What car post, #314159266!

Alright, another one. Contrary to popular beliefe THE ANSWER IS NOT MIATA. I am 6'4" tall and 235lbs. It just doesnt work.

Short story-> I recently bought an 05 Pontiac Grand Prix as a daily driver. I like the car its comfortable, roomy and functional but I HATE the fuel mileage. I bought it knowing it wasnt going to get that great of fuel mileage, I just didnt realize how much I would be driving it.

You see, I attend a school that has 3 regional campuses, my major is solely based out of those regional campuses, most of them are about 30-45 minutes apart. Sometimes I go back and forth between them multiple times a day. It sucks but thats life, and its only going to get worse.

Goals are as follows:

-5 speed availability

-Whatever Wheel Drive.

-Most preferred is 2/3 door hatchback or a sedan.NO COUPES unless its a subaru 2.5rs. and i cant find any of those worth buying.

-Cheap to maintain.

My first thought is of course civic hatchback. I already own one and wouldn't mind owning another. Im just wondering what else is out there. I'm looking forward to the focus buyers guide in the upcoming issue, but have heard from previous owners that they aren't the greatest vehicles they have ever owned...

So what you got? 3.. 2.. 1... GO!

MOTORCYCLE

Honda Civic Wagon.

+1 or 3 for the cycle.

Wanna prove your masculinity mitre? Try a scooter for over 100 mpg. Full face helmet recommended for incognito-types.

Eric G

lol I guess I should have added that it cant be a motorcycle/scooter. Im just wondering if there is anything else i could go with OTHER than a civic hatchback.

speaking of civic wagovans, those things are hard to find! especially the awd versions

Hrm..... Miata is out. New, or used? Preference to brands? If mileage is a concern, Cooper. If mileage is a concern but not as much, Cooper S. If having a lot of fun every time you get behind the wheel is more of a concern, Mazdaspeed3. If you have a bunch of money, e39 M5. If you have some money, e36 M3. If you have little money, e30 325. If you're insane, Mirage with a 4g63 swap. If you're REALLY insane, Festiva with a BP-T swap, or a B6T swap. If you want a sleeper, AE101 chassis Corolla with a 7afe single cam, Turbo. If you're bored, FC with an LS1. If you're REALLY bored, FC with an LS1, and an Eaton supercharger. If you want to die, FC with an LS1, an Eaton supercharger, and nitrous. If you wanna look cool, e10 Corolla wagon. If you wanna look cool and go fast, e10 wagon, with a 4ag swap. If you want it to pick the wheels off the ground, 2jz and a 70trim. If you want AWD, WRX/2.5RS. If you want AWD and wierd, 323GTX. If you want AWD and expensive, s4. If you want AWD and a jackstand queen, DSM. If you want domestic......... Fox body with a small block. Or Camaro with an LS1. Or a Corvette.

That's all I got, for now.

How bad is the fuel mileage? I used to get close to 30 highway with my Buick Park Ave but lower 20s in the city.

Will the sale of the Pontiac pay for the car, change of registration and everything? Or will the fuel savings make up the difference. The wifes 2.2 5 Speed Impreza Wagon has seen a best of 26 hwy and gets about 18 around town. Granted it is driven pretty hard around town but anything AWD wont get much better.

Maybe look at the Focus hatch, a Saturn SL2 Mazda 3 or Protege etc. If mileage is the number one goal you need to look at the econo boxes.

Is this the standard 3800 Series Grand Prix from '05? Thought they got like 21 City and 28-29ish HWY?

Speed3s and/or a Cobalt SS will maybe get you better city mileage and keep the fun factor. Guess I still don't see why the grand prix isn't a fit. If its a GTP, then I guess I can see the issue, but... hmmm.

My stock answer is buy an FD but at 6'4, you will have major problems steering the car with your knees in the steering wheel.

Speed3 or a Cobalt SS is probably the way to go with good Gas mileage and good fun.

I have a friend of mine, who's 6'3" right around 3 bills, and fits in an FC droptop rather well.

2003 Nissan maxima.

3.5L V6...it moves about as fastt as any FWD car out there aside from the MS3. VQ35 was a Ward's 10-best engine for a reason. 6-speed manual, strong and reliable Mileage is pretty decent city (low-mid 20s) and 30ish highway with the 6 speeds. VLSD FWD for all-weather Can be made to handle pretty decent with a few suspension upgrades Inexpensive...they do NOT hold their value Looks good (IMO) - unlike the 2004+ models Very reliable in almost every respect. Mine made exactly 2 dealer visits in 180,000 miles (bad strut, and bad clutch master cylinder at 150k) Roomy, my 6'8" buddy used to sit in the back seat comfortably!

(Disclaimer: I'm a former moderator on maxima.org and had a heavily-modded 2000 maxima, which looks mostly the same but has about 50 less horses and 1 less gear)

I'd go Focus. The hatchback has good headroom (unless it's a sunroof model, in which case it's average). Dirt cheap and cheap to maintain. Reasonably entertaining to drive (esp. in SVT trim).

The Civic's good, too.

whew! sorry, for not responding faster. Every time i tried to get on here i got "502 Bad Gateway"....

Back on topic. Im gonna throw in another requirement. probably one that I should have mentioned right off the bat. The car must be < or = to $8000

in response to ROTARY_X_7, yes its the base 3800 V6. To be honest Ive never actually calculated the fuel mileage to check and see, but i can say one thing. If it is supposed to get better fuel mileage compared to earlier gen 3800 V6s I think its because they tried to make it hang on to overdrive a ridiculous amount of time. At least thats what it feels like.. Its not bad on the highway, but when you need it to drop down when driving in city stuff, like perhaps an extended steep grade, the thing just keeps hanging on, and wont kick down until you really make it. It's not a rough downshift or anything, its smooth so i HIGHLY doubt there is transmission trouble. But this is just an annoyance I have discovered recently.

billy3esq wrote: I'd go Focus. The hatchback has good headroom (unless it's a sunroof model, in which case it's average). Dirt cheap and cheap to maintain. Reasonably entertaining to drive (esp. in SVT trim). The Civic's good, too.

I like the focus. Especially the first generation. I like the look, the functionality of the hatchback. Im just unsure about its reliability/robustness after some of the things I have read about them.

I would love to see you getting out of this.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/fs-grm-2009-phostiva-1800-austin-tx/16572/page1/

Greg Voth wrote: How bad is the fuel mileage? I used to get close to 30 highway with my Buick Park Ave but lower 20s in the city. Will the sale of the Pontiac pay for the car, change of registration and everything? Or will the fuel savings make up the difference. The wifes 2.2 5 Speed Impreza Wagon has seen a best of 26 hwy and gets about 18 around town. Granted it is driven pretty hard around town but anything AWD wont get much better. Maybe look at the Focus hatch, a Saturn SL2 Mazda 3 or Protege etc. If mileage is the number one goal you need to look at the econo boxes.

The sale of the car will not pay for a new one as I took a loan out to pay for it. Kinda sucks but... its whateve. I paid about 2500 less than it was worth

aussiesmg wrote: I would love to see you getting out of this. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/fs-grm-2009-phostiva-1800-austin-tx/16572/page1/

HAHAHA yeah, I would probably just kind of roll out of it. Then again I always said I would never fit into a civic hatchback either. Then I sat in one, loved it, and drove it home.

kinda funny how tastes change. When I first got my license I hated hatchbacks. Now, I don't like coupes.

But for some reason or another I just don't like Coupes that are FWD. RWD I dont mind a coupe. I have no reason for why this is so. It's just something I guess I made up in my head one day and it stuck. It's completely irrational.

In reply to mndsm: Of course he does, convertibles make it easy when the top is down

In all seriousness FCs and FD are drastically different in amount of head room etc.

Back to OP, You may want to look at the early 2000 - 2003 Nissan Maximas. You can find them in a 5 speed I believe, and mine averaged me 24mpg mixed, confortable, still looks good, and was incredibly low maintenance. just another thought.

are these maximas 4 cylinder or v6? I'm not a big maxima fan, but its certainly worth a look.

the maxima is an outstanding car. but if you "hate" the GP for it's fuel economy, the nissan isn't going to be that much better of a car for you.

they're all V6's btw.

they also require premium, if you want every last L67 crushing horse out of them.

cxhb wrote:

billy3esq wrote: I'd go Focus. The hatchback has good headroom (unless it's a sunroof model, in which case it's average). Dirt cheap and cheap to maintain. Reasonably entertaining to drive (esp. in SVT trim). The Civic's good, too.

I like the focus. Especially the first generation. I like the look, the functionality of the hatchback. Im just unsure about its reliability/robustness after some of the things I have read about them.

Avoid the 2000MY, and you'll be fine. Your budget will get you a pristine SVT, which should provide trouble-free service. The only problem I ever had with mine was a power steering high pressure line failure (that was probably helped along by healthy amounts of track use).

I think that most people's reliability woes with the Focus are more due to neglected maintenance than anything else.

what about an N/A SW20 MR2? How are they to work on? being N/A, I'm sure they gas mileage isn't too bad. And with a set of decent tires and a careful foot they cant be too bad in the snow can they?

cxhb wrote: what about an N/A SW20 MR2? How are they to work on? being N/A, I'm sure they gas mileage isn't too bad. And with a set of decent tires and a careful foot they cant be too bad in the snow can they?

They're cool. They aren't HORRIBLE to work on, gas mileage is good, they're ok in snow, and they're reliable as hell.

But... i'm not sure if it meets his space/door requirements.

A focus won't get better gas mileage than your Pontiac. A friend has one for his 100 mile commute (almost all highway) ad he almost never tops 30 mpg.

Calculate your gasmileage for a couple of tanks. I think you'll be pleasently surprised.