GLI is garbage... trading it in about 3 weeks...

[nobuffalo]

RX-8s in C-Stock (which means they should have slicks, else they'd be in the Tire class) ran 46.578 at best.

http://stlsolo.org/sites/default/files/event10_fin.htm#CS

I ran 47.894 on street tires and my only important mod at the time was a set of lowering springs.

http://stlsolo.org/sites/default/files/event10_fin.htm#ST

Just FWIW.

Hey, don't post that crap, I got last in class that event! 👎

 

[Zenith]

@JCE: Fair enough, we'll save it for another time. I respectfully disagree. IMO, '05-'09 Mustangs are underpowered.

@mustangGT90210: My last dyno run was in January and I was running 335 horsepower and 320 torque at the rear wheels. I plan to stroke out my 289 or a newer 302 block and get around 380 to the rear wheels.

Back on topic... (again!)

I think Socom is looking for a sportier car. His first two suggestions were an S2000 and a Mustang, so doubt he'll be looking for a Civic

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

You are making 335whp out of a 289? How?

A friend of mine was only doing about 300whp out of H/C/I 302. I mean I'm not doubting you, there was a guy that used to bring out his '65 coupe with a nasty 289/4 speed combo. Ran 11's if I recall correctly.

And about the auto RX-8: No n/a rotary should ever be offered with an automatic.

 

[McLaren]

Man after reading about 3 pages (couldn't take it anymore) on some Honda forum comparing the RX-8 to the Si, I remember why I sold my Civic.... (a considerable amount of) Honda owners are so damn stupid.

And what exactly do you drive again that makes you better?

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

The Si's dyno chart is definitely nicer with a tune. When done right, you won't be able to tell where the VTEC changeover is besides hearing it.

Ha, here's the chart I always had trouble finding...This is just the Hondata Reflash, before the full tuning solution was available.

That dyno chart on the left looks ridiculous. They really sell them with that rough of a powerband stock? A friend of mine at a jr college I went to for a year had one, it was pretty fun. My b16a h/i/e/tune (9000rpm screamer!) '94 Coupe took it pretty hard in a straight line, but overall the new car was obviously much better.

 

[CodeRedR51]

This is no longer Socom's thread....

 

[Zenith]

You are making 335whp out of a 289? How?

A friend of mine was only doing about 300whp out of H/C/I 302. I mean I'm not doubting you, there was a guy that used to bring out his '65 coupe with a nasty 289/4 speed combo. Ran 11's if I recall correctly.

And about the auto RX-8: No n/a rotary should ever be offered with an automatic.

Edelbrock Performance Kit, headers, 2.25 inch pipes, and some little stuff here and there.

Turned the car into a total screamer. I'll try selling the engine and trans to help fund a 347 stroker after I'm done with the suspension.

EDIT: R1600Turbo is totally right, but hey, it's not like the extra info will hurt him

 

[Eric.]

That dyno chart on the left looks ridiculous. They really sell them with that rough of a powerband stock? A friend of mine at a jr college I went to for a year had one, it was pretty fun. My b16a h/i/e/tune (9000rpm screamer!) '94 Coupe took it pretty hard in a straight line, but overall the new car was obviously much better.

I'm actually kinda confused with the torque graph there...I think there was actually a different comparison like that that looked like a normal chart with hp and torque on the same graphs.

If that was a cold start in about 20F, that's about right.


And the horsepower chart only shows 149whp of the stock car. Yeah, I'm just gonna say WTF to the whole thing after I looked at it more. A stock Si puts down at least 170hp.

Hey, don't post that crap, I got last in class that event!

I'm sorry, stop sucking.

 

[Joey D]

The RX-8 is the hipster of the car world. It isn't good at anything really, but everyone says no one understands it because its a Rotary. Buying a car because it has a different and arguably inferior motor is terrible justification.

I wish we still had the rep system because this deserves rep. The RX-8 will hence forth be known as the Mazda Hipster in my conversations, I find that brilliant.

 

[astrosdude91]

Might I suggest...

First generation Lexus IS300.

It's a 90's/early 00's Toyota, so it will last longer than you. And there is plenty of aftermarket support if you ever want to mod it. You can find one in great condition with decent mileage for $12,500-$14,000

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

And the horsepower chart only shows 149whp of the stock car.

At 6018 RPM

 

[gogatrs]

Ummmm, my parents just picked up a 2008 GLI today.

 

[JCE]

Does that SVT get any love? I don't see too many around here. I test drove an orange one and was surprised at how much fun it was. It's a very good driver's car. I just was not a fan of the interior. It seems heavily underrated though.

No, the SVT Focus is rather "under the radar". The interior of the 2005-2008 Focus was infinitely better in my opinion. I am just used to the current interior--funky but functional. The main reason why they get no love and attention is there really isn't very many around so most people either never heard of them or assume all the go fast and look good bits are aftermarketly (new word) installed. The most annoying thing is when some idiot Mustang Cobra (2003-2004) owner asks "hey man is that supercharged?". No you idiot it isn't.

As a driver's car it is fantastic. As a daily driver with reliability and good MPG it is quite horrific. The suspension is a bit rough, the road/wind noise can be loud and worse of all the gas mileage is not that good unless you never go above 2,000-2,500 RPM. Which only hyper-misers do.

The Si's dyno chart is definitely nicer with a tune. When done right, you won't be able to tell where the VTEC changeover is besides hearing it.

Ha, here's the chart I always had trouble finding...This is just the Hondata Reflash, before the full tuning solution was available.

That's fairly impressive actually. I don't have any fancy-schmancy picture charts but the SVT Focus really gets opened up as well with a tune.

 

[Murcie_LP640]

Might I suggest...

*pic*

First generation Lexus IS300.

It's a 90's/early 00's Toyota, so it will last longer than you. And there is plenty of aftermarket support if you ever want to mod it. You can find one in great condition with decent mileage for $12,500-$14,000

2JZ-GE, amirite? I'd love to have one of these myself if I could cough up the AU$20,000 asking price for one...

 

[fitftw]

I want to know why the OP needs something new with warranty. Are you just trying to throw money in the garbage? I guess if you're rich like that, hey...I'll stick with my $4,000 car that has given me zero problems in over a year. Go ahead and blow a ton of savings on a car. If I had your kind of cash flow, I'd put a down payment on a house.

In that case, buy a Kia or Hyundai and get your 10-year 100,000 mile warranty. I do believe that is the best advice in this entire thread. In the end, you're just going to get what you want, not what we want you to get.

I'd go for a '04-'05 WRX STi Wagon if I somehow had $20,000 which I don't think I ever will. Or an old NSX.

 

[McLaren]

LOL at questioning him wanting a car with a warranty & then posting as if 1 $4,000 car being reliable suddenly means they all are....

It's obvious you've blown past the reason he wants a warranty with his cars. It's ok, though, because it seems pretty apparent you've never owned anything where a warranty would actually be a saving grace.

 

[fitftw]

I've never needed a warranty. I buy old Japanese cars because parts are dirt cheap and I can do the work myself. Warranties are for old people, women, and men who can't fix cars.

 

[Joey D]

Warranties are nice to have, really give you a care free owning experience. If something breaks you just go to the dealer and it gets repaired without a ton of money coming out of your pocket. If I would have had an extended warranty on my Cooper, I wouldn't have needed to buy a new car because the $10,000 transmission repair bill.

Not to mention many newer cars are quite a bit harder to work on yourself since there are more sensors and electronic equipment. Not to mention the space constraints in newer cars too. I used to work on my Blazer all the time because it was easy as pie to do anything with it (except change the spark plugs), but the Cooper and now the Focus aren't quite so easy. The Focus has a 100,000 mile warranty along with a 100,000 maintenance plan, it allows me 5 years of worry free driving and lets me concentrate my money to paying off the car and making it look good, instead of fixing this, that and the other thing.

And Socom has had issues with cars in the past, I can totally see why he wants a warranty. Once you go through those headaches once or twice, you're ready for something you can buy and enjoy without to much worry.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

It's obvious you've blown past the reason he wants a warranty with his cars. It's ok, though, because it seems pretty apparent you've never owned anything where a warranty would actually be a saving grace.

When a warranty becomes a "saving grace" you've bought the wrong car.

Average car these days will do 150k+ miles with no issues aside from needing wear items replaced. Those that don't are crap.

Edit: @Joey: The "issues" he's gone through have all been with VW products. I get this feeling he and VW products don't mix well.

 

[McLaren]

I've never needed a warranty. I buy old Japanese cars because parts are dirt cheap and I can do the work myself. Warranties are for old people, women, and men who can't fix cars.

BMW is pretty strict about warranties, so I'd rather let them do the services such as oil changes & what not for free, than attempt them myself & risk losing the warranty altogether.

But, you wouldn't know anything about how BMW designs all their engines now a days because you're the ultimate tool...I mean enthusiast.

When a warranty becomes a "saving grace" you've bought the wrong car.
.

No, I don't think so. I quite like my BMW & if you read above, you'll see why I prefer the warranty.

BMW wants to make it difficult to do routine maintenance yourself, then yep, they can do it themselves at their cost.

 

[Joey D]

Edit: @Joey: The "issues" he's gone through have all been with VW products. I get this feeling he and VW products don't mix well.

Oh I'm aware, I know VW's are horribly unreliable which is why I'm driving a Focus instead of a GTI like I wanted right now. But even so, going through those problems I can understand why someone is a bit gun shy with not getting a warranty.

 

[fitftw]

Cooper...$10,000 transmission repair bill.

Are you kidding me? $10,000 for a Cooper transmission? That can't possibly be. I could get a rebuilt transmission and a fully built 2.0L stroker long-block for $10,000.

Another point for 80s and 90s Japanese cars, aka the logical, practical, rational choice of automobile.

 

[Joey D]

Are you kidding me? $10,000 for a Cooper transmission? That can't possibly be. I could get a rebuilt transmission and a fully built 2.0L stroker long-block for $10,000.

Another point for 80s and 90s Japanese cars, aka the thinking-man's choice of automobile.

Why would I be kidding you?

And how is that a point for 80's Japanese cars? If anything it's only a point against Coopers.

 

[fitftw]

It's gotta be because Mini is a BMW. So really it's a point against all German cars for being a thousand times more expensive to maintain than any other country's offerings. Does anyone know WHY German cars are so overpriced for everything? Does it have to do with WW2?

 

[McLaren]

LOL at your usual train of thought. SMH.

 

[Joey D]

It's gotta be because Mini is a BMW. So really it's a point against all German cars for being a thousand times more expensive to maintain than any other country's offerings. Does anyone know WHY German cars are so overpriced for everything? Does it have to do with WW2?

What? The Cooper isn't German, it's British. Yes, MINI is owned by BMW but the car is solely built in Cowley near Oxford, I've actually been to the factory.

European cars are "overpriced" in the American market because of the currency exchange rate. The American dollar isn't worth as much as the Euro, so when you factor in all the costs of manufacturing a car it makes the price seem high.

 

[fitftw]

So then you mean to tell me the American dollar is worth a lot more than the Yen?

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I want to know why the OP needs something new with warranty. Are you just trying to throw money in the garbage? I guess if you're rich like that, hey...I'll stick with my $4,000 car that has given me zero problems in over a year. Go ahead and blow a ton of savings on a car. If I had your kind of cash flow, I'd put a down payment on a house.

In that case, buy a Kia or Hyundai and get your 10-year 100,000 mile warranty. I do believe that is the best advice in this entire thread. In the end, you're just going to get what you want, not what we want you to get.

I'd go for a '04-'05 WRX STi Wagon if I somehow had $20,000 which I don't think I ever will. Or an old NSX.

I drive an old Japanese car too. It was pretty cheap and has been insanely reliable going on 3 years now. Why did I buy a cheap Japanese car? Because I'm a broke college kid!

You're accusing him of 'throwing money away' for wanting to get a newer car with a warranty like..oh...say 95% of ordinary people do? As soon as I can afford to do so, I will be buying a newer car. I'm not sure why I'm even responding to this post...

What? The Cooper isn't German, it's British. Yes, MINI is owned by BMW but the car is solely built in Cowley near Oxford, I've actually been to the factory.

European cars are "overpriced" in the American market because of the currency exchange rate. The American dollar isn't worth as much as the Euro, so when you factor in all the costs of manufacturing a car it makes the price seem high.

I believe you are wrong. European cars are actually cheaper in the US (even factoring in exchange rates) than they are in Europe.

For example, in Britain a Golf GTI starts at 25,000 GBP and in the US the starting cost is ~24,000 USD. When you factor in the exchange rate, that is a huge difference.

 

[Joey D]

So then you mean to tell me the American dollar is worth a lot more than the Yen?

I'm not sure about that, but you do know a many of the Japanese cars sold in America are also built here right?

I believe you are wrong. European cars are actually cheaper in the US (even factoring in exchange rates) than they are in Europe.

For example, in Britain a Golf GTI starts at 25,000 GBP and in the US the starting cost is ~24,000 USD. When you factor in the exchange rate, that is a huge difference.

Comparing the USD to the GBP prices doesn't work, when I was in the UK a cup of coffee from Starbucks was like £3.50 whereas in the states it's $3.50.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I'm not sure about that, but you do know a many of the Japanese cars sold in America are also built here right?



Comparing the USD to the GBP prices doesn't work, when I was in the UK a cup of coffee from Starbucks was like £3.50 whereas in the states it's $3.50.

The mean income in Britain last year (if the figures I looked at were correct) were about the same as the cost of a new GTI, (23K GBP) in the US, it was double, ~50k USD. Given exchange rates, standard of living is fairly comparable then, making the GTI more expensive (roughly 100% of median household income vs less than 50%) in the UK market. At least it appears that way to me.