Mini-Cooper Convertible

[ken k]

VW Thing

You mean one like this? I think the Pacer is the uglier.

Rick,
That is one cool Thing. Is it yours?

ken k

[Tubaryan12]

I'm going to look at a Scion xb as soon as I can find a dealership....if I fit in I want in. I've wanted one from the 1st look online.

[Leland]

Tubaryan, unless you're well over 7 feet tall, you should fit inside an xB just fine. It felt like I had a foot of space over my head when I sat in one, and I'm 6'2".

It wasn't enough to draw me away from my '02 Civic Si hatch, though. I'm gonna keep this one for quite a while.

Civ1c 4 Lyf3, y0!

[ken k]

Since we have gone way off toipc here I will just add that I really like the xB. Granted it is one of those vehicles you either like or hate. It is not a fence-rider. They aren't pretty but they are funky enough to be sort of cool. The problem with them is that there is not enough room behind the rear seat to put my 20" bell Boosey. I have this problem with most cars, so it usually goes on the back seat anyway. the same goes for the PT Cruiser another wagon like car I like.

ken k

Mazda MPV
Ford ZX2

[Leland]

Rice? Or not?



(oh -- and is it fast? Not yet, still deciding whether to swap or boost... handles pretty darn well, though)

[Mudman]

And Mudman: Jeep = Junk?

Jeeps are NOT junk, even though Mudman might not like them. Getting 100,000 original miles out of a Jeep has ALWAYS been an easy "given" and 250,000 is pretty normal today. My 1981 CJ has 300,000 miles on the original drive train and still runs great and goes off-road wonderfully with its old, stock, sagging leaf spring truck suspension. My 2003 TJ has a really fantastic stock suspension and drive train, able to flex about 30" with the front anti-sway bar still attached. I have 25,000 miles on this one and have had ZERO problems of any kind with it. And it is NOT "tippy" at all. Jeeps were totally redesigned back in 1997.

Actually I like the Grand Cherokees. Very nice. I still have some doubts as to reliability compared to Japanese vehicles.

Reasons for my admittedly overly-broad statement from before: two friends who have owned Jeeps (the kind with the removable top--not sure which model) have gone through several transmissions each. Articles suggesting that young drivers should not purchase Jeeps as there are high numbers of rollovers in these vehicles with inexperienced (young male) drivers. The third reason is that I won't buy any American vehicle.
putting on my asbestos jammies

I don't really have anything against jeep. More power to you for finding something you like!

PS The Element is so ugly that it is COOL. Scion fans--test drive one. You can haul more stuff than you would believe in high style and comfort

[Leland]

Leland? RICE??? Must you ask? That is a good looking car!

Heh... yeah, thanks, but you can't really see the wing from that angle (which, at least, means it's not one of those crap Pep Boys wings on aluminum pillars).

Short list of what's on there and why:
*Lightweight rims (6 lbs lighter than stock including tires), never bigger than 16", and about 1/2" wider tread;
*Mugen suspension kit, built by OEM Honda supplier (read: reliable), mild drop, well-tuned spring & damper rates;
*Acura RSX-S rear sway bar, about 25% thicker than stock (15 vs. 19 mm, which is quite a bit stiffer), tames body roll & understeer... but I'll probably change to a 22 mm bar in the near future;
*AEM V2 intake, power gains similar to a cold-air intake but without the risk of hydrolock from puddles;
*Mugen-style replica rear wing, just looks good (potential rice!), but the bonus is that it actually works better with my hatch-mounted bike carrier than the OEM spoiler.

There are a few other things here & there, but those are the major tweaks so far, and I don't think that I'm going to change the appearance anymore -- I like it clean. I could spend a few grand on a good Stage I turbo kit and have ~300 whp (wheel horsepower) for daily driving, or I could spend the same amount on a engine swap from an RSX-S and add cams & programmed ECU for about 240 whp that's streetable & naturally-aspirated. Or, I could get silly about it and drop in a 2.4 liter K-series motor from a TSX, build up the internals, and boost it at 25-30 psi for 500-ish whp.

I still want to try out a Mini with tweaked suspension and R-compound tires, though...

[Mudman]

Leland,

yours is a hot looking car! I've always thought that red or black are the only two *real* colors for a car.

My girlfriend thinks black Hondas look like BMWs. I used to have BMW envy, but the cost of owning one kept me away. All the kids on my campus drive BMW, Audi, Mercedes, or the latest brand new SUV. The faculty drive old beaters like my 13 year old Mazda pickup.

The one benefit to having a beater is that you don't care if somebody dings it in a parking lot.

[CJ Krause]

***

[CJ Krause]

***

[sloan]

Why go with an imitator on steroids when you can have the real thing.

My monster hard case for a King 2341 fits in the back with the rear seats down - which is how I prefer to configure the car most of the time. With the rear seats up I can fit me and my 2341 in a dent bag, my trombone playing son and his Bach case, and my wife with her Altieri flute/pic bag, with all of the equipment behind the rear seat. If the other son comes along and brings his euph...we *might* have a problem (but we could manage by folding down 1/3 of the rear seat and squeezing the two boys into the remaining rear seat.

Anyone with a bigger load capacity eventually ends up toting the tympani!

And...it flies! It feels an awful lot like a wagon version of my long lost and much loved Datsun 240Z (esp. with the rear seats folded down). I only have the 4-cylinder 1.8 turbo, but it goes as fast as the local troopies will let me - I think the 6-cyl version is mostly good for automatically turning Left every time you accelerate. Most of my driving is on the kind of windy-windy roads you might expect in a town called "Mountain Brook" - up and down, left and right, both zig *and* zag. Not a lot of straight lines here.

And...it's the official car of TubeNet (right, Sean?)

[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)