What Cars Do You Drive?

[9V-SIA]

Not sure about the survey you posted Keith but JD Power surveys are the ones the car companies take note of.

(Large sample sizes eg they survey car rental fleets)

Japanese cars are reliable ( wife drives one ) but you'll be hard pressed to find one in a car enthusiast's top 10 list!

They just don't have Lust Factor like an Italian slut!

Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini come to mind..

[KeithMEL]

I wonder what our resident automobile experts make of this survey:
http://www.theage.com.au/drive/motor...1029-hme5.html

Skytrax-style crappy survey, or are there insights to be gleaned from this?

I must admit one of the reasons I like the Lexus IS, even though it's "only a fancy Toyota", is the happy medium it straddles between Toyota reliability (they never seem to break down), German solidity, style, and luxury - and by luxury I mean nice interiors (Mark Levinson sound system, plush leather seats, quiet cabin with little engine noise etc) and good ride quality. Not to mention it undercuts its rivals from BMW and Merc by quite a few grand. Unfortunately they don't do a 1 series equivalent - but that said I am very happy with my 1 series so far.

[up and away]

wow, that looks nice!

[9V-JKL]

Start your car with your iphone and/or ipod touch.

Something for drivers to consider. Sadly not available in SIN.

http://www.viper.com/smartstart/

[nickbot]

Be careful mid-corner when the turbo kicks in....

Don't think it's powerful enough to give that much torque steer

Must say, I do kind of miss having a whistling turbo, as my current car is the first normally aspirated model I've had in quite a few years.

[9V-JKL]

The sensation when the turbo kicks in.

Be careful mid-corner when the turbo kicks in....

[Nick C]

Nice to see more Golf action here

How do you find the TSI? Wondering if it feels underpowered?

It's nice to drive. Especially when accelerating. The sensation when the turbo kicks in.

[nickbot]

Nice to see more Golf action here

How do you find the TSI? Wondering if it feels underpowered?

[Nick C]

My latest ride.

[GramercyPark]

speaking of generalizations, those who have to brag about their intellect, are typically egotistically "large" as well. my grandma used to tell me that people who liked to tell everyone how smart they were, were in fact sexual intellectuals- i.e., f**king know-it-alls.

I'm your typical arrogant American. If you don't like it, my thoughts are simply "meh, whatever".

Your opinion of me is less significant than the last dose of methane that polluted my breeches, sweetheart.

[up and away]

i'm kinda new here and wow, looking at the dizzying assortment of cars make me feel a little jealous if not inadequate! : )

if you feel inadequate with that bike you probably can't (or shouldn't) be helped

the volvo is a nice car for everyday duty as well, and as I witnessed about a week ago this particular model is very, very, very safe (someone I know rolled it 5 TIMES and basically walked away (ok he got a whiplash and broke his arm, but what do you expect???)

[phaleesy]

Hmm... That seems to be a bit of a generalisation. I am both physically (6'3, 220) and intellectually "large". Yes, the CL 65 I took delivery of in June is a large car, but I bought it because it's comfortable - who doesn't like having their back massaged as they drive along the freeway?

I fall asleep whenever I get a massage.

I notice that people in the States do tend to drive bigger cars compared to the Europeans.

NIce bike!

[taxico]

i'm kinda new here and wow, looking at the dizzying assortment of cars make me feel a little jealous if not inadequate! : )

on stormy days:


all other days:


unfortunately they're up for sale as i'm relocating... yet again!

yes, my home too! cheers!

[up and away]

who doesn't like having their back massaged as they drive along the freeway?

actually I hate that feature, imo the mercedes massage feels like your spine is ripped from your body while you are driving a car
but this being a merc you can of course turn this feature off by pressing one single button, in a BMW you'd need a major in software engineering for that

[N_Architect]

that kinda misses the point why we buy big cars: Lifestyle. Of course you can go through your life driving a boring Nissan Micra but a BMW just is a more comfortable car. (Neglecting the safety aspect).



a) style always lies in the eye of the beholder.
b) there's another reason for big cars. ever tried driving 600-900 km with four persons in a Mini/Golf/Fiat 500? Especially if you've got a lot of luggage that's hellish.
c) a big high quality car makes a lot of sense if you happen to live near an unrestricted autobahn- for example in a E320 you can cruise @160-180 kph for several houers without being uncomfortable. Try that in a small car and you'll be a nervous wreck after half an hour!

Agree with all points and would for sure buy a large car myself, to be honest. But I know that if i live somewhere where there are no special weather and distance restrictions, then a small car would suffice (however not that I wouldn't buy a big one).

If you hear my opinions about the environmentalists who want to ban the cars with high CO2 emissions, about Greenpeace, etc. then you'd be really surprised. I love automobiles, big cars and yes, the large CO2 emissions that come with that package. So all in all, big car can be small man but also big and intellectual man as well, it really depends.

Ah, and by the way, the CL65 is a fantastic toy, as long as it's owner does not go out with a Cherokee and 3-4 bodyguards in it behind him... (not that GramercyPark does so, let me be clear and fair on this ).