need some car advice

[ydx7]

Just checking in real quick to let you know I am still here. I'll make som more comments in the future.

And thanks again!

[ydx7]

I'm back. I forgot what else I was going to discuss when I made the post above.

You might check out the test articles by Motor Trend/Road and Track/Etc. for whatever cars get your interest. They usually do a road test and give you an idea if a car is 'performance' oriented or if it just looks the part.

Here is something I found about the 2013 Ford Fusion: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/201 ... ive-review

The EcoBoost thing makes me wonder if the turbo is more for fuel ecomy than performance, and they say just that regading the 1.6 in that article. On other cars, the turbo is mentioned out in the open, implying a performance boost.

I wanted to ask about engine size, but I don't how to exactly phrase what I want to ask. I might get around to that in a couple of weeks.

Thanks again for reading and replying.

[DetritusMaximus]

All of the EcoBoost motors are really an effort to get more mpg for a given amount of hp. A turbo 4 making 240hp uses less fuel than a non-turbo V6 making the same hp. Not to mention less weight to push around. I've driven both the 1.6 and 2.0 turbos. The 2.0 is preferable from a performance stand point and 6.5 to 7 seconds really is not bad. Faster than almost all the old Mustangs....even the ones you couldn't afford to put gas in or the ones people could actually stand to drive around in.

It's not really a 'performance' car, but just as capable as what most people consider to be a performance car.

[ydx7]

I'm back.

I've been busy with other stuff, so I haven't been looking around. I kind of picked up again since I had to take my car in to get fixed on Mon.

I looked at the one site, and they have 2 Nissan Altima 2.5 coupes. One is a 2011 with 79k miles for $12.5k and the other is a 2012 with 38k miles for $16k. Any opinion on these cars or the Altima 2.5 coupe in general?

Thanks again for your help!!!!

[DetritusMaximus]

Getting out of my expertise with the Altima coupes. 2.5 should be the 4 cyl. I have no idea on how well they handle. Nice looking cars in the style of the 350z and the g35. For that money and style, I'd be looking at the later g35's ('06-ish?) with 300hp, rwd, 6sp manual and the Brembo brake package. MUCH more of a drivers car with as much power as a Mustang (or more depending on the Mustang). Insurance is about the same for me between Mustang and G35. G35 sedans sit slightly higher than the coupes with a bit more head room. Very good reputations for reliability.

At the $12k+ price, a newer Mustang GT (2005 and up) becomes viable with similar mileage.

[ydx7]

I looked again on Fri, and the newer Altima was gone.

There was another car that looked promising. It was a 2008 Chevy Impala. It has a 3.5L V6. It only has 52k miles on it, and is $11k.

The one major stumbling block is that I have been raised with a bias against GM products. My dad bought a brand new Chevy Citation, and had a bunch of problems with it, and he said he'd never buy another GM vehicle. He'd also point out how GM cars seemed to always have burnt out headlights, or rust early.

I wanted to type some more stuff, bu I want to take a nap.

Thanks again, one and all!

[Knight 0354]

I owned a 2003 impala and put 223548 miles on it be for I traded it off the problems I had were only normal ware and tear I live in Colorado in the U.S.A. and it was a great car it never failed to start on cold days or over heat on the hot days.it got 30 miles to the gallon highway and 24 in the city I changed the headlights once and the tail lights 3 times. Other than tires brakes sparkplug filters and oil changes every 4000 mils that's all I had to do,, but like anything its about how well you treat the auto and do prevention maintenance

[ydx7]

I just made a post and somehow I got logged off. @$^#%^$%$%*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's see. Does anybody agree/disagree with DM's statement

fat wide tires bad in the snow/rain. It's a pounds per square inch thing, the wider your tire the less pressure there is per square inch in the contact patch with the asphalt. This is partly why snow tires tend to be narrower than the normal tires for a given car

I thought it's better to have more tire contacting the road.

I also wanted some opinions on the Scion FR-S. I was going to elaborate, but I don't feel like re-typing. Maybe some other day.

With Mustangs, how much better is the V8 than the V6?

I'm just going to leave it at that for now.

Thanks again for reading, and your replies!

[themanw/oaname]

i've had multiple v6 mustangs and i have a v8 right now. im not a super car guy so i cant tell you from personal experience what's different as far as performance; i do know cobras have v8's and the difference between a regular v8 gt is marginal. which is why you see alot of "fobras" or mustang gt's with the same addon performance packages from cobras.

there are 5.0 v8 mustangs, that was the engine size until 96 (more likely 98) when they went to 4.6 litre engine. whatever the hell that means, because also, the difference is marginal. present day mustangs are back to 5.0's. they are faster than 94-98 mustangs; not just because of the 5.0, but because the engine over all is better/faster/with more performance speeds in mind.

frankly, the better packages for a car like leather seats and upgrades are always standard with a v8/gt as a base for that model car. honestly, it's a matter of personal preference. you want a faster car with a performance package? get a v8. you want a mustang that's a sports car and looks? get a v6. cost? you want to pay 3-5k for a used 94-98? get a v8. less than 3k? v6. sometimes you can get lucky and get a v8 for a little over 3k. cobra mustangs are 7-15+k.

[Turbofurball]

Narrower tyres are better in snow, in the wet it really depends on the car - having good quality rubber with plenty of tread left is more important than the width of wheels.

You're kinda all over the place with your questions - why not go to a dealership and ask to test drive cars you're interested in?