Silvia Club of NSW

Just a little story i wanted to share

A lot of us on these forums have been driving turbos for a long time now and have gotten used to the power and handling that a tuned car can give you. I know ive been guily many times (especially lately) of feeling that the world is "slowing down" and that noone knows how to drive anymore... may be both a combination of better/safer cars and lack of general care because driving has become so easy...

Well... I had the misfortune to drive an auto yaris the other day. This car was brand new, just picked up from the dealership.
Let me start off by saying that so much has improved over the last few years: manufacturing quality, fit and finish, smoothness of the engine, the list goes on.
As i rolled out of the parking lot i thought, open road, new car, lets see what heppens when the loud pedal is pressed...

Waiting...

Suddenly it shifted down a gear, and a tremendous amount of buzzing came from the front of the car. I felt something which "could be" described as a minute amount of forward momentum. The by the time the car reached 80 the squeeling of the engine took your mind off how slow you actually got to that velocity.
Needless to say i was more than a little dissapointed with the cars "performance", and focused my attention to handling. There had to be another reason people would chose to buy one of these! Let me just say, its not the handling either. While the ride is firm and gives the illusion of "sporty handling", like its lack of power this car's handling is quite average.
On a positive note, the brakes work well and there weren't any interior noises for at least 3 weeks. The fuel economy is supposedly excellent, and it does the job of getting people from one place to another in relative comfort.
What it WONT do is get you there quickly, or give you any false ideas about how fast you can take a corner.

After experiencing what the small car market has to offer i took great joy in getting back into my mid 90s 180sx... which may not have that new car smell, or the slightly more fuel efficient engine, or the new car warranty...
But im thankful that for under 20k you can get something like an s13/s14 and pile a huge list of mods onto it to have relatively reliable car which will quite possibly out handle anything off the shelf for under 50k and has more power than an average v8...

Sometimes we forget what the average person drives, and when you are put in a position to drive a "normal" car you count your blessings you dont own one!

Every time I drive my wife's astra (99 model) which is auto, I appreciate just how well my '90 model S13 handles even though it's on stock suspension. I appreciate the extra power my car has, even though it's only got 142kw at the wheels. I even appreciate how my car has power everything while my wifes astra has manual windows and manual mirrors.
The astra's brakes are shitter than my silvia's, even though the astra has gone through 3 sets of pads and discs in the time that mine is still on the same sets as I when I bought it (although my wife drives alot more than me).

The costs with fixing my wife's car are sometimes unbelievable, whereas most people know that the cost for parts for S13s is usually quite cheap.

Despite having an extra 0.2litre engine capacity and a turbo, I still get similar fuel economy to the astra.

All up, I'm sure most people wouldn't expect a 17 year old car to be better than an 8 year old one.

Was the Yaris a 1.3 or 1.5VVTI?

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pretty sure its the 1.3

Not everyone is mechanically minded...

Some have a belief that buying a new car off the shelf will be less headaches and no dramas... There are some people who religously wont buy a 2nd car because they think its infested with gremlins.

I love the imported cars from Japland, reliable and so advance and good styling for their age. The R32 GTR is 18yrs old and is still very advanced compared to most cars in this era. They still awesome aswell.

Here is a clear statement - dont buy an aussie built car.

The other thing to remember these days are that cars are like generic DVD players. They are made by the same company and badged by another. The KIA used on Top Gear for celeb track times is badged as a Chev. That was a mindfuck for me... I think nissan is owned by renault or vice versa (cant remember who has more shares)...

Believe, yes, but the experience is sadly far more painful.
Sure, buying a second hand car may be 'buying someone else's problem', but anyone with a bit of intellect will do some research beforehand and know what they're [probably] buying, rather than going "ooo, I like the red one".

I was talking with a girl at work over the last few days, who bought a Getz a few years back (she's only just paid it off)... it's gone through 2 front suspension struts, been fobbed off ("we can't find the cause of the problem you told us about, so we won't fix it") and seemingly lied to by the mechanics (of course, being under warranty she has to go back to the dealer for servicing - and pay through the nose for the privilege)... so I don't think I'll ever buy a brand new car - especially when they lose a lot of value just driving off the lot.
Oh, and the idiot mechanics forgot to tell her her tyres suffered so much inner wear they were illegal - but that in itself seems nuts to me, I've seen her drive, she's lucky to go over 3,000rpm... so that much uneven tread wear seems unexplanable by her driving habits.

I just refuse to blow that much money on Tax for a new car, it's a fairly large lump of money which simply evaporates once it rolls off the floor and into private ownership!
Cars are always something of a depreciating money pit but it's not like the current lot of jap cars is very interesting enough in my opinion, to warrant lashing out on a brand new one. Sort of sad really to think they haven't exactly made very much in the last 5 or so years which appeals to rev-headed bastards. Especially in the way of forced induction, theres reasons for it but doesn't mean I have to like it either.

You're comparing apples and oranges here. People who buy a Yaris want to drive around suburbia in comfort and not use much petrol in the process. Performance and handling doesn't really come into it.

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The Golf is like an 16-year-old girl with big boobs. You know it's wrong but you can't keep away from her.

I really enjoy driving my girlfriends mazda 2, handles brilliantly.. (im convinced it could give a sil a run for its money, obviously not power wise though) especially after since I convinced her to pick up some c.drives for it

but I guess after driving the soarer, anything else would handle like a dream! haha .. well, oh well atleast I have coilovers/x8.5-x9 on the soarer, helps.

I have seen a Mazda 2 give a Sil a run for it's money

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I've been behind a Mazda2 that's gotten away from me.

For me, I realised the same thing a couple of years ago. I went on holidays and rented an entry model Camry (4 pot). Having daily driven, for the last decade, a Pulsar SSS, a pair of 3 Series BMWs, a bug-eye Impreza RX, and now the barge, I took for granted that modern cars had a minimum amount of handling (the minimum basically being the Beamers). The other cars I'd driven in that period were just old nuggets, where I blamed age for the steering, a really old van, and a rented Commodore wagon....

Anyway, this newish Camry was a revelation. I didn't know modern cars could handle this badly and be permitted on the market! The steering seemed so vague that inputs felt like a suggestion rather than a mechanical connection. If you went through a set of S bends and steered the other way in the middle, the bow would take a massive amount of time before it came about (and I'm using those nautical terms intentionally, it was a boat).

It suddenly explained to me why so many car owners out there:

1. Can't seem to drive or stick to one lane, especially in corners
2. Don't see the fun in driving


To quote Clarkson, I'd rather have Bird Flu than own a car like that.

While I realise it was a rental car, and therefore not in the best condition, the Boxster I rented a few days later had more mileage and would have had an even worse life (god knows I got my money's worth out of the tyres and brake pads) and it drove a shitload better. And my old man's BMW is on the other side of 200,000km and it still goes approximately where its pointed.


Also, to be fair, I've been in a near-top Altise Sport V6 (same suspension as the Sportivo) and its not a bad steer. It'll never beat an Elise for steering feel and handling, but its at least as good at everything as an entry model BMW.

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Tips for being fooli sik:

Go chrome or go home
Sneezin's Pleasin'
Da flutta is bred and butta
NOS is boss
Try to be different, just like everyone else
No boost? Ya just loost

If your talking about who i think you are, I was suprised how fast it was

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Disclaimer: If you have'nt worked it out by now I CANT SPELL FOR SHIT.

my (and the wifes) euro handled pretty well for a sedan. having active stability helped too. plus they dont go too badly, mine having 110kw FWKW it had some poke for an NA motor.

but ive driven some shocking cars too. new stuff that are 'sport' models yet lack anything remotely sporty. besides the $5k of badging

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M35 Stagea.info @ http://www.m35stagea.info/

Mazda2s are crazy, awesome grip/handling and the brakes are amazing. Acceleration is enough. I've been passenger in the above mentioned mazda2 a few times, scared me the first time a fair bit, hell, it does everytime; airborn at good speed down a really steep hill and jumps on these surprisingly amazing brakes and shoots down a street, i was holding on for dear life. The way he took round abouts would have seen my car understeer into the gutter everytime, and the new Mazda2 is meant to be 100kgs lighter , so that'll be around a tonne or less, a step in the right direction.

Definatly an A+ for the mazda2.

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Boost, the substitute for corner speed.

Well the honda civic type r would have hit our shores. I wouldnt mind test driving one of those. Anyone tried yet?

Honda accord euro are great cars, I drove my friends one and I was amazed with the overall package.

Well our cars was made in the golden ages, where car makers didnt give a damn about making money as much as now, but was the satisfaction of making it......