JapanForum.com - Cars anyone?

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This is my drift car. I say my because at the moment it belongs to me, but I never use it. haha!

This is my daily use car. Pretty nifty little thing :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sangetsu (Post 694610)

I had wanted a muscle car of some type, and I first thought of getting a new Mustang GT. I spent a week going to different Ford dealerships looking at their cars, and trying to negotiate a better price. But the Mustang was a hot seller, so the dealers wouldn't budge on the price.

As luck would have it, there was a Pontiac dealership near one of the Ford places I went to, and I noticed that they had several GTOs on the lot when I drove by. I stopped in and noticed that the sticker prices were about the same as the Mustangs, about $34k. But, as it was late 2006 (almost 2007), the Pontiac dealer was willing to come down significantly on the price, I ended up giving $28k for it.

Unfortunately, I didn't have much installment credit history, so my finance company (Chase) hit me up for 7% interest on the loan. Before I made the first payment, I transferred the entire balance of the loan to my American Express skymiles card. I got 1.9% rate for the life of the balance, flexible payment options, and nearly 50k miles to my Skymiles account.

Anyway, the car came with the LS2 6.0 liter V8, which makes 100 horsepower more than the Mustang GT, and it came with the 6 speed manual transmission (the Mustang GT only comes with a 5 speed or auto). I found the interior to be much more room and comfortable than the Mustang, and the ride quality was much better as well. One of the best things, however, was the insurance rate. The GTO cost about 25% less to insure than a Mustang. After taking a GTO for a test drive, I wondered why I ever bothered looking at the Mustang in the first place.

Definitely looks and I'm sure is all muscle but I don't envy the gas bills.

I downgraded from a large ford wagon which was bad enough on gas using a large V6.

Actually, I love this Imprezza, I can drive it on winding roads forever as it just sticks, but I could kick myself nowas it's just to bloody small inside.

I originally made the choice due to it's five star safety rating which is well proven with the Subaru in major accidents.

Good for little Kai on board, but if I had the choice again, I would have gone for the dual cab Hilux for the convenience factor.

Sure, put some money in my account and you wuill see the Monaro, Mustang, but I was moving away from the huge price of Petrol/Gas on this side..

All good, love cars and always will and would definitely recommend the Imprezza to anyone who wants safety with better fuel economy..

Lobve it all:vsign:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozkai (Post 694622)

Gas mileage wasn't too relevant to me as I did most of my commuting by bicycle, and had a city vehicle to boot. I wanted something fun to drive on the weekends, and for those long road trips.

One of the good things about America is how large it is, my drive from Miami to Los Angeles was around 6000 kilometers, and the GTO (Monaro) is very comfortable for such long trips. It is also fun for fast trips, I loved the ride from Miami to Orlando, I could cover the 200 miles in just over 2 hours. The little emblem you see on my license plate more or less protected me from getting traffic tickets (professional courtesy, they call it).

Now that I'm in Japan I am shopping for something a little more practical. The roads here are not like they are in America, so driving fast is not as safe, not to mention that "professional courtesy" no longer applies to me. I enjoy the mountains and the beaches, so I'm looking for something big, and with 4 wheel drive. Recently I checked out a Nissan Safari (called the "Patrol" in other countries). It's as capable as the Land Cruiser, but without all the leather, wood-grain, and other frills. Besides hauling around bikes, surfboards, and hiking gear, I'll also be carrying around my dogs (and my gf's dog), so a sports car is definitely no longer in the picture for me.

Tis a shame you had to leave the goat behind. I know what your talking about ride quality wise. The seats are like pillows and I actually don't mind sitting in the back becuase there is room for full-size humans. Personally, I probably would have tried to take it anyways(if there was a way, would it be stret legal there?). Not to mention, you can get some serious power out of that engine with just some simple bolt-ons.

I finally got around to taking some pictures.

prius on weekdays
acura rdx on weekends