Vroom, vroom.

[denny]

I think I've pretty much decided that I'm going to be too scared to get back on a bike anytime soon. I don't know if that's final, but I don't think it's going to happen this year at least, probably not for a few.

That (reluctantly) realised, I've decided to get myself a fairly flash car when I finally sell my house sometime in the next few months. I think I'll look into spending between 5 and 8 grand on something like a Skyline (pic) or an Impreza (pic).

If anyone has any advice to offer on that kind of car, it would be very welcomed... I don't really know anyone who drives that kind of thing, but I've liked them for a while now and if I'm not going to ride, then I think that's what I want as 'second best'.

Comments

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

d_floorlandmine might be the one to talk to - he was going on about Skylines to me the other day.
Or you could have a chat to people on batmobiles to see if you can get any advice.

[ev1ldonut.livejournal.com]

*laughs*
You know, those two cars are the ones that my instrctor always referred to when telling me where to keep a special eye out for careless drivers. ;)

"This is where you'll find Impreza boy shooting up the insde" or "Watch out for skyline man trying to nip in ahead of you here"

*grin*

[stuartl.livejournal.com]

Gotta agree with ev1ldonut to a degree, though obviously it's the driver that makes the bad driver and not the car.

However in the league of boy racer cars it depends on what you're after as to which car to go for:

High performance cruisers:
Nissan 300ZX: Lightweight car, very quick in the twin turbo version and even better in the short wheelbase. Interior leaves a little to be desired.
Mitsubishi 3000GT/GTO: Very very heavy car but deceptively quick and superb handling. More expensive secondhand than the 300ZX.
Toyota Supra: Lightning fast in the twin turbo version, good motorway cruiser but by far the most expensive of the Jap Crap super cruisers :)

Four wheel drive road/rally hybrids:
Mitsubishi Lancer EVO: The most hard core of the hybrids, full of gadgets, incredibly quick but ugly as sin.
Subaru Impreza: Hundreds of derivations of this car for all budgets make it the default choice for boy racers. Not quite as ugly, not quite as hard core and probably first choice for all rounder. Makes a reasonable track car too.
Nissan Skyline: The later versions of this car (probably outside of your budget) have four wheel drive. They're full of magic technology and a favourite for boy racers looking to upgrade their steed into a powerhouse of widow making doom.

Of the first group my recommendation would be the 3000GT, I very nearly bought several of these when I was car hunting, from the second group the Impreza.

However all of these cars are mental insurance and require weekly maintenance to keep them on the road. What do you want out of your car?

If you ever want someone to help you look for a car let me know, I've got quite a lot of specific knowledge about the 3000GT if you're interested in one.

:)

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

However all of these cars are mental insurance

Yes, I am slightly concerned about that :) Sadly I have 8 points for driving without insurance, which seems quite liable to cause me some nasty moments when shopping around for a quote.

and require weekly maintenance to keep them on the road.

You exaggerate, surely? I thought they'd be fairly okay as long as I didn't thrash the living daylights out of them on a regular basis.

I'm probably leaning toward the Impreza at present, although there's a way to go before I have the money anyway.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Interesting... I've always said that I'd prefer to share the road with boy-racers than OAPs and school-run SUVs. At least the boy-racers know they're driving like cunts and therefore do their best to look where they're going and avoid hitting other vehicles.

They also rarely get in your way by dithering or driving way under the speed limit :) and I've even known them to move over in heavy traffic to let bikes past.

[ev1ldonut.livejournal.com]

I actually quite agree. ;)

It just amused me that the two cars you mentioned were the same as the ones he used for examples.

[stuartl.livejournal.com]

It's partially exaggerated. The problem is that these cars are very highly strung and largely intolerant to infrequent maintenance.

Turbo engines are especially vulnerable due to the high temperatures and high speeds of the turbines.

If you've got 8 points I suspect the insurance quotes would be prohibitive but you may find some of the specialist companies give you good quotes.

Have you considered something less insane? :)

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

But I want one :-D

[azekeil.livejournal.com]

Don't fancy one of these (http://motorcyclecity.com/turbine.htm) then? ;)

I don't know much about cars, except that the Impreza is apparently the car theif's favourite target. Think about storage and theft-protection if you get a nice broom-broom.

[djlongfella.livejournal.com]

Hello Matey, Mate of mine owns an imprezza and his sister owns a 300zx, both very nice, the only thing they told me to advise you to look out for was the imprezas tens to need regular servicering and care as stated by an earlier post on this thread, and also the Imprezas tend to get through rocker cover gaskets in between services, this is not necceserily all imprezza models but certainly their experience. they suggested you visit www.5ive-o.com and have a trawl for " Turbo Steve " who works on imprezza upgrades and turbo mods, or Mike - elf, chat to them in the forums as they have extensive personal and professional knowledge of both these cars, would be handy to drop the hint you got the info from a mate of Dark Elf, and he will tip them off to look out for you on the forum there.

Hope it helps.
PS He paid about 6k for his imprezza and it's immaculate inside and out and goes like stink.,..but hey I've got a clapped out estate, so by comparison a milk cart is an indy 500 contender.:)