Which car?

Life Cars & Motorcycles
1

OK, so we have been arguing about many cars apart from the mazda 3.

so, if money was not a factor, and notwithstanding the condition of the roads here, what car would you like? for what purpose, and most importantly, why is that car best for you?

well, let me start the ball rolling with a couple.

porsche 911Turbo the turbo 4wd version of the last aircooled porsche, 993 series
pure driving fun, requiring a bit sf skill to punt quickly but putting the most fun on the face. i have only driven a porsche twice, and only once in anger, but god that was fun. just an old 911SC.
the four wheel drive version fixes the one problem that the hugely powerful (up to 400hp) 911 turbo has, of oversteer that can quickly deelop into a flat spin if you don’t keep the throttle smooth mid-corner. the rear-engine weight distribution is simply the best for a racing car: you can’t argue with the evolution of F1 about that point.
it’s actually not the most recent turbo model but i prefer the body shape from a few years ago.

toyota landcruiser. big fat diesel 4x4 workhorse able to carry more than a ton across tall sand dunes, rocky riverbeds, muddy mountains, deep fords, etc. hugely capable offroad. (i used to be a field biologist in australia). not the best highway car, but even there eats up the miles in comfort. and when you’re done, just hose it out. really reliable, huge fuel tanks, big alternator for extra bits, up to models from about ten years ago, they were pretty easy to repair yourself too.

audi s6
city and country cruiser. i like their technology and their design at the moment. and they introduced 4wd into rally, for sulavaca’s sake. semi manual gearbox, light aluminium body that doesn’t rust, four wheel drive, excellent balance and suspension… but this one’s been modded a bit too low for me

hey, 4wd seems to be the common thread here. glad i’m not paying for the petrol or the service bills though

and my current car: none.

so, what’s your favourite?

2

Sports car category: Subaru Impreza 22B. Okay, I admit I’m an Impreza nut. It’s going to break my heart to part with mine. 22B is a limited edition model hand-built by STi to celebrate Colin McRae’s rally victories. Only 555 were built, featuring a special 2.2 liter engine, tricked out suspension, brakes, interior, and it’s trademark wide body that still spawns replicas. Yes, it’s outdated blah blah blah. It’s still Pure Sex on Wheels.

I go with your suggestion in the off-road category, can’t really beat Land Cruisers. Though I did once get to drive a military Hummer, which was fun. Not as practical as the Toyota however.

I once got to drive a '97 S6 (the one with the 4.2 liter 320ps V8) halfway across Germany. It’s amazing to be shifting into top gear (sixth) at 230kph and still accelerate hard from there… in a station wagon. :smiley: So smooth, so stable. So muscular and yet practical and subtle at the same time.

3

2001 Saab 9³ Viggen Convertibel tuned by Nordic = 300HP = very nice Car! :-))

4

Pure Fun and nostalgia: R5GT Turbo, 205 Turbo 16, Alpine Renault, R8 Gordini.

Legends: DB5, Type-E, 500SL, XJS-V12

Sports: TVR Sagaris, Caterham, Donkervoort

Design : Any Aston, XKR, Maserati GT, 993 Biturbo, M6, Silver Arrow

Commuter (groceries, send the kids to school, go to office in the morning): Audi S3, Golf R32, Megane RS, 130i, Civic Type-R, etc…

And my current car: None of these
:wink:

Lev

5

F1 cars are MID-engine and not rear-engine. Cars with a rear-engine have too much weight hanging out behind the rear wheels. Porsche has managed to tame the infamous 911 tail sway → flat spin into something that even a grandmother would be able to drive fast around the track. Turn off all the electronic stuff (ESP, DSC, etc…) and it will still bite you if you do something rash. I’ve lived with a 996 Turbo for sometime and although it is an amazing car, it wouldn’t be my first choice.

My first choice would be the Ferrari F430 Spyder. In this latest incarnation, it is pure driving pleasure. Docile enough to drive to work everyday and very playful when you feel the need for speed. Drifting with this car is like second nature. :wink:

6

F1 cars are mid engine… as are porsche (well, basically). pardon my sloppy language: hey, it’s the weekend and i’m relaxing my brain… the porsche may hang out a bit further at the back than the F1, but has more weight over the front too, lacking most of the carbon fibre torsion bars etc of an F1 car. F1 cars are not totally mid-engine, the rear axle lies under the engine/transmission, IIRC. definitely more rear than the porsche, but it’s still not like the engine is in the middle of the car.

anyway, the point is they are similar. the engine sits on (or near) the back wheels, giving added rear wheel grip under power and increasing resistance to rotor rotation on the front wheels during braking. no?

never having lived with a porsche of any flavour, i have only been able to adore the look and the sound, and feel jealous of the top gear presenters etc…

i would agree that they are not the most practical though. i would still plump for an audi s6 in the WAGON variant if i could only have one car. one day soonish, i will move back to a real driving country and actually buy one.

still, power to weight ratio of the porsche is close to my ducati. and my ducati is a lot cheaper.

7


Mee too! Fast as hell, and the most performance for your money back in those days. Sure there are faster Subarus out there now, but this one is a classic that out burned a 911 in it’s day. Classic status in my book, but still does the job. Did you know they scrapped the 13th car as it left the production line, as the Japanese are too superstitious?

8

I’d be perfectly happy with the B7 Audi RS4 (sedan or avant). It ticks all the boxes for me…just watch the video in the link below.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gUNFyumQBiw

Cheers

9

Weekend Cars
Jaguar Series 1 E-type
Ferrari Testarossa or 512 TR
BMW M6 (e24)

Daily
911 Turbo
BMW 335i

10

nobody has mentioned any french cars yet… :slight_smile: :laughing: :aiyo: :ohreally: except leviathan of course… :wink:

and i too like that colin macrae subaru special, or most of the WRC homologation variants of the impreza… that engine is sweet, and the gearbox is great too.

seems like the audi s4/s6 gets a big vote from driving fans, but doesn’t sell so many as you’d expect from that.

11

Oo! How about an Audi TT? A new one that is!

12

the flying wing?

hopefully they have some undercar venturi system now as well as the back wing that grows at speed to combat that ‘unfortunate’ tendency for the car to take off above 200kmh, which the earlier generation did at first before the recall to fix a spoiler on, and fix the suspension stabilisers.
safety-recalls.com/content/9 … -2000.html

they are pretty sweet, and very light, but if you’re considering such a small car, why not a porsche, or even a Lotus Elise/Exige if you want something ‘nippy’, shall we say. larger cars have better cruising manners because of inertia, but the Exige outperforms many of them as it weighs about as much as a pair of socks. and has a 1.8L toyota engine, for you reliability freaks out there. reliability? in a lotus? crazy.

13

[quote]nobody has mentioned any french cars yet… except leviathan of course…
[/quote]

:smiley:

Indeed - And that was only in the “Fun / Nostalgia” category…

Since I can’t afford my wishlist, I’m down to going for some compromise between look, feel, driveability, fun, power, handling, etc… etc… End then, suddently, the small French toys make sense :wink:

Lev

14

I’m sure they’ve dealt with the problem at Audi. I still prefer the original TT for its styling.

The Lotus is a great track car. I haven’t tracked its history so I don’t know how they chose the engine from Toyota. How ironic!

[quote=“urodacus”]the flying wing?

hopefully they have some undercar venturi system now as well as the back wing that grows at speed to combat that ‘unfortunate’ tendency for the car to take off above 200kmh, which the earlier generation did at first before the recall to fix a spoiler on, and fix the suspension stabilisers.
safety-recalls.com/content/9 … -2000.html

they are pretty sweet, and very light, but if you’re considering such a small car, why not a porsche, or even a Lotus Elise/Exige if you want something ‘nippy’, shall we say. larger cars have better cruising manners because of inertia, but the Exige outperforms many of them as it weighs about as much as a pair of socks. and has a 1.8L toyota engine, for you reliability freaks out there. reliability? in a lotus? crazy.
[/quote]

15

ANYTHING BUT A MAZDA FUCKING 3!!!

[color=blue]sorry
[/color]

16

ANYTHING BUT A MAZDA FUCKING 3!!!

not-too-bad look, not-too-bad engine, not-too-bad handling… I mean, considering what you can buy brand new with 650kNT in Taiwan, it’s really not a bad choice IMHO. Probably one of the best, in fact. Nop?

17

[quote=“Leviathan22”]ANYTHING BUT A MAZDA FUCKING 3!!!

not-too-bad look, not-too-bad engine, not-too-bad handling… I mean, considering what you can buy brand new with 650kNT in Taiwan, it’s really not a bad choice IMHO. Probably one of the best, in fact. Nop?[/quote]

AH-HUANG: (spraying betelnet juice in eight directions) I really want a sportscar like my pal Ah-Gyong but since I just blew all my money on KTV and gambling I don’t think I can quite stretch to a Porsche…

CHEESY CAR SALESMAN: well sir, with such rosy red lips as yours I can see that such a man of distinction is looking for style, grace, and most importantly something that looks suspiciously like a sportscar but without all that pesky expense of sportscar parts.

AH-HUANG: GREAT!! I just bought something that weighs the same as llary’s truck but with half the horsepower! Now I can hang out with my buddies and pull out in front of every red light since no other car could possible match my 0-60 performance of 14 seconds.

CHEESY CAR SALESMAN: excellent choice, my learned lipsticked friend. And did I also mention that every model comes with this free License To Drive Like A Complete Tosser?

I think Mordeth made a very smart move going for the Suzuki Swift, btw. There is no shame whatsoever in going for a budget car (mine was about five times less than a new Mazda 3 :slight_smile:) but please, for the love of all that is holy, at least spend the money on the innards instead of something that’s trying to look expensive.

AND DON’T BUY A MAZDA FUCKING 3.

18

my mum likes her new maxda 3. well, she is nearly 70 and never revs over about 4000, so it might suit her. .

and if it is anything like her old escort mk II, which recieved no oil change for about fifteen years, it will be a reliable solid uninspiring car. until she handed it on to me and i broke it in short order. i thought ford escorts were meant to be thrown around dirt roads like that. ( i did actually change the oil though)

19

I must admit you make sense here. Didn’t look at the 3 this way, but, indeed, I’m slowly getting glad that I did not buy one… But Mazda did a real good job in making it look and feel expensive while keeping it cheap, I think. It’s pretty well built and well equiped, IMHO.

Would you consider the 3 as the BMW-3 for the “dream-of-owning-one-but-can’t-afford-it”, as the Cefiro and Camri are the E-200 for the “dream-of-owning-one-but-can’t-afford-it”? Makes sense, indeed.

Performance wise, I’ve never understood how the japanese cars manage to claim 150+ BHP and have such sluggish behaviour. My Lancer 1.8 was “officially” 145 BHP for 1.3 tons, and was feeling like a 80BHP european car. Same for the 3 that I tried - 'cos I did visit the Mazda agent, and actually tried the stuff. Shame on me, I was THAT close to get one.

Lev

20

That’s probably what broke it! :laughing: :laughing: :stuck_out_tongue: