Car of the Day

Caroftheday.org writing has taken a bit of a hit in its frequency of updates to a production I’m involved with.  I’m playing a pirate captain and I drive a pirate ship.  I’m thinking the pirate ship may have been a good ride back in the day for a pirate captain, but I’ll take my GTO.

You can read more about Pirates of Patmos here.

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=67037

The Audi S4 has long been recognized as a serious sports sedan.  Before the Subaru WRX, STI, and Mitsubishi Evo became American household names, the S4 was making a name for itself as a turbocharged all-wheel drive sports sedan.  And about the time the WRX and others hit the US market Audi made another significant change to the S4 formula.  A formula that had been used by Americans back in the late 60s and that formula is a big engine in a little car. 

A big engine for the Germans is a 4.2 liter V8 with 340hp.  That was almost a 100hp increase from the older S4.  The Audi S4 would have a V8 four years before the other German rivals added a V8 to their smallest hot rods.  And now the Audi RS4 is a turbo-charged V8.  Is that what is next from BMW and Mercedes?  BMW is already turbo-charging their inline sixes and Mercedes has several forced induction power plants; so it is not unrealistic to think that the new M3s and C-Class AMG sedans will a little extra power adder under the hood.

Today you can get a gently used S4 from a couple of years about with low mileage from under around $25k.  The S4 may not have quite the blistering performance of the new V8 BMW M3, but is a very satisfying ride.  The S4 is an amazing mix of style, luxury, performance and even value.  If the Evo or STI are on your short list for your next car, but you’re not sure if you want to live with a rally-tuned econobox, then the S4 makes an appealing option.

Remember before you got your driver’s license?  Back when you looked forward to being able to drive?  There is a time when driving is pure fun, it is a game or a race.  The days of going and racing go-carts and playing racing video games where a time when the fun of driving was in the forefront of our minds. 

Then there was the day that you got your license.  That incredible sense of freedom and fun that your car gave you was there because of your past experiences with driving. 

However after years of trudging along in traffic behind mini-vans and Camrys or even in a mini-van or a Camry people lose sight of the joy of driving.  They don’t equate fun and driving as the same experience.  There are plenty of cars out there that completely ignore the fun of driving and just turn a car into a simple appliance. 

Luckily there is another side, a side run by the zealots and the enthusiasts.  By people who like fahrvergnugen, zoom-zoom, the ultimate driving machines, driving excitement and other marketing terms to make cars fun again.  There are a lot of ways a car can be fun, from Chevrolet Corvettes to Mini Coopers, from 4×4 trucks to Mazda Miatas, from Jeep Wranglers to BMW 3 series, from the sports sedan to the SUV.   I’ve had and have seen people have fun in all kinds of vehicles; I’ve even seen a youthful driver have fun in a Camry. 

The key thing to having fun is your attitude towards driving.  If you have a fun attitude towards driving or an open mind towards the joy of driving your vehicle choice will show it and support you in your quest for finding fun where ever you drive. 

So think back to the time when driving was fun or if you are already in the driving enthusiast camp, and then count yourself lucky because every day there is a chance for a little fun.  And if you have a vehicle with above average horsepower or handling then put the pedal to metal and enjoy that next curve, that’s what your car was designed for.

The GTO is the car of the day and will continue to be the COTD for some time since I now have one my garage. 

After years of following the Pontiac GTO and its rebirth with the 350hp LS1 to the next year with 400hp LS2 and the subsequent addition of the dual exhausts and hood scoops.  I was at GM’s Auto-Show-In-Motion and drove the 2004 GTO.  4 years ago I remember being impressed with the GTO’s interior treatments.  Everything I touched a feeling of quality that belied it’s Pontiac badge.  There was a Blaupunkt stereo staring at me from the cockpit.  Blaupunkt was the same company that was supplying stereos to BMW in years past.  It was a big surprise to see the German stereo in an American car. 

A couple of years ago Jeremy Clarkson did a special where he came to America looking for a good car.  He only found two cars worth praising one was the Ford GT, the other was the Chevrolet Corvette.  The Corvette has a long history of being the American automotive benchmark of performance and power.  Sometimes the Corvette engine finds its way into other GM vehicles.    The GTO was blessed with the same LS2 engine that powers the Corvette. 

There is definitely something to be said about 400hp, it makes for an extremely quick vehicle.  Are there cars faster than the GTO?  Sure.  Is the car next to you faster than the GTO?  Probably not.  The list of cars that can actually outrun GTO is a short and exclusive list of the most powerful cars on the planet.  Cars in the same price bracket that can outrun the GTO are nearly non-existent.

The short drives I did tonight gave me a taste of how ridiculous 400hp is on the street.  The GTO already comes with too much power to easily put down on the pavement, which may be one of the first places I look.  Some drag bags and stickier tires may just be the ticket.  That plus a couple of simple mods seem like a nice place to start. 

A big thanks to the previous owner taking car of the GOT, for putting the car up for sale and being cool to deal with.  He even gave me recommendation on the best sticky tire for the GTO.  You should see the car he is looking at replacing his GTO with….but that’s another article.

You can read a little bit of Laura’s point of view on the GTO on Laura’s Blog.

I loved the used car market, there are all kinds of interesting finds out there in the used market if you hunt for them.  In the used car market there are interesting comparisons because cars depreciate at different rates.  Today I had to good fortune to be part of a test drive with a 2004 9-3 with the manual transmission.

The 9-3 is an amazing deal in the used car market.  They can be bought in the $11k - $15k range depending on the exact version of the car and mileage.  This Saab 9-3 wasn’t the best received car when it was introduced because Saab positions the car to compete with the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4s and the Infiniti G35s of the world.  The Saab is a great car but always seemed to finish near the bottom of the European sedan roundups that would occur in the automobile magazines. 

Well after 4 years the Saab has something that makes is very competitive with the other European options, massive depreciation.  Depreciation isn’t always a bad thing, in fact, if you are buying a used car, you want that depreciation.  The Saab 9-3 has lost of 65% of its original price and that means people looking for used car are in for a real deal. 

The 9-3 is a blast to drive with the manual transmission.  It has a euro-style sport-tuned suspension that can really hold a curve.  The engine is a 2.0 liter turbo-charged 4-banger pumping out 175hp to 210hp depending on the model.  There is actually a decent aftermarket for this little turbo motor with a pretty easy upgrade path to increase the output of the engine. 

Now before you turn your nose up at the Swedish GM car, consider what it is competing against in the used car market.  Cars in this price range are the Corollas, Civics and Altimas of the world.  They are fine cars, but they miss the style, luxury and sport that the Saab has to offer.   And the Saab is rated for 23/34 mpg!

For the car buyer willing to hunt a little, there is probably a gently used Saab nearby that they could pick up for a song.     Style, sport, luxury, economical and a great price, before you just buy that plain Corolla check out the Saab 9-3. 

 The Pontiac GTO actually didn’t start its life as an American car.  It is an import from Australia.  The Holden Monaro is how the car is known “Down Under”.  The Holden Monaro is built under the GM corporate umbrella.  When GM was looking to bring a rear wheel drive coupe to the American market Bob Lutz found the Holden Monaro to be the right car for America.  The car was re-badged as a Pontiac and the GTO was reborn.

The Monaro presents an intriguing option for the American GTO owner and that is a full on Monaro conversion to create a truly unique and special car.  I’m very interested in driving an unusual car that people don’t recognize.  And if people don’t recognize your car, then that can turn a 400hp GTO into a real sleeper.

To be honest I’ve never been much of a fan of exterior mods to a car that are simply for “show” and add no “go” to the vehicle.  However, if those exterior mods can convert to the car to an extremely rare Australian import, that is a completely different prospect.  The ability to take a mildly rare 400hp coupe to a true one of kind makes the GTO/Monaro a unique car.   I’m looking forward to the performance and exterior mod options that the GTO presents.

In the 1980s this was one of my regular ”Cars of the Day” (COTD).  

The Conquest was really just a Mitsubishi Starion that was imported and rebadged as a Conquest.  This would be the beginning of the DSM cars that would follow and include cars like the Eclipse/Laser/Talon and Stealth/3000GT. 

Currently on AutoTrader.com there is a 1988 Conquest for sale with only 35,000 miles.  It is one of lowest mileage Conquests you can find in the country.  However, the owner knows this and has slapped an $18.5k price tag on it. 

The Chrysler Conquest is a front-engined, rear-wheel drive, turbo-charged 4 cylinder.  In 1988 the 2.6 liter 4 banger pumped out 188 horsepower.  They may not sound like a ton of power but for comparison in 1988 the BMW M3 was churning out 192hp out of its engine. 

Allpar has some more information on their site about the Conquest if you would like to read about this COTD from the past. 

http://www.allpar.com/cars/chrysler/conquest.html

Today I had the good fortune to test drive an enthusiast’s GTO.  The nice thing about the enthusiast and a test drive with one is that they want you to really “test out” the car. 

The owner even had secluded test drive route where a person could really wring out a GTO without worrying about traffic or law enforcement. 

Now this wasn’t my first experience with driving a GTO.  It actually was my 4th.  I drove the 2004 LS1 GTO and the 2005 LS2 GTO at a couple of the GM “Auto-Shows-in-Motion”.  And in 2006 I drove the last edition of the GTO.  Today I drove another 2006 GTO. 

The GTO was a 6-speed manual, Impulse Blue Metallic with black leather interior, it is one of 529 in that color combination and transmission.

The GTO is one of those cars that looks better in real life than in pictures.  There is a strength and power that is conveyed in person that isn’t shown in two dimensions.  Once you step inside the car you are met with one of highest quality interiors in an American car.  The driver and passenger are supported by a couple of leather buckets that give away the car’s sporting intentions.  Even the backseat area is surprisingly roomy with two similar bucket style seats molded into the rear bench. 

But the reason a I’m looking at a GTO isn’t because of its styling, it isn’t its interior or mildly roomy backseat, it is for the 400 horses under the hood, it is for the drive, and boy what a drive! The LS2 really pins you back into your seat during hard accelleration.  The rear tires are simply a gas pedal stomp away from breaking loose and allowing the driver to enjoy some tail-sliding fun.  The GTO has an electronic nanny in the form of traction control to keep you safe, but like all good sports cars you shut off the traction control with the push of a button.

Now the GTO isn’t a canyon carver, it isn’t a super luxury automobile, it is a powerful sports car from Pontiac that has plenty of “Go” to match its “Show”.   The GTO is a great mix comfort, speed, price and performance. 

And I think I just might buy one.

Here is a great calculator to help you answer the question of “Should you trade in your gas guzzler?”

http://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2006/04/should-you-trade-in-your-gas-guzzler.html

This calculator has been out for a little over a year but is worth revisiting as gas is creeping over $4.

The team at Political Calculations have put together a simple formula that will show you whether or not that shiny new hybrid will actually save you any money. 

People spend a lot of time thinking about how much money they spend on gas, with all the news about rising gas prices and every time that a person fills up they feel the pain at the pump.  They think a new economical car will save them money.  Well, it might save them money in gas, but not overall when you figure the total cost of the new car. 

This calculator helps the people make a better informed decision.

So the 2006 GTO has resurfaced as my “Car of the Day”. (COTD)  The 2006 GTO received the same 6.0 liter engine from the Corvette. 

With a stock 400hp and 400lb-ft of torque it is has some pretty stout performance out of the box. 

However, under the twin scoops of the hood, sits a very tunable motor.  The LS2 engine has a lot options to get even more horsepower out of it.  The GTO is a great platform to handle more power.

One of the easiest and most cost effective ways to really “boost” the horsepower is a supercharger.  There are plenty of supercharger systems designed specifically for the GTO.  They are relatively low cost, around $5,000 and can add as much as 200hp to the GTO.  All a supercharger really does is simply push more air into the engine. More air = more power, it is that easy.

This can be very appealing to speed freaks out there and would allow a person to keep a relative stock feeling to car without modding the engine to the edge of reliability.  A supercharger with a low psi on this engine would have little to no effect on reliability. 

In fact, a lot of manufacturers are supercharger their cars from the factory or including a supercharger dealer option.  Companies like Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Chevy, Saturn, Toyota, Ford and Lotus just to name a few are all have or are currently offering supercharging options.

One of the problems with boosting the horsepower on cars is the reliability problems.  This isn’t a problem with the GTO and one of the kits made specifically for the Pontiac.  It is being done a lot out there, so watch out for any GTOs that seem to have a little extra whine.  They could be sporting a 600hp boosted engine. 

Reliable, powerful, and a good deal, what more could you want?  This makes a GTO an even more appealing option.  At 400hp the GTO is fast, at 600hp it would be a real sleeper capable of running with nearly anything. 

If a GTO lands in my garage it wouldn’t stay stock for long and is a big reason the GTO is the COTD.  I’d be looking for a power boost.

A few years ago GM tested the American market by bringing over one of their Australian models.  GM slapped a Pontiac logo on it and called it the GTO.

The GTO was panned by most consumers and the automotive press.  If you were reading the reviews when the 2005 GTO with the 400hp LS2 hit the market, the reviews weren’t all bad.  The GTO had solid performance numbers. Numbers like 0-60 in 4.8 seconds and a 13.0 second quarter mile.  These numbers were a few ticks quicker than the 2004 LS1 powered 350hp GTO and seemed to satisfy the need for speed that people thought that the GTO should fulfill. 

However, the GTO was still losing comparisons to slower, cheaper, less refined cars like a simple Mustang GT.  And the GTO lost for 2 main reasons, reason 1 was the styling and reason 2 was the price.  As far as styling goes, if a car has enough hp then it looks good to me.  (That’s probably why I like STIs and Evos.)

Around the same time another car was hitting the market and receiving resounding praise for its “bang for the buck” ratio.  The Dodge SRT-4 was the fastest car under $20k and many of its flaws were over-looked because it was such a good deal.  The GTO never got that recognition, even though it was just as good a deal and a much better car than the SRT-4

If you remember back to 2005, that is when the “employee pricing” craze hit the auto industry and there were deals to be had everywhere.  It wasn’t uncommon to read reports of a $34,000 GTO being purchased for $28,000.  And that price put it pretty close to a fully loaded Mustang GT. 

Alas, these factors were never really considered by the general population and GTO died an early death with the last model year being 2006.  There was a group of people that knew what was happening and they are the modern GTO owners.  They realized that GM had sent them a high-powered gift from down-under. 

Here in 2008, in the used car market there are plenty examples of the 6.0liter GTOs for sale right now around the $20k mark.  If you want cheap horsepower in a modern car it doesn’t get any better than this.

Sure gas prices are creeping up and maybe a V8 muscle car isn’t on your short list of options, but the GTO with a manual transmission is actually rated for 29mpg on the highway and 17mpg in the city, not too shabby for 400hp. 

If you’re looking for some fun this weekend find a 2005 or 2006 GTO and take a test drive.  You will be impressed by the build quality and the performance of the goat from the land down under.

What happens when you’re interested in a Subaru STI or a Mitsubishi Evolution but you want a little more than just a hot-rodded up econobox?  There are few options a person could track down; a Volvo S60R or a BMW 335xi or even the 2007 STI Limited.  Each of those cars gives you a 300hp turbo-charged engine with AWD. 

I find myself drawn to limited edition turbo-charged sedans with AWD.  They are the modern sleeper cars.  Unique, powerful, classy, luxurious and rare all describe today’s COTD.

The Saab Turbo X is limited to just 2000 cars for the entire globe.  I’m so very interested in the rare performance sedan and with only 600 of these making it the United States it is guaranteed to be rare. 

One of the problems with an ultra-rare care is that they are hard to get and there aren’t any deals to be found on them.  The $42k sticker price is what you pay.  And with a car this rare you can’t rely on the used car market. 

If I was to buy a car today.  The Turbo X would be on the top of my list.  Are there faster cars?  Sure.  Are there cars that are a better mix of performance, luxury, price, style and exclusivity?  Not that I can think of. 

I need a Turbo X!

The Car of the Day today is a Saab.  A very special Saab.  The Saab Turbo X is a rare car.  Saab will build 2000 of the Turbo X’s and only 600 of those will make it to the US.  The Turbo X only comes in black and is a 280hp AWD sports sedan.

I enjoy reading auto reviews and there are several professional write ups on the Saab Turbo X.  The only thing better than a good professional write-up on a car is a well written write-up by a passionate owner.  And I’ve found such a review for the Saab Turbo X.  If you want to learn more about the Saab Turbo X ask Google or you can read the Driving the Saab Turbo X blog.

This car doesn’t have quite the performance of the Evo, but is a fun, sport, rare, and classy option.

For the 2005/2006 model year Nissan created a special Altima.  I remember the first time I saw the Nissan Altima SE-R.  It was the best looking Altima I had ever seen and with an SE-R badge on it I knew it had to be something special. 

I am a sucker for special cars, however when I saw the sticker for the Altima SE-R I was disappointed in the nearly $30,000 price tag.  This put the best Altima within a couple grand of its corporate cousin the Infiniti G35. 

The Altima SE-R has been simply called a Nissan with a trim package and that can only be said by someone who has never driven the SE-R.

Nissan did a great job of tempting me with this vehicle.  It was my legitimate car of the day for several months, after an impressive spin behind the wheel.  When I took the driver’s seat of the SE-R I was really skeptical  of how well a 260hp FWD Altima would handle.  I had the good fortune going on the test drive with a cool saleperson who allowed me really wind out the Nissan. 

The Altima SE-R is basically a front-wheel drive 350Z with 4 doors.  The SE-R has a lot of the interior cues from the 350Z.  It has an upgraded exhaust and suspension bits and some of the coolest wheels to show up on a sedan.   Through all that in with a close ratio 6-speed transmission and you have yourself a very special car that is a great sleeper sedan.

Now the SE-R isn’t the perfect car it does have a couple of flaws. 

·    The first was its original MSRP which put it within $2000 of the G35.  However, in 2008, depreciation was little rougher on the Altima and that is good news for you.  The current going rate for a 2005/06 SE-R vs a similar G35 may be as much as $6,000. 

·    The second is it is a front wheel drive. This car steers and drives with the same two wheels. So no matter how good it is you can always say “for a FWD car” at the end of it.

·    Third is it is still just an Altima.  There a lot of Altimas out there, very few SE-Rs, but a ton of Altimas.

·    Fourth was the super lame ad campaign that claimed that the Altima SE-R was the “Official Car of Funkytown.”  Somewhere there is a SE-R project manager that is rolling over in his figurative grave because some ad guru made the highest performance 4 door from Nissan the official car of funkytown.

A friend is looking at buying a new sporty  sedan and the SE-R has made it on to his short list and it has brought it to top of mind for me.   So the Car of the Day is a gently used 2005/2006 Altima SE-R for less than $18k.

Michael Martineck has a great article over at The Truth About Cars.  The Cambridge Strategy Center published a study that help defines people like me and their obsession with cars.  When I read this article I felt like they had me and my feelings toward cars totally pegged.  Apparently I am categorized as an “expressive”.

Expressives perceive their vehicles as [yet another] expression of their personalities. They are what they drive.

Expressives want a car that shows they are smart, rich, hip, practical and/or environmentally conscious.  Conversely, in a different form of expression, they might not give two puffs what you think.

Expressives like to drive. All driving is a form of competition, whether it’s racing the wannabe in the Honda Civic or owning the world’s most fuel efficient vehicle. The believe an automobile should do one thing and one thing well. Expressives want the best rock climber or dragster or delivery van.

I think that is why I tend to want a new car every day and cars like the Evo appeal to me.  It is an amazing performer and is purpose built to do be a high performance vehicle and the Evo does it very well.

You can read more at http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/the-truth-about-you/.