What is it with men in minivans and 4-cylinder cars? (1 Viewer)

[Scott L]

Prinz- Maximas rock plain & simple. I drive a 3rd gen and now that it's giving me problems I plan to buy another used one, this time a 4th gen. Anything with a Nissan V6 ain't no joke! I think the 5th gen's look super smooth when subtley modded.

 

[TimDoss]

In response to the original question, my theory is that
a lot of these minivan drivers used to drive old V8 clunkers,
so comparitively the minivan handles better, that combined with
the quicker starts than say their old gremlin or pacer and
the four cylinder whining away under the hood giving them
the impression of speed... I think a lot of them do feel like
Mario Andretti.
That's just my theory... I could be wrong.

Whatever the reason is, as long as they are doing it it needs to be legal
for me to at least shoot out their tires... you know, for everyone else's safety... besides if they really are that
fast, I'd never get a good shot in, right?

 

[Todd Hochard]

And these kinds of car threads on a home theater forum are nearly as painful to read as home theater threads are on car forums.

The pretense in that statement is equally painful.

Todd

 

[Scott L]

Yes that's real carbon fiber. Shame on anyone that can afford to buy a Maxima but can't buy real parts for it. Rice = made to look fast but goes slow. This Max has a big fat T4 turbo squeezing the 3.5L worth of cylinders. So it's got lotsa performance to go with its looks.

 

[Robert_Z]

We do it because we're dicks.

***Proudly drives a Chrysler PT Cruiser***

P.S. You drive too slow.

Finally a good answer. I agree with your first assessment.

 

[Philip_G]

I'd get banned from the forum for calling the miata what I really feel it is B_ _ _ _ Bucket

 

[DarrenH]

Great to see there are so many good opinions out there. In response to a few:

1. Sports cars have no back seat. I think this is kind of narrow, what about camaros, mustangs, novas, chevelles, challengers (i could go on)

2. As for the manual trans thing, would you say an automatic 911 is not a sports car? How about the ability to shift through all available gears? So, in an auto car, you can actually shift 1-2-3, rather than L-3.

3. Josh, you said power to weight ratio. I kinda like that as it does not limit a vehicle to a certain 1/4 time. What would you (or anyone else) propose is a "sports car" ratio?

4. As for the rice is made to look fast but go slow, I'd say any car with a 3' spoiler and a grapefruit-shooter exhaust is a ricer ride regardless of it it does a 1/4 in 12 seconds or 17. To me the term Ricer has no performance requirements either way

Oh, one other thing, what the hell is up with those neon lights on the hoods of cars where the windshield washer fluid jets usually are? Is there a point to that? At least spoilers have a functional reason to exist, though a 3' spoiler with 2 levels is probably not needed on most of the cars I've seen them on, but what is the point of those lights!?!?!

Fueling the fire...

 

[Philip_G]

BTW, maybe they hear your engine tapping at them and think YOU want to race

 

[Todd Hochard]

you said power to weight ratio. I kinda like that as it does not limit a vehicle to a certain 1/4 time. What would you (or anyone else) propose is a "sports car" ratio?

For the most part, it does, actually. Show me a car with a decent ratio, say no more than 15lbs/hp (which would be the end of my scale), that can't get down the 1/4 very near or under 15 seconds.

 

[Seth_L]

Uh oh the Maxima owners are coming out of the woodwork.



Yes, it's fast

Seth

 

[Steve_Tk]

My friend has a cheap V6 mustang. He is obsessed with racing people.

The other day we pulled up to one of those VR6 VW GTI's, the ones with the V6 and 200HP. It absolutely smoked us. Surprised people have not mentioned this one also as those small foreign cars.

Made me want to get one, I like how they look, and you can get the fully loaded at a good price. I don't like American made cars, because I own one.

 

[Brett_H]

Darren,

The other day we pulled up to one of those VR6 VW GTI's, the ones with the V6 and 200HP. It absolutely smoked us. Surprised people have not mentioned this one also as those small foreign cars.

I sort of did. I own a GTI, but with the 1.8T. From the factory, it's not as quick as the VR6, but it has a lot of potential. A simple chip upgrade significantly raises the pressure from the turbo and puts them on par with the VR6 models. Fun stuff, but unfortunately they're outclassed (again, from the factory) in the handling department by the likes of the Evos and WRXs of the world.

-Brett.

 

[Jared_B]

2. As for the manual trans thing, would you say an automatic 911 is not a sports car?

That is correct. A Porsche 911TT with the tiptronic is not a sports car.

Granted, a xxx-tronic automatic is better than a standard auto, but a real sports car should come with a manual (at least have a manual available). If I see a Porsche 911TT with the Tiptronic, I immediately assume the owner is some rich yuppie who only got the car for the image, not to actually drive it.

 

[MarkHastings]

Lighted nozzles = "blue dot" tail lights for a new generation. I'm sure every generation has done tacky stuff to their cars that have no point, other than they think they look cool/hip/boss/groovy/whatever the slang would be. Personally, I think those (along with their evil twins: the tire valve cap lights) are pointless and tacky. To each his own...

They're also illegal. The only "legal" colored lights allowed on a vehicle are White, Amber (Yellow) and Red...all other colors are illegal.

 

[Scott L]

Well then what about a Ferrari with the F1 shifter? Or the Bugatti with the 7-gear "double clutch system" that allows for .2sec gear switches. Too exotic to be a sportscar?

 

[Jared_B]

Scott, those systems are entirely different from the tiptronic on the Porsche. The Porsche just has an automatic tranny, and it saps the power making the car slower.

The Ferrari F1 and BMW SMGII systems actually increase performance (mostly).

In my opinion, anything that degrades performance is evil.

 

[Mike__D]

To clarify what Jared_B is saying, Porsches tip (and similar systems) are just automatic transmissions with user selectable gears. They are still mostly planetary type gears systems which use a torque converter.

The BMW, Ferrari, and now the Toyota MR2 Spyder have manual trannies with auto clutches and shifting. So they are based on a manual tranny, but through hydraulics and electronics, the shifting is done at lighting speed, although I heard the MR2 still needs works on it's downshifts.

Mike D.

 

[PrinzII]

Actually, Scott, that Maxima in the picture is not a 3.5L SE but a turbo 3.0L SE with the 2002 HIDs.

They are still trying to come up with tweaks for the 3.5L V6.

 

[Scott L]

Prinz ahh you're right. A 2nd look back at the gallery shows it's a 2k model. Still 222 horse out of a 3.0L stock engine ain't bad.

 

[MarkHastings]

The BMW, Ferrari, and now the Toyota MR2 Spyder have manual trannies with auto clutches and shifting. So they are based on a manual tranny, but through hydraulics and electronics, the shifting is done at lighting speed,

When I test drove my BMW, the guy was getting the keys to the car and I told him "Make sure it's an automatic because I can't drive standard" (I know, I never learned standard, oh well)...anyways, he said "sure it is, in fact, most are". I was shocked when I heard this. I figured most BMW's (the 3-7 series) would be standard because of their performance, but he said that the automatics perform just as well as the standards do so there aren't a lot of standard trannys on the lots. Standard trannys are more of a "special" order.