• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

New (to me) Non-ski car

severine

New member
Joined
Feb 7, 2004
Messages
12,367
Points
0
Location
CT
Website
poetinthepantry.com
Has anyone driven a car from the '70's lately??? A few years ago, in some kind of nostalgia trip, my husband thought he might like to have something like that as kind of a "sunday driver." Then he actually drove a mid-70's Impala convertible. Yuchh.
My 78 Cherokee handles better than my 98 Blazer. Better turn radius and better overall ride.
 

wa-loaf

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
Messages
15,109
Points
48
Location
Mordor
My 78 Cherokee handles better than my 98 Blazer. Better turn radius and better overall ride.

There's a 70's International Scout for sale down the road from me if you want to add to the old SUV quiver. Says one owner on it ...
 

jaywbigred

Active member
Joined
Feb 24, 2006
Messages
1,569
Points
38
Location
Jersey Shore
just got rid of my bmw convert. i got an auto for many of the same reasons Jay did. for the 3 years i had it is secretly cursed my wife for not being able to drive a stick. but botton line was i needed her car (CRV) for skiing so i had to leave her with something when i was out.

Ding ding ding. Being that my fiancee was awesome in agreeing to buy an SUV ski car instead of a gaudy engagement ring, when I take the SUV, I feel like I owe it to her to leave with a car she can drive.

Looking to buy a used bmw convertible in the next two years. (Not sure which one yet. I do NOT want a hard-top. My husband feels otherwise, but it's gonna be MY car. ; - )
BMW makes hard top convertibles now, so you should be able to find the best of both worlds. Of all the 3 series models, it's actually the car whose silhouette and styling I like the best.

I have the VW DSG system in my GTI. I did some soul searching about it when I sold my last one and decided that the huge discount I got on my current one outweighed having an automatic. After 40,000 miles, I don't think I'd get a GTI with the 6 speed. This isn't the slush-o-matic I'm used to on my SUV. I have good control over the transmission with the paddle shifters for snow driving and avoiding the brakes in mountain driving. If I want it to be fast off the line, it can shift faster than I can.

My 78 Cherokee handles better than my 98 Blazer. Better turn radius and better overall ride.

This buddy of mine owns an (I think an 08) R32 with the DSG system and loves it, and has a lot of fine driving it, even though he is almost 6' 8"; he also owns a 78 or 79 Cherokee in this awesome very light yellow color, with black striping. We were driving it around his parent's farm/vineyard in the Finger Lakes a couple weekends ago and it was awesome.
 

Geoff

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
5,100
Points
48
Location
South Dartmouth, Ma
This buddy of mine owns an (I think an 08) R32 with the DSG system and loves it, and has a lot of fine driving it, even though he is almost 6' 8"; he also owns a 78 or 79 Cherokee in this awesome very light yellow color, with black striping. We were driving it around his parent's farm/vineyard in the Finger Lakes a couple weekends ago and it was awesome.

VWs work really well for tall people. For an econobox, the leg room and head room are really good and you don't feel like your elbow is jammed into the door.

My problem with the R32 is that you get the same fuel tank as the 2L turbo but the highway cruise fuel economy is about 20% worse. That often ends up being an extra gas stop at a pricey gas station on a ski trip. When I was a weekend warrior, I could just pick the cheapest gas station somewhere along my round trip route and I didn't have to stop for fuel on the way up if I needed to be there at a set time.

I've read that the 2011 4Motion version of the Golf is going to come through with the 2L turbo tuned to put out 265 hp instead of the 6 cylinder engine. You get the best of both worlds with fuel economy only slightly worse than the FWD version, a lighter car, the extra horsepower when you want it, and the improved traction of the Haldex system. The turbo lag haters will be unhappy but the small gas tank when you're getting 24 mpg highway at 0F in the winter is one of the main reasons I stayed away from the R32.
 

jaywbigred

Active member
Joined
Feb 24, 2006
Messages
1,569
Points
38
Location
Jersey Shore
Well, it's been a few months and I just have to say that so far, this has been an awesome purchase. The only issues I have had are things I expected: the Nav is pretty antiquated, and the back seat is not very comfortable. I still haven't ponied up for the Bluetooth and Aux-In solutions I need to install. I think I will be getting one of them for Xmas, and perhaps the other for Bday. I guess my only other gripe is that occasionally the anti-slip mechanism interrupts an intended acceleration as I am turning onto a road from a stop sign, which means that in tight NJ traffic, sometimes the small window I had to pull-out into becomes even smaller because power isn't being supplied despite my attempt to accelerate. I guess if it crossed my mind, I could shut this off manually, but that is a big "if".

This car is slightly slower 0-40 and maybe 0-60 than my G35x, but probably faster overall (certainly faster 0-80, and 40-60, and 60-80, etc...). It is more sport tuned than the Infiniti, which means at times a rougher ride, but also better handling.
 

dmc

New member
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
Messages
14,275
Points
0
Fiancee put strict no-manual stamp on purchase process. This model also wasn't offered in manual in the U.S. at least during the production years I looked at.

It does have tiptronic, so I can downshift and make the V8 growl if I want. Also, traffic-y driving in these parts makes me think manual might get old after a couple bad commutes.

Don't worry about the he man chest thumpers.. :)

Automatic is fine... Especially with tiptronic... Which I use all the time on my ride..
 

AdironRider

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 27, 2005
Messages
3,734
Points
83
I personally despise autotragics, but see their appeal to the average car buyer.

Mercs are badass on the highway. Definitely my top choice for a retirement vehicle. I like the G wagons.
 
Top