Car lovers?

Secret Asian Man wrote:
Serengeti wrote:
Secret Asian Man wrote:

To be honest I don't really like look of this car. It looks jagged and doesn't have any flow. Too many sharp angles for me, but to each his own.

...but it's invisible to radar!

Hmm, well that would be awesome. Would it work against lasers also?

With that car though, I don't think the cops will need to clock me to tell if I'm speeding. :twisted:

To avoid laser all you need to do is go out and it painted in chrome! Then the laser will have no effect as they will just reflect harmlessly away

It has been a long time since a car has given me a woody.

A great car to honor a great man for the muscle car genre.
Meet the $90,000 Mustang
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/...
IMAGE(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2009/autos/0909/gallery.iacocca_mustang/images/iacocca_mustang_badge.jpg)
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Holy crap. They awesome-ized the Mustang.

Those wheels are gross. The rest of the car is definitely woody material.

mindset.threat wrote:

Those wheels are gross. The rest of the car is definitely woody material.

This. I'm still of the opinion that the best rim you can put on a Mustang is a set of Torq Thrust IIs by American Racing. Bonus points if it's got the Ponycar logo on the hubcap.

On Vans vs SUVs, Mrs AnimeJ was(and still is, really) anti-van. She's currently driving a 98 Dodge Caravan, and we're looking to upgrade(Military Move + Homebuyer credit = $$$$$) to a newer van. We'll probably wind up with another Dodge, since we'll be in a good position to negotiate HARD(cash payments do that), and could drive the price on an 08 SXT down into the $10k range.

She was really big on the Pilots when we first started looking at a new vehicle, but the end consensus for us was that with 3 kids, hating vans and not wanting one wasn't worth the hassle of getting kids into and out of the third row seating, since the middle bench goes wall to wall, unlike the van which even with a bench still has room for easy access w/out folding the seat.

Not a car, but still I love my new baby! First truck I've owned, and I don't think I can go without one now. 2009 Dodge Ram 5.7L Hemi SLT 4x4 - 390HP and 407LB Torque. It feels nice to have some balls back on my ride again!

IMAGE(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/Swat_R2/08032009797.jpg)
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Also I picked this up for my wife, got a really good deal on a 1994 Audi 100 Quattro, pretty much rebuilt from the ground up and meticulously maintained by an Audi club fanatic, it's quite a smooth and comfortable ride. It is a bit of a dog though, but I didn't buy it for the speed.

IMAGE(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/Swat_R2/07242009788.jpg)

This is our old Mazda 3 GT Sport. We had a good time the past 4 years, but the lease was up, and I decided never to lease again - the interest rates are just too good to pass up now, and you avoid all the headaches of a lease return. Still, I really loved this little car, even if I felt like a bit of a sardine in it. It could corner like you wouldn't believe, and it had a decent amount of pep to it.

IMAGE(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/Swat_R2/08052009807.jpg)

Blue Puma, that's a sweet ride! And Thin J.. nice ride! I miss my old 1999 Canary Yellow `Stang - I loved that car. Unfortunately she barely made it a year before the unemployment gods decided to strike, but she is missed. I still remember the fun we had at SIR (Seattle International Raceway) and all the meets.

Myself, grandfather, uncle and dad went to Homestead yesterday and bought a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda Gran Coupe with a 440 big block engine for $17k. This pic isn't the actual car. His is in factory color of "plum".

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I love those Dodge grills. (grilles?) Nice lookin' truck, Swat. Those things are some of the meanest sounding vehicles on the road, that's for sure.

Also Edwin. *drool.*

Seth wrote:

I love those Dodge grills. (grilles?) Nice lookin' truck, Swat. Those things are some of the meanest sounding vehicles on the road, that's for sure.

Also Edwin. *drool.*

Yeah I love the aggressive grill, my wife always jokes how it looks like it wants to eat small cars for lunch. I definitely need to get Flowmasters at some point because it's pretty damn quiet, and I'd like to hear a bit more of the Hemi.

Edwin, if I had that car, I'd probably never leave it. It doesn't get more badass than that. Definitely get some more pics up when you can!

Swat, your truck is doubleplus good. I too am a big fan of the Dodge trucks, along with the wife. Flowmasters will make it pure, unadulterated win in the form of a Truck.

@Edwin: Gorgeous, Gorgeous car. I don't think I'd ever be able to stop washing/waxing it, myself.

I love the way the Dodge trucks look and there are few things that sound as awesome as the Hemi does with a nice custom exhaust setup. A friend of mine had an '03 in that light blue color with a custom dual exhaust job he had done at a local shop. It was a beautiful install and it sounded great. It was a really nice truck.

That said, I do hope yours is more reliable than those that my friends and acquaintances have owned. That friend of mine with the '03 ended up doing over $4k in repairs in '07. Everything from suspension to brakes seemed to start going bad all at once, despite him handling regular maintenance on his own. He weathered the storm on that because he loved the truck.

When he started to get a grinding noise from the rear axle in the early half of last year he finally gave up and traded it in for a WRX. Every once in a while he misses having a truck, but then he stops and reminds himself... 12 miles per gallon. That usually puts a smile on his face.

I think it's universally known that Dodge makes sh*tty cars. Consumer Reports has constantly ranked them the worst in almost everything and their re-sale value is not even worth it.

Thin_J wrote:

I love the way the Dodge trucks look and there are few things that sound as awesome as the Hemi does with a nice custom exhaust setup. A friend of mine had an '03 in that light blue color with a custom dual exhaust job he had done at a local shop. It was a beautiful install and it sounded great. It was a really nice truck.

That said, I do hope yours is more reliable than those that my friends and acquaintances have owned. That friend of mine with the '03 ended up doing over $4k in repairs in '07. Everything from suspension to brakes seemed to start going bad all at once, despite him handling regular maintenance on his own. He weathered the storm on that because he loved the truck.

When he started to get a grinding noise from the rear axle in the early half of last year he finally gave up and traded it in for a WRX. Every once in a while he misses having a truck, but then he stops and reminds himself... 12 miles per gallon. That usually puts a smile on his face.

Ouch. 09 was the big re-design year, I know they changed the suspension among a bunch of other things, it really is a beauty to handle (doesn't feel like a truck, although it does have a bit of a float to the steering. I'm not sure how the earlier models fared though, although I have heard some rumblings in the Dodge forums about the first couple years of the last re-design in 02/03 caused a few lemons or chronic problems.

The gas isn't great (I knew what I was getting into) but the MDS helps a bit, drops it down to 4Cyl when under 3k RPM to help a tad with the mileage. Thankfully I'm not too far from work and only go in 3 days a week. Now I wish I could afford some toys to tow, but that might be a long, long time. :p

Swat wrote:

Edwin, if I had that car, I'd probably never leave it. It doesn't get more badass than that. Definitely get some more pics up when you can!

Some pics I took of one last year:
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It's so amazing, it makes me weep. That must be one proud owner.

ok that orange cuda I want to slap the guy for putting the grill on it. Also if I owned a 'cuda I would sleep in it and make my wife bring out buckets of water so I could lean out and take a bath.

Yeah, that car is beautiful for the most part, but that grill is just silly. I don't have any particular problem with billet grills (and may end up with one myself to delete the fog lights on my car), but that's too much. The headlights should not be behind the grill. It just looks wrong.

Course if it was anodized black instead of chrome/stainless/whatever it would probably look just fine.

Edwin wrote:

I think it's universally known that Dodge makes sh*tty cars. Consumer Reports has constantly ranked them the worst in almost everything and their re-sale value is not even worth it.

Bigger trucks always hold value better than cars. He traded that '03 in even with it's mechanical issues and still got $16k for it, which was $6k more than he owed on it at the time.

And while we're on the custom Mustangs... I'm a rather big fan of the new SMS 460:

IMAGE(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/Thin_J/sms_460_2010_mustang_b001.jpg)

And of course, then there's Steve Saleen's one of a kind 25th anniversary car:

IMAGE(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/Thin_J/90807090021M.jpg)

With it's ridiculous power stats of:
* 720 HP/612 WHP
* 667 TQ/565 WTQ

Thin_J wrote:

And while we're on the custom Mustangs... I'm a rather big fan of the new SMS 460:

I like the machine guns under the headlights. Or are they grenade launchers?

Congrats Edwin, thats an amazing car.

Also, whats with new mustangs and chrome wheels?!? I think a brushed or powder coated wheel looks much smoother.

This is nothing on the cars that have been posted but the guy at the end of the road is selling a '97 F-150 manual. It's a tiny truck but I like the way it looks and if it had 4x4 I'd seriously consider it.

I love the lines on that Iacocca Mustang. Nice and clean.

IMAGE(http://img60.echo.cx/img60/8944/webpicture3jc.jpg)

That is f*cking beautiful. Pardon my french.

damn that's hot, Edwin.

Thin_J wrote:

That is f*cking beautiful. Pardon my french.

Khoram wrote:

damn that's hot, Edwin.

AnimeJ wrote:
Thin_J wrote:

That is f*cking beautiful. Pardon my french.

Khoram wrote:

damn that's hot, Edwin.

Dude, yes.

Anyway, I'm in the market for a new car (got promoted!) and have five or so real possibilities so far. I'm not much of a car buff (yet!), so forgive me being light on details.

1. 2008 Mustang, with fairly high end features. $15,500

2. 2004 BMW 325i, $12,995 (85k miles)

3. 2008 Pontiac G6 GT, $13,995

4. 2001 Audi TT Roadster convertible, $11,988 (58k miles)

5. I don't have specs on this one, as it's just something I saw in a parking lot for sale... It's a modded-out black WRX, probably 2002-2004. I haven't called the number yet, so I'll get back about the price.

Any thoughts on any of these cars? What the best deal would be? My mom drives a G5 that I really like...and my friend has an 01 'stang that he kinda hates.

I've had the same Nissan 240sx since I started driving in 2000, and I really don't know much about others.

Blind_Evil, what year 240sx? If you are used to the handling of the 240sx (especially the '89-'94 version) and want something that "feels" equally at home tearing around corners, I would look at the 325i and WRX first. My daily driver is a 1992 Nissan 240sx fastback and even a modern Mazda3 doesn't feel nearly as nimble-- keep in mind that the Mazda3 is widely praised for good handling. I've never driven a new Mustang, G6, or Audi TT, but in my mind their reputation is less "corner carver" and more "go fast in a straight line". Anybody else driven these cars?

Drive all of them and see how they "feel". I consider handling on the top of my priority list but you may have a completely different definition of "great car", as does everyone else. If you really like the WRX, make sure it wasn't abused. Some people who mod-out cars drive them very very hard.

I took a lot more photos. Sadly my picasa account is full so no high resolution shots. http://picasaweb.google.com/edwing/1...

gtnissanfan wrote:

Blind_Evil, what year 240sx? If you are used to the handling of the 240sx (especially the '89-'94 version) and want something that "feels" equally at home tearing around corners, I would look at the 325i and WRX first. My daily driver is a 1992 Nissan 240sx fastback and even a modern Mazda3 doesn't feel nearly as nimble-- keep in mind that the Mazda3 is widely praised for good handling. I've never driven a new Mustang, G6, or Audi TT, but in my mind their reputation is less "corner carver" and more "go fast in a straight line". Anybody else driven these cars?

Drive all of them and see how they "feel". I consider handling on the top of my priority list but you may have a completely different definition of "great car", as does everyone else. If you really like the WRX, make sure it wasn't abused. Some people who mod-out cars drive them very very hard.

My first car was a '93 240sx. I loved that car. Still hoping to build another one day. I have a mazdaspeed3 and it corners like its on rails but its still a FWD.

What are you looking for in the new car? Do you want a fun car or practicle car.

The 01 and 08 Mustangs are completly different cars, but Mustangs felt like boats to me after driving the 240.

The Audi TT is a nice car. It handles well but maintence could get expensive.

3-series BMWs are nice cars. The 325i might lack some of the punch you want though. Also, maintence prices.

I would avoid buying a modded WRX. You don't know the quality of the mods. Buying it modded will save on modding it yourself but its risky.

Blind_Evil, I'll toss out a vote for the 325i. I had a 94 and absolutely loved it. It drove wonderfully, handled great and was a pure joy to drive. I never found it to be lacking in punch, but YMMV.

IMAGE(http://www.driverside.com/backseatdriver/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/01-audi-e-tron-live.jpg)

The Audi E-Tron concept.

Its an electric car with 313 hp and 3319 lb-ft of tourqe.