Good new car

Where do you do most of your driving?

my dad owned MGB's he loved them, he had one that he used for work pulling a trailer all around the country... A friend of his recently offered me the nicer pre-americanisation version with a new rover engine dropped in instead, if I had my license I'd probably have taken him up on it. They're a pretty little car. Our neighbours (kind of) have two little heralds and for some reason a daihatsu mini jeep, odd combo but they take their kids to school in the herald, three of them, two of which are around my height, six foot in the back... Ones a drop top and ones a hardtop... Best old junker ever... 3.0L capri think way too much power, leaf springs in the rear and wet days, there was now way forward, just sideways...

I had a '70 MGB and an '80 MGB or '81 (last year for 'em here). I always wanted an MGA, but prices have always kept me from it. I miss mine desperately. My Vette has a lot more horses, but the MG's were more fun.

The MGA is gorgeous, my dad did have one for a while... But he had to sell it. Look for a scrapper, restoration isn't too bad on them since the parts are common, you can also get an unleaded conversion for the engine, or you could swap it for a newer one...

Remember where I live! I haven't so much as seen an MGA in 8 years!

Aye but I mean collectors are that big that we actually see some parts come from america... They are rare though, I havn't seen one in at least two years, I did get to drive one at a show, at the same time I got to drive a mini around a psycho course and an impreza in whatever fashion I decided...

Yeah, there are quite a few good reproparts around. You are lucky, I would love to take one for a spin!

I only got a five minute go but it was lovely to drive, he had the suspension reworked so it handled perfectly, that and just driving about in something so pretty...

My dad had an MG for a while. Beat the hell out of it on backroads and jeep trails, in addition to it being a daily driver, but it always survived. I'm not really sure what happened to it.

My wife bought me my first one as a birthday present. Ironically it got me lots of attention from the OTHER ladies! Of course the 70 Chevelle I bought her (her first car) got her a lot of attention from musclecar guys!

Funny how that works.

Ooh. That's tough. I love my SUV (16mpg), but have to commute 130 miles per day, so I do that in my old Mazda 323 (39 mpg last tank). If I had to go with just one, economy would sadly have to win out.

I have yet to understand American mpg targets - I keep seeing adverts online and in magazines like PopSci that imply that 30mpg from new cars is something wonderful.

I get 30-40mpg out of my badly-maintained, 110,000-mile Renault.

My wife's Ford Focus gets nearly twice that.

I got a lift from a friend this week, she had an mpg-readout on her dashboard, she barely went below 70.

Why can't American cars get that sort of mileage?

_{Actually, since Ford is a nominally-American company, why am I asking this question at all? Surely they would use whatever fuel-saving strategies they used on the Focus on the cars they sell in the US? Or is that too sensible?}

Part of it is the fact that they pour moonshine in our gas to boost profit marigins, but it reduces the energy-per-volume of the fuel. 10%ethanol is standard, and it can be anywhere between 10% and 25% in the winter (10 beiing the legal minimum) to "reduce smog".

Another part of it is that all ya'll are on a tiny island, and we have 5000 miles of manifest destiny. Our cars are by tradition huge, inefficient steel tanks with the creature comforts of a cruise ship. When asked for more power, your carmakers engineer efficiency. Our carmakers throw more cubes at it. 0.7 horsepower per inch or less was the status quo for decades, since we could get a gallon of gas cheaper than we could mail a sealed letter. The best thing I ever did for my mpg was to get a car with more horses.

Tehy have different diesels there, all high sulphur at the pump, means the cars wont run for long, so that great little 1.4D in the focus is out, even though it's a good bit of fun, apart form the turbo spinning up about halfway across the road in first coming out of places... If you ever downsize and want something fun those old puegot 1.9 Dturbos are good, fairly fast, cheap-ish to insure and hold four people alright, we got over 40mpg even with my mum's bf driving like a lunatic...

Actually, unless I'm wrong about your sulphur standards, we have very low sulphur mandated by law now. But maybe I drank the kool-aid on that one. When it comes to gasoline, it is always the states with the cheapest gas that provide the best milage. We get 2-3 mpg more on high altitude, winding roads, than we do on the level, with more "quality" (and expensive) gas in Nevada. Does anyone else notice this trend?

You may now... But not that I know of, it's why euro diesels aren't imported often, the high end engines don't run well on the high sulphur fuel that is used in trucks, which can run happily on either type. Another factor is where you get it, the busy places are the best... So maybe the cheap ones are better...

I think it may vary state to state. Here, low-sulphur is the law. In Nebraska, maybe not, since the trucks don't care.

I think part of the differences come in at what low sulphur is... Though it must be getting close enough now...

Comfort, Safety and Performance : American cars have it all! Unfortunately "all" comes at the cost of fuel efficiency. 30mpg is something wonderful if: Your vehicle weighs 6,500 lbs., will do zero to sixty mph in 6 seconds, and has a top speed over 140mph. Otherwise it's just so-so.

. I wasn't really suggesting that you build one, only that you can get ALL the parts with certain year/models. With some of the less popular "classic" cars, the parts can be difficult/impossible to obtain. . If you like the styling, early (1965-1972) Mustangs are very light cars and get great MPG with a small 6-cylinder under the hood. I like my '67 coupe (although it has a small-block V-8). . Two things to be aware of with "classic" cars. They don't have the safety features of modern cars - you won't find crumple zones, collapsible steering column, air bags, ABS, &c. If your state has stiff emissions regulations, it may be tough to pass the test. . And factory stereos were limited to about 10W, so you'll probably want to budget for something that will thump. ;) . . My Lumina, on the other hand, is pretty plain in the styling department, but has a 3.1L V-6 (easy on gas, but has decent power when I need it), ABS, traction control, &c. Plus it has a half-decent stereo.

Our old volvo didn't have crumple zones, but it was crashed in to by three drivers at different points in it's life, took a few minutes with a big suction cup and some touch up paint... However the thumps weren't bad, we tended to crumple the car that hit us, the night a boy racer stopped up short in his corsa was great, he hit the back of us and we felt very little, looking back and his front bumper was in the road, one of the headlights had dropped out and the radiator was bent in the middle... I know unibodies are efficient to build and all but I like the idea of a car being able to survive a thump, it's just common sense... Our car was totaled when a jeep pulled out too far and clipped the side, not with massive force but the bent in the frame sill meant it cost more than the car was worth to fix...