...And don't get me started on old Caddies. There's one in my Not-So-Unattainable Dream Garage. That or a Continental, just 'cause I'm queer for suicide doors.
...And don't get me started on old Caddies. There's one in my Not-So-Unattainable Dream Garage. That or a Continental, just 'cause I'm queer for suicide doors.
Also a nice E30 sedan is always a decent driver. Even the automatics are pretty efficient.
It is so much easier to say what to stay away from.
You're always welcome to come take a ride (or drive) in mine.
I'm actually doing a 80-mile trip tomorrow after work, I'll see what the mileage is doing in the heat.
I average 25-28MPG on the highway mostly with a couple of tanks as high as 31MPG (60 vs. 70). A P71 without pushbumpers would probably be a little more aerodynamic...
ACarlson wrote: And, for those of you worried about our carbon footprint, I do what I can to offset: I drive about seven miles to work, and I do it on a motorcycle.
Unfortunately, you're probably raising your carbon footprint significantly. Not many bikes have catalytic converters or any other emissions systems for that matter. They have some pretty nasty emissions. You won't catch much crap from me though, I ride mine as much as possible.
A P71 would be my absolute last choice for a high mileage highway machine. I'd be looking toward a Golf TDI, Mini, Yaris, or one of the current Saturns in my driveway. 25-28mpg highway is not very good at all.
If you're looking at low 20's as a purchase price why not go new? You can get a Mazda3 wagon for somewhere around that price if you're not option crazy. Hell, My Mazdaspeed3 was just around $22k out the door.
Behold the goodness...
Mileage isn't great as expected with that horsepower rating. I get around 25 - 26 with a 70/30 split of city/highway commuting. My avg speed in the car, per the onboard trip computer, is always around 27 - 32 mph.
You're in St Louis?
There is also a Mazda3 Touring sedan on CL in St. Louis for much cheaper than this. It's and autotragic but the girlfriend may appreciate that.
ProDarwin wrote:ACarlson wrote: And, for those of you worried about our carbon footprint, I do what I can to offset: I drive about seven miles to work, and I do it on a motorcycle.Unfortunately, you're probably raising your carbon footprint significantly. Not many bikes have catalytic converters or any other emissions systems for that matter. They have some pretty nasty emissions. You won't catch much crap from me though, I ride mine as much as possible. A P71 would be my absolute last choice for a high mileage highway machine. I'd be looking toward a Golf TDI, Mini, Yaris, or one of the current Saturns in my driveway. 25-28mpg highway is not very good at all.
Toxic emmisions != carbon emmisions
CO2 is not toxic so it wouldn't be affected by a catalytic converter. The catalytic converter converts toxic CO into harmless CO2 (along with breakdown of NOx molecules and conversion of hydrocarbons). People in general seem to ahve been deceived into thinking that CO2 is a toxic gas when it's actual a non-toxic gas that's critical for plant life.
Xceler8x wrote: Don't even front.
John Brown wrote: Don't stand in front. Bitch will mow you ass right down.
Is today Talk Like a Gangsta Day?
Get a Caprice, slam it, throw a kit on that bitch and ride low on some dubz wid ya homies. It smokes mo' gas than ya whole crew smokes weed but it's a CAPRICE 
On a serious note I second the Civic. A Yaris would also be good, except for the poor visibility.
Low $20k's is sort of an arbitrary high end cap. I'm more than happy to spend less.
Granted, at 28-ish mpg, the P71 is no mileage king. But, with a buy in price of about $6k for a nice one, it would take a long time to make up the difference between that and a new $25k car that returns even 45mpg.
With the cruiser comfort inherent with the Vic, not to mention the, shall we say, intimidation factor, it may be a winner.
Maybe I should refine my criteria by saying that ultimate mileage is not the goal, otherwise I'd get her an Insight and teach her to draft semis. (You know, now that I mention it...) Looking for a balance between acceptable-to-very good mileage and good-to-excellent comfort levels. She's not at all thrilled about this drive, and the car needs to help ease her pain in whatever way possible.
And what's a P71 without push bumpers? That's like a cake without icing.
<---berkeleying honda fanbo1 sez: Civic. Dad's (07? 08?) slushbox 
gets 38mpg mixed driving, and IMO, it looks pretty cool in red.
I'd recommend and Accord, as well. Large enough to be comfortable, small enough for decent mileage.
I like the P71 idea, as well.
Which is why for MY highway cruising, cost effective, comfort needs, I bought the '98 740iL. 
Comfort? definitely. Road presence and style? Sure thing! Intimidation? In black, yes. Speed? Definitely. Incredible handling? Most assuredly. Highway fuel mileage? Best so far is 30 mpg on regular gas at 70-75 mph. Cost to purchase? $7500 (and they are all over for that money). Cost for upkeep? If you do your homework beforehand, buy parts online, and do the work yourself, very VERY minimal. I've only spent a few hundred on repairs in the last year and a half, and the work has been EXTREMELY easy to do. (if you have to checkbook repairs at a dealer, though, forget it...)
I like the fact that fear of high costs have kept the car's prices down, because the reality is so much better. 
http://archive.grassrootsmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?id=33475
The Marauder is a pretty cool option, too.... Just a little tighter than the average Vic.
If you want a larger car look at the Oldsmobile Intrigue with the twin cam 3.5L, skip over the old pushrod powered ones. Its really quick and can eek out 32mpg on the highway, upper 20s in mixed driving. Plenty of room, well built, low demand, etc. We have one with 170k on it and no major problems.
stumpmj wrote:ProDarwin wrote:Toxic emmisions != carbon emmisions CO2 is not toxic so it wouldn't be affected by a catalytic converter. The catalytic converter converts toxic CO into harmless CO2 (along with breakdown of NOx molecules and conversion of hydrocarbons). People in general seem to ahve been deceived into thinking that CO2 is a toxic gas when it's actual a non-toxic gas that's critical for plant life.ACarlson wrote: And, for those of you worried about our carbon footprint, I do what I can to offset: I drive about seven miles to work, and I do it on a motorcycle.Unfortunately, you're probably raising your carbon footprint significantly. Not many bikes have catalytic converters or any other emissions systems for that matter. They have some pretty nasty emissions. You won't catch much crap from me though, I ride mine as much as possible. A P71 would be my absolute last choice for a high mileage highway machine. I'd be looking toward a Golf TDI, Mini, Yaris, or one of the current Saturns in my driveway. 25-28mpg highway is not very good at all.
As much as I feel this article is a load of E36 M3, this is the common definition of carbon footprint:
A carbon footprint is a "measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide".
From wikipedia. Why it is measured in units of CO2 makes no sense, but the general idea is to measure your environmental impact. A bike has more of an impact that most cars do. So yes, toxic emissions do effect carbon footprint.
C02 is a toxic gas at certain % levels in the atmosphere.
GameboyRMH wrote:Xceler8x wrote: Don't even front.John Brown wrote: Don't stand in front. Bitch will mow you ass right down.Is today Talk Like a Gangsta Day?
Actually it is, but only on the continent ;)
poopshovel wrote: <---berkeleying honda fanbo1 sez: Civic. Dad's (07? 08?) slushbox
+1
Its comfortable, and you can get them new for like 15k, well under your cap.
Also, not sure about your lady, but women seem to either A) enjoy driving something huge (excursion), or B) hate driving anything larger than an economy car. You couldn't pay any females in my family to get behind the wheel of a P71.
ignorant, oxygen is toxic too at certain % and pressure levels. Nitrogen is toxic at certain % levels. Humm, helium will kill you too at certain % levels. STOP GLOBAL SILLY He TALKING NOW! Water is extremely dangerous when ingested in certain quantities. I know, let's go find a WIKI on all of it, then we'll have a really GOOD source of information that we can really count on and trust.
[michael scott] wikipedia is a great resource, because anyone can just put anything on it, so you know its correct [/michael scott]
Where is the "PC police" bit we beat to death? I changed computers and had it set up as a file to copy and paste.
This thread could use it now.
I couldn't love GRM the magazine or the website more, and believe me, I don't like to be the P.C police or anything or the guy who has a problem with everything thing, but I do have a problem with this...
I find it a bit offensive that you use terms like "Gangsta," "Thug," "Crook," "Thief", "Congressman" and "Automobile Dealer" etc etc... for your little descriptions or whatever in the avatars. I myself do not have special needs, nor am I a special ed teacher or counselor, but I feel sensitivity for people with special needs as I am a student taking special ed classes, and my Girlfriend is pursuing her masters in the field.
These terms although I'm pretty sure are not even real words, are obviously meant to resemble the words used to describe people with morality-legality impairments, and it appears that they are used on these boards in a joking sense which, as I view it, makes light of people who are afflicted with moral disabilities.
I am so lost.
Turn left, that's what Tony Stewart does.
Dr. Hess wrote: ignorant, oxygen is toxic too at certain % and pressure levels. Nitrogen is toxic at certain % levels. Humm, helium will kill you too at certain % levels.
very very true.
I really hope that I am around to see you eat your words on global warming.. Should be fun.
It won't happen, the people that don't think we are influencing global warming will never accept that we did.
ignorant wrote:Dr. Hess wrote: ignorant, oxygen is toxic too at certain % and pressure levels. Nitrogen is toxic at certain % levels. Humm, helium will kill you too at certain % levels.very very true. I really hope that I am around to see you eat your words on global warming.. Should be fun.
I lived in Texas for 18 years. Now I live in Arkansas. Global Warming would have to raise the Earth's temp by 25 degrees to even start to approach what I'm already used to. So, that 0.0003 degree change for this decade they are telling us we caused and will end the world doesn't really bother me.
Oh, you guys know that the guy who got the Nobel Prize for thinking up how R12 was destroying the Ozone Layer came out and said he was wrong and R12 wasn't destroying the Ozone Layer? That was the EOTWAWKI scare used to milk us of money last time. This time it's Global Warming.
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