Test drive experiences today
 

Spent the whole day test driving cars. Here are the verdicts.

Evo X: Dealer didn't let me drive so.... screw them.

Mustang 5.0: I was SOO surprised by how much I liked this car. Everything felt well put together. Of all the muscle cars I tested today this one beat them all from its smooth transmission to the power output through a 5.0L v8. Also one of the best and friendliest sales person I met today at Cerritos Auto. If I was ever going to buy a Ford, I would go with him first. Still not as grounded as I would have liked but it was much better than I thought it would be.

Camaro: Stuck with an automatic because they didn't have a v8 manual around. Interior felt huge, not exactly what I was looking for with a sports coupe. That being said all the American cars were rather huge for my tastes. Final thoughts on the Camaro was that it felt a bit like a boat. Suspension wasn't exactly soft but there was definitely disconnect with the road.

Challenger: Interesting shifter on this one. That's about it, everything else was pretty standard. What I couldn't get over was how terrible the ergonomics of this car was. This is the first manual car I've driven without a hand brake (It has the kick brake with the handle release on the bottom left from the steering wheel). The door handle position is also awkward (next to your left knee in the driving position). There were a couple of other small things that bothered me like why a 5.7L v8 was pushing out 300+ horsepower and change (This was according to the sales person and I haven't done any research on this car prior - I might look it up in a bit and find that I was completely wrong). I really wanted to like this car more than I did but just walked away with a bad taste in my mouth.

370Z: Still planning on getting this car. After spending the day with huge muscle cars I found the nimble Z to be incredibly refreshing. What I couldn't get over since my first test drive was that I've driven manual cars before and my test drive all day up to this point had been incredibly smooth, however, getting into the Z made me feel like a complete first timer again. The transmission in the 370 apparently doesn't work like a standard transmission. To transition smoothly from 1st to 2nd requires you to NOT gas in on clutch out (N to 1st is traditional clutch - gas in - feather clutch out) so essentially both feet are off the pedals. After this revelation from the salesrep I took the car out a second time and shifts were butter smooth. Maybe I just didn't know how to properly drive a standard transmission until now!

Still don't have any dealers with an FR-S and I don't know if it was just that Mitsu dealer that was stuck up or if they're all like that but I don't think I'll ever consider a Mitsu again.

Try a different dealership for the Evo. The one I went to practically threw me the keys. Then again we did pull up in our C6 Vette so the probably didn't think cost was going to be an issue. Definitely a fun and fast car. Handles crazy good. Sticks really well. The seats are amazing. You just have to get past the rest of the crappy interior and the fact that it really needs a 6th gear for cruising.

Haven't driven the new Mustang or Challenger yet but we do own a Camaro 6-speed 2SS (my girlfriends car). Initally yes it does feel large and disconnected (actually the large feeling never goes away) but once you get used to it and trust the car it corners really well. It's not as nimble as the Z but it will still take a corner rather well. In auto-x the camaro's usually only come in 1-2 secs behind the Z.

On the EVO, they didn't let me test drive the new ones either, but they had a used 2010; they let me test drive. I like the seating position and ergonomics of the Z better. But the EVO is fkin nutz to drive. Its fun as hell. It truly was my biggest toss up on the Z. Not even the 135 and cayman were as much fun.

The Evo is shytty on the interior and mediocre on the exterior, NVH, is more noticeable in that car and suspension is rougher... but you will have a lot of fun in that car. Get the test drive... asap.

The Z trans does feel different than any other manual trans I've driven and the majority of cars I've driven have been stick. The only thing that I can compare it to is a Mendeola in a V8 sand-rail, feels and sounds almost identical.

Ya mitsu dealers and notrious for not letting people drive evos. which is just as well becuase it took me all of 5 sec of sitting in the evo (and 1 barf bag later) to decide i could NEVER live with that cheap of a quality of interior. unnacceptably cheap IMHO.

Whats interesting to me is that everyone complains about difficulty in the z to get it smoothly from 1st to 2nd. I had a hard time as well initially but it seems that if you simply let off the clutch gently without any throttle input then the shift from 1st to 2nd (as well as any subsequent gears) is completely smooth. I suggest everyone try it.

I never had a problem with the shifting of the 370, maybe because I was coming from a 350 and was used to it. :dunno:

search 'clutch helper spring.'

Sorry to hear they wouldn't let you test drive an Evo, but at least they had one. The Mitsu dealerships here don't even have Evos on the lot and I bet if they ever do, they'd never let anyone get behind the wheel.

Cool write-up. I wasn't aware that the Challenger has a foot parking brake.

foot parking brake = lol

I actually gas it a lil before letting go of the clutch. If u just clutch out takes too long.

yah, you need to apply slight throttle before engaging the clutch... just like any MT car.

That's just the thing. The sales person told me not to apply ANY throttle when I released the clutch when shifting into 2nd gear. This actually smoothed out the transition from 1st to 2nd. Now this is just my experience from a short test drive so it's a very preliminary opinion but when I was applying throttle like a "normal" manual car (the way I was driving the muscle cars all day) I couldn't get the car to shift smoothly.

Once again, not trying to sound like a know-it-all just telling you how it was for me and that's it.

How old are you? When are you planning to buy a car? Just curious....

maybe you were applying too much trottle and the guy was telling you to lay off. :confused:

anyway, i need to apply slight throttle (just placing my foot gently on the throttle pedal is enough to keep the flywheels' momentum) otherwise the car will buck forward like all the other MT's ive driven. there's nothing special other than SRM.

I'm 24 which, if I remember from all the age threads around, is considered quite young for the Z. I'm planning to buy it within the next 2 months or so. Hopefully 0% apr holds out.

Weird. When I completely got off the throttle (zero throttle) there was no bucking what-so-ever. The guy told me to completely remove both feet from the pedals. I assure you I was no more aggressive on the throttle than I was on any of the American cars I was driving that day. Applying zero throttle to achieve smooth shifts between 1st and 2nd was repeatable for the duration of the test drive.

you sure you test drove a MT? :rofl2: anyway, that is wierd and will not work my Z.

Surprised that you aren't going with the 5.0.

:stirthepot:

like everyone else in the world

:stirthepot:

That's cuz you're skipping a step.

First you test drive both and you pick a Z. One year later you whine about how slow it is and how many flaws it has... then you go and buy the car that originally thought was not as good as a Z AND CONVINCE YOURSELF ITS THE GOD OF CARS. Lol.
:icon18:

:|

:icon17:

:iagree::icon18:That seems to be how the order goes! I hope that doesn't happen to me before I pay the sucker off. Lol

Was the demo car equipped with the Sport Package? According to Nissan specs, SRM works on upshifts as well as downshifts. So it would make sense to not apply gas upon initial engagement of the clutch but shortly thereafter. Any 6mt sport package owners try this?

Your demo day sounded like fun, enjoy your future Z

I believe he test drove a Z with the SRM, and the computer is doing the trick thus the sales person ask him not to apply any throttle cos the computer will throttle for the driver...

That's one reason I don't like SRM, lost the point of driving a MT... :shakes head:

Seems like you just want to test all those nice cars and really no plans on buying one lol.

Good thing the mitsubishi dealer didn't fell in your trap.

Yes it had sport package. It's possible that SRM was behind it. Speaking of which, would that mess with a smooth upshift where people are gassing ontop of SRM? Now I'm curious.

^Can't tell if troll or just messing around :ugh2: I do intend on buying soon. Hopefully within the next two months.

One dealer wanted nothing to do with me when I said "I'll probably be buying in the next month or so." I couldn't even get a legitimate ballpark buy-price on the car because "..it doesn't matter if you're not gonna buy it today." You're just being a smart shopper that wants to make sure he is getting what he wants instead of being impulsive.

Evo as much as a great performer and how easy it is to mod, I can't get over the fact it looks like a plain Lancer and also it honestly looks like a kids car (if you know what I mean). The other cars you mentioned I feel are just a little more professional and composed cars. Honestly I would put the Z and 5.0 top 2 cars. The Challenger is a POS.

SRM on upshifts is kind of tricky - you still need to apply throttle, but not every time or on every shift. You really just need to get a feel for the car and the momentum of the car... I know it sounds weird, but I think that's pretty much how driving manual generally is: it's a lot more about the driver's feel and intuition, than it is about the mechanical aspects (i.e. having to shift at a specific RPM or exactly how many centimeters the clutch catch point is from the ground).

Having owned an 08 Evo X and having driven the 6mt 370z and a 6mt (with the 3.42 rear diff) 5.0 mustang, here are some thoughts:

First if you are in socal and are interested in driving/purchasing an Evo, look up Sam at Huntington Beach Mitsubishi. The guy is plain crazy (in a good way) and will beat other dealers' price by a ton. I got my IX and X brand new from him - the X was an 08 with nav and was IIRC 31,000 out the door with LA county tax rate. Look up socalevo.net and you will find him relatively easily.

The X is very fun, though much less raw and more civilized than the IX. One major downfall in the X is the trunk size, it's ridiculously tiny for a 4 door sedan. Turbo lag is improved in the X but it's still a huge pain especially in LA traffic, and ESPECIALLY in summer heat. Basically everything will rip you a new one off the line unless you are doing a full launch which is just ridiculous. The gearing is very short so expect to shift a lot though that was a plus for me :D

Interior is definitely quite cheap and WILL rattle - it was much better than my IX but it's still pretty bad. I owned both my Evos from 4 and 7 miles, respectively, to about 30,000 miles. Both my Evos had basic bolt-ons and custom tune making around 320whp and was very fun up to about 110mph (top of 4th gear), after which most performance cars like the 370z and especially the 5.0 will walk away from the Evo relatively easily. If freeway runs are your thing the Evo is NOT a good car IMHO because it was never designed for it. Combining its brick-like aerodynamics and its super long 5th gear there are many other better freeway bombers to choose from. Sure you can slap on a huge turbo and deal with massive turbo lag and try to find better fuel than the 91 piss we get here in cali but that's just not my cup of tea, even after having owned 2 Evos in 4 years and having had different cars in between.

The Evo is based off of a rally car and is geared towards tight road courses with very short gearing with a peaky power output. It's mad fun carving canyon roads and that's what I loved about the car. The steering feel is excellent but the car understeers quite a bit esp. compared to a wider and shorter F/R (front engine RWD) car like the 370. The grip is insane but it does not feel as "natural" as a FR car would going around bends. At some point it becomes relying on the car's silly grip (until the sticky factory tires run out, which mine did after 8,000 miles) rather than the car's balance/center of gravity/etc. to achieve crazy performance figures. YYMV but after owning 3 turbo AWD cars I am ready to move on to an n/a RWD car - no turbo lag, much more natural handling, and going sideways at normal speeds are all things I am looking forward to in the 370z.

The mustang surprisingly did not have much low end torque IMHO, though i'm sure the 3.73 (iirc) rear diff. probably would have transformed the car. The car sounded good, but the vague steering and boat-like handling feel (i'm aware it's very competent around bends as it posted similar lap times as the e9x m3) and the interior - the interior was the deal-breaker as I just couldn't get over its design and layout. The coyote motor responds very well to mods and basically the Mustang's appeal to me was that it's a 30k M3 in terms of performance. However, the driving FEEL is a much different story as the few e92 M3's I drove (DCT and 6mt) just offer an other-worldly driving experience that a car like the Mustang, even with matching performance figures, cannot begin to compete with IMHO.

To me the 370z offered the best driver involvement and driving experience among these 3 cars. I would have opted for a 370 back in 08 if I did not need the Evo's 4 doors and if Sam did not give me a great deal with 0% apr.

If you are serious about the Evos look up Sam, you can also just call or text him 714 493 4163 - I don't get anything out of this, he's just one of the rare dealership guys that actually don't pull any tricks on you. I was out with my IX and X in less than 30 minutes after talking to him on the phone, and have purchased 2 used cars from him as well.

Good luck :)

Edit: sorry for the horrific grammar as it's quite late here and I'm supposed to be working :D

If I did it all over again I'd still take the Z over the Stang and Evo X. The Z looks the best and feels like a genuine sports car, sure the Mustang makes significantly more power and will respond way better to bolt ons (as well the Evo X) the Stang and Evo don't look good. When you sit in the Z you know you're in a sports car, personally the center tach was one of my favorite parts.

If you don't plan on really modifying the car get the Z, if you want to build a bolt-on monster go with the Evo or Stang. Warning, I don't care what instructions you follow, the Z is one of the worst feeling manual transmissions I have ever driven but the rest of the cars pros will get you to look past that, temporarily.

How come the dealer didn't let you test drive the Evo? What did they say?

I believe the exact quote would be something along the lines of "If I let you test drive the car then I have to let every other 18 year old test drive it". This is also after I showed them my credit score and got handed off between 3 different sales people. Just completely unreasonable response to someone who was interested in the car. (For reference: I'm 24, have steady full-time employment, and a credit score of 800)

This single act of the dealership has turned me off to Mitsubishi as a company completely. And to think I was a big fan of the 5th series evo since primary school.

Its a good thing you didn't drive frs because it would have scared you for life driving cars. The frs is overpriced, slow and very cheaply made for the same price you can get a brand new 2012 genesis coupe with 306 hp which is great quality for the price.

Um FR-S > Genesis all day everyday. Don't fall for the magazine numbers when you get her home you'll discover it wasn't worth it. OP if the FR-S is a choice AND you plan on modifying the car that would be my way to go. The aftermarket for the FR-S is blowing up and the car just came out. That will lead to way more parts available, a large amount of choice and cheaper parts because of more competition amongst vendors.

i dont know about you, but my response would have been to laugh in that guys face and then calm down and quietly say "you just lost a sale buddy", then go down the street pick up whatever car you so choose and show back up at said salesmans dealership and flaunt your new ride in his and his sale managers face while you quietly look on as his sale manager fires his douchebag of a salesman

Some dealerships are like that. The one where i bought my EvoX didnt have any GSR's but they let me take a MR out for a drive, no questions asked. Told them i defently wanted a Evo but not a MR. Did the deal and found out they were getting my GSR from another dealership in the city. So i got the VIN and went to look at the car at the other dealership. Asked to test drive it before i sign off on the dotted line (seeing as how i never driven a GSR at this point and i wanna make sure its what i want) They said no, unless i put down a $1000 non-refundable deposit. I laughed in their face and said "you expect me to give you $1000 to test drive a car that will be mine in 3 days?"

Then he tried to tell me "oh you will love this car, we have Rota rims on there a boost controller and turned the boost up to 45psi" I laughed and asked for the paperwork for the work done to it and he asked why. I said "because when a rod goes flying through the block, i want a brand new engine and you guys will be paying for it" He claims it was safe, blah blah blah. I asked to look under the hood and he said no! Like WTF? seriously? I left and found a different sales guy and asked for the keys to the car and he gave them to me...nothing done to the car.

All that being said. I went from a Cobalt SS/SC - 370z - SRT-10 Ram - EvoX....if i could have done it all over i would have went from the Cobalt to the EvoX.

Thats exactly what i did with a Dodge dealership. When i was looking at trading my 370z in for the SRT-10 i went to a dealership and test drove one. There was a issue with the brakes and a few other minor little things. I asked the dealer to knock off $5000. They said no. So i said ill think about it and left. A day later the dealership calls me and said they will lower it $2000. I told them no, i want 5000 lower. They replied "well we have a guy interested in it and he isnt asking for a lower price, only reason im trying to get you in it, is because you are in the military and we support our troops." I said "well thanks for that, but let the other guy have it." 2 weeks later i found another SRT-10 at another dealership, bought it and went back to the first dealership to grab something (cant remember what) talked to the sales guy and said "yea i got a different srt-10, lower km's, lower price and nothing wrong with it" He just walked away right pissed off. Funny thing is that SRT-10 on their lot was there for 6 more months.

That's almost exactly what I did. I stopped laughing once I realized he was serious and told him, "look, if your sales are so strong that you don't need my business then that's alright with me." and I left.