by "for Michigan" (formichigan)
Published 01/07/2017 at 10:57
by "for Michigan" (formichigan)
Published 01/07/2017 at 10:57
Tags: Theme post
; List
STARS: 2
Despite my lifelong obsession with cars, I didn’t buy my first car until my Senior year of college, so my list is pretty small.
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This one was fun when it worked and seemingly returned better fuel economy the harder I drove it. But it was slow and unreliable. I owned it for nine months and invested the purchase price back into it four times over in an attempt to keep it on the road. Ultimately I was unsuccessful and it was scrapped.
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The Fiero gets a lot of hate and my car was the reason why. It’s mid-mounted Iron Duke I4 sent all of 92 HP to the rear wheels through a clunky 3-speed automatic gearbox. It did 0-60 mph in about 10 seconds and couldn’t sustain anything over 65 mph for more than 20 minutes. The ride was awful and the handling was no better. My parents’ 02 Grand Caravan had an identical turning radius.
But I don’t care about any of that because I loved my Fiero. It fit me like a glove and had incredibly comfortable seats for long-distance cruising. Some day another Fiero will be on this list, but next time with a V6 and a 5-speed stick.
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From two-seater to two-plus-two to five-door hatchback. When the Civic crapped out on me I really wanted another coupe, but there aren’t many coupe options in the 10-year-old compact segment that would handle the abuses of pizza delivery. Plus all that cargo space really came in handy when one of the local factories or the college would order nearly 100 pizzas.
This Mazda3 is currently my daily driver. It’s easily the most powerful, comfortable, and reliable car I’ve owned. Out handles the others, too. This one will probably be around until it’s killed by either the Mazda Rust or my own stupidity. Only time will tell which gets it first.
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Bonus round! These weren’t mine, they were my parents’, but I learned to drive in them. Both big, green, and V8-powered (351 Econoline, 302 F-150).
"404 - User No Longer Available" (toni-cipriani)
01/07/2017 at 11:22, STARS: 0
Interesting, I always thought the 3S is the same as our GT up here. My friend had one, and 2006 Mazda3 hatches only came with the LED tail lights, so he has that style but the turns were clear instead of amber.
"for Michigan" (formichigan)
01/07/2017 at 11:57, STARS: 0
Trim levels for that generation in the US are: i (sedan only) > i Touring (sedan only) > s > s Touring > s Grand Touring.
Basically, “i” means 2.0L and “s” means 2.3L. I think the i Touring has the same equipment as the s, just with smaller engine and wheels. AFAIK, LED taillights became standard with the 2007 facelift.
"Captain of the Enterprise" (justanotherdayinparadise)
01/07/2017 at 12:38, STARS: 0
Nice post, what would happen after 20 minutes on the freeway with the fiero?
"for Michigan" (formichigan)
01/07/2017 at 12:42, STARS: 1
It’d just lose power. Pull over on the side of the road, sit for 10-15 minutes, start back up and keep going. I put so many miles on that thing at 65 MPH.
Tried replacing the fuel filter, but it didn’t help. Had new plugs and a clean air filter. Never could figure out if there was something wrong with it or if that was just a “feature”.
"Captain of the Enterprise" (justanotherdayinparadise)
01/07/2017 at 12:44, STARS: 0
Yeah very innovative feature makes sure you take breaks and don’t get too tired of driving
"for Michigan" (formichigan)
01/07/2017 at 12:49, STARS: 1
It only happened to me two or three times during the year and a half it was my daily. The worst part was trying to get through Detroit on the freeway doing 65 in a tiny sports car while all the SUVs and Chrysler 300s around me were cruising at 80+.