From: CONSLT24@Zeus.unomaha.edu (Issa El-Hazin)
Subject: Re: Re: Sentra E vs. Saturn SL (SE-R & SC)
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1992 18:30:12 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.11


>|> 	Than you need help. Either you are not a very good driver and
>|> cannot handle driving at the limit, or you are fun-impared. Unless you
>|> are talking about a 300zx, there is no Nissan that can even begin to 
>|> approach the abilities of a 69 350GT. Do yourself a favor and drive a
>|> real car sometime.

>That's what I was thinking.  How the hell can a gutless Nissan give you a better
>feeling than a good old fashion American muscle car?  Especially one with that
>size of an engine and that much horsepower.  I drive a Stealth R/T and I would
>never even think of taking on a 69 GT350 Mustang.

I'm Not trying to offend 60's muscle car fans (is it too late? :)) and I 
admit that I'm no expert (and I haven't driven a Stealths R/T or Mitsubishi 
VR neither but from reading about them, they don't sound too bad), but my 
experience with my GT350 was:

If we are talking about straight line acceleration, the GT350 was one of 
the fastest [unmodified and some modified] cars on the road 4 years ago
(0-60mph ~7?? with 3-speed automatic). But if we are talking about 
cornering and the car reaching its limits in a sudden, this car left 
much to be desired (I admit that it was a great attention getter even 
from Porsche drivers and that it did have a fairly smooth, rev happy and 
competent engine especially in 2nd.) Two experiences regarding cornering 
that stick out are:

1) From a standing still, the car did a 270 when I was trying to merge 
into an opposite lane, forcing me [in a hurry after I've crossed the 
center lane] to return to the place where I've started from.

2) When I was trying to beat a yellow light [making a left turn] the 
car did a 360 in the middle of the intersection (obviously I was going 
to fast [for it?].) There were no pre-warnings.

This car was stock and in excellent condition except that it did have
mag wheels with bigger [performance] tires than original (came with 
my Carlifornian car) which could have played a roll in the oversteer 
problem.

In comparison, exiting from a highway and merging into the opposite lane
in my Z today, I poped in 2nd (stick shift) around the corner and gave 
it all it got (knowingly at the time that the corner had sand over the 
asphalt). The car spun ~80 degrees. Take foot of gas and correct the 
steering a bit. The car is back in a straight line and I'm again on my 
way to my destination (to the surprise of a truck behind me.) This incident 
is not unique, it happened numerous times. Some on icy roads at speeds even 
when I did not do it on purpose.

As for me being a bad driver, do you know Tom cruise's line, "There 
isn't anything I can't do in a car"? well, he is talking about me in 
my Z :). 90% of my passengers when they want me to show them what I 
can do get scared shitless for the first 15-30 seconds but after that 
they just glue themselves to the seat, door and floor, put on a big grin 
and have total confident in my driving as well as a pleasurable ride 
to spare. Other than my wife and my mother, everybody else who rode 
with me tell me that I'm an excellent driver. To me, the secrets I think 
are: 
1) Knowing what the car can and can't do [know your car].
2) Very quick reaction time in any situation [alert].
3) Not being scared of the car [the car is your friend :)]
4) To never (well, almost never) get into something that you haven't planed 
   a retrieve/alternative route for.

If I had to bid on a Stealth (esp. the twin turbo) against a GT350 
Mustang (unmodified) with equal drivers. I would probably go with the 
Stealth. So give it a try the next time you run into one and let us know 
how it turned out.


Issa 

(P.S. the GT350 was and still a great car. I'm not taking anything away
from it but 20+ years of technolgy does make a differance.)