Mini-Cooper Convertible

[Dylan King]

I usually throw out my soap for a new bar when it gets this size.

[CJ Krause]

***

[Matt G]

I love you guys with your small car knocks....

I have on old beat up VW GTI. I am 6'2" and I weight about 275 or so.

I also own a 2001 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4 Blah Blah Blah.

My wife has the 2001 VW Jetta Wolfsburg.

This is what I will tell you:

My 1996 GTI outruns most guys in their big bad SUV's and pickups with very few mods. The best part is the guys with the overtuned diesels like the Dodge Cummings Turbo Diesel that have something like 400hp and 850ft lbs of torque still getting outrun by my little GTI.

My wife's car is pretty quick, much quicker than my GTI. But I let her drive it because it is safer than most cars out on the road and has the ability to avoid many accidents the average SUV cannot.

The Ranger sits in the driveway most of the time.

I can fit myself, my wife, a 6/4 holton in a softcase, a Besson 994 in a hard case, two large duffels of luggage and still have room for another smaller tuba like a PT-10-sized F Tuba in a soft case. I get 31 mpg and I have 120000 miles on the car with no engine issues. The clutch was replaced because the previous owner didn't know how to drive one at 26,000 miles, that means the clutch has a ton of miles on it and I have only the third set of brakes on the car.


BTW, Ken, the 1.8T is just as fast at the VR6. Only 20 less hp with less weight up front. The torque also comes on lower on the 1.8T.

Waiting for:

GTI Mark V
A little bigger, better motor (2.0T - 200hp), more cargo room, better ride, better handling. Still good mileage and enough to have fun within the law. My only problem with it is that it looks a little bit like a Civic ( Leland) but thats ok, it could be worse, it could look like a Focus or some other US made small car p.o.s..

[dopey]

I personally drive a 2 door 68 thunderbird, with a 429 thunderjet..


enough pep for me stock

[Leland]

Waiting for:

GTI Mark V
A little bigger, better motor (2.0T - 200hp), more cargo room, better ride, better handling. Still good mileage and enough to have fun within the law. My only problem with it is that it looks a little bit like a Civic ( Leland) but thats ok, it could be worse, it could look like a Focus or some other US made small car p.o.s..

Hehe... yeah, those are going to be fun. I got lined up against a 1.8t at the track one night, and after beating him pretty bad off the line (thanks to all the wheelspin he had), I was hearing his blow-off valve coming closer over my left shoulder... "rrrrrr *chiff* rrrrrrr *chiff* rrRRRRR *chiff*" He beat me pretty badly by the end of the 1/4. We talked at a stoplight on the way back from the track, and he said that he had a chip, engine management stuff, and a few other things. Them suckers can get pretty fast with just a little work, and they're still good daily drivers with decent gas mileage.

And people have mistaken my Civic for a Focus...

[cjk]

This Neon actually IS pretty cool... I just have to wonder how long the motor would last.

[jlbreyer]

So... This guy drives into a gas station in a Yugo.

He says to the attendant: "Will you give me a tank of gas for this car?"

The attendant thinks for a minute, then says:

"Sure! That sounds like a fair trade to me!"

Ba-dump Bump!

[Chuck(G)]

This Neon actually IS pretty cool... I just have to wonder how long the motor would last.

You mean this one?

[Leland]

I love you guys with your small car knocks....

They just will never learn, will they?

I guess they have to keep making themselves feel good despite their small....... thingies.

(I could be more direct, sure)

[Dylan King]

My car in front of my studio...
(Notice the Raiders sticker in the window)
Built Ford tough, with Mercury style.





I love L.A.

[Matt G]

How about the Heritage High Roof?




Doc

p.o.s.

Just like the SSR that was supposed to be fast, but isn't because it is small, but weighs 5000lbs.

Bloke, the VW GTi looks about as much like a neon as your SHO looks like a Buick Regal. Well the color was the same, I guess you get one point for that...

I'd like to know how many of you "men" out there have tried out a car in the class that Leland and I own in the last 10 years.

The Yugo is not even in the same class as a VW, Honda, or Toyota sub-compact. These cars have bulletproof motors, excellent interiors, good handling, and achieve excellent effeciency. One of the few things I agree with the folks up here in yankee-land with are the fact that I see many more of these vehicles than I did in the south and that many of the folks own VW TDI vehicles (45-50mpg), or Toyota/Honda Hybrid vehicles (50mpg).

And for you folks goofing on Hybrids, wait till you get absolutely smoked by a Honda Accord Hybrid. And the guy driving it will get 37mpg.

Good luck on making up for your insecurities.

[Joe Baker]

I can't help but notice that virtually everyone who sings the praises of the small cars has no children, and most live in apartments or condos. Those of us who have kids have to haul not only the kids, but all of their "stuff" as well -- that just won't fit in those itsy-bitsy cars. That's not to mention hauling plywood sheets, shrubs, mulch, or all the other stuff you have to have to take care of a house and grounds.

I don't think there's anything but good-natured kidding going on from the big-car guys, in any case. I for one will have my last one off to college in about 2 years, and will be looking for the most economical little hybrid-or-other-high-MPG car I can find, so long as it is reasonably comfortable. But for now, I'll continue wearing out my 1995 Dodge Full-size van (V6, not V8, engine).

What I don't care at ALL about is speed. I had a Mustang GT in my early twenties, and got all that out of my system. Now I just want to be relatively comfortable and not spend too much on gas.
______________________________
Joe Baker, who thinks the small-car drivers take this stuff more seriously than the big-car drivers.

[Matt G]

Joe,

It has nothing to do with taxes. Gasoline is never going back to the low one dollar range again. Gas will continue to rise and all of us will be paying at least $2/gallon in the near future. It has nothing to do with taxes, just supply and demand. Our fellow humans in China have decided to begin using huge quantities of petroleum and that will push the price up for us, just like we did for europe.

BTW, I live 2.5 miles from work. Are you closer than that?

Joe (Baker), I still have a pick-up to haul the plywood, sheetrock, trees, mulch, etc. in. I live in a 4-bed/3-bath home with 1/3 acre (very big for the area) and I do need something with utility. (I have carried some pretty large furniture in my VW though) I think that it is smart for folks to own a small pick-up to grab stuff like this in. Or...

You have a van. That is a true dual purpose vehicle. It can haul lots of folk and lots of stuff. However, too many people own a Ford Expedition or Chevy Suburban because a van looks too dorky, and then find out that they have to choose between either people or cargo. You can't have both. I have no problem with people getting a mini-van or even a full-size van for their family if they need it. But a lot of people haul nothing in their SUV's and have one kid, and they don't carpool for school/sports.

Here is a good story:

Last year for NABBA four of us carpooled to WV. The guy who usually drives to rehearsals owns an Expedition. For the trip we rented a Pontiac Montana. He was amazed that we actually fit our stuff (2 BBb basses, Euph, T-Bone, Luggage, etc.) into this minivan with room to spare. Infact with much more room than his Expedition. Oh, and he commented on how much smoother the ride was. And then he found out that we were getting 26mpg instead of 16. I'm pretty sure that that big SUV will be his last.

I know everyone can buy whatever they want. However, so many folks buy something they can't even use. They don't understand what utility really means.

[Joe Baker]

Matt, you and I are closer together than our rhetoric might imply. I looked at a suburban before we bought the van, and what I saw left me scratching my head in disbelief. About the same amount of space, seats weren't removeable in the suburban, cost to acquire was nearly double, fuel economy was nearly half. And the full-sized van is one of the most reliable, longest-driving vehicles on the road. After all, you don't see repairmen driving explorers around that often; they're usually in vans.

The only reason I can think of for having a vehicle like that is if you are going to do some serious towing, which I was not. In the long run, I think fool prices -- I mean fuel prices -- will drive people to make more fuel-efficient choices. But a lot of folks would look at your situation and say "gee Matt, you only live 2.5 miles from work. How much difference would it really make to just drive your pickup that 2.5 miles, then all the energy it took to make your car could have been saved." BTW, that's the other thing about my van: I actually live closer to 1.5 miles from work, so my van only gets driven 60 or so miles per week (including occasional trips to church or my kid's school), except on trips.

But Schlepp, who razzed you little-car guys quite a bit, has owned THREE VW Beetles. I've owned a Renault Alliance, a Chevette, and two Ford Escorts, and I've been known to give small-car drivers a little poke now and then. It's all in fun, I'm sure.
______________________________
Joe Baker, who has more important things to be insecure about...

[Dan Schultz]

This Neon actually IS pretty cool... I just have to wonder how long the motor would last.

You mean this one?

Looks a little rusty around the rockers. Is that a Vega?

[Dylan King]

If you want to know more about the fire, go to the tubenet picture forum.

[CJ Krause]

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[CJ Krause]

***

[MaryAnn]

mid-thread survey:

BRAND NEW vehicles (in any price range) are almost always purchased by

o folks who are already in substantial debt
o folks who are already extremely rich
o almost no one else other than the two groups described (above)

Heh. I resemble that remark....always buy five-year-old vehicles and drive them til they start misbehaving. I don't fix big stuff like engines and transmissions. And....I'm not rich but I'm paid for, everything, and like it that way.

MA

[CJ Krause]

http://photobucket.com/albums/b305/cktu ... nt=LR2.jpg