Hi, Guest
07-15-2013, 09:27 AM
Well...my membership to the Civic Nation was short-lived. Car started overheating, and other goodies. Took it to the shop, and the head gasket was toast, and the engine was starting to consume a lot of oil too. Engine couldn't hack the pace. I ended up selling the car to a student on my street for $500 just to get it out of my hair. That sucked, and I took at least a $700 loss on the car, after only owning it since March.
I went and looked around again for another Focus in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, and the only ones I could find were either too expensive, or too rusty or needing too many repairs to be worth looking at. So, I started looking at other cars that were available in the area, with a larger budget than I used for the Si, but still reasonable.
I ended up finding, and buying another car only a week after selling the Honda. What did I buy? A 2004 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V. Got it for below market value, and it's got decent mileage on it for it's age. It doesn't have the sport package (which is really the only upgrade from the standard Spec V), which is the Rockford Fosgate Stereo and Sunroof, but it does have the optional paint colour for that year, which I think is called Glacier Silver (has blue in it). The 6-spd took some getting used to, as the throw for 5th isn't very easy at times, but I am doing well with the other 5 gears. The handling is wickedly good, and steering response is really quick. Ride quality is really good (has winter tires on steelies right now, the 17's are in my garage with almost worn out Falken Y-speed rated tires). The 2.5L in the car has power through almost the entire rpm band, and it gets really going above 4000 in every gear. The car does have torque steer in 1st and 2nd when making tight right-handers around curbs, or left turns around medians (this is if you are on it more than half throttle), but the helical limited slip diff keeps it planted around corners when you are up and moving.
On the highway it kicks ass...can leave it in 6th, and it pulls hard from 120 up to 160 really fast without having to downshift. It's also really quick from a rolling start too, and it can outpace lesser cars without any effort (read corollas, civics, sunfires and cavaliers, and even some bigger cars too). It's kinda like a fwd skyline...it's overall package and execution is addictive. Best of all, hardly anyone has one, let alone a regular SE-R. It also earns 2nd looks, and street-cred from people that actually know a thing or two about cars. It's a factory tuned car that slips under the radar of almost everyone...and I like the stealth looks of the car...the 2004 looks more like the regular Sentra's, which is fine by me. Most kids with civics, corollas, or lancers with fart cans and clear tails and rims have no idea that I have between 175 and 180hp and 180+ ft lbs of torque (with 91 octane...manual says results may be higher with higher octane), it just looks like any other Sentra, with a factory spoiler when viewed from a distance. The SE-R Spec V emblems are only visable from closer to the car. I guess the blacked out headlight bezels and smoked tails are the only other differences from the lesser models.
Anyways, I still have to E-test, safety and register it (I bought it thursday night, and couldn't get to the MTO while in Kingston). Will see how that goes, and report back.
L8tz!
I went and looked around again for another Focus in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, and the only ones I could find were either too expensive, or too rusty or needing too many repairs to be worth looking at. So, I started looking at other cars that were available in the area, with a larger budget than I used for the Si, but still reasonable.
I ended up finding, and buying another car only a week after selling the Honda. What did I buy? A 2004 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V. Got it for below market value, and it's got decent mileage on it for it's age. It doesn't have the sport package (which is really the only upgrade from the standard Spec V), which is the Rockford Fosgate Stereo and Sunroof, but it does have the optional paint colour for that year, which I think is called Glacier Silver (has blue in it). The 6-spd took some getting used to, as the throw for 5th isn't very easy at times, but I am doing well with the other 5 gears. The handling is wickedly good, and steering response is really quick. Ride quality is really good (has winter tires on steelies right now, the 17's are in my garage with almost worn out Falken Y-speed rated tires). The 2.5L in the car has power through almost the entire rpm band, and it gets really going above 4000 in every gear. The car does have torque steer in 1st and 2nd when making tight right-handers around curbs, or left turns around medians (this is if you are on it more than half throttle), but the helical limited slip diff keeps it planted around corners when you are up and moving.
On the highway it kicks ass...can leave it in 6th, and it pulls hard from 120 up to 160 really fast without having to downshift. It's also really quick from a rolling start too, and it can outpace lesser cars without any effort (read corollas, civics, sunfires and cavaliers, and even some bigger cars too). It's kinda like a fwd skyline...it's overall package and execution is addictive. Best of all, hardly anyone has one, let alone a regular SE-R. It also earns 2nd looks, and street-cred from people that actually know a thing or two about cars. It's a factory tuned car that slips under the radar of almost everyone...and I like the stealth looks of the car...the 2004 looks more like the regular Sentra's, which is fine by me. Most kids with civics, corollas, or lancers with fart cans and clear tails and rims have no idea that I have between 175 and 180hp and 180+ ft lbs of torque (with 91 octane...manual says results may be higher with higher octane), it just looks like any other Sentra, with a factory spoiler when viewed from a distance. The SE-R Spec V emblems are only visable from closer to the car. I guess the blacked out headlight bezels and smoked tails are the only other differences from the lesser models.
Anyways, I still have to E-test, safety and register it (I bought it thursday night, and couldn't get to the MTO while in Kingston). Will see how that goes, and report back.
L8tz!
Bleeding Ford Blue again...