Car people: Looking at a car, give your opinion.

[Jesse]

Only downfall is that there is not enough weight in front, and first gear is worthless because of it.

No, lack of weight isn't the issue. Your car probably has 60% of its weight over the front wheels, more over the drive wheels than most RWD or AWD cars. Weight transfer on acceleration is the issue w/ FWD cars. As you accelerate, weight shifts towards the rear of the car and away from your drive wheels. That, and of course torque steer, is why performance cars are typically RWD or AWD.

 

[JD_MAN]

It does suck having to buy 91 octane gas though.

You won't even think about it in a couple of weeks.

 

[rallysman]

You won't even think about it in a couple of weeks.

I'm so used to buying premium that I almost put it in my girlfriends car.

 

[xxt2goodxx]

No, does not have the boost meter. I am not a fan of GM vehicles, I think their value is eroded by the rediculous union contracts the American auto makers are locked into. Having said that, I was never nice to my Grand Am, except on the maintenance end, and I never had any major trouble. I did have to replace the alternator, and GM puts crappy ones in most of their cars. My 1200 Watt stero system caused that. You don't realize the effect, but 1200 watts of energy is equivalent to 1.5 Horsepower, enough to put serious strain on the alternator. As for gas, I was heavy on the pedal while testing this. It sucked fuel like Paris Hilton in a motel room with a previously unknown hollywood guy. Fortunately, I don't normally drive that way, and it gets 29 mpg highway. Thats in 5th gear and cruising, not on an on ramp at 5500 rpm, pushing 80. Fun car, but most of my driving will be much more reserved. I will enjoy a spirited pass on the highway though, and racing JDMAN and his Civic Si the next time I'm in Indy. LOL

you should have gotten a capacitor cause it puts less stress on the battery and alternator and it makes the system louder cause it drains from the cap which is closer to the actually system... its a good investment!!

o and the problem with buying performace cars is you know they have been abused... same thing with sportbikes... people abuse the crap out of them... and saturn you just bought i would put a for sale sign on it and make money!! cuase i'm a honda/acura fan haha

 

[rallysman]

you should have gotten a capacitor cause it puts less stress on the battery and alternator and it makes the system louder cause it drains from the cap which is closer to the actually system... its a good investment!!

it's better and less expensive to add a second battery. Capacitors drain so quickly that under extended bass lines they are useless (unless you have a big bank of them). I never had good luck with caps. I had 4 1 Farad caps on a 1500 watt system and I still got voltage drops. I added a dry cell battery and never had that problem again.

 

[xxt2goodxx]

it's better and less expensive to add a second battery. Capacitors drain so quickly that under extended bass lines they are useless (unless you have a big bank of them). I never had good luck with caps. I had 4 1 Farad caps on a 1500 watt system and I still got voltage drops. I added a dry cell battery and never had that problem again.

really?? i had a 1600 watt audiobahn system and it worked fine with a 1 farad cap.. the amp was $600 competition amp and the cap was $120 and it worked fine... it was installed into an honda accord 96... i hooked the power cable to the fuse box no the actually battery... i never really heard of a problem with a cap before... i install systems and never had a prob... did you let the caps charge before you used them??

 

[rallysman]

really?? i had a 1600 watt audiobahn system and it worked fine with a 1 farad cap.. the amp was $600 competition amp and the cap was $120 and it worked fine... it was installed into an honda accord 96... i hooked the power cable to the fuse box no the actually battery... i never really heard of a problem with a cap before... i install systems and never had a prob... did you let the caps charge before you used them??

yea, that's all I used to do. Maybe it was because my alternator was too small and the single amp was (trying) to pull 1500watts @1 ohm. Currently I have a 600 watt audiobahn and a 750 alpine behind a dry cell and 140 amp alternator. It works flawlessly.

 

[xxt2goodxx]

yea, that's all I used to do. Maybe it was because my alternator was too small and the single amp was (trying) to pull 1500watts @1 ohm. Currently I have a 600 watt audiobahn and a 750 alpine behind a dry cell and 140 amp alternator. It works flawlessly.

WOW you were trin to run it @1 ohm stable?? most amps cant do that too well... i go a little safer @2 ohm just incase cuase when people bring me there stuff i ask them how they want it and the lowest i will usually go is 2ohm unless they have the instruction manual that says its one ohm stable

 

[pophead]

I wouldn't worry myself over the high octane fuel. often cars get better gas mileage off of it anyways.

 

[Jesse]

I wouldn't worry myself over the high octane fuel. often cars get better gas mileage off of it anyways.

Do you have any documentation to back up that statement? The higher the octane, the less volatile a fuel is, which makes it less prone to detonation (knocking/pinging). That's why you should use the lowest octane fuel recommended for your vehicle or, in the case of older engines that may detonate at their recommended octane due to built-up deposits that effectively decrease combustion chamber volume and increase compression ratio, the lowest octane fuel at which detonation does not occur.