Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

Vice vs. Versa?

This angle make the Mustang appear to be much larger than the Nissan
 but they are actually pretty close in size.

Today I picked up a rental car for my trip down to Riverside.

A Mothers Day visit to my Mother in law, it would be the Wife and myself and my daughter. The F150 was out. While two can travel in spacious comfort and luxury adding a middle passenger would be quite unpleasant.

Three passengers would be quite cramped and uncomfortable, I know, I've done it. So the truck is out.

Besides my F150 I currently don't have anything that would be appropriate for this trip.

My '96 Mustang GT would easily make the trip, I did a weekend trip to Riverside last year, where I dropped off my Wife, who flew back. I thoroughly enjoyed the drive. Yes, the ride can be rough and there is a little exhaust rumble but I find it fun. It is yards ahead in comfort than any motorcycle I've ever ridden.

My Wife says that she doesn't mind the ride, but my Daughter would be quite cramped in the back seat for a trip of this length. Worst of all, is that the rear seat back is low, with no headrest. The rear seat passenger cannot lean back with their head supported. They really can't lean up against the side of the top. When my kids have fallen asleep in the back seat their head just falls forward and hangs there. A situation that had just gotten worse as the kids grew up.

I would take the Explorer but it also shares the rough ride and rattle can thing. Fortunately I was checking under the hood when I observed coolant pooling on the top of the motor. It appears that it is leaking from the thermostat housing. Not a real bad leak, but a leak nonetheless. I've always advised that you should never take a car on a long trip if you know that there is something wrong with it.
So the Explorer is a no go, at least for this trip. I have used it quite a bit to carry three to four passengers and it's quite useful. It's rated as 19 mpg. highway on the window sticker. Not too impressive. However that's still better than my buddy's newer Chevy Tahoe.

How about my XJ6?

Like I said don't take a car with a problem. I'm still dealing with the leaking rim.

It runs fine, and it even seems that the suspension problem is not as bad as I had thought. There are still some bad thumps in the suspension going over bumps that I'd like to address first.

Could we have taken the 2007 Mustang?  Maybe. However there is still the issue with the backseat.

Back when this was our family car we took many trips to LA, Clearlake and even further in this car. It is cramped back there. The other issue is that there is only one opening side window, the door glass. My Daughter likes to ride with an open window, and the noise and buffeting get to me and my Wife. Especially over a 800 mile trip.

So that left me with the option of renting a car.

It would be nice to rent a new car that gets much better mileage. The best of my fleet only return 25mpg.

At Enterprise we had a choice between a Versa, a Frontier quad cab p/u, or a Dodge minivan.

I chose the Versa.

Panel fit and paint quality are first rate.

Styling is not what I would call attractive
but it is utilitarian.

I really liked the dash lay out and the quality
 and workmanship of assembly was quite good. I found the seats supportive.

The backseat had plenty of legroom. The driver's seat is already adjusted to my liking.
The tall seats give plenty of leg room.

The trunk is large, well shaped, with a pass through.
The opening is much larger than my '96 Mustang

Gone are the days of the puny 13 in. wheels.
The Versa sported 15 in 195 cross section tires on alloy wheels.

It may sound funny, but since I don't have much contact with modern compact cars I am quite impressed with how far they have evolved. I haven't owned a compact car since I sold my Civic back in 1995.

Last Summer I got to drive my Daughter in Law's little Hyundai and I will admit that I was quite impressed. These cars have very good space utilization.

Readers my age might have memories of cramped, under powered VW Bugs, Pintos, Vegas, or early Honda Civics. These cars lacked any luxury or comfort features.

I have previously written about my Civics. I found my '75 coupe and wagon to be quite good little cars. My '90 Civic SI remains one of my favorite cars of all time.

I drove 800 miles in two days, to Riverside and back. What did I discover?

That these compact cars have evolved, quite a bit.

What about power?  one of the most basic complaints of old school compacts. No issue there.

My route included both Pacheco Pass Rd, SR 152 and the infamous Grapevine of Interstate 5. Loaded with three adults plus some luggage the car easily maintained 75mph. the whole length of I 5. There was plenty of power for accelerating uphill and entering freeway on ramps. I even cruised at 80 mph. a few times. It's got 100 hp and I don't doubt it could easily hit 100 mph or more. Punch the throttle and the motor will wind out, banging out shifts. Very impressive.

Oh, to be picky the motor was a little loud under load, especially when it down shifted. The transmission could also be a little rough at low speeds.

How about the ride and handling?

The car turned 30,000 miles over this weekend. The ride was quiet but a bit "pitchy" over rough road. Though nothing shook or started rattling. The brakes were very good. It was not designed to be a road car, but it can do it! The car feels somewhat "busy " at high highway speeds, especially mixing it up among the big rigs and gusting side and head winds. It is sensitive to side winds and accidental inputs to the steering wheel. It took me a while to learn that two hands on the wheel help dampen any over corrections on my part.

The suspension was not intended as a sporting set up but it held the road well, thanks to the large tires.  There was a noticeable amount of body roll when put through a tight turn.

Accommodations; The car is designed to accommodate four adults. The seats are mounted high and legroom front and rear is very good.. The car is quite tall and at 5'10'' I found plenty of headroom. A six footer would be comfortable. The shortcoming is that the interior is rather narrow. There isn't enough space to have an armrest that can be used by both driver and passenger, The rear seat is also lacking a center arm rest. While there are front and rear cupholders, they are not easily accessible. There aren't any cubbyholes in the dash for phones, eyeglasses or such, but there just isn't that much real estate to put those things.

Like most modern cars it is fully equipped with things that used to be optional luxuries: A/C, tinted glass, cruise control, tilt wheel, power windows and locks, trunk release, and a blue tooth connected infotainment system.

Passenger safety items like twin airbags and effective seatbelts and ABS are all part of the package.

Economy? Over the 800 miles the average fuel consumption was 34.8 mpg. I spent 96.00 on fuel for the entire trip! My truck would have returned under 20 mpg. for this trip under similar conditions.

So am I ready to ditch all my old cars for a modern compact vehicle?

While this Nissan served admirably in this situation it did have it's limitations.

So what did I think of the car?

Comparing older cars against new, is something of an apples vs. oranges comparison.

Does my Mustang or any other cars in my fleet really meet the requirements of "vice"?

Some were purchased because they served a purpose,  such as my F150 and later, my Explorer.

The others,well, they filled a desire. Some have actually fulfilled this desire for a long time. Like my Mustang convertible.

One also served as my daily for about a year and a half, My XJ6,

The XJS was bought as wish fulfillment as it really hasn't been used as a real car. It was just a method to allow me to take part in a fantasy. That's what I get for reading Octane magazine.

My poor old Mark VII just inhabits  a strange place in my mind, a hopeful fantasy, but even worse than my XJS.

Perhaps the best conclusion that I can draw is that a new compact car could fulfill most of my everyday needs in a more economical manner. Except that to save money on gas I would have to cough up more than fifteen grand to buy one!