Would you buy an American car?

[Andy]

I wouldnt buy an american car but i do love the sound of those big V8's even if the are terribly inefficient. If i had money to burn i would probably do what Mr Shelby done and stick a big American engine in a small british sports car (if theres any left).

 

[999]

go check out the new all electric Tesla car ... http://www.teslamotors.com

 

[rcgldr]

modding an import for better 1/4 mile time:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=776885

Can you still get insurance once you start fiddling around with imports tho'?

Apparently you didn't read that thread, it's actually pretty funny, as some real car magazine butchered a Nissan Sentra. The mods included removing the exhaust, removing the hood, cutting the intake filter in half and duct taping it up high to get ram air effect. Removing all accessories, the radiator fans, (it's only going to run 1/4 mile), then smashing or cutting off interior and exterior body parts until there was just a shell / framework left.

There are a series of pictures and the 1/4 ET after each "state" of modification, showing the improvement from 16+ seconds to 14.3 seconds. For "styling" and the last bit of weight removal, they cut off the hood.

 

[J77]

Apparently you didn't read that thread

In general tho', can you get US insurance companies to insure your Japanese import?

 

[rcgldr]

In general tho', can you get US insurance companies to insure your Japanese import?

Yes. In the context I was using the term "import", I was referring to Japanese influenced style type of cars, even the ones sold locally and not necessarily imported for a consumer. These include the econoboxes (Honda Civic, Volkswagen GTI), sedans like an Acura or Infinity, and the sportier cars like the Honda S2000. Generally the term "import" isn't used for SUVs (FX56), trucks, crossovers (FX35), or vans.

High end sports cars are normally termed "exotics", like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Porsche 911, Porsche Carerra GT, and Acura NSX (although at only 290hp the NSX is marginal).

"muscle" cars are the Camaro, Mustang, and Trans-Am, also called "pony" cars since they were similar to the Mustangs at one time. Older muscle cars include Charger, Challenger, Barracuda, and Javelin.

Corvettes, especially the new 505hp Z06 are sort of in a class by themselves. The old ones didn't handle well, but the new Z06 is very good at a race track.

427 Cobras are another unique car.

 

[Curious3141]

turbo, yep, Subaru's have a great reputation. That's what I'm looking into most seriously for my next car. I prefer the Impreza over the Legacy, but need to find more people who have owned one

Well, ask me, I've owned two.

I love Subarus. My current car is a MY05 2 liter WRX (that's the Impreza turbo). It's moderately modified and pushing out close to 340 hp (up from the 227 hp stock), very quick yet very reliable. Previously, I've owned the bugeye version of the WRX. These are great daily drivers and weekend racers (drag strip, circuit, autoX) if you're into that sort of thing.

My family has also previously owned a cute little Subaru Viki, also very reliable and practical (but of course it wasn't a performance car).

I can't quite give you any personal insight into the handling of the car on snow (living in Singapore), but it handles *beautifully* on rain slick roads. And I hear from my pals in the US that they're totally pleased with the handling on winter roads.

You should come over to www.wrxfanatics.com[/URL] and join up, we're a nice friendly community of Scooby owners (I'm a mod there). Also check out NASIOC, it's excellent for technical info. But here's the bottom line : you won't regret buying a Subaru. :approve: