Car of the Day

This past Wednesday Evening my GTO and I partook in a GTO get together that then moved to a local auto meet up all kinds of car enthusiasts.  The GTOs actually had the best showing of a single model. 

It was a blast meeting other GTO owners and seeing what they are doing with their vehicles on the road to customization. One guy was a week away from his supercharger install another fellow already had his supercharger, albeit it was in his trunk.  It was actually some surplus hardware he picked up from a customer. 

We got to meet all kinds of car fans, SRT4 guys to Mustang guys, there was a turbo charged NSX and brand new STI. 

Next week the GTO attendance at the car meet up may be down due to the fact that several of the guys are going to join me and some friends at work at the drag strip in Denton.  So come out for a little test and tune at the Denton drag strip if you are in the area.  All cars are welcome and you can run as much as you want.  It should be fun times. 

There’s that “wind in the hair feeling” that people say they have when they are enjoying their car or motorcycle.  I’ve been enjoying that feeling with my new GTO.  I don’t think that feeling has anything to do with wind or hair.  It is about everything in life lining up and making sense.  It is about a time that everything seems right with the world. 

It reminds me of the days of driving my first car that I had a hand in selecting.  It was a 1979 BMW 320i with a fresh paint job and a few mechanical mods to make it a little quicker than stock.  And the 320i needed all the help it can get to get additional power.  It was only rated for 110hp and 157lb ft from the factory, but it was still fun to drive with the famous BMW suspension and a 4 speed manual transmission.

Whenever I would wash my 320i I pop out the rear vent windows roll the windows down and cruise over to pick up my girlfriend.  All was right the world.  Will Smith did a good job of capturing this feeling in his song “Summertime”. 

Now I have another car that bring that feeling with simple 2^nd gear scratch brought forth from the LS2 V8 overpowering the rear tires. 

Get a car you love.  Get a car that is fun to drive to you.  Get a car that makes every trip a chance to get that magical “wind in your hair feeling”.  How you define fun to drive is up to you and there are plenty of cars to match whatever your definition of fun to drive is, whether it is style over performance or fun to drive in the twisties or high mpgs or ultimate power.  Figure what is fun to you and starting enjoying your ride every time you get to drive it.

Today I was asked to find a fun car with the following parameters.  More space than a Carolla, less than $15k and fewer than 15,000 miles, fun to drive and something that can be driven 100-300 miles a day. 

Once again I find myself recommending a Saab to fit the bill.  Saab has benefited from its strategic partnering with GM and Subaru. The COTD is the Saab 9-2x or the Saabaru. 

The 9-2X Aero is a basically a Subaru Impreza WRX wagon given the Saab refinement.  I’ve been a big fan of the WRX since it first came out.  It is a value and performance leader.  You get 227 turbo-charged horses with AWD.  The nice thing about the Saab version of the WRX is a smoother ride and a much nicer interior treatment.

If $4 gas is making you put a car’s MPG rating on top of the performance list there was even a non-turbocharged 9-2x Linear.  It has a 2.5 liter boxer 4 cylinder engine that produces a respectable 165hp and gets 20/27mpg on regular pump gas while still retaining the fun to drive aspect of the car. 

If you’re looking for a car with a bit more storage than your average economy car, way more luxury and sport than any economy car, while still getting economy car MPG performance the Saab 9-2x Linear is the car for you.  If you want a bit more power look at the 9-2x Aero. 

Racing cars is an expensive hobby.  Reading magazine comparisons help fill the void of racing, but you can only read what is written.  What do you if you want to race any kind of car?  What about racing your old car vs your new car? 

The answer is car racing simulation software.  I use a program called CarTest200.  http://www.cartestsoftware.com/cartest2000/index.html

With a trip to the track and simulation software, you can dial in your actual times with the virtual version of your car that you can preserve the true performance of your car and use for testing against any other car that you think of.  The CarTest software comes with a database of over 2000 cars.  It also allows you to build or program in any car as long as you have the specs required to build the car. 

Once you have a time slip from a drag strip you properly dial in your car and calculate your car’s exact stats.  For example, my 8.76 1/8 time is good enough for a 0-60 time of 4.9 seconds. 

The other fun thing about the CarTest software is you can virtually “mod” your car.  How much faster would your car be with 30hp?  How much faster would your car be if it weighed 100lbs less?  You can edit almost any parameter of the car and the environment, even the outside temperature. 

Simulators are just that, simulators and aren’t always 100% accurate, there are anomalies that can effect some stats.  For best results you can match up actual time slips with specific cars to get that exact level of accuracy. 

Today I saw first Dodge Challenger in real life.  It was at a Dodge dealership.  The Challenger sat in the dead center of showroom.  It was black and beautiful. 

The Dodge Challenger SRT8 is a 425hp retro muscle car powered by a 6.1liter hemi V8 and is one of the most anticipated revivals of a great muscle car since the release of the 2005 Mustang. 

Dodge chose to release the hot-rodded up SRT8 first.  Normally a manufacturer will save the release of their high-powered model until a year or two in the production cycle.  Not so with the Challenger. If you would like a normal 5.7 hem V8 or even a V6 in your Challenger you will have to wait a year or so until those models are released. 

Back to the black Challenger I saw today.  The Challenger is even better looking real life and at a MSRP of $40k is a fair price for a 425hp time machine to the muscle car glory years. 

However, $41k wasn’t the final sticker price on the window of the SRT8.  There was a significant market adjustment added to the sticker.  It was an adjustment of $23,900!  That “market adjustment” is more than I paid for my own 400hp GTO. 

This “market adjustment” sends reasonably priced Challenger SRT8 from $40k to $64,000.  And that is waaaayyyyyy too much.  Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge have plenty of other SRT8 vehicles that you can your hands on for $20,000 less or even more if you look to the used car market. 

The Challenger has been Car of the Day for me in the past and it may be again someday when they gently used Challengers start hitting the used car market.

When’s the last time you took your car to the drag strip?  Are you driving a sporty car?  You need to get to the strip and test out your car. 

The drag strip is a great place to test your car and your driving abilities.  There are a lot of drag strips all over the country.  You can find 1/8th  mile and ¼ mile strips.  The 1/8th mile strips or short tracks are more common and usually cost a little less to run at.  A test-n-tune night or a street legal night are designed for regular people to go and see what their car will do. 

I went with a group of friends from work and it was the first time for all of us with the cars we drove out there to run down the track. (well I had practiced the night before)  I set a person best of 8.76 in the 1/8th mile at 82mph. 

The drag strip is a great, legal place to see where your car and other cars fall in the hierarchy of the automotive world.

From 2001 to 2004 there was a Supercharged Mercedes or “Kompressor” as they say in German. 

The C32 was Mercedes answer to the BMW M3 and the Audi S4.  The C32 was a supercharged V6 with 349hp and 332lb-ft of torque.  This little German sedan was good for 0-60 around 5 seconds. 

Today you can get your hand a C32 for around $20k and is one of the great deals on the used car market.  Style, luxury, and power makes the C32 the “Car of the Day” for today.

Sometimes the car of the day ends up being just a tweaked version of the current car I’m driving.  From a simple window tint to a new intake manifold, from a pinstripe to full exhaust, there are a lot of ways to customize your car. 

Right now it seems like it is modding season.  There is a group of friends that are all currently looking to boost the performance out of their cars and making improved versions of their cars.  Any car that has a turbo under the hood is an excellent candidate for some boosted output.  With a simple ECU tune most turbocharged engines can grab another 30 to 50 easy horsepower. 

If you’ve got the new car itch, think about what you want in your next car and you may be able to find those in your current car in the aftermarket. 

My personal experience has been with larger American V8s.  I’m looking forward to what the future holds for my LS2.  There are so many options and easy ways to add horsepower that it will be a fun adventure. 

Speaking of adventures, the best way to measure the horsepower gains of your car isn’t a dyno where you get raw numbers, but at the drag strip where you can see your horsepower in a real life application. 

For those of you local to Dallas, there will be a group of us visiting the Kennedale Drag Strip next Thursday evening.

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 GTO, 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