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Calboy1227's Driving Log: |
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1993 Mercedes 500SL
When it comes to Mercedes-Benz, most people would naturally conclude that since Benzes are supposed to be luxury cars, they're probabaly not too exciting to drive. Hmmmm.. not the 500SL though.. heheheheh... I have no idea how Rita would comtemplate this car in her life but I am sure she must had some good time with it. With upgrades such as a shiny set of AMG chrome wheels and AMG body kit, Rita's always the center of attention whenever she drove her car. Very quiet and powerful, I once defeated a Toyota MR-2 Turbo with this car. Rita got mad at me for scaring her of course... but I really have to say, this car's amazing! (1998 SL 500 shown in black) MSRP: $90,000 (too scary to imagine with the AMG modifications) |
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| 1994 Corvette ZR-1 So you think Corvettes are fast huh?.. Not until you try the ZR-1 Vettes. With its Lotus engineered Four Cam LT5 engine, the ZR-1 is probably the fastest Vette ever made besides the Vette 427 from the 60s and the newest 385hp Z06 Vettes. This car's owner, Cinny, must have a rich boyfriend or father...heheh.. either way she's one fast girl with this car! I've had a chance to play with her on the freeway this one time... she was so fast that by the time I hit 130MPH, all I saw of her was her taillights blinking faintly far in front of me... Well done Cinny, you go girl! (1994 Corvette ZR-1 shown in red) MSRP: $78,000 |
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1993 Cadillac Allante
This is actually a rare Cadillac to be seen. It's designed by Italian master Pininfarinia (excuse my spelling.. hehehe) and was intended to compete with the Mercedes 500SL roadster when it first came out. Unfortunately, due to the lack of power and popularity, the Allante was never as successful as Cadillac wanted it to. The one I drove was one of the last Allantes made in 1993. It had a 290hp Northstar V8 powerplant and was faster than any previous Allantes that came before it! 0-60MPH performance for this car isn't too bad, about 6.4 sec. Just a bit slower than the SL. Unfortunately, this car never felt as fast as Cadillac advertised when I stumped on the gas pedal. (1993 Cadillac Allante shown in Medium Montana Blue) MSRP: $70,000 |
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1995 Mitsubishi Ecplise GS-T
The car I drove was actually an automatic transmission model. But despite the slush box zapped some power from its potent, turbocharged 4 cylinder plant, it had plenty of speed on the roads. It actually has more torque than I thought! The car would take off eruptly if the gas is being stumped on and even at 80MPH, I could still experience some back pains by meshing the throttle. The only drawback of this car is that it's way too popular (kinda like cockroaches crawing around..hehehehh) and in my opinion, the interior isn't really well built---way too much plastic stuff. (1997 Mitshbishi Ecplise GS-T shown in white) MSRP: $23,000 |
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1996 BMW 328i
If you're a BMW fan, you gotta check out the 328i. Not as rev. hungry as its predecessor, the 325i and not as scaryingly fast as its big brother, M3, the 328i has just the right amount of torque and power for we average drivers. Even though I didn't spend too much time driving my friend Eric's 328i, I was still able to feel its lively torque from the way the car took off. Unlike my 325, which requires me to rev the RPM over 3k to get the surge of power I need, the 328i achieved this power at only about 2k or so. Definitely a big improvement over the 325s. The only problem is, 328s do not behave as happily as 325s do in the high RPM range. So high speed racing wise, this lack of upper end power might give the 328 some hard time to leave the 325s behind. (1996 BMW 328i shown in red) MSRP: $35,000 |
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1995 Mercedes-Benz E320
The car I drove actually belongs to my friend Carl from Berkeley. When I visited Sacramento before, I had an opportunity to drive this car back to Berkeley on the freeway. (Heheheh.. I know you love your car Carl, I swear I didn't abuse it). Anyway, as I was driving, this Asian kid in a black M3 pulled next to me and gave me a look. Before I knew it, he punched it. I just wanted to know what this Mercedes could do so I followed close behind him. To my surprise, as the speedo climbed over 100MPH, 110MPH, 120MPH,..even when we hit 130MPH.. the M3 couldn't shake off the E320 at all! I actually passed him as we hit 137MPH since M3s have the eletronic speed limitor. I never knew a Benz could be this fast, the gas pedal was not even pressed all the way. Nice car, Carl! (1994 AMG modified Mercedes-Benz E420 shown in white) MSRP: $45,000 (who knows how much more with Carl's crazy modifications) |
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1996 Mitsubishi Montero SR
The Montero actually belonged to my ex girl friend. The trim level SR means that it's the top of line Montero from the Three Diamond company. Even though it's not a thrill to drive (this SUV is way too heavy for its 200hp V6 engine), this SUV was a comfy vehicle. With wood trims, leather seatings, and a comfortable suspension setup, it was like our little home..hehehe... The only thing I would complain about this SUV is that it's way too unstable and can lose its balance easily. I almost flipped the SUV once when I went too quickly on the twisties in the mountain. Just a few months after I did this, she flipped the SUV on the freeway. Comfortable to live with, hard to drive with ease. That's my comment for the Montero. (1995 Mitsubishi Montero SR shown in white) MSRP: $36,000 |
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1990 Cadillac DeVille
It's hard to accept that a big Cadillac can be this fast...but believe me.. this big boat can really haul some serious speed! At only 54,000 miles, we've taken very good care of this Caddy since my family bought it new 10 years ago. I don't know what my dad did to this car but man, it's just amazing! With plenty of torque from its V8 engine and good scheduled maintenances, this DeVille can easily take off faster than most cars that wanted to race it at the stop light (heheheh.. my dad's really good at leaving other people behind his taillights)... This car certainly felt fast, even with me at the wheel. This one time I had a chance to race my dad from the stop light. The result? The bimmer didn't have a chance before we hit 40MPH. And that's after he let go of the gas. (1992 Cadillac Sedan DeVille shown in white) MSRP: $33,000 |
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1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT SL
Wow this car was certainly attractive when I drove it. With its red Ferrari like paint and exotic shape, the 3000GT really turned heads when I drove it. Too bad that the car had an automatic transmission (that means it's not adequate for a 3,400lb sports car with only 221hp on tap) and front wheel drive configuration. The visibility from the driver's seat was not too great either. The hood bulged from both sides and I really couldn't see anywhere below the bulges. Not really convenient for parking. Thank God that it didn't come with the outrageous rear wing that the 97+ models came with. Without the turbo, the 3000GT SL was not a superstar in drag racing. I would consider it more as a luxury GT coupe than a true sports car. (Mitsubishi 3000GT SL shown in white, year unknown) MSRP: $29,000 |
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1998 Ford Crown Victoria
Well.. I guess most of you know how this car looks.. it's being used by the cops everywhere. This is definitely not your average Asian family car at all. With its long wheel base and big V8 engine, you know that it's one of the last traditional American sedans around. It actually belonged to my friend Jamie. I had an opportunity to drive her car to take her and my friends to San Francisco from Berkeley. My impression? To my surprise this car wasn't nearly as fast as I anticipated. Maybe it's because we had 5 people in the car, I am not sure. But it just felt slow and floaty on hilly San Francisco streets. The ride, however, was comfortable and soft enough to compensate the vibration from the pot holes and cable car tracks. (1998 Ford Crown Victoria Police Package shown in white) MSRP: $19,000 |
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1998 Mercedes-Benz SLK 320
I actually drove this car in a rainy night with Carl when he was semi drunk. This crazy dude didn't even wear seat belt when I took him out for a spin in our friend Wesley's SLK. Carl was so drunk that he even waved his beer can at the cops when a patrol car drove by us. Anyway, the SLK felt very stable and solid, but it didn't feel too heavy. Its steering was okay, not as soft as many American cars but not as precise as the BMWs'. This car also felt slower than I anticipated. The engine made some buzzing sound when I accelerated and it's orangish interior lights weren't really pleasing to the eyes either. However, it does catch lots of attentions with its top down when driven in a sunny day. Hehehehe.. the girls love it so much that two of my friends actually sat on the same passenger seat just to get a ride in it. (1999 Mercedes-Benz SLK 230 shown in blue) MSRP: $45,000 |
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AC Schnitzer 325isA
Yeap, this is my current car. I love it so much that I just want to rev its engine to hear all the beautiful tones underneath its hood.. heheheheh Actually the 325 isn't really particularly fast when taking off due to the lack of torque. But at high speed driving, this car has no problem reaching 130MPH at all. At 128MPH, the rev. only indicated 5k or so, which means that this car's probably capable of 145MPH if given enough room to run. A very well balanced coupe, the 325 could do almost everything a demanding driver wants it to do. Back when I was a lad, I drove this car at 60MPH on twisty pavements on my way up to Crastal Lake and one of the rear tires caught the sand and I almost went off the cliff! Luckily, the suspension and the car's steering ability saved me and it (her) from death. Scary experience, indeed. (This is the actual car) MSRP: $34,000, plus another $12,000-$20,000 with modifications. |
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1989 Niaan Pulsar NX
Hehehehe.. this is actually my daily driver at school. Too bad that Nissan never bothered to import the potent turbocharged Pulsar to U.S. so no one here was able to have fun with it. But worry not, the standard Pulsar NX was certainly doing a good job pleasing most of us back then. Considering its age (it's 12 years old) and its engine size (1.6 liter 90hp 4 banger), I am more than amazed to see this little car go over 115MPH on the freeway, and that's with my friend in the passenger seat as well (without her I was able to achieve extra 2MPH from its 115MPH max speed.. hehehe). The handling is certainly natural and light. The car wouldn't understeer under most circumstances at all. The steering is also very light, much much lighter than the BMWs'. Sometimes I find this car a lot more fun to drive than my BMW just because it's so forgiving and easy to live with..hehe. (This is the actual car) MSRP: $12,000 (I bought this car at a relatively low cost, however) |
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1996 Toyota Corolla DX
This is my roommate Jeff's car from Berkeley. I've driven a few other Corollas before but since he's the most recent one I drove, I'll just refer to his car for our purpose.. hehe.. As far as I remember, the car felt okay and as most of best selling Japanese cars, wasn't really too difficult to drive. Maybe it's because the way Japanese cars are set up, this car actually felt quite fast when taking off (keep in mind that it only has a 115hp 4 cylinder engine). Unfortunately, the car began to slow down.. at around 30MPH..(hahahah..). Overall, it's a great reliable car with features that average people can live with on the daily basis. It's certainly a good daily driver for those who don't have the time to take care of their cars. (1997 Toyota Corolla DX shown in dark green) MSRP: $15,000 |
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1981 Porsche 924
Gosh this Porsche sucked... hehehehe.. I hate to say this but this car really didn't feel like a Porsche at all. With it weak 4 cylinder engine and out of date body style, the 924 was seriously outcompeted, outdated, and outperformed by many other sports cars today. Nevertheless, it performed well for a 20 year old car. The stick shift was a little hard to shift into gears and the clutch was a bit too heavy for such a small car. It ran with a Mustang once and as expected, this Porsche never had a chance against the big American V8 power. In my personal opinion, I would much rather have a 944. But again, even the 944, or its successor, the 968, does not match up to the standards of most modern sports cars. (1987 Porsche 924 shown in red) MSRP: N/A |
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1994 Saab 900S
The shiny red 1994 Saab 900S is my mom's personal car in Taiwan. Not too much is known about this car since I rarely had the chance to drive/ride in it. However, as far as I remember, it's a very solid, well built Saab. Like other European cars, the Saab feels heavy but is somehow underpowered by its lackluster 4 cylinder engine. I wish my mom had gotten the SE Turbo model instead but I don't think she really cared about speed anyway. Despite its lack of performance, this is a car capable of plenty of speed on the freeway. It's stable as a tank too! I remember this once when my dad drove this car and took us on the freeway (he was going about 150KM (about 93MPH) when the car ran over a piece of concrete block being thrown on the freeway. I was awakened by this sudden big jump of the car but fortunately, the Saab held on as we reached our destination. To my surprise, the only damaged part was a bent right rim. What a solid car to have! (1994 Saab 900S shown in black) MSRP: $40,000 (converted from the price in Taiwan) |
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