The bottom line on Foreign vs Domestic
A. Ray Jones
(1) If you want to pull out a few numbers like horsepower, 1/4 mile
times, and so on, the Americans have made some great strides since the
days of the Model-T.
(2) If you want to take a look at the overall quality, appearance,
dependability, and comfort, Americans are performing at the level that
the foreign makers were performing at back in the 80's.
My first car was a little 85 Honda Accord. Sure it wasn't a Corvette
(which I rode in one the other day and it felt like I was going 80 when
I was only going 35), but the overall little features just blew the
competition away. Sure the Honda was a piece of crap. But the only
reason it was one, is because anything that was broken on it I broke
myself (because of stupidity or just plain cause I didn't care).
The answer I have found is simple: you can't get the best of both worlds
at your local Ford/Chevy dealer. If you want a car that out handles,
out powers, out comforts, and out looks (in your opinion) every other
car on the road, you may as well build it yourself! (Which is my next
project.) In the meantime, I'm going to take the interior features of
my Honda, that I learned to enjoy so much, and incorporate them into my
66 Mustang Coupe.
BTW, have you heard of features like seperate driver's and passenger's
side climate controls, remote start, and side impact protection? When I
was growing up, I lived overseas for a few years. Let me tell you,
European vehicles have had these type of STANDARD features since the
seventies. I was test driving a couple of new Fords a while back, and
I rattle off a list of features I wanted to the dealer. The very first
thing he did was to sit me down in a *top-of-the-line* Lincoln. It
didn't even come close. The biggest difference is that Americans see
all of these FEATURES as OPTIONS.
Did you know the only options you have when buying a new 700 series BMW
are color related? (Of course, you're gonna pay out the ying yang for
everything, too.)
Clint Law
>Did you know the only options you have when buying a new 700 series BMW
>are color related? (Of course, you're gonna pay out the ying yang for
>everything, too.)
Did you know the only option on a SVT Contour is color related (and a Sound
option, but it doesn't cost anything either). Oh, and you don't have to pay
out the ying yang for it. As a matter of fact it is a about 10K less than a
328i, and several thousand less than an Acura Intergra Type R (Or a Prelude
for that matter).
Joseph Huesmann
>Did you know the only options you have when buying a new 700 series BMW
>are color related? (Of course, you're gonna pay out the ying yang for
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
And that, friends, is the REAL bottom line! :)
Joe
Jim Manson
>It comes down to this:
> (1) If you want to pull out a few numbers like horsepower, 1/4 mile
>times, and so on, the Americans have made some great strides since the
>days of the Model-T.
> (2) If you want to take a look at the overall quality, appearance,
>dependability, and comfort, Americans are performing at the level that
>the foreign makers were performing at back in the 80's.
Oh bullshit. The last 6 cars I owned before the Cobra were imports
from Germany and Japan. Celica All-Tracs, Starions, Audis, Opel etc.
The Cobra's quality is just as high, and higher in some ways.
You opinion is exactly that "opinion".
If you want to compare to $45K cars than I hope they'd be better or
else they'd be a complete rip-off.
--
'97 Cobra Convertible
'92 Talon TSI
White Tornado
>option, but it doesn't cost anything either). Oh, and you don't have to pay
>out the ying yang for it. As a matter of fact it is a about 10K less than a
>328i, and several thousand less than an Acura Intergra Type R (Or a Prelude
>for that matter).
I wouldn't exactly put the Contour and a 328i in the same basket.
Last time I checked the Contour was a cheapishly made, poorly balanced
FWD.
CHase302
>I wouldn't exactly put the Contour and a 328i in the same basket.
>Last time I checked the Contour was a cheapishly made, poorly balanced
>FWD.
The last time you checked was probably before SVT got their hands on it. Check
out an SVT contour, I think it will surprise you.
Ben Chong
%BTW, have you heard of features like seperate driver's and
passenger's
%side climate controls, remote start, and side impact protection?
When I
%was growing up, I lived overseas for a few years. Let me tell you,
%European vehicles have had these type of STANDARD features since the
%seventies. I was test driving a couple of new Fords a while back,
Standard features?
No way.
European cars are like American cars. You want more, you pay for it.
The basic European car is very basic : no airbags, no power steering,
stick shift, no trip odometer (father-in-law just found this out in
his brand new Clio), etc etc.
Basic Japanese cars are the same. Until recently, Civics did not have
a battery run down protection. Friend of mine has fried 3 batteries on
his '94 Civic.
Ben
Stangerize
For real. Last I heard, the SVT Contour outran and out handled the BMW.