what's your second car

[Garandman]

My wife is driving a 2003 Mazda MPV. We put Nokian WR's on it, and laced a perforated leather wheel cover over the slippery plastic it came with. Great driving small van with the 210hp DOHC V6 and 5 speed auto.

 

I've been driving an 05 Accord EX-L V6. Great seats and interior controls. ACC is flawless. It's lighter and quicker than the H6 OBW, and gets substantially better mileage. Only way to tell the V6 (if you remove the badge) is dual exhausts, which are unobtrusive. It is an amazing sleeper in that on the highway you might have two other blue Accords in sight. But you can easily light up the front tires in the rain, let alone snow.

[Guest]

The autobahn isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's often crowded, and some people there have no clue about how fast you're about to pass them. This is why all fast cars there have BIG BRAKES.

 

I know, nothing is perfect. But this is day and night compared to quality of driving in the U.S. I spent many thousands kilometers on Autobahn, and it really hurts when you come back to the U.S. and drive here again. Heck, even from the plane I can see difference... left lanes blocked, right lanes empty on 3 lane roadways.

 

Anybody selling a 2nd gen Miata/MX-5? I'm thinking of getting it as a winter car.

Winter car? You like fun in winter, don't you?

[andrew.anderson]

I know, nothing is perfect. But this is day and night compared to quality of driving in the U.S. I spent many thousands kilometers on Autobahn, and it really hurts when you come back to the U.S. and drive here again. Heck, even from the plane I can see difference... left lanes blocked, right lines empty on 3 lane road ways.

 

Autobahn is much better then here. I have been in the states for three weeks. It is night and day.

[Garandman]

Autobahn is much better then here. I have been in the states for three weeks. It is night and day.

 

I used to get on A3 near Schweinfurt early on a Saturday morning; set the cruise to 100; drive two hours; and get off to the Bavarian state roads. 250 miles in less than three hours. It takes me as much as three hours to get to Waterville Valley (ski area in NH) which is less than 120 mi from Boston....

 

A friend of mine bought a SAAB turbo and was cruising home near Munich on a Sunday evening at around 130mph when he saw a car overtaking him. He increased his pace to around 140 and they were still overtaking him. He slowed back down to 130 and was surprised to see two elderly German couples blast past him in a big Benz at an estimated 145.

 

Fastest I ever saw any car move was also near Munich, when two Porsche 911 Carrera turbos passed doing (my estimate) 160 mph. From the time I saw them in my mirror unti lthey were out of sight around the bend to my front was eight seconds.....

 

Out on A3 going to the Division HQ in Wurtzburg (3rd ID was in Germany in those days) it was pouring buckets and I had slowed to around 80 as 130kmh was the "advisory" speed limit and I was hydroplaning above that anyway. I promptly got passed by a BMW motorcycle ridden two-up, at around 100mph, in the rain.....

 

I liked stopping at the rest areas as when the cars went by you would hear the "raaaaaaannnnnnggggg" like cars on a race track. Absolutely no comparison between the Autobahn system and US highways, although you can maintain a pretty high rate of speed on a lot of our Western highways.

[deadeye]

My 2nd is a Mercedes 560 SEL, 1989. I love my LGT but also love to drive this classic. It has a 5.6 Liter V-8 seems to have about the same power as my turbo flat four in my Subie..

 

 

deadeye sends:icon_mrgr

[rocco]

the Legacy is my DD.

i have a project 16V scirocco(1989)

and a 1937 plymouth street rod.

[Mr.EMan]

<hijack>

 

I used to get on A3 near Schweinfurt early on a Saturday morning; set the cruise to 100;

 

Big Red One? I lived in Regensburg for about 5 years.

 

The rule on the autobahn is, no matter how fast you're going, someone will pass you.

 

I've been passed twice in my 944 when there was no speed limit, rain, etc. My future wife was with me both times, or I would have played. Once was with a modded E30 BMW M3 when I was doing 150 mph, and once was with an old Audi. After traffic cleared, I accelerated hard to 140 mph, and he was right on my bumper. Like I said, wife-to-be was with me both times.

 

What I liked was that I had no speed limiter, so when the BMWs, Audis and Mercedes hit 155 mph, I could still get by them. However, there isn't much respect for a 944 there, so it would take a while before these cars would move out of the left lane.

 

My fastest indicated speed that I saw was 162 mph, but you can't hold it that long with all the traffic. The fastest I've gone on the track in the States is under 150-155 mph (either Road America or Michigan International Speedway).

 

Man, the Legacy is going to need more horsepower if I move back to Germany. And no limiter.

 

</hijack>

[andrew.anderson]

A Modded legacy has plenty of power there. We have no problems keeping up. EGTs get up though for sustained crusing over 120 MPH. I am hoping a new catback will fix that. We had from the cat (now catless) forward repalced when we did the other engine work.

[Mr.EMan]

My 2nd is a Mercedes 560 SEL, 1989. I love my LGT but also love to drive this classic. It has a 5.6 Liter V-8 seems to have about the same power as my turbo flat four in my Subie..

 

 

deadeye sends:icon_mrgr

 

hmm... new here... that's not a picture of your daughter, is it?

[Guest]

Man, the Legacy is going to need more horsepower if I move back to Germany. And no limiter.

 

And suspension!

[IwannaSportSedan]

Anybody selling a 2nd gen Miata/MX-5? I'm thinking of getting it as a winter car.

 

Got one. Not selling, though. Sorry.

 

They do ok in the winter with dedicated snow tires, and a limited slip. Without those, I wouldn't even consider driving it much in the winter. Sandbags might help, too.

 

I thought of getting a 323 GTX (AWD Turbo... sound familiar?) as a winter beater a few years ago, but it dissappeared before I got the chance to get it.

 

I'd consider a 2.5RS coupe, or an early turbo WRX for a good price as a winter beater, or a still-viable 323GTX.

[AWDxBOOST]

w00t just got my 91 protege road worthy

 

1.6 DOHC, runs like a champ

[llovette]

1967 westfalia bus. SWEET!!!!

[dr. pepper]

the LGT is my second car to an '06 pathfinder as a dd.

[suba_rus]

06 Honda Pilot- easy choice for Honda salesman with family.

[Ovcoursitsilver]

...Anybody selling a 2nd gen Miata/MX-5? I'm thinking of getting it as a winter car.

My 05 LGT is my winter car; my 1st gen Miata is my summer car. Let's see - which one do I want to drive through the snow and ice - AWD supertractionmobile or superlight and nimbly tinymobile?

[Mr.EMan]

Let's see - which one do I want to drive through the snow and ice - AWD supertractionmobile or superlight and nimbly tinymobile?

 

Unless you want to practice driving rear-wheel drive in bad weather, to improve car control skills. There aren't too many decent, affordable rear-wheel drive cars out there.

[Guest]

Unless you want to practice driving rear-wheel drive in bad weather, to improve car control skills.

 

Agree. My first car was an Italian rwd rear engine POS (Fiat 126). Fun in snow!!!!

[cbroo]

my brothers 06' outback sedan 3.0R, and it's so fun!!!!!!!

[Ovcoursitsilver]

EMan, I couldn't agree more with you about the MX-5 being a decent affordable rear-wheel drive. I can't tell from your profile if you're in a snowbelt area. Here in the Great White North I bought my first winter car in 1974 to save the brand new RWD Camaro Z-28 I'd just bought. The Z was a great car but I'd had my fill of driving it in deep snow after only a few weeks.

 

I know a few people who drive their Miatas through the winter and they all seem to do alright with them. Try to pick up a hardtop while you're at it.

[ANDYJ]

Interesting. 300ZXTT has been always my dream car - used to have a an 84 300ZXT. I always thought it would have great handling - HICAS, etc. If your SpecB handles better than the 300ZX, I think my dream has ended...

 

 

Keep your dream alive! The car had great handling back in the early 90's but like everything else.....technology has moved on. The HICAS is not all it's cracked up to be. Most serious Twin Turbo Z guys disable the HICAS to get more predictable handling. Sometimes the HICAS will kick in and it feels like you're losing traction and then you try to correct it with more steering angle.

 

I guess my Z is a little tricky in the corners because it has an auto trans and stock sized tires. When accelerating thru turns you never know if the trans will downshift or not. If it does, watch out because the back end comes around so fast that it's hard to catch. The cool weather makes it even worse. I won't give my car full throttle unless the car is pointed striaght. Even then it will lose traction and fishtail. Good fun but a bit dangerous.

 

The Z was and still is my dream car. That's why my 13-year old Z sits in my 1 car garage and the brand new Spec-B sits outside in the snow!

[SubieDriver]

... and the brand new Spec-B sits outside in the snow!

 

That's cuz Subies LOVE snow,... and rain, and slush, and mud, and dirt,... oh, and dry pavement too, if any of the others can't be had.

[rts]

Pontiac SSEi

[Deck]

Second car = Honda Element.

[andrew.anderson]

Second car = Honda Element.

 

You like that thing? It looks like is is roomy. I can't get over the boxy look though. Reminds me of the the Scion Xb.