What would be the best vehicle for our 4 weathers? 5 cars inside.

Canada Nissan Automotive
1

:confused:

I’m looking to get a car, I can’t take this winter weather anymore, you have to understand I live in a new area and local transportations is not an issue but very limited, i.e. timing, routes and access during bad weather, and the freaking roads are miles and miles long in all 4 directions.

so here it is

  1. 2002 to 2003 Maxima SE 6spd VQ 3.5 FWD 250 < approx

  2. 2001 Mercedes E430 V8 Triptonic about same hp as ^^^^ or more whatever it’s a luxury sports sedan.

  3. 2004 Sentra SER Spec V

  4. 2003 or 2004 Yellow 350z

  5. Altima< but the ass is what keeps me away, way too retarded. What do you guys think? Any owners willing to tell me about their experience with theirs?

  6. 2001 bmw 540i V8 6spd

I am having a hard time deciding what is best for the conditions, not which car I want, I like them all but I want a good sounding car, first choice is manual second is triptonic trans, must have okay or better looks, must, must be a fast potential car.

so knowing that, what is the best out of all those for our Canadian seasons, I can’t go too expensive, I already own a single season toy, I can’t afford to keep two at the moment in a garage, please let me know.

let me know your choice and reason for it. If you own any of the mentioned vehicles, post your experiences with the car, and how it performed in all 4 Canadian conditions.

thanks

2

id go with a 350z. sexy cars and drive awsome. in my opinion
BMW suck seriously. mercedes awsome car. mad expensive to fix and repair. so it sucks in the long run.

altima is good also. its up to you man.

3

ohh thanks, yes, i know its up to me, but before i spend all that money i wanted to know any major disadvantages of the mentioned cars, because i want to drive the car all year round.

is the 350 good on snow?, i seen one barely able to stay straight on about 5mm of snow last 3 winters ago, although that guy/girl must have had summer tires on.

Im i right or wrong?

“They’re not even the same fukin’ sport, never mind the same league”

i plan to buy used, and those are my fav top 5 cars im willing to buy right now, not asking for comparison with those cars, but rather trying to find out, which would be the best in summer, winter, fall and spring, as a everyday driver.

4

I guess I’ll go with the MAXIPAD, lol

I mean maxima.

I wanted the 350z but I just can’t afford a bike and a 350 right now.lol

thanks for the info, I already know the reviews and all those are just short term evaluations, I was looking for more stuff, like an Altima driver saying,i.e “oh buy a 2003 don’t buy a 2002 I used to own it and it had bad road handling in winter, or on sharp corners” or something like that, you know, I prefer personal experience than what’s written in reviews in a week or month.

thanks anyways.

5

MB’s cant be a pain in the posterior…from experience with my moms…its got tonnes wrong with sensors

although they are nice

out of all of them i would still go with the bmw or the benz still though lol

6

when you refer to fast potential… maxima and altima are alright. They are pretty fast but as far as mods, you cannot get too many parts for them. Even if you can, they are really expensive. I drive an altima, great car! BIG CAR so there is a lot of body roll when making turns. For winter driving, no complaints, maintance is just like all the other nissans.

I rarly see a 350z in the winter and I do not think it should be drivin in the winter either.

Benz and BMWs we all know are great cars but we also know when it comes to maintanence, its a b**** not only are they expensive but if you are late, its going to give you a lot of problems

7

be a baller and get bmw

8

ohhh “Ricerz” thanks for the post very informative, really made me think about all off them, especially about the Altima and Maxima, thank you very much.

If I ended up going with the maxima, I herd that it’s pretty potent, it will do, 14.9 1/4 with the 2003 6spd model stock, is that about right?

would it be possible to take the maxima, add common bolt ons like intake, Cattman header, custom exhaust, and maybe add turbo? < if there’s not much else out there to add to it?

I would really love a mid 13 sec daily driver, I’m a biker, I’d like something not slow, and im into sexima’s and 350’s but I think I might have comfort issues with a 350 in winter.

Thanks again for your input dude, nice:R

9

yea thats about right for the maxima, it is pretty “potent” as far as turbo…i havnt seen it on the maxima yet but they recently relased on for the altima (turbokits.com) there are many intakes for altima and maxima! stillen, AEM, nismo, injen list goes on. custom headers and exhaust can be done also

comform… altima and maxima are really nice, real smooth! when people drive my car, they are like "I cant belive im going at 130 km/s feel like im going at 80! nice its cause its smooth but some people say its a bad thing cause it dosnt feel like its moving.

10

Don’t get a 350z for winter. Not worth it as a winter car. Might I suggest a Subaru? WRX or even STi, or Legacy 2.5GT.

11

^^^ I looked at those, and I have to admit, im picky, I kind of want top of the line model, and Sti’s awsome, but $$$.

I talked to a lot of the younger neighbours in my area they mostly have sti’s, wrx’s and so on, they said those car’s are so much fun in the summer and even more so in the winter, the only thing that turned me off was that they said parts can get really expensive, and that I should buy brand new, because off warranty.

they asked me how I drive and how much I maintain my car, I told them I haven’t had a car for a while but I know I itch when ever I see an open road, as far as maintenance, if its small sub compact vehicle, I can do most of the work myself. They recommended me go with something else, because sti is already too sporty looking and they said since its turbo you can’t be too careless on driving it rough all the time.

I looked at the older one’s but they are hard to find, and for some reason people tell me that Subaru’s are not as reliable as other Japanese cars, that’s why until today I never even though of purchasing a Subaru.

12

you might wanna consider a 4 wheel drive or a front cause 350 will never drive straight on snow due to having rwd but im shure you alredy know that other than that its up to u :wink:

13

ye about the subys i have one they r fun especially on snow oversteer :smiley: but warranty wise forget that man if you adding parts its pretty dumb to have warranty cause as soon as you put a after market part on there goes your waranty and parts wise depend on wat you wanna do you can get a wrx slap on the sti rear sway bar and have so overstear and power wise u dont want to go too much b/c then the tranny might go if you too rough but thats about 300whp and over

14

On the contrary, Subaru’s aren’t really ‘unreliable’ per say— Not to the level of Toyota, but it sure ain’t no GM.

From a mechanic’s standpoint, let it be know that they’re parts are dirt cheap comapared to the other cars on your list. Lots of parts are largely available, and some parts on their shared platforms/awd components are either compatible or the same.

Cheap insurance to boot as well. (Impreza’s, and RA-versions are cheaper to insure then a civic)

As much love as I have for euro’s, it probably ain’t what you’re looking for in terms of being a 4-season-reliable-driver. +1 for Subies. (Legacy’s are dead gorgeous)

15

Get a 350 for summer

Get a Subaru for winter…

OR

A Turbocharged 2wd 350Z for summer

and a 4wd converted 350z for winter…

Loads o fun

16

In the early 90’s, Nissan put in their first 300 manuals a disclaimer
THIS CAR IS NOT TO BE DRIVEN IN THE WINTER
I can’t imagine the 350 would be any different. I do mine in the winter though. I put on traction control and the car seems to be fine. (This morning the driveway in my workplace was a sheet of ice with a huge slope upwards and my car did it fine)

The cars on your list fall into completely different categories and show no resemblance other than 4 wheels and for some the name.

I’ve had an Audi before. It falls into the same category as the BM and the MB. It KILLED me with problems and maintenance. BTW, don’t get the full manual of that MB. For that car Mercedes decided to make a stupid move and completely sealed up the manual transmission so you can’t add, remove or change the gear oil. I liked the way the car took the winter but after 8 months of using it I got rid of that shit. It was more a pain in my ass than a convenience for winter, especially considering it was down for a whole month out of the winter cause the CV joint snapped and I couldn’t get that shit off in the freezing cold.

For more details, this is not a very technical board. You are likely to get spectators opinions rather than first hand opinions on this board, especially considering the price ranges of the cars you mentioned.

Good luck

17

Either a Bmw 540i or a Nissan Maxima

both are manuals, which in many ways are fun to drive
& even helpful in snowy conditions.
Pretty fast cars, nice looking, comfortable,
one is RWD while the other is FWD so your choice
with your driving style…I’d go BMW.

well considering your looking @ these cars as possible
choices I’m sure maintenance shouldn’t be an issue. :wink:

18

i know its not on the list, but i would suggest the saab 92X. it is an impreza wagon concealed in saab badging. i would imagine the 2.5L N/A 4 cylinder would be quite a bt more reliable then a 2.0L turbo wrx. and lastly, its AWD, its fun, understeering in a FWD car in winter is boring, shitting ur pants in a RWD isnt fun either, but throwing the back end out and pulling it back in with the throttle is a lot of fun.

the weather in canada blows most of the year, so you might as well get something that is fun to drive all of the time.

19

out of the cars you suggest I would think a maxima would be fine for all year round… very comfortable, roomy, pretty responsive, lots of body lean but once you upgrade some suspension/swaybars/strut/bushings then you improve the stiffness without spending $1,000 for very stable cornering… many different intake setups, exhaust setups… turbo upgrade would have to be all custom made as none are available that I can see… its your choice but maxima/altima is great for all 12 months… plus the steering wheel and ass warmers come in handy in the 02-03 maxima’s during this time of year :slight_smile:

20

sooo different?!??!

RWD is fine for winter…(pussies)
I like it better than FWD…i’d rather be in charge of what angle my car is at rather than just be along for the ride.

MB as a brand got FKD by chrysler…dont touch one for another few years

BMW is an imported ford with $80 oil pan plugs and $100 air filters
(exageration but you get the idea)…i’v retapped so many BMW oil pans to take stndard threaded plugs in my time…let alone what it may cost for a rear diff…they are superscammers when it comes to parts…and when 1 thing goes…it goes postal…and takes all kinds of other stuff with it…
NOBODY ever owns multiple BMW’s UNLESS they are all brand new and never out of warrantee…most people get into them… have 3…then switch…

any 13 second or better car in winter… is goona suck in winter.
and rain…unless you can drive well
most cannot…popcorn I think is a different story…

Subi’s are good… AWD is good… 4X4 is best
subi’s parts are expensive…except engine stuff…its just a touch overpriced.
NA or turbo or S/C they all eat head gaskets…there is a fix for that.
they all suck gas like a phillipino street walker

if you want a 13 second car that is easy to drive all year round
get
a Subi WRX (pretty reliable)
or a Celica All-trac (suprisingly reliable)
or a AWD Skyline drivetrain anything (dunno reliability yet…I’m new to nissan)

this is a decent start… as a 13second AWD anything is your best option.

remember
as far as reliability is concerned

  1. Toyota (but not so powerfull or well supported for perf parts, etc)
  2. Honda / Nissan
  3. Subaru (down here thanks to gm owning them)

4.everything else because its a piece of absolute,unbelieveable nightmare shit…

oh ya heres a few more tips
-kia and daewoo and hyundai ore FKIN Korean not japanese

-MB baught chrys to learn how to build a 65k tranny (built to break 5k after the warrantee)

-GM owns: saab, daewoo, Subraru, Saturn, chevy, Cadillac, pontiac, buick, GMC, holden, vauxhall, opel, hummer and allison transmission.
WHY do none of these names ring true with the word “quality” or “long lasting”

GM makes Shit on purpose…because its profitable, with all these hillbilly’s and their blind brand loyalty…they will never learn.

dont even get me started on Ford.

german cars have dropped in rankings for reliability as of late but I think will return when they see that letting an accountant run your company is like letting a hooker run your finances.

chrysler is a joke…nuff said

and never forget

I dont care what kind of mileage your warantee covers…if its got more vertical hoist mileage than actual road mileage…who cares if they fixed it for free…

it shouldn’t have broken in the first place…

I love my opinion…its mine…I shared it…go get your own