Best/worst,fastest,slowest cars you have owned.

[Byegone Daze]

Slowest - '79 Datsun 210 Wagon (yes, it wasn't called Nissan yet). As it got older, one almost had to push it uphill. A total loss of engine compression at 80k miles. I also had a '90 Ford Taurus that was an absolute slug.

Fastest - '70 Chev Malibu with a 350 cu in V8 automatic that was yellow and white that my company president called it a "Mexican Taxi".. I miss it now and then!

Best Quality - '98 Toyota 4-Runner that I sold for business purposes with 143,500 miles that I presume is running around today somewhere in the Middle East desert. I have an'06 Ford V6 Ranger with 60K that seems to be trouble free, so far!

Worst Quality - A '97 Infinity J30 that taught me not to trust Nissan anymore. It continues to fall apart. I also had a '91 Olds Bravada AWD that the transmission failed in at about 62K miles, and needed a new head gasket at 67K. A real POS, I don't trust GM anymore, either.

My brother had a '88 Fiero that he came to detest (sounds like he should have upgraded it) and my son totaled his '98 Olds Achieva, another GM car designed to self destruct at 75K. We drove it to the boneyard and let it go for $300.

I rented a 2013 Fiat 500C last week... should I be afraid of buying one?

[9876543210]

Chibi_Madara,

Originally Posted by Chibi_Madara

Fastest - '70 Chev Malibu with a 350 cu in V8 automatic that was yellow and white that my company president called it a "Mexican Taxi".. I miss it now and then!

Oh, you're going to hate me for this. My girlfriend has one sitting in a garage and only takes it out on sunny summer days. A real pain finding gas for it though.

- '98 Toyota 4-Runner that I sold for business purposes with 143,500 miles that I presume is running around today somewhere in the Middle East desert.

As far as quality and reliability is concerned, hard to beat Toyota.

[winebeavis]

Fastest: Probably my first car. 1970 Pontiac Grand Prix. It had a gigantic V8 455 cubic inch engine with a 4 barrel carb. Stomping on the accelerator would make the front end rise up.

Quickest: Probably a 1995 Honda Del Sol. Basically a 2 seater civic. Didn't weigh much at all. Still had punch even in 5th gear. Fun to drive. Got smashed up in an accident with an 18 wheeler.

Slowest: Probably a 1998 Cheverolet S10 pickup. Grossly under powered. Had bad gas mileage because you really had to drive it in 4th gear with it floored to keep up with regular interstate traffic. Also is up there with worst. Always had some kind of problem. It died after the engine blew from overheating. A cheap thermostat got stuck on it. That wouldn't be much of a problem, except the temperature gauge was also defective and I had no clue. I swore off GM products after this.

Worst: Probably a 1988 Cheverolet Cavalier that I had. Always, always had a problem. By the time the recall figured out the problem, I had traded it in. Appears the new computer module was located on the firewall and it often overheated the CPU. Take it in to the shop to see why the car would just stall and the computer came back with all sorts of silliness like catalytic converter, flywheel, etc.

Also worst was a 1981 Mazda 626. It lasted until 100,000 miles then essentially needed to be thrown away. Ball joints were major jobs, water pumps were outrageously priced. The smallest thing was so costly to repair back then. Failed the smog test one year and that was it. Traded it in for the Cavalier.

Honorable mention for bad car. I still have a 1983 Porsche 944. I'm the second owner of it and it just sits in the driveway. Parts are so hard to get for this that I've pretty much just given up on it. I'm the second owner. The first owner took really good care of it, but it's just so damn old and touching it breaks it at this point. I've thrown bad money after good on this and finally need to decide if I even want to keep it.

Best: Probably my current driver. It's a 2000 Mercedes C230. Has the W202 body. Almost 300,000 miles on it and still mechanically sound. Every now and then it does need a repair, but the only real gripe I have is that it goes through brake pads pretty quickly. I'm going to drive this one until it won't go anymore. When I bought it in fall 1999, it actually cost less than a comparably equipped Honda Accord.

Haven't bought a car since 2003 when I bought the one Mrs. Winebeavis drives.

[9876543210]

winebeavis,

Originally Posted by winebeavis

Slowest: Probably a 1998 Cheverolet S10 pickup. Grossly under powered. Had bad gas mileage because you really had to drive it in 4th gear with it floored to keep up with regular interstate traffic. Also is up there with worst. Always had some kind of problem. It died after the engine blew from overheating. A cheap thermostat got stuck on it. That wouldn't be much of a problem, except the temperature gauge was also defective and I had no clue. I swore off GM products after this.

I almost bought one of those. Probably would have been one of the worst purchases I ever made as I would have traded my Toyota for it. I shudder to even think about it.

Anyway, a few years ago, a friend and I were thinking of getting into the flex fuel industry. We were going to produce our own and sell to to local co-ops. While doing some research I found out that GM made flex fuel S10s in 2001 and 2002 so I figured I'd try and find one. Finally did but it was in Chicago. Drove in, met a friend we went to take a look at it. Only had around 30,000 miles on it but it was an absolute POS. The fit and finish was junk. On the test drive a rear seat kept rattling and the salesman couldn't get it to stop. We only made it a couple of blocks away and turned around. That was enough for me.

I was going to tell the salesman I'd take it if he paid me $10k but whats the point. Just got out of there.

Gotta agree with you on GM. Their quality leaves a lot to be desired.

[HugoHackenbush]

BEST CAR: A 1993 Mitsubishi 3000GT. V6, 5 speed manual transmission with a black gloss finish.

PROS: Fastest car I ever owned. Great acceleration, and cornered like it was on rails, even in the rain. I had a standard promise that if I took a road trip with it, I had to at some point top 100mph. And of course you’re wondering …speeding ticket? Nope. Pulled over? Yes, but never a ticket. One cop having pulled me over actually asked me “Do you ever take it out to the country and really open her up?” and I said “Like I’m going to tell you?” Not only was the car a total chick magnet but men would stop me at a traffic light or in the parking lot and ask me about the car.

CONS: Never a problem mechanically, but boy was it expensive to operate. Required premium fuel and if you really stomped on the accelerator you could practically watch the fuel gauge go down. Also required performance tires. They wore down very quickly and they were $400 each to replace (and that was 20 years ago).

RUNNER UP: 2005 Mazda RX-8 Deep Royal Blue Finish with a manual 6 speed transmission.

PROS: Not so fast as the 3000GT, but very “quick” A total blast to drive, agile and reacted instantly, especially around a corner with a very responsive engine. Snug but comfy cabin that fit like the cockpit of a fighter jet. Had outward facing rear doors a/k/a “suicide doors” that made getting into the back seat (if you had to) very easy. Added bonus…when talking with blokes about the car they would ask “How many cylinders?” to which I would reply “None”. Then I would watch their face go totally blank for about 15 seconds before they realized their error.

CONS: Has the most overly sensitive car alarm in the world, that you could not make less sensitive. Literally a loud truck rolling by would set it off. Also went through oil very quickly.

WORST CAR: Probably my 2001 Toyota Solara. The engine oil sludged up and ruined the engine. Then I had to fight with the Toyota dealer who refused to fix it under the warranty, and wanted me to pay for an entire new engine. Never again Toyota.

UPDATE: It didn't occur to me till later that neither of the cars that made my best list are currently produced. A shame but such is the fate of sports cars. As for the Solara, good riddance.

[9876543210]

HugoHackenbush,

Absolutely love fast cars. But this story reminds me of something:

Originally Posted by HugoHackenbush

BEST CAR: A 1993 Mitsubishi 3000GT. V6, 5 speed manual transmission with a black gloss finish.

PROS: ...I had a standard promise that if I took a road trip with it, I had to at some point top 100mph. And of course you’re wondering …speeding ticket? Nope. Pulled over? Yes, but never a ticket.

Shortly after I had put all that money into the Camaro a friend and I decided to go to the races over at Road America, a really nice four mile long road coarse in the hills of eastern Wisconsin.

We're headed north on a tollroad coming up to a tool booth just south of the state line. To the right are the lanes which have a person manning them (very fast if you can time it right) and on the left are the manual lanes which are slow because they have a gate which has to be lifted up after you pay.

I was flying up to the booths heading for the manual lanes because two semi trucks were lined up at the operator lane. But just as I start slowing the first truck leaves and the second seems to just be sitting there. I (stupidly) see an opportunity, slam on the brakes and turn the wheel to go right, hit the accelerator to get in front of the second truck and then hit the brakes again to turn left into the toll booth where I throw the money at the attendant. The guy grabs my arm!

I hit the accelerator again and the guy us pulled out of the booth and over the back of my car. Didn't look back to see what happened after that.

But maybe forty miles down the road, in the next state, I was probably doing about 150 mph on the interstate when I came up to a long, sweeping curve to the left with an overhead bridge near its end. Just as I'm coming up to the bridge I see a cop with his radar gun pointed in the other direction. I lifted my foot off the accelerator just a little bit and those glass packs just rumbled. The cop started moving his gun towards me but, by then, I was way past him.

After all that we decided maybe it was a good idea to get off the interstate and take back roads for a while. Which we did.

Man, the stupid things you do when your young. Lots of fun though.

[Byegone Daze]

I forgot, but I also had an '02 Chev S10 pickup truck that I used for work purposes. It too, was a dog, slow as hell, and an AC unit that failed at 95k. Typical GM. I'd say...

I sold it and replaced it with the '06 Ford Ranger that I still have today. The Ranger was great in the flat lands of Texas, but it struggles going uphill in the Wasatch Mountains, where I live today. Even though it has a small 3.0L V6, I'm required to bury the gas pedal to the floor going up the Interstate canyon roads in the area.

Oh yeah, the '70s Chev Malibu was a gas hog, for sure! But I didn't care until the transmission started leaking at 85K. Damn GM vehicles!

[woolrich]

fastest = black 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am with the 403 Olds V-8

slowest = white 2005 Ford Escort (which i currently drive)

most fun = blue 1971 MGB roadster

[otokonomidori]

Fastest: 1995 BMW 740i - it was still accelerating hard at 130MPH when I ran out of nerve.

Slowest: 1957 Austin A35 van - 55MPH flat out downhil , which was fast enough as the back brakes didn't work at all and the front brakes weren't much better.

Best: 1977 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham - I loved that big chrome plated 7 litre bastard but it's appetite for fuel was insane - 9 MPG!!!

Worst: 1988 Fiat Tipo. Utterly boring Eurobox.

[savage560]

A 1972 Comet GT a "pocket rocket".Maybe the second fastest car I ever owned.Bought it new with a 320/2V cid engine.Ford in the 60s & 70s thouroghly lost the performance car market & ranked a poor third to GM & CC,but I was young & a rebel & wanted to prove a point, to the big mouth fans of GM & CC.Really a stupid move by Ford was to not continue their legacy from the 30s-mid 50s with their V8 flatties,to be the engine & cars of choice in the hot rod market,& aply that to their new crop of OHV V8s.

Could a Ford be fast then & were their engines as good as the other 2 corporations,yes of course.But Ford was by then,mainly a grocery getter car company in the 60s-70s,& it seemed they had forgoten when jr. wanted to go along with dad to the NC dealers, he convinced old pop ,when he was car hunting, to go to the Chevy dealer so he could see the Sting Ray, latter the CamaroSS,ImpalaSS & Nova SS, or the rest of the ample GM performance car lines, in other GM divisions, in their dealerships.Or the CC dealers to see the 383/426/440 'Cudas,RR,Super Bees, etc.Chances are he'd look at the more "mundane" cars when there & buy one of them.

Ford limited the size of engines ,severely, you could put in the Comet/Maverick series, GM & CC did not in their compact cars of the day.GM put 396s in the puny Nova & Camaro, & that meant you could also slip an factory 427 or 454 in them too,similar was true of the other GM divisions.& it was relatively inexpensively too, with few hassles!CC the same with their pony cars.But with Ford you were very lucky to even get a small V8 in that series car, with absolutely no performance options for the engines or transmissions, like CC & GM offered, in numerous packages & levels of performance desired.The Mustang/Cougar were very pricey with the big block V8s & they seemed to never find the right one, of their numerous BBs they had in their stables for the time, that worked out well, so it could be modified by the performance A/M crowd.

So I was out to prove a point & did with a vengance.I had originally contemplated putting a 351W 4bbl in it.Not that much bigger engine ,you'd think it would fit, but there were horror stories of guys who tried that approach, & ended up not being able to find the right ex. manifolds & no one then made a set of headers that would fit, that set up back then.Then the spark plugs were so hard to change with a 351w & you were bullheaded enough to get one in it ,you'd have to lift the motor to do it,or get the shock/spring towers modified to widen out the engine bay a little,& that was expensive!Then you had to be lucky enough to find a fabricator to custom make some ex. manifolds that would work,as again no one made headers at that time for the 351W in that series vehicle.Again ludicrously expensive!

So I had my 302W heads P&Pd,tripple cut the valves,cammed it like a boss 302, in duration & lift, w/a 3 valve spring sys.,had the exotic MSD2 ignition,the best then, a Mallory dual point 4 lobe,centifugal adv. only race type distributor, headers/dual ex.pipes,Edlebrock alum torquer 4bb. man. w/plenum divider,a Holley 650 2x pumper carb, Boss f/p,Cloyes true roller TC.Probaly more stuff that I can't remember now, like a fuel "cool can" that I packed with dry ice,any little thing to give me an "edge".

The trans was modified too,a C4 auto with a race shift kit,big trans cooler & a 3000 rpm stall TC.All that topped off in back with a 3:80 Ford posi.The results were astounding!

I beat a guy with a 454, 4sp. in a Nova,a 442 fell to me like a jet vs a piston eng. plane.The dude with the 454 could'nt belive I only had a 302,so after the race he demanded I opened my hood!A guy I knew bragged about his 1971 Firebird phase III 455,beat him in the 1/4 too.A 'Cuda with a modified 383 was a chump to that little rocket.A dude I worked with bragged about his OHC I6 Firebird.He put so much money to get that engine blueprinted & custom grounded cam, equipped with a 4bbl/ high compression engine, from the factory, it was rediculous when he proverbially,"could have had a V8"! I don't even want to mention how far his headlights were behind me in the 1/4,it was an embarrassment for him.Esp. after he spent a lot more money than me on that sharp little number!A special 6 pack duster with a 360 was NC.The list went on & on.I was digging in the low 13s,prety good back then for that set up with Mickey T drags!With racing slicks no doubt could have done better.

But that phase ended & next got a "Grown up luxury car",a chic magnet that was ahead of it time in styling.Hey,what can I say? I was growing up & wanted to attract some lady's of the Disco Era.With micro mini skirts, high heels, fishnets hose ,BB in low cut tops, & also to avoid the cops!Changed my duds from jeans to 3 piece "Sat. Nite Fever" suits!What an era,some may remember here?

That one is next, not the stories of the women,all you perverts like me!The car, the car!