Choices....

[Steve Ekstrand]

Stacey gets her new car this week....

I'm trying to decide on my next car....


http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/cou ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/cou ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Dodge is faster in almost every road course comparo I've seen, but is that because of the OEM tires being the Michelin Pilot Sport Cups??? The Corvette wins the drag race handily. The Viper is pretty hardcore in its track prep though. Serious downforce. KW variant 3's, big spring rates, big bars, light wheels, big brakes.... And under a $100K.

[Jeff Shyu]

clearly you make too much money..

I'd get the viper because on top of the performance, it's got a bit better styling (IMO)

[Steve Ekstrand]

Clearly, I didn't LOSE enough money.....

But oil went up today.... And I kept buying NOV as it went down so now I pretty much own the company I think.... And it went up 22% today. Not that that gets me anywhere close to even... But it was still nice.


The Corvette looks like a corvette which is a bit disarming... It's so common that it certainly doesn't look like one of the fastest cars regardless of price ever built. The Dodge just keeps on looking more like a something so evil that decent God fearing people should avert there eyes lest they fall to temptation.

[Michael Heinitz]

P-car ??

http://www.porsche.com/all/911gt3rs/images/page3.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Robert Puertas]

I'd pick the one that you'll be able to buy spare parts for 3 years from now...


Karen Rafferty apparently took a ZR1 to a solo2:
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/30/vide ... ocrossing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Results: (she ran XP - not bad for run-flats)
http://www.ovr-scca.org/_autocross/resu ... 008&rid=18" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Now that I'm bored with my 400hp daily driver, I might need to get one of these...

[Kurt Rahn]

Hard to go wrong with either of those. I personally think the Viper looks cartoonish, despite the menacing paint job. But it's hard to argue with the results:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot ... ge-21.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sounds like it's a sweetheart to drive.

If it was my $$$ I'd buy the 'Vette. The fact that it looks like just another Vette is a good thing, not a bad thing.

BTW, Steve, reading Motor Trend for advice on cars is like getting advice on studliness from Ladies' Home Journal.

[Jonathan Lugod]

let me know what you get... ill take your civic

[Steve Ekstrand]

Wait a minute.... Stacey reads Ladies Home Journal, and its ratings guide describes me as raw uncontrollable studliness....

[Steve Ekstrand]

I ended up getting one of these...
Beige on Beige
5spd Automatic
2.7L V6
182hp@6000
3500lbs

http://www.kia.com/rondo/rondo-views.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It replaced this car
http://www.edmunds.com/nissan/versa/200 ... chive.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Which was sooooo BAD, I demanded they take it back. Worst car I've ever driven.
The Rondo kicks it up pretty good. I want to autocross it. I embarrassed a Carrera 4S and a Shelby Gt today in it... Good power and nice neutral four wheel drifts. Nice controllable throttle lift oversteer. Puts power down well for an open diff. Reasonable body roll and brake dive for a vehicle of its type and utility.

In a word.... Doesn't completely suck. But a different color combo would have been nice....

Not as nice as the Malibu I had before the Versa... But probably faster than the Malibu which is a little embarrassing to GM.

[Eric Stanley]

You need a vette just so you can be involved in one of these:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthr ... ?t=2162315


}:)

[Aaron Goldsmith]

I'd talk to Gary, he drove that red and black thing in the Road and Track everything test earlier in the year.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp ... le_id=6939" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Having talked to other people who drove in that test none of them would even remotely want to drive the viper on the street, they had to to get it to events, but yuck. They sent an engineer to every venue that would change the whole car's setup to optimize it for the site. We have some pictures of the nose of it being so low you couldn't get the very front of the toe of your shoe under the splitter.

R8 and Mercialago are comfortable and quick, the GTr is amazing. Corvette is pretty great for the money though. I know S. Millen was quite taken with the aston, and it's certainly hot...

[Mike Simanyi]

For that kind of money you could have something unique and special created. Find a late-60s or early-70s Mopar car of your choice, find a good custom shop (there has to be at least one left in So Cal, no?) and turn them loose to make a car that nobody else can walk in and buy off the showroom floor. Seems like that'd be a lot more fun for a daily driver.

Or just get that M coupe you know you want!

[Steve Ekstrand]

The Mopar guys have better models.... Or at least models with less clothing....


:heyes:

[Bob Beamesderfer]

I ended up getting one of these...
Beige on Beige
5spd Automatic
2.7L V6
182hp@6000
3500lbs

http://www.kia.com/rondo/rondo-views.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It replaced this car
http://www.edmunds.com/nissan/versa/200 ... chive.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Which was sooooo BAD, I demanded they take it back. Worst car I've ever driven.
The Rondo kicks it up pretty good. I want to autocross it. I embarrassed a Carrera 4S and a Shelby Gt today in it... Good power and nice neutral four wheel drifts. Nice controllable throttle lift oversteer. Puts power down well for an open diff. Reasonable body roll and brake dive for a vehicle of its type and utility.

In a word.... Doesn't completely suck. But a different color combo would have been nice....

Not as nice as the Malibu I had before the Versa... But probably faster than the Malibu which is a little embarrassing to GM.

If the Versa didn't have the CVT, you were lucky. The Rogue w/CVT is dreadful.

What about a Pontiac G8 GT?

[Steve Ekstrand]

The Malibu, Versa, and Rondo were my rental cars for the past couple of weeks.

Stacey says I will drive a 650ftlbs monster for the rest of my natural life......

[Bob Beamesderfer]

Don't feel bad. I don't own any 21st century vehicles. My daily driver is a ratty looking, 15-year-old Toyota Pickup. It's amazing I wasn't stopped while driving it in Irvine on the principal that it wasn't a proper vehicle for the area. Cops probably thought I was a landscaper.

[Christine Grice]

My dad has a Pontiac GTO for sale. Good price. Silver.

Looks a lot like this:

[Steve Ekstrand]

If only the GTO were in Tahitian Green.

[Bob Beamesderfer]

If only the GTO were in Tahitian Green.

"Riiiiiiightttt! I'll paint any car, any color for $29.95!!"

Earl's your buddy.

[Steve Ekstrand]

I dream is to take a 2008 GT3 RS into Earl's and have them shoot it Telephone Company Green.



http://www.earlscheib.com/stores.php?store=574

[David Avard]

For that kind of money you could have something unique and special created. Find a late-60s or early-70s Mopar car of your choice, find a good custom shop (there has to be at least one left in So Cal, no?) and turn them loose to make a car that nobody else can walk in and buy off the showroom floor. Seems like that'd be a lot more fun for a daily driver.

Steve already has the late-60's muscle car of his choice.




In pieces all over his patio, in his garage, etc.

[David Avard]

I dream is to take a 2008 GT3 RS into Earl's and have them shoot it Telephone Company Green.



http://www.earlscheib.com/stores.php?store=574

The reason that they can do it so cheap is that they only use about 2 cups of paint for the whole car.

[Steve Ekstrand]

They use paint? I thought that had a crew of illegal alien toddlers with Chinese made Crayons.

[Mike Simanyi]

They use paint? I thought that had a crew of illegal alien toddlers with Chinese made Crayons.

Sharpies. Pound for pound they're much cheaper than Crayons and last longer.

[Steve Ekstrand]

http://www.crayola.com/products/list.cf ... er%20Paint" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;