Believe me, I don't expect any car under $40k to be a dragster, let alone the Smart or even my xA. But on US roads, anything more than 12 seconds is unacceptable to me. . . imagine being rear ended by the boneheads passing in the slow lanes? Or truck? I run into short onramps all the time where I have to flog my engine to get to freeway speeds, and it barely does the job. Imagine a 12+ second (0-60) car, with little to no torque for uphill passing.

I guess for city driving, a Smart would be great, but in the US, we are blessed enough to have these raceways *ahem* I mean highways that you just can't seem to avoid if you want to go anywhere. To me, acceptable performance (not great but acceptable) is a safety requirement.

It is always better to have the ability to completely avoid an accident than to only rely on the safety measures built into the car.

 

I just dont want her to leave the GS family + that car would be within her price range(<$10K).

 

I can see how you hate to see her go. But if you read her first post she not only wanted to lower her payments but also the gas and insurance costs. Staying in the GS family unfortunately won't seem to help those.

 

True, I forgot about that

 

oh please tell me you are joking...

lexus to kia??

oh wait.. but kia are actually pretty good nowadays. i was amazed how good they are. i wil put kia right above suzuki.

 

how do i attach multi. files? with the bottom IMG??

 

tasteful

 

,

 

So Corolla is it eh?

The black one in the first pic looks SICK. Love the blacked out headlights. I wouldn't mind driving one myself.
Can't go wrong staying with Toyota no matter what.

 

hahahah - the ultimate dragster/!!

 

talryce626

Everything I needed to know in life I learned from The Fast and the Furious

1. You need NAWS. Two bottles. The big ones.
2. It ain¡¦t how you stand by your car, its how big the wing is.
3. You can have beer, as long as it¡¦s Corona.
4. If the road suddenly narrows, drive under a truck.
5. Practice pre-race skills with GT 3 A-Spec, yo.
6. Even the cops in L.A. are Hollywood.
7. No one likes the tuna.
8. Big wing=big speed.
9. Amateurs don¡¦t use NAWS.
10. Never narc anyone
11. Stickers, stickers, stickers.
12. Winning¡¦s winning.
13. Stand-alone fuel management system.
14. Break her heart, get neck broke.
15. Leopard-skin parts make you badass.
16. Live life a quarter mile at a time (~17 seconds).
17. L.A. cops respond to one emergency at a time with the whole police force.
18. You can never have enough foglights.
19. Only asians, latinos, and blacks street-race; everyone else is an undercover cop.
20. Win race, get a threesome.
21. Shooting a MAC-11 from a motorcycle isn¡¦t easy.
22. Ramming a Charger with a motorcycle hurts.
23. Oil tastes bad.
24. Pizza boys don¡¦t like street racers.
25. Stay out of asian turf or don¡¦t sleep with their sisters.
26. The Fed with the loudest voice can pin it on anyone he wants.
27. Stealing Apex DVD players is lucrative.
28. The proper display of affection with a bald man is kissing his head.
29. Cuban restaurants are called ¡¥Cha-Cha-Cha¡¦.
30. Truckers never carry guns (almost).
31. Truckers don¡¦t know how to use brakes.
32. It¡¦s not a color unless it begins with ¡¥neon¡¦.
33. Car part stores give Lightnings to delivery boys.
34. Fire bursting from tail pipe indicates speed.
35. High-pitched buzzing exhaust indicates speed.
36. Single windshield wiper? Ditto.
37. Hoods and body kits do not need paint.
38. It¡¦s not the train that gets you, it¡¦s the truck.
39. Ugly paint is not a bad way to spend $10,000.
40. Overuse of nitrous makes the floorboard fall off.
41. Dual tailpipes are good, quad tailpipes are better.
42. CAI adds 50 HP.
43. Exhaust adds 150 HP.
44. If you scream ¡¥NAWS¡¦ it will explode.
45. Ferraris are more than you can afford, pal.
46. You can beat any car if you say ¡¥smoke um¡¦ before you run.
47. Any scrap-heap can be made race-ready in under a week if the parts are ordered from Japan.
48. Computer-controlled nitrous kits require a laptop.
49. Owning a ¡¥suppressed MAC-11¡¦ is a ¡¥minor weapons violation¡¦.
50. And whatever you do, DON¡¦T BLOW THE WELDS on the intake manifold.

 

coool love the hood pods

 

last one guys....

 

Yeah, the Corolla is a great buy, I won't argue with that. To be honest, I fell in love with the latest gen Corolla before it even came out here (Corolla Altis released in Thailand and other asian countries under various other names). It has a really expensive feel to it, especially with the leather interior, gated shifter, and nav. . . not sure if those are options here, but I've seen em overseas. I was only pissed off, like I previously mentioned, by Toyota dealers. I refuse to set foot in them unless I positively have to. . . you should see the dealer invoices and how successful these guys are at selling these cars well above MSRP. The Scion made the most financial sense for me, and I enjoy the exclusivity/rarity of the car. But the Corolla far beats the Scion in terms of fit and finish.
The reason I've gone easy on recommending the Corolla is that you initially mentioned a Kia, and the Scion is more suited towards that price range (although I believe it blows away evey car in that class and the some cars in the class above). If you are considering a Corolla, you are introducing a whole new class of cars. It's a fairly large jump in price range, from about $12-15k to about $17-20k. . . and those are realistic out-the-door prices too!

 

Thats good your swallowing your pride and coming to your senses. A car shouldnt cost more than 20% MAX of your earnings(Ideall alot less).after taxes. and less than 10% of your net worth. I have a few buddies who continue to pay there last dime to there car payments and insurence yet dont have 5 bucks to go out and get a drink and have a good time. Id love to be driving a Mercedes SL but and can afford it but I have to stick with the financial rules.... :

Robert