Car for college question

[beer]

Keeping my Contour is not an option for me.
My brother gets it when I go to college.
That's why I need another car.
It's not like this is happening just for no reason.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Ummm...the Maxima is not a lame underpowered family sedan. It is a family sedan...but it is anything but lame and underpowered!! It's a "4-door sports sedan"!

It can outrun a Prelude/Integra (not Type-R)/Jetta/ and V6 Camaro. It's faster than most of your choices...and this is with a '95-2000 Maxima. Imagine what the '02 Maxima with 260hp will do??

And with a few mods in the suspension department (~$600) it'll be able to hang in the twisties with a Prelude and normal Integra.

Check out the Maxima forums at forums.maxima.org. Actually..check out the forums of each of the cars on your list, then make a choice. Listen to what the owners have to say. All the cars on your list are good..but their insurance will kill you (atleast in Canada it will). The Maxima will probably have the least amount of insurance...since it's considered a family sedan.

Maxima Forums

 

[beer]

I will check that out. But again, if I want a sedan, I'm thinking I'll go with a Jetta, a 2.8L V6 isn't too much, but I have seen them haul ass.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

But they are slower than the Maxima...

I heard that the 1.8T Jetta is better than the 2.6L V6 Jetta? Can anyone confirm this?

 

[HardTech]

In no way is a 1995 - 2000 Maxima faster than my Prelude. My car can outhandle, outrun, and basically outperform the Maxima in every test you can throw at it. I think it has somewhere along 160 HP, with a somewhat equal amount of torque (don't quote me, I'm pulling these from my head from what I've read long ago)

The new 2001 Maxima, however (when equipped with a stick), has 220 HP and a somewhat equal amount of torque. I doubt it weighs more than my Prelude (~2800 pounds) so it'll be quite faster. Plus, you can add a strut bar and some springs and you're handling about as well too.

If I were to get a new car right now, I'd probably go with the Maxima

 

[GD695372]

I wish i had that much money to spend. I'm stuck with a little green 71 Hornet w/ a 360cu, 4-barrel carb, inadequate radiator, suicidegear, etc.
Never had any problems with it, and i bet mine'll beat your's in a race, but still I had to work for every penny of it.

 

[GD695372]

I still have to say that it's pretty funny when people think it's the batmobile passing them on the highway at about 160. It burns oil when you floor it, and the radiator overheats after about 10 mins, but still it's pretty kewl.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

HardTech: The '95-'99 Max has 205lb/ft of torque and 190hp. Your 2000 Prelude only has around 156 lb/ft of torque. This is taken from MSN CarPoint - 2001 Honda Prelude. Also 2000+ Maximas have 215 lb/ft of torque. And with a few mods, the Maxima will be able to handle with the Prelude.

Also the 0-60 times for the Prelude (5-spd) is 7.1 sec. For the 5spd Maxima it's 6.7 sec.

The Maxima is faster than the Prelude. Btw, for general info...the '95 Maximas are the fastest Maximas. Because they have less emission restrictions and also because they are lighter.

 

[hans007]

i hate you. The fact that you have this dillemma

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

hehe...soo true.

I wish I had this dilema. I'm just happy that I can drive my '91 Corolla to school occassionaly (yes thats right...I don't get that car all the time..). And lets not get started on the Maxima. I'm only allowed to drive that when my parents are with me..I can't drive that alone...and its good too..otherwise I know I would do something stupid in it.

Well good luck Elemental007 and be thankful that you even have this choice!

 

[HardTech]

I don't know if your numbers are correct, but I can nearly slander you for everything else.

My 1998 Prelude puts out 200HP and has 189 foot/pounds of torque. Its 0-60 time is 6.6 seconds, the 1/4 being about 15.5 (I've read a few cases where a 14.9 was run, with everything being stock)

and no, the 1995 Maxima isn't the fastest Maxima. Why do you think Nissan marketed the new generation Maxima's horsepower? And year doesn't matter. A 1997 Honda Prelude is just as fast as a 2001 Honda Prelude (maybe faster since everything is already broken in)

Trust me when I say these things. I was here at this BBS as well as AGN (and a myriad of others leser-known ones) way back when, and recently I have taken a hiatus from visiting this site. I've occupied myself at a myriad of car forums where I've gathered as much info as I can regarding cars. I may not be as knowledgeable as the next person, but I sure as hell know that my car is faster than the 95-generation Maxima's. I've personally run a 7 second 0-60 about 2 days after I learned how to drive a stick WITH a friend in there (combined weight of about 300 pounds)

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Maximas. In fact, I was looking at them before I bought my car.
Obviously, I don't trust that database you pulled those numbers from. I'd rather trust the numbers given to me by a Maxima fanatic, and I'm sure you can find one pretty easily at a few car forums. As for my Prelude:
weight: approx. 2800 pounds
0-60: 6.6 seconds
1/4 mile: 15.5 seconds
hp: 195 I think it is for 1998, 200 for 1999+ due to better header design
torque: 189 foot/pounds at 7800 RPM
handling: .89 G's, I believe

 

[HardTech]

oh, and that whole bit about being a member here... that wasn't meant to be said as "I've been here longer than you, therefore I'm more competent than you at everything and then some" sort of statement

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Well since you doubt the numbers coming from MSN CarPoint about the Prelude's hp/tq rating..I can't argue with you..but I will try to find other sources for it.

As for the '95 Maxima not being the fastest...it is...the 5spd '95 Max is faster than the 5spd 2000 Max. Why you ask?? Well for one thing...you can't reach the peak power in the '00 Max because the rev-limiter won't let you hit that RPM..so you don't get peak power unless you buy a JWT ECU which removes the rev limiter. Also the '00 Maxima is considerably heavier than the '95 Maxima. Some sources even cite the '95 Max 5-spd for having a 0-60 time of 6.6 seconds. I'll have to find that source though.

Nissan uses the 222hp has a marketing tool..

I'll look up some more sources for ya later...got a Calc test tomorrow..and a Physics test the day after.

Why can't we have a freaking auto-mechanics course in school?? Damn!

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

BTW, what does the Active Torque System in the Prelude do? Is it basically a glorified VSLD?

You whats funny? Once some guy in a '00 Prelude wanted to race me (I was in my '91 Corolla at the time). I didn't want him to have the pleasure of whooping my ass...so I didn't bother racing him.

 

[Wolfie]

Elemental007

IMHO, I would say a jetta. Gas milage is nice. And the other kids won't mess with it like the camaro.

Wolf

 

[HardTech]

The ATTS system (Active Torque Transfer System) is the only feature that distinguishes a 5th generation Prelude base from a Prelude Type-SH (as well as different rims and a Type-SH sticker on the tail)

What it does is it senses how fast you are going around a curve, and when you are turning it transfers some torque to the outer wheels, resulting in an increase in control and traction.

I can't justify spending an extra $4k for it, though. With just $1k in mods (strut bar, sway bar, springs.. an additional $1k will give you shocks), you can easily achieve over 1g of handling in a Prelude. Hell, you can do that with just front and rear strut bars (total cost = $200)

 

[atom]

Guess you guys don't like going to Honda's own website or anything.

The torque is 156 lb/ft on the new prelude, and all 98+ Preludes have the H22a so I doubt it would change that drastically (Edmunds, www.hondaprelude.com, and www.superhonda.com all say 156 lb/ft on a 98 too BTW).

My brother is getting a 99 prelude sportshift so I've done some research. If you can get 30 lbs/ft more torque my brother will be mucho greatful.

 

[HardTech]

really? Damn, I gotta find a new place to find facts
it sure as hell feels like 189 foot/pounds of torque.

 

[thedarkwolf]

I am I the only person that goes to a school where almost everynight 1 or more cars get trashed on the parking lots? Almost everynight here a car is keyed, broke in too, door kicked in, windows broke, ect. My roomates 93 corsica got the crap beat out of it after a football game by a bunch of drunks with a fence post. One night while I was at work the cleaning crew caught some smuck trying to rip the mirror off my car. I am affraid to park my nice car out there anymore so I pick up a cheap $300 beater and use it now. If they want to trash a 81 horizan big deal I can either fix it with duct tape, do nothing, or buy another one for $300. Damn drunks!!!!!

hehe Just remember another thing that happend to my roomates car a couple months before the beating. Somebody keyed it all the way down the side twice. We think they keyed it once on the way to class and then again on the way home. That was like a month after he got a new free paint job from chevy because of flaking paint.

 

[Cybordolphin]

Buy a used Cesna 150 (aroebatic).

It'll impress the girls much more, and is a lot more fun than driving.

Oh.... and ask for an ol beat up jeep to get you to and from the airport.

 

[Zucchini]

Get a jetta or a civic Both are pretty new/reliable, and look great, i think the jetta was redesigned 2 years ago and the civic is totally new this year. Best not to get a car at the end of the model run So stay far far away from the integra, its getting pretty old looking, be very very pissed off if in a year or two a brand new redesigned model shows up and depreciates your one big time. Of course this doens't apply if you make enuph to buy a new car whenever u feel like it

oh yea, and don't get a camero, it screams unrefined/hick. Gas mileage and safety/reliability not so great either.