donk.'s Past Time Car Review Thread

[red kryptonite]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

No way the GTS was dangerously slow ! That thing was a rocket ship compare to my joe dirt Nissan Sentra. Our clapped out civics DXs would have bowed down to that 2zz godly 180hp

maybe saying it was dangerously slow is abit harsh but sure as hell not godly lol its not the same 2zz as in the lotus

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

I know different weight and completely diff type of trans

how would you compare between the 2 revvy 1.8s?

honestly, the 2 engines were very similar to me. VTEC kicks in harder and louder than VVTL-i. the only reason the celica was so slow is because the 4 speed auto really robbed the 2zz of it power. like all hondas the itr had much more aftermarket support and responded to engine mods alot better

[Traum]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

Nope. This ham fisted chinamen never figured it out. I tried to adjust but ultimately was too scared to do anything. Took it to Squamish and had some Pooh and pee come out involuntarily.

To this day: fuck 911s. It’s the cars fault. Definitely not my shitty driving skill. 1000%

You need to go back and try a 991 or 992. Zee Germans engineered the shxt out of that inherently inferior drivetrain layout, and now it handles so well that any ham-fisted Chinaman can still drive it like a hero. Leave the traction control on, and the rear end will never step out on you! Turn the traction control off, and if you still fxxk up, the German engineering gods will still come save you from spinning the car and embarrassing their talents. And PDK is better than the 7-speed manual too.

Plus it'll get you the smoking hot blonde GFs. And your aunties will approve.

Do it~! (and give us another write up afterwards)

[Badhobz]

I’ve driven the 991. I wasn’t impressed. This sounds snobby and conceited as hell coming from such a shitty driver as myself but the supposed magic of the 911 is lost when it’s this accessible. If my wife can drive the 991 everyday then it’s dead to me. It’s basically every other GT car now except it still looks like a god damn modified vw beetle.

The older 911s, especially air cooled were straight up widow makers. People like the producer / skunkworks must be driving gods because they seemed to have contained this snappy, ass backwards little beast.

Either way Im still not a big fan. Even less now that the brand became saturated by housewives and douche bags who are somehow even worse drivers than me (is that possible ?!) and have Porsche snobbery on par with tesla groupies. Fuck that shit. You can keep the porsche tax, I’ll be driving my ratrolla while mouthing Gran turismo noises

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by red kryptonite

maybe saying it was dangerously slow is abit harsh but sure as hell not godly lol its not the same 2zz as in the lotus


honestly, the 2 engines were very similar to me. VTEC kicks in harder and louder than VVTL-i. the only reason the celica was so slow is because the 4 speed auto really robbed the 2zz of it power. like all hondas the itr had much more aftermarket support and responded to engine mods alot better

The 2ZZ ceiling is lower than the same era K20 because imo the 2ZZ is more like a B18C5 but with add variable valve timing instead of just big/small cam switch over. I treat them like B series < 2ZZ < K20. Alas the Honda engines have a lot more aftermarket support and experience, thus the peak HP from a 2ZZ is roughly on par with a B18. K20 just decimates all as you can get 240whp on that thing all engine. 2ZZ and B18 you can get 210 if you are lucky. The other thing is B series still enjoys a ton of aftermarket whereas the 2ZZ is pretty much dead on development, they peaked over a decade ago.

Originally Posted by Badhobz

I’ve driven the 991. I wasn’t impressed. This sounds snobby and conceited as hell coming from such a shitty driver as myself but the supposed magic of the 911 is lost when it’s this accessible. If my wife can drive the 991 everyday then it’s dead to me. It’s basically every other GT car now except it still looks like a god damn modified vw beetle.

The older 911s, especially air cooled were straight up widow makers. People like the producer / skunkworks must be driving gods because they seemed to have contained this snappy, ass backwards little beast.

Either way Im still not a big fan. Even less now that the brand became saturated by housewives and douche bags who are somehow even worse drivers than me (is that possible ?!) and have Porsche snobbery on par with tesla groupies. Fuck that shit. You can keep the porsche tax, I’ll be driving my ratrolla while mouthing Gran turismo noises

I wonder if the alignment on your 996 was a bit off. The 996 was supposed to be a lot more tamed compared to the 993, and the 993 was more tamed than the older ones. And extra half a degree of toe out on the rear will fuck you up easily.

I drove a friend's 997S for 30mins, mind you it wasn't my car and I didn't push it, but never did I have a feeling the car would get away from me.

[68style]

The Celica GT-S should have never come with an automatic transmission... I currently have a 2003 GT-S (6psd manual) and it's no drag car off the line, but if you keep it boiling the power/weight combo on the highway is pretty decent. The L in the VVTL-i hits satisfyingly hard/sounds pretty thrilling when you've got your boot into it in 2nd/3rd gear.

[noclue]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

I’ve driven the 991. I wasn’t impressed. This sounds snobby and conceited as hell coming from such a shitty driver as myself but the supposed magic of the 911 is lost when it’s this accessible. If my wife can drive the 991 everyday then it’s dead to me. It’s basically every other GT car now except it still looks like a god damn modified vw beetle.

The older 911s, especially air cooled were straight up widow makers. People like the producer / skunkworks must be driving gods because they seemed to have contained this snappy, ass backwards little beast.

Either way Im still not a big fan. Even less now that the brand became saturated by housewives and douche bags who are somehow even worse drivers than me (is that possible ?!) and have Porsche snobbery on par with tesla groupies. Fuck that shit. You can keep the porsche tax, I’ll be driving my ratrolla while mouthing Gran turismo noises

GTS/GT3 with manual transmission would differentiate you from the brand whores. Then you cringe when the Porsche dealer charges $650 for an oil change.

[twitchyzero]

Originally Posted by red kryptonite

honestly, the 2 engines were very similar to me. VTEC kicks in harder and louder than VVTL-i. the only reason the celica was so slow is because the 4 speed auto really robbed the 2zz of it power. like all hondas the itr had much more aftermarket support and responded to engine mods alot better

Originally Posted by EvoFire

The 2ZZ ceiling is lower than the same era K20 because imo the 2ZZ is more like a B18C5 but with add variable valve timing instead of just big/small cam switch over. I treat them like B series < 2ZZ < K20. Alas the Honda engines have a lot more aftermarket support and experience, thus the peak HP from a 2ZZ is roughly on par with a B18. K20 just decimates all as you can get 240whp on that thing all engine. 2ZZ and B18 you can get 210 if you are lucky. The other thing is B series still enjoys a ton of aftermarket whereas the 2ZZ is pretty much dead on development, they peaked over a decade ago.

Originally Posted by 68style

The Celica GT-S should have never come with an automatic transmission... I currently have a 2003 GT-S (6psd manual) and it's no drag car off the line, but if you keep it boiling the power/weight combo on the highway is pretty decent. The L in the VVTL-i hits satisfyingly hard/sounds pretty thrilling when you've got your boot into it in 2nd/3rd gear.

my initial experience with 2zz: surprised at half decent low-end torque for a 1800cc that revs to 8500 and couldn't tell if it was tuning, gearing or light chassis...then finally ascending a proper hill in 3rd gear at like 70, felt the zero torque lol

the crossover is silky smooth and pulls well on-cam, but i miss the vtec drama and the last 500rpm howl

i still remember the ITR being a bit more violent in engine feel..but the elise conveys more sense of speed sitting like few inches off the ground

[Badhobz]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

I wonder if the alignment on your 996 was a bit off. The 996 was supposed to be a lot more tamed compared to the 993, and the 993 was more tamed than the older ones. And extra half a degree of toe out on the rear will fuck you up easily.

I drove a friend's 997S for 30mins, mind you it wasn't my car and I didn't push it, but never did I have a feeling the car would get away from me.

It could be. The original owner threw on a turbo bodykit to make it look a bit different than the standard affair 996. Also had some pretty wide tires so it wasn't unmolested.

[Badhobz]

Moar reviews you lazy fuckers !!!

[donk.]

1992 RHD, 1993 SR, and 1994 base, Honda Prelude

Price paid all 200-260kms
94 base - 700$ (2011?)
93 SR - 1200$ (2012?)
92 RHD - 2400$ (2017?)

Cars were so good i had three of them

Good
-Cheap on gas
-Somehow this was my quickest car at auto-x a decade ago.
-The seats....... my god the seats...... its like sitting on a microfiber couch made of clouds. I dont know if any other car i have driven has seats this good.

Spoiler!

-One of the few cars of its era with an LED/leon dash for temp/fuel, and how it stretched all the way from left to right.
-The car was too much fun to drive, minimal roll, lots of power for the cost
-Plenty of parts on ebay and CL to rice them out
-Sunroof, havent had a car with a sunroof in years....

Bad
-2 of 3 had the starter board fail. A solder joint on a board that would have a hairline crack, causing a very intermittent no start. Worst time was when we were catching a ferry, and the dam thing decided to die out. Easy fix once diagnosed.
-Rear brake calipers would seize up during winter, going into a full lock. Managed to put the RHD into a ditch going up cypress OR MAYBE i should have done maintenance on it......
-Rear seats are useless, should have never had them.
-Oil leaks galore on the 94 base

Entertainment
-Useto do ALOT of stupid shit in my cars. There is a bridge somewhere near pitt meadows lake. Its a 50 or 70 zone, one time we did 90 over it with noone around, and you could feel the car slightly lift off the ground.
So we joked about next time doing 120 to get some air.
We came back probably a month later, and yup 120 got us off the ground. Probably a second or two of air time. All 4 shocks bottomed out once we "landed".
I checked the car when i got home, you can see the 3 bolts holding the shocks in the engine bay to the frame, the shocks bent both sides about 1/2", permanently damaging the frame of the car. If im not mistaken, one of the three bolts on each side ripped the metal.
The next morning i also had a flat as a bonus.
-Slapped on a 5zigen exhaust onto the SR, probably the only exhaust i have ever installed on a car, that did not sound like a lawnmower. Me and my buddies called it the rocket because the entire interior would feel like a rocketship with its deep ass tone


Would i own one again?
Oh hell yeah. For sure top 5 cars.

[donk.]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

Last one i swear.
2010 Nissan Cube SL

I dont know what the fuck i was smoking the day i leased this.

The only people i see driving these are korean women in their 20s

[donk.]

One more, because its sunday and i got nothing better going on.

1989 D250

How i bought it:

Spoiler!

How it ended up:

Spoiler!

Why?
-I saw this truck on CL, and it was mid summer, so i decided to do a minor restoration.

Price in 2020?
-The dude posted it for like 1200$, i offered 600$, he accepted, and i gave him an extra 100$ to drive it over to my place. Win Win. (first pic was his ad on CL)

Bad
-Where do i start lol...................
-Holes in the bed, see photo above. Literally a "flinstones" car.
-Gauge cluster does not work
-Ripped seats, loose mounts
-Paint could use some "touch up"
-Roof had holes
-The list was endless, this was literally the definition of shitbox. But i needed a hobby for summer
-Horrible on gas
-No AC... it was mid summer. Hawaii vibes yo

Good
-Nice sound for an old truck, pulled good.
-Big ass bench seat, could easily bang on it. but i was single
-Never drove a "classic" truck before, was a unique experience.
-Restored the paint, interior, electronics, bed, holes, engine bay tidyness, etc, was alot better once it felt less shitbox-e
-Some stoner showed up and bought it in under 20 minutes. Quickest sale of a car i have ever had.
- Great way to fill up a dozen hours during my summer, well worth the 600$ + repair costs
-Shitbox appeal 10/10

Would i own one again?
As a hobby car? Yes
As a daily? Nope

[Badhobz]

Man I love that gen prelude. The one after was always kinda lame in my eyes compared to this one. This one had the wrap around dash, looks like you were in a fighter jet.

This was also the one created before the Japanese bubble burst so they threw in all kinds of wacky shit like 4 wheel steering and a sunroof (that doesn’t open I believe).

You had a del sol too right ? So when did you stray from the Honda camp into the world of American muscle ?

[donk.]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

Man I love that gen prelude. The one after was always kinda lame in my eyes compared to this one.

Facts.

2 delsols

Who is to say I strayed from JDM to usdm? It's moreso because I can't afford an nsx i buy whatever is in my budget, gnam sayin

[Badhobz]

You ever try an s2k ? Seems like the logical progression from the lude and the delsol

[donk.]

Yeah, I test drove one, the interior was bland, and had no power until v-tach kicked in.
The same week I drove a Z4 3.0, and the Z4 blew the s2000 out of the water. Way more low end power + nicer interior sold me, also had heated seats, and that was a first for me at the time.

With that said, s2000 is still on my list of cars to own. Il be posting my Z4 review on here next probably

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

Moar reviews you lazy fuckers !!!

I'm procrastinating so hard on this I went and made the whole future fake car review thread lol.

[red kryptonite]

catching up on RS before bed post

2006 nissan 350z BASE

styling: may not have aged well but for its time it was pretty stylish. imo, simply a drop and wheels is all it really needed.
power: axle back exhaust and intake, did it for the sound. on paper the z is suppose to be fast but its weight made it feel very sluggish. the 10.5s with 285 with stock power doesnt help.
handling: very responsive with good road feel. very fun on spirited drives but never pushed hard due to height.
interior: very driver focus. i loved how the gauge cluster moved with the steering wheel so it was always in sight regardless of driving position. sea of cheap plastic and easily scratched touch points.
practicality: 2 seater, rwd, slopping roofline with huge strut brace thingy in the trunk... definitely not a good daily.
reliability: one of my highest km cars ive owned at 140k. never gave me any problems from day one of my ownership.

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by red kryptonite

[...] i loved how the gauge cluster moved with the steering wheel so it was always in sight regardless of driving position.

I don't understand why this isn't in every car. It makes so much sense!

[Badhobz]

Originally Posted by red kryptonite

2006 nissan 350z BASE

If i recall, the base was only around 30k back when it was first released. For sure under 40 all in. Seemed like such a smoking deal for 280ish hp on a NA v6.

That drop and wheels look sick. I really wanna rice one out.

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by RabidRat

I don't understand why this isn't in every car. It makes so much sense!

Funny you say that because the G37 had the same setup and I could never move it and my seat to a spot where I can drive comfortably and also see the cluster. I hate that it moved with the wheel.

[trollface]

The G35/G37 came factory setup for one-hand on top of the steering wheel driving and the seat fully reclined.

[RabidRat]

Ok, here goes!

'08 R56 Mini Cooper S
laser blue; 6MT; leather; sport package



This car was like a great pair of flip-flops. Good, frugal, casual fun. You go in with pretty low expectations in every regard including price, but you come away surprised by the utility, flat cornering, open feeling interior, and a great feeling of zippiness with its tiny wheelbase, short gearing, and quick-spooling turbo.

Background
In 2015, I found this car at Mini of Marin and paid $13k (USD) for it. It had only 35,000 miles on it, and it was in absolutely mint, showroom-new condition outside and in.

The Drive
8/10

It made 172 hp out of a 1.6L turbo 4-cyl, which at first doesn't sound like a lot, but when you consider it only weighs 2600 lbs, had super short gearing, super quick steering, short wheelbase, low-to-the-ground seating position, it felt plenty quick.



Even the throttle mapping was tuned to make it feel quick: I remember the throttle response being pretty sharp, and the first 1/3 of the pedal travel gave you nearly all the power, and the rest didn't really do a whole lot.



The shifter had this kinda longish throw, but made a kind of satisfying clicking noise as it went into each gate. Not at all the direct feel of an S2000 or Miata, but it wasn't hellish rubbery feel typical of a BMW either. And given the generally laid back feel of the vehicle, it felt pretty ok.



Took it out to Buttonwillow and on the first time out, was already happily going 8/10s. Felt super confident, the car is very predictable. Even kept up with a Corvette (with a terrible driver, albeit)!

AND it was excellent on gas!

The Interior
8/10

Quirky as hell. Made the experience fun. From interior chimes going "doot-doot doot-doot", to the fishbowl* giant center-mounted speedo, to the all-around SD-gundam squishy styling of the car inside and out, it just gives you a spunky vibe that always uplifts your day.

*thankfully, there's a digital readout of the speed in the middle of the column-mounted tach in front of you so you don't actually have to look over at the goofy fishbowl thing.



It has a tiny hatch, barely big enough for any luggage IIRC. But because of this, you get a surprising amount of interior space even in the rear. I regularly carpooled in this car and as a 5'10 dude, comfortably sat in the back a couple time. What makes it so survivable is the panoramic moonroof, which takes up most of the roof. And what's really cool about it, is not only can it slide open, both panes actually vent upwards. Gives it a bit of a hedgehog look imo.



I remember the doors closed with a solid CLANG like the oldschool bimmers and mercs. The interior panels looked and felt plasticky like a Super Soaker (anyway totally on-theme with the goofy styling), but the body itself felt super super solid. Prior to this (and the GTI prior), I'd had a string of Japanese cars and this German construction was a whole other level for me which I really appreciated.

The Utility
7/10

Again it has a tiny hatch, but at the same time, because you expect this, you intuitively move to fold the rear seats down almost permanently. And with that, you actually get a really surprising amount of trunk space! I made many successful trips to IKEA.



A nice random touch was the headlight sprayers which extended out and jetted a little wash fluid backwards onto the light. Really cool, surprised to realize I had it one day, given the price point.

Ownability
3/10

I say ownability and not reliability because how often stuff breaks and how badly is only one part of the equation, as I would find out: there's also how big a pain it is to get in there to do the work.

I only owned this car 9 months. Why? Within the first month, the clutch went out. And I kind of expected that would happen because even though it had only 35k miles on the clock, something had felt a little off about the clutch. What I didn't expect though, was that it wound up costing me $3000 USD (that's $4000 CAD)! Why? Because the darn thing is so compact that apparently the whole front of the car had to come apart and the motor+transaxle together had to be removed, for them to access the clutch.

So ok, fine, tough luck but still loved the car, life moves on.

But no. Life did not move on, as it turns out. 6 months in, I started getting knocking at wide-open throttle: CEL. Pulled the codes and it was a bunch of stuff about random missfires. Brought it to an independent shop, and then the Mini dealership, and after changing out the obvious (spark plugs, coil packs), nobody could figure out why this was happening.

At some point while the car was with Mini, they said while they couldn't figure out why the misfiring was happening, they did find that oil was starting to leak from somewhere around the turbo. And that everything would have to come out to get at it, which was going to be a couple grand.

At which point, I decided to call it quits and sold it. Since I really liked the rest of the car, I wrestled with the idea of building it, or doing a JCW swap, or something else cool. But the right thing to do was exit. Not only had it only been 9 months, and that was way too much, too quickly, to go wrong on a car with only 35,000 miles on it. And way too damn tight to work on.

The Verdict
Danger Zone. Danger Zone as hell. Do not own without a warranty!!

[Badhobz]

Wowowowow great review ! (Pro looking photos too) The only problem is that bcrdukes has one with 350k on the clock and the fucker never had a single issue. It’s also supercharged or turbocharged or monkey charged.

Pretty sure he drives the shit out of it too so not sure why some of these are bulletproof and some are run for the hills.

[bcrdukes]

While my R53 has high miles, it has only had old car problems due to a combination of age, wear and tear, and/or previous owners' delay or neglect in maintenance. It hasn't actually had any of the issues experienced by everyone else here on the forum whose owned a Mini. Keep in mind, there are probably 50 different previous owners of the Mini I have so God knows what was (not) done to it.

You guys probably saw my laundry list of "problems" in a recent post but if you dig through them all, nothing catastrophically failed like exploding cooling systems or electrical problems. To be brutally honest, I don't even know if the supercharger works. And I don't care!

I want the car to die so I can do something fun with it (i.e. engine swap) but it won't die. It's starting to burn a quarter of oil every 1000KM or something so maybe it's a sign.