cp-the-nerd

Nothing will be able to touch the Maxima's of a few generations prior. It was pretty light, and you could get the potent VQ 3.5L with a six-speed manual. I remember those things being able to pull hard. That's the Maxima everyone knows and loves. Too bad Nissan doesn't understand that.

I guess..... in such a car I would just pick the version that got me the best performance regardless.... Well here's the dilema, you're spending $80,000+ on a sports car, do you want the extra tenth of a second for bragging rights, or do buy the version that is the most fun and engaging to drive? Because my money would go for the driving experience every time.

I think the Maxima is a joke now, and IMO Nissan's current design language is hideous and busy. They're still peddling the Maxima as a performance car (or "4-door sports car") even though it's sold exclusively with a CVT, and the last gen was completely overshadowed by the cheaper, lighter, and faster Altima V6. If they want to make it relevant, give it a 7-speed dct or 6-speed manual and some legit performance equipment.

I'm aware that the 8-speed has serious performance credentials, it's probably the best torque converter autobox ever built. I'm just never going to be sold on an auto over a stick in this type of car, and when someone does pick the auto, I can't help that slight judgement against them as an auto enthusiast in the back of my mind. I know, I know, big talk for a dude in a family sedan.

Yeah, me and my older brother are very opposite personalities. He's the laid-back charmer, while I'm the wrought iron fist of the family. We sometimes don't even understand how that even happened. We both went to the same schools, sure he's 5 years older than me, but still. My brother and I are waaaayy different too, but it was pretty obvious growing up. He was popular in high school and gave my parents hell, I was book smart and dorky, my parents barely had to try. I get personality differences completely, those are definitely to be expected, but I would think things like parenting are largely learned from our parents,and my sister definitely did not learn her parenting there, or anywhere else from our childhood based on her way of doing things. Even Al Bundy was a better example than whatever she has chosen to follow. My brother's a parent, and he's also way different than my parents were and how I intend to be. He and his wife are parents because that's what you're "supposed to do" after marriage. I WANT to be a dad someday, I'm great with kids and I know when to lay down the law.

Seems a bit like a publicity stunt to me. An automatic convertible kinda conflicts with the idea of the Z07 package. Maybe I'm wrong. I'd gladly eat my words and watch her tear up a racetrack.

I've taken my car to the track. Had to get a baseline and then check the progress of the tune I'm developing. Went from 14.7 @ 96 mph stock to a pretty respectable 14.36 @ 98. After a few more mods I'll take it back one last time and I'll be satisfied. I'd love to crack 100 mph. I've also road tripped 500 miles away to Myrtle Beach where it cracked 30 mpg both ways on flat highway averaging 70 mph, an all-time high the car. I typically get 27-29 in less ideal conditions and/or average speeds up to 75. I use Mobil 1 5W-30 and shoot for 5000-6000 mile changes. Mobil 1 is what GM used from factory before their "Dexos" blend and when the 3.6L VVT was a Cadillac exclusive. Conventional gets consumed faster and degrades quicker, which exacerbates the weak points of the engine design, like the timing chain tensioners.

Yeah, me and my older brother are very opposite personalities. He's the laid-back charmer, while I'm the wrought iron fist of the family. We sometimes don't even understand how that even happened. We both went to the same schools, sure he's 5 years older than me, but still. My brother and I are waaaayy different too, but it was pretty obvious growing up. He was popular in high school and gave my parents hell, I was book smart and dorky, my parents barely had to try.

Trapping 130 mph from factory is insane. Lets you know for damn sure that there's 700 horsepower under the hood as advertised. Have you tracked yours yet TAF? I haven't heard about the stock driveshaft troubles until this article. Are there a lot of issues cropping up with the guys who swap on DRs for track nights?

I almost feel bad. I glance at the forum and beyond the Wings/Deaner/Stang posting, I see Selfie trying his ass off to keep starting new threads and responding to ones that are up. I invited him over and he said he would give this place a look, but that was over a week ago.

Kinda my reaction too. It's always been exclusive and hand built. It's still competitive with 505 hp and a 7000 rpm redline. It still sounds incredible. Just last year it was a big part of turning the 5-year-old Camaro into a world beater all over again with the Z/28 package that pulled an incredible upset to become Motor Trend's Best Driver's Car. Frankly, it's a better engine than the C6 Corvette really deserved.

Hey fellas, it doesn't really matter who else joins, a wonderful feature of these forums is an "ignore" list in your profile drop-down menu.

That truck looks awesome. You got 24 mpg highway with the air dam removed?? That's crazy good.

Gee I really feel for you... You know how long it takes to PM 15 different people on MT software? I wanted to burn down the internet.

Maybe? You shoulda been sold when you clicked "post" and didn't have a meltdown.

This is my cat Calvin. I took out my phone to get a new picture of him to show my little niece, and he got real excited about my phone and grabbed it. Now my cat has a selfie. He also once stood up and gave me an unsolicited, completely deliberate slap-five for ripping on my girlfriend. She has been jealous of that moment ever since.

There's a link button just like the old forum. http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-chevrolet-camaro-hasnt-grown-as-much-since-1967-as-you-might-think/ Anyway, I thought this was a super cool article. I would have liked to see a final graphic of the Gen 6 overlaid on the original Camaro. I also like how the Gen 5 vs Gen 6 graphic illustrates that despite only losing 2 inches in length, the car is also much less bulky.

Awesome! You made it over! What are you looking at for possible Taurus replacements? The previous gen Focus can be had for under $10k. Thought these were kinda cool, great wheels too (SES trim).

Logic be damned! I LOVE that engine.

I really thought this news would have blown up across the automotive world this morning, but it's not reported anywhere else yet and people aren't talking about it. I am utterly elated that they're 1) keeping the 7.0L/427 ci N/A engine alive despite all the fuel economy regulations and 2) they're being so creative and awesome with ATS development.

http://wot.motortrend.com/1505_cadillac_ats_v_to_feature_ls7_power.html In a shocking development, GM is not only developing an ATS-V+ model, but they're shoehorning the LS7 V8 under the hood with your choice of an 8-speed automatic or 7-speed manual. Both are firsts for LS7 application. This announcement pleases me greatly. <--Vast understatement. I peed a little.

Other than the grille, I don't have any beef with the second gen Genesis. The 3.8L is a stout V6, I'd go as far as saying it's a better buy than the V8. It's less than a second slower, costs much less to start, and is rated 18/29 mpg to the V8's 15/23.

I lol'd at "plays footsies with mopar." There are probably a good 10 more posters I'd like to have over here to really get the complete community, but this is a really solid start.

I have a few points in response to that. As far as the Camry is concerned, based on my experience driving the car at its limits, I'm not surprised that the unintended acceleration issue blew up the way it did. The car is not in the same league of driver control and safety as the other cars I drove that day. When the wheels broke free, the car went totally numb. This happened in the panic brake and the emergency lane change, two very real driving scenarios. The poor steering and brake pedal feel exacerbate the problem. Up to 7/10, the car is just dull as dishwater and is the poster child of how not to tune electronic assist. Beyond that, it's legitimately problematic. An important note about the 200S: we drove the base models in a road loop (with the exception of the Camry, for some reason) and the 4-cylinder/9-speed powertrain was a deal breaker. The transmission programming was a total mess that never stopped shifting. The V6 simply elevates the car dramatically. In that guise, it drives quite well and it got 4 out of 5 enthusiast votes.

Last year, I won a weekend trip out to California to take part in a test drive event sponsored by Motor Trend (and probably Chrysler). 5 auto enthusiasts were chosen from video auditions, and we drove the piss out of the 2014 Malibu LTZ Turbo, Fusion SE 2.0EB, Camry SE V6 (*not the brand new one*), and the then-new 2015 Chrysler 200S V6. I'll break down the individual tests with scoring out of 5 stars. I hope you guys enjoy the long read. Acceleration: Chrysler 200S - * * * * * Toyota Camry - * * * * Chevy Malibu - * * * Ford Fusion - * * * *Note: we were required to use sport mode and paddle shifters. First things first: the 2.0T engines are outclassed by the V6s. To be fair, we were at the El Toro Air Base in 100 degree heat and we weren't allowed to brake-torque which diminished their power. Regardless, V6s feel better and more natural. The Pentastar V6 in the Chrysler 200S had a TON of personality with a sweet exhaust note. Every time it launched, people turned and looked. The Camry's 3.5L V6 is smooth and strong, but lacked the low end punch of the 200S and frankly sounded boring. Speaking of personality, the 2.0T engines had NONE. Way too much effort was spent removing all the fun turbo noises. Manufacturers must be afraid average folks buying midsizers wont like the blow off sound or think something's broken. Anyway, they feel like N/A 2.0L engines off the line, and torque management reduces the fun significantly. As far as manual shifting goes, a lot of them were wonky and flawed (except the 200S). The Malibu uses that garbage rocker button on top of the shifter, which is just asinine in practice causing you to contort your wrist. Now in the Fusion--try to follow me here--the car decides it's going to upshift for you by around 5500-6000 rpm... but doesn't ACTUALLY shift until redline. If you try to use the paddle above that point, you are greeted with a clumsy double upshift. This happened to every driver. The Camry has a nonsensical range select when you're sitting still that reads like you can upshift all the way to 6th while parked. Braking: Ford Fusion - * * * * * Chrysler 200 - * * * * Chevy Malibu - * * * * Toyota Camry - * We performed a test where we accelerated to 40-50 mph and made a full brake panic stop with a hard left avoidance maneuver to assess the ABS and ability to maintain control. The Fusion hands down has the best brake pedal. Feels like a performance car, easy to modulate, great delivery and feedback. The 200 and Malibu had equal braking capability, but the 200's pedal felt hard and the Malibu's had a spongy sensation. All three cars stopped very impressively and maintained steering control. The Toyota Camry absolutely failed this test. Slamming on the mushy brake pedal and steering hard resulted in a 4-wheel slide with minimal intervention. You lose all sensation and feedback from the driver's seat and pray it does what you need. For one driver, it actually slid through the cones off the course, forcing an instructor to leap out of the way and probably piss his pants. Handling: Chevy Malibu - * * * * * Ford Fusion - * * * * * Chrysler 200 - * * * * Toyota Camry - * * We ran both a high-speed slalom test, and an emergency lane change at 60 mph. I think the big shocker for everyone was the Chevy Malibu. Everyone--including myself--expected a flaccid driving car based on the reviews of the '13. If the difference is simply the refresh, then they did an exceptional job. The Fusion and Malibu tied for perfectly tuned steering and great chassic control. I have no idea how either company did that with an EPS rack in a FWD midsizer. The 200 was no slouch, but you could feel the heft just a bit more in the slalom and the steering was good, but not great. No complaints. The Camry had the numbest steering of the bunch, and you could feel hints of slip in the slalom, which gave a sense of foreboding in the emergency lane change test that followed. I'm proud to say I got all 4 cars sideways like a friggin' action film, and then reigned them in through the finish line. Driving instructor told us to go balls out, and I took him literally. I had a blast and I still never hit a cone! With that said, 3 of the cars kept me 100% in control under Die Hard conditions. The Camry did not. As soon as the tires broke free, the steering wheel was just for show. It becomes a game of point and pray. Interior: Chrysler 200 - * * * * * Chevy Malibu - * * * * Ford Fusion - * * * Toyota Camry - * * The Chrysler 200 had the best interior of the bunch. Design wise it was a clear step above the rest. The gauge cluster is gorgeous, the paddle shifters are metal, the seats are exceptional. Only issue is with the complexity of the center stack and certain touch-screen controlled features. The Malibu had the most functional interior. Design wise, it's kind of weird looking, but MyLink is straight forward and everything is backed up with clear manual controls that keep your concentration on driving. Another bonus was best in test quiet tuning and road isolation. The Fusion's let down was the big bland matte-gray slab center stack known as MyFordTouch. The whole thing is a smooth touch panel with nothing to tell your hand where it is without taking your eyes off the road. It also looks cheap, which begs the question: what the hell were they thinking during R&D? The rest of the interior is high quality and attractive, moreso than the Malibu. The Toyota Camry once again showed signs of Toyota phoning in the car in a segment they own. The shifter knob was loose, able to twist back and forth, which brought additional attention to the nonsensical zig-zag pattern of the shift gates. The gauge cluster was by far the most low tech and unappealing. The infotainment screen was small and low resolution, and the door panels had poor fit and finish with a bland design. Conclusion: There are 3 great cars here but the one that would get my money (and 4/5 drivers overall) is the Chrysler 200S V6. At the end of the day, the dealbreaker was the engine. I'd happily give the 2.0T engines another try in less extreme conditions with some brake torquing to see if the playing field levels out, but they still don't have the sound and response of a big V6. With that said, if you're shopping for a midsize car, you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to test drive a bunch of them. The class is VERY competitive, and different personal preferences could tip the scale in any direction. Just don't buy a freakin' Camry.