The Domestics vs Imports thread

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Ok for folks into cars and such feel free to place your opinions on imports and domestics. I like both and I know both have their ups and downs Imports are generally more reliable than domestics but on the downside are more expensive to work on and beef up. Musclecars are cheap to get a grip of horsepower and tend to blow away most imports like Hondas with no effort not so much against Nissan 300zx's Toyota Supras Rx7s etc those kinda go either way usually. But are a bit less reliable and not as good on gas mileage. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81ESBO3Mchs[/youtube].[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmPFiieEvuQ[/youtube]

I like both so long as they are cheap to play with. I have played with everything from air cooled Volkswagens to rear engined Fiats to VTEC Civics and classic diesel Mercedes Benzes as well as 5.0 Mustangs, a 406 powered Camaro, AMCs and a Chevy powered Oldsmobile. I have drag raced and I am also building a hypermiling car too. The way I see it, every car has it's purpose and no one car is good at everything. A 10 second drag car will kill my Metro in a straight line, but if the race is an economy run, the 50-60 mpg 3 cylinder will run rings around it. Likewise, an Integra is not a particularly good choice for drag racing. However, it will demolish a Camaro on a road course. Likewise, if you are going out in the desert somewhere far from civilization, a air cooled VW would be the best choice due to it's simplicity and ruggedness. Thus, it depends on what you want it to do.

As for me, my daily drivers are all Japanese designed vehicles that were built in the US or Canada. My fast stuff is typically domestic. I drive 30-40k miles a year, so reliability and fuel economy trump most other things when choosing my work cars (I deliver pizza). The Nissan truck I have has nearly 370,000 miles of city driving on it, one engine and one owner. It was retired from delivery work for the Geo Metro because it uses half the gas the truck does. When done, I expect 45mpg city and 60 hwy from my super-Metro, but I still have to finish the more efficient engine I have been trying to put together for over a year now. If I replace the Metro soon (the insurance cost is ridiculous), it will be with a Toyota Yaris Hatchback with a manual transmission. Would I race any of these vehicles? NO! But that was never the point. My Oldsmobile with a mild 355 Gen I small block Chevrolet under the hood has far more potential to go fast on a budget than my truck or front drivers ever will. Likewise, my AMC Spirit with a 360 under the hood handles terribly but is not too bad in a straight line. If I wanted something to do both though, my answer would be a hybrid. I would build either an S13 240sx or a FD RX-7 with an LSX swap.