Car Debate! G37 or 335i

[red930]

So here's the reality of the situation.

 

If you're closer than two seconds behind the vehicle in front, you're basically tailgating.

 

I travel the Interstate for most of my daily drive. Several times a month I see a platoon of vehicles in the left lane moving at a higher speed than the right lane with minimal distance between bumpers. One car in the pack hits the brakes for any reason and cars and trucks are diving into the right lane or off the inside shoulder.

 

Now it isn't the fault of the vehicle that the driver was operating it outside of the performance envelope. If proper following technique was used, everyone would have been OK.

 

In general, the point I was trying to make was that it's much easier to scrub off speed than build it.

 

The 15% increase in stopping distance of the cited cars versus performance cars is well withing the margin of error for daily driving.

 

A performance car doesn't stop that much better than a family sedan but the performance car will leave the sedan in the rear-view mirror from a standing start or 40 to 80 acceleration.

 

One of my driving pet peeves is the people that won't accelerate up to highway speed when merging with traffic. The putt down the on-ramp at 45MPH then flip you off if you don't let them in YOUR lane while you're going the speed limit.

 

I always accelerate up to speed on the ramp then apply the brakes if there's no place to merge.

 

We've had some interesting times since hurricane Katrina hit. The main four lane highway across the coast was hit hard losing two major bridges. This meant that all traffic had to use Interstate 10 for east/west travel.

 

The Highway department was nice enough to add an additional lane in each direction on the Interstate to handle the increased load. Recently, one of the interchanges got redesigned and upgraded with new ramps and signals. The old way had the left turn lane merging into the right turn lane to enter the Interstate. The new configuration has the right turn lane merging into the left turn lane to enter the Interstate with a dedicated lane and no need to merge into traffic.

 

Well don't you know even with all the new markings and signs, this idiot accelerates to challenge me from the right lane to get into the entrance lane. It was easier for me to brake a bit and let her slide over into my lane since she was quickly running out of road. She then slows down down in front of me to leave the dedicated entrance lane and merge into the center traffic lane.

 

Now if this was an out of town person I could forgive and forget. But she was a local that drives this route every day. She just had to get in one last finger flip as I accelerated past her in the right hand lane.

[ShadeZeRO]

Hmm, I went to check out the G35 yesterday. I didn't quite like the looks of it.

 

The interior console is what intrigued me, but that was about it. The exterior was somewhat ugly to me.

 

I'm going to go checkout the BMW possibly over the week.

 

Also, I have realized stopping distance is a important factor to me, but they are very close stats between the two cars. On my daily commute to school, I go between 85 and 100 the whole way (about a 20 minute drive)..so at those speeds I would like to have control over my vehicle.

 

Also, what do you think of a BMW 335i Coupe:

Exterior : Black

Interior : Red

Trim : Gray Poplar Wood Trim

 

As seen (except with a different trim) here

[Coors]

If your going between 80-100 then no amount of stopping distance will stop you from plowing into the car that pulls in front of you. If you want to maintain control then don't be a jackass and put other peoples lives at risk by speeding.

[red930]

If your going between 80-100 then no amount of stopping distance will stop you from plowing into the car that pulls in front of you. If you want to maintain control then don't be a jackass and put other peoples lives at risk by speeding.

 

A very good point. If you intend on speeding that much then you're already putting other people in danger. If you truly give a damn about how well your car stops then you wouldn't be going 30+ over the speed limit.

 

Keep in mind that while you might not be kidding about how you speed ShadeZeRO, it doesn't gain you any ounce of respect here. Just a thought.

[Darkorb]

Maybe he meant 85-100 KP/h?

[Guest element]

yeah but even then...... nasty if some one comes outta no where. I find it very hard to slow effectively relying on just brakes. Gotta pull a quick change down + ride the clutch.

[Splave]

Just some other cars in the price range:

 

Acura TL

Lexus IS250/350 (sexy)

Audi A6

 

I know when I went looking for a new car, test drove about 8 (great dealer let me drive them all took 3 hours) It was the least expected that I ended up getting. Although it cost half of your range lol I drove a tC, Yaris, corrolla, camry, WrX, sonata, jetta, civic, accord, and a Rabbit. I ended up with the rabbit because it just felt right. It wasnt that fastest 0-60 it wasnt the best gas mileage, didnt have an optional subwoofer or anything, I just liked the way it drove and how I felt in it.

 

Now get out there and drive some cars, not many people are buying right now and I assure you that they will be glad to let you take your time testing especially for the more high brow price range.

[Guest element]

Big ups to the just driving a bunch of cars. I didn't drive my first ( and only car so far) After learning in Mitsubishis' /toyotas /holdens ( GM to you lot).

 

I hate my 'new' ford. 97 british bulit Escort.

 

All the changes which made it good to drive the old ford where gone and the only thing that stayed was the horrid shift. In addition it's grossly underpowered. a mere 1600 out putting SFA hp. with FWD, which has saved me some what since I have gotten lazy with FWD recently :mad:

 

Having said that you're not in that market segment of lower end cars since you have BMW's in your sights.

Drive as many as you possibly can. I was very surprised just riding in a friends subaru the other day. I always thought they where more pretender's cars.

But drive the types you wouldn't always consider is the moral of that one.

 

Think carefully about transmission. It effects everything about the car. Not only economy but stopping power, acceleration and the general feel of the car.

 

And the one that 'feels' the best or gives you the 'right' gut feel is the one.

[General Septem]

I speed carefully. It's not a problem as long as you stay in your lane and some butthole doesn't merge right into you. I lay on the horn often, but I do have pretty good stopping power.

 

I don't go over 90, though. I rarely go 80, usually more like 70, which actually isn't even speeding on some parts of the expressway.

[red930]

I lay on the horn often...

 

Well yeah, you live in NY.

 

I've almost never used mine, figuring it doesn't do much. But the more I drive around Des Moines (a big city for me) the more I see idiots in my way every day. I LOVE going to work at 5 AM just to avoid them.

[Darkorb]

everyone on the highways here drives 120kp/h, thats like, 74?

[Splave]

I speed carefully. It's not a problem as long as you stay in your lane and some butthole doesn't merge right into you. I lay on the horn often, but I do have pretty good stopping power.

 

I don't go over 90, though. I rarely go 80, usually more like 70, which actually isn't even speeding on some parts of the expressway.

 

Septem, I hear ya man. I usually go 80 on the expressway in rochester just to keep up with everyone else. There are some tricky cops though hiding behind abutments so I always make sure im not first but not last :eek2: :cool: