megaladon6 said:
i can't belive what some people consider a car with low and inexpensive maintenance!!! mercedes???? ok it ain't a yugo but they haven't built a low maintenance car for 30 years if not longer. powerstroke--ha! every week they spring a new oil leak. and have fun working on one outside of a shop. then you're "not sure"about vw TDI's? what do you think keeps vw afloat? you want 300k? how about 600k and still getting 40+mpg. please people stop only looking at cars that the magazines like. the mags still try and say that the 'vette z06 is slower and handles worse than a mazda miata! do imports have their good points--sure (but don't quote me 1/8mi numbers, step up to the 1/4mi with the big boys--you can do it it's ok) does domestic have it's good ponts--sure can we please stop having the same argument?
sorry about the rant, i'll shut up now
Umm...a 240D IS a 30 year old Mercedes. The W124 chassis hasn't been made since the mid 80's, and all of the models I referenced were based on that chassis with either the 2.4 liter non turbo 5 cyl diesel, or the 3 liter 5 cylinder turbodiesel. Okay, maybe 25 years old, but it's still old. I chose that car as a benchmark because it was one of the last of the really good Mechanically fuel injected Mercedes Diesels before they went to a less reliable EFI system in the late 80's. The 240D was even available with a proper (manual) transmission. It's slower than slow, but great on fuel costs and superbly reliable. As far as 1/8 mile vs 1/4 mile, the only track I have locally is an 1/8 mile. The nearest 1/4 is 120 miles away and runs on a night that I have had to work for many years now. I deliver pizza, and can't have weekends off. If you run the 1/8 enough, you know what the numbers mean. ZO6 Vs Miata? Give the Miata the same power to weight ratio (13B swap?)and my money will go to the lighter car-especially the 2nd gen Miata with more suspension travel and improved rear geometry. The Vette isn't bad, but it needs to shed 1,000 lbs of useless weight, and become smaller. Give me the LS6 powered Solstice that Hot Rod built over ANY Vette any day. I don't totally dislike Domestics! If I did, I would not own a G body. For the money, it's one of the easiest platforms to build. As for the SR20, it has it's faults, not the least of which is a crappy water pump and the fact that the radiator is too small for serious abuse. I happen to like the KA24DE better despite having a lower redline and about a 50 lb weight disadvantage turbo'd. I have a KA24DE with 267k miles that sees 3-4,000 city miles a month and is un killable. I know it has never been out of the truck because I am the original owner. It uses maybe 1/2 qt of oil every 3-4k miles, does not smoke and I hammer the sh*t out of it, hitting the fuel cut in the ECU at least 2 times a day. However, in a 240sx, I would prefer to swap in a stock LS1, LS2 or LS6. Harder? Yes, but a more reliable combo. I would make the A/C, CC, PS, PB, etc all work if I did it. A cheaper swap by far and worth similar power numbers for less money would be the VH45DE out of a Q45. I think it would be cool, because it would be a kinda all Nissan "Musclecar" ( or as close as that gets without a Skyline). Everything has it's good points. Where it comes from originally does not matter once YOU build something new out of it. That's Hot Rodding. For me, you could give me the chance to examine a new ZO6 or someone's b*st*rd child creation combining a Yugo and a Mazda Protege, and I would rather look at the Yugo. To me, the guy with the ZO6 would be a chump by comparison to the guy with the Yugo as the Yugo would show creativity and thought. The ZO6? All it says to me is "I have money and you don't". Sorry, I can go on with my rant, but I'll stop now.