smooth1

Awwww... you GET it!!! OMG... did you lose her??? (Have you missed my smart a$$ comments for the last day & a half??) Who is this???? Do I know you?? HHHmmmmmm,,,,,,,

I have allways been a Mazda fan. I of course love the 95 RX-7, and I allways liked the look of the Millenia. The previous generation Mazda 3 hatchback was, I allways thought a great looking car. The Protoge was good looking, quick, and lasted as long as anything else on the road.( I don't like front wheel drive though.) My wife however likes it. So, I test drive front wheel drive cars for her and either reinforce her opinion, while coloring in a few of my own to help her with her choices.

the IS 300 interior is bigger than the Mazda 3. In fact, the IS 300 back seat is bigger than the Volvo S60's! And the IS is silk smoooooooth. I just sold a 2003 IS 300 with 30,000 miles on it for 22K. And to me, I know, it's just an opinion, but I offer it up freely,,, , If you took a tape measure and measured door to door, and dash to deck, from a full size car such as the Caddy STS, ( we are talking 4 door sedans here), to the say Mazda 3, or an IS 300, etc. etc., I wonder what the real size differences are. I didn't think the Altima had a bigger interior than the IS did. Sure the dash is a mile longer to the windshield which made it seem bigger, but that is useless space anyway. I felt you sit lower in the IS than the Altima, come to think of it, I think you sit lower in the IS than in all the cars we test drove, but in the "mid-size" sedan, the seating and shoulder space all felt pretty close in size to me. Even though the car itself was much larger than the IS. But bigger trunk, and bigger hood seemed the real difference to me. Correct me if I'm wrong here. I'm open to debate. I have been wrong in the past. But I think that the "cabin cubic inch" method is misleading.

Yeah, been there, she doesn't like how they look. But she is interested in the Mazda 6. We are waiting on the 2008 models to come out, Hyundai is supposed to come out with a 300 HP sport sedan that rivals the Lexus line.( We'll see.) I still don't know if I can wrap my head around owning a Hyundai, but if it is as good as they say and can save me a few bucks while making the wife happy, hey, I'm all for it. She has a 2000 Volvo S40 now. It has 72,000 miles on it. It really has been a great car. A few things along the way, like ball joints, and bushings, also we had to replace the motor mounts, and a few odds and end stuff, but nothing over the top. She really loves her car. ( Which is good for me.) So, I'm thinking when the 2008's come out, maybe we can swing a deal on the 2007 S60 for her. We took her car in for service and they gave her one for a loaner, and now that's all I hear about. So, I think she has made up her mind. So we are on hold for now. It's funny how different she is from me in buying a car. I don't know if it is a character trait across the board or not. For awhile there I was just hoping every car we got into was "the one", but then nooooooo, I just had to stay quite, and be understanding and supportive.LOL!!!!

essential

We are looking for the wife a new car. She really liked how the Nissan Altima looked. So we test drove one, it was the 3.5 S. The interior felt cheap and the dash seemed like cheesy plastic. After driving it, I wasn't impressed with the steering feel also. ( Front wheel drive, seemed like you felt you had to constantly adjust the steering to control drift.) Is the IS 300 out for some reason?

Amplifier

Here's the skinny, X band is 50 megaherts wide. K band is 200 MHz wide Ka band is 2,600 MHz wide, or 1200 x's wider than X band. the wider the band, the longer it takes a detector to scan back and fourth, which in turn lowers sensativity and range for warning. Stalker Radar, (Applied Concepts Inc.), is the largest radar gun maker in the world. Last year, 65% of their sales were Ka band radar guns, 15% K band, and 5% X band. Digital Ka band is the instant on radar system or also known as "pop-radar." The Bel RX65,Bel STi,and the Escort 8500 X50,and 9500i all read Ka 4.5 miles away. that's plenty of time to slow down. That distance is 50% more than the generation of radar detectors before it, and that generation doubled the distance of all the radar detector generations before it. They have become very useful, and not just for speeding ticket avoidance. Most radar detectors also carry the safety bands on them, which road hazard vehicles send out to warn you of broken down vehicles in the hazard lanes being worked on, ambulance's and fire trucks use the safety band to warn you of thier approach, and accidents on the road. ( this is relatively new, and not all use this yet.) There is also a by product advantage of having a detector, and that is that alot of traffic lights in Florida use K band radar to monitor traffic signals. Approaching radar detectors get an advance audible warning of the traffic signal light change. Which brings us to some of the new reasons for getting a radar detector. Florida legislator is trying to pass "photo enforcement." right now the push is to be able to catch red light runners. All camera activation systems are using K band radar. Already developed and waiting is the new road sensor radar system, in which sensors are mounted in the road and time the vehicle from point A to point B. If speed equals more than X, it activates a photo camera. In both cases, the ticket shows up in the mail. In both cases, a radar detector has a significant advantage. As it is only illegal to have a radar detector in the state of Virginia, Washington D.C., a military base, or on any vehicle over 10,000 lbs., I say why not? I got a story for ya,,,, One morning I was going to work. I drive 39 miles each way. I jumped on I-4 and my radar detector was on. There is a place in the down town area that allways sets my detector off for some reason. It usually reads a 3, maybe 4 in the K band. The speed limit through there is 50. I usually drive between 70 and 80. But my radar detector was reading a 6 and 8 on the K band. So rather than get up to speed I decided to hang back a little. As I passed out of the area the detector continued to read 5 to 6 sometimes moving to 8 on the K band. So I kept back and figured there was an undercover car around somewhere. I kept looking around but couldn't find it. As we passed over the Michigan street on ramp, a white corvette, circa 2000+ came jetting up the ramp and flew by me. 3 or 4 cars up was an undercover ( get this), Chrysler 300 M, It lit up light a Christmas tree and was on that vette like a coefficient drag. As that vette pulled to the side, all I could do was reach up and pat my radar detector, and I knew it just paid for itself. Not to mention the various times it saved me from speed traps. Winter Park is notorious for it.And there aren't alot of "cars to read " at 6 in the morning. Iv'e gone down Aloma ave. and been the only car on the road. Some mornings the detector is quiet. And then there are mornings it jumps to a 6 reading. I slow down, and I start looking around, and sure enouph, there he is. Say what you want, but my radar detector has paid for itself atleast a few times over.

OOOhhhh, but I do. I used Maguire's Clay bar, and detail mist first, then I used their polish with an orbital buffer, then 2 coats Gold class wax. ( It's a labor of love you know.) ;)

I'm with ya, This falls into my " It doesn't matter if it works or not, so long as it looks good." philosophy. LOL! The GPS thing is really cool. All the next generation radar detectors are gonna have this. Foe example, with the gps unit built in, it senses your speed, so if your not speeding it increases all the filters so it's not going off all the time. You can also 1 button memory traffic light camera's and speed traps, or you can go the opposite way and block alerts from say a building that you pass every day. ( I think I'm talking myself into getting this next week.) Come on man, if your gonna spend 50 bucks for a blue display, why not another hundred for the latest and greatest in gadgetry??!!!! ;)

Def Leppard

Thanks. When I read the ad I was thinking to myself the whole time " Why have I never heard of this if it's soooo good and lasts that many years??? Everyone's heard of Finish 2001, and Nufinish, and they only claim 1 year. Of course they are a commercial product. I know.But so is this it seems. I have a friend that works at a car dealership, I give him the wifes Volvo to run through the "Auto Butler". I have to say that when the car comes back the finish really is amazing. I have no idea what they use or the process, He doesn't know either, but when I put my hand on it, it feels, well, slickery smooth. Your hand feels almost no resistence or friction when you pass it over the fender. Last weekend I gave the Lexus 2 coats of Magiure's gold, and when her car came back it still "felt" smoother than mine. I'm almost tempted to give him the Lexus, but not until I find out what they are using and the process. Which is what brought me to this 5-Star question. They were claiming that dealerships use their product for finish warrenty's. My freind at the dealership says that the Butler lasts for 6 months or so. But if you buy a car from them and purchase the "Butler service package", they will auto butler your car free 3 times a year for as long as you own the car. He does our cars free, but I hate asking, so I was looking into to see if I could find out info on my own. I guess I should just go down there and look for myself.

I Just found this : http://www.lexus.com/fcv/is_f.html It's the first Lexus website I've seen that has all the new concepts on it and features info on the IS-F and the LF-A and all the LF sub models. I'm still not seeing any prices, but soon I imagine.

Like this whole bean bag thing started on a good note?......

Ohhhhh, you went there anyway.... Democrat ----> Politician :) Politician----> dishonest

Democrat :P

otherwise everyone is gonna start buying cars from that dealership!!!!

Seeing as how the last post was in June, have you had time to do this yet???

odds

Catcher in the Rye

Could you type slower too? cause I can't read fast either... Sugar Rush Tom Sawyer

This is an update for an idea that I have been investigating. I've been looking into a clutch pulley for the supercharger that will allow the pulley to be a free spin pulley, until I flip a switch or some kind that will egage the pulley to the drive position and spin up the supercharger. This would in effect aloow me to have the supercharger mounted in the ready position, with no parasitic drag on the motor while it's not being used. I have to do alot of research on this first. Is the pulley strong enouph? What is the wear on the clutch? ( how long will it last?) also tuning the motor. I would need two tuning sets to account for supercharger on and off driving. Is this even possible, Is there another way that would be better, etc. etc. etc. I am working on it though. I'm at this point not even sure it is neccassary. But before I begin I would like to find out.

candy apples

Which is I'm sure thier philosophy.

They have a more finished version I've seen. And by the way, this won't be a sports car. When they hang the 150,000 dollar plus price tag on it, I think they refer to it as a super car.... ;)