer experience was great, yada*3. Then we drove it: That the dealer practically threw the keys at us and said, "take it for the weekend," should have been a warning sign. The 4 banger was smooth for a 4 banger, but it was pretty gutless, even with the 5-speed. We wanted something with at least as much interior room as my fox chassis T-bird, and the G20 didn't quite qualify. Wound up with a Maxima, which gave up a little in handling, but it rode better, had far more guts and decent interior room. And it was cheaper. The EVO story, which happened to a friend, is even worse in that he wrote the check before having his dream shattered. He's a long time DSM (Diamond Star Motors - google if you need to) fan. The kind of guy who owned an AWD Eclipse that ran high 12s here in CO. So when it was announced that the EVO was coming to the US, he was about the first on on the waiting list. He put down his deposit and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally got the car, and at first it was everything he thought it would be. He took me for a ride, and I was impressed. There was one thing I found off-putting: At the time I owned an E36 M3 set up for track and auto-x, which translates to a suspension that would allow me to run over a quarter and tell whether it was heads or tails. Compared to the EVO, it was cushy. He wasn't too bothered, it was part of owning a hot car. His only objection was that the seats had too much lumbar. Then he and his wife went for a 3 hour drive in the mountains. When they got home, between the seats and the punishing ride, his back hurt so much his wife had to help him out of the car and drag him into the house. But he so loved the car, he spent weeks trying to figure out how to adapt it to him, or vice versa. He looked at replacing the seats with adjustable Recaros, but couldn't justify the eye-watering cost. So, he sold it. Naturally he'd owned it long enough that the initial feeding frenzy had abated, so he got normal used car money for it, instead of getting his money back as he might have done if he'd discovered the problem right off the bat. |
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Replying to: jakeinswitz (Aug 19, 2008 8:43 am) 
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Replying to: jakeinswitz (Aug 19, 2008 8:43 am) After driving a VW bug, you could put wheels on a rain barrel and feel like you upgraded EVO -- fabulous car, but it can beat you up. Same with the STi Subaru. These cars are fast, great handlers, real bargains but boy are they crude compared to an M3. |
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Replying to: jakeinswitz (Aug 19, 2008 8:43 am) Regards: Oldengineer |
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