I never thought I'd be driving a Honda. I was a regular at the Hunts Pt. races, going back and forth from spot to spot, driving my big, brawny and bone stock rare 1995 black on black leather 5spd. Maxima SE. It was awesome on the highway, with a low mileage engine, excellent maintenance, and back seat room like a motherfucker. 
However it was pretty beat up cosmetically from my various accidents, as are most 95-99 Maximas of darker color in NYC, and to boot, the Bose stereo CD player died. Damn you Clarion...
So anyway, the days go by, I finish my 2nd semester at Cooper Union in Manhattan, and I think maybe 2 weeks after I got out it happened. A tire blowout in the rain cost me (and my father) a gem of a car. My 190HP highway eater was gone forever...well, not really. It was more sold to another Maxima guy who wanted to do an auto to manual swap, among other things. He picked up the running but frame-bent Max for 1250 on a flatbed.
Now what?
My friend and fellow car nut always joked that one day I would be driving a buzzy little bubbleback Si, with the Dropzone drop and the unpainted midwing. Lo and behold, my uncle, who was not faring well with his marketing masters degree decides to become a Honda dealer to survive.
Oh boy.
After convincing my parents, we join forces and he starts to look for my car. The constraints? It has to be a Honda, Nissan or Toyota (bleech to Toyota) under 90K miles and $3800. For weeks he tested out Sentra after Sentra, G20 after G20, Altima after Altima...and we almost came close to buying a 93 G20t. However my dad was not too hip to me "upgrading" to an Infiniti (even though he has a Primera in Ghana that he got ripped off for, true story), so we decided to look into Accords, as the Sentras were all old and 100K+, and my uncle didn't like the Altima's feel.
So what were we eventually presented with? A CD coupe and sedan, and the CB sedan I'm driving now. It was narrowed down the coupe and my car...it all came down to whatever we could get cheaper, and what I preferred...which was the CB 4 door of course. Well, it just so happened that the lady with the CB7's husband died
and she didn't want his car around. To add to that, she was fed up with the whole car selling process. In the end, we got the 93 EX w/71K miles for $2200. After a tune-up (in which they missed my missing PCV valve, those Koons bastards)it all came to about 2900 incl. tax.
So how did I like it?
Well, when it got to my house I noticed right away it was super clean. Or at least a lot cleaner than my dingy/badly repainted Maxima. Once I got in, I noticed a lot of things that were different. For one, the shifter and clutch were excellent, light years ahead of the UPS truck units in my Maxima. Also, the view out was really good, which was surprising, as the car's a lot lower than anything I was used to. I fire it up, and instantly take a liking to the engine note. It's a little raspy and a lot more emotional than the VQ was. Pickup is decent, but more importantly there's a new dimension of driving I hadn't experienced before.
The handling.
The steering is heavy with great feedback, and the car feels so light, even though its only 100# less than the Max. The suspension is nice and taut without all that floatyness the Max shared with my mom's minivan. In the end it proves to be more fun than the Max ever was, as I could only enjoy the Max on the parkways...
Now, about 3 months later, I already have a homemade intake, a new stereo, and a drop that's on the way, and an appreciation for underdogs that handle like bobsledders. Once I find the power to match this awesome chassis I don't know if I'll look at anything else unless it's a RWD 2+2 coupe...
So yeah, I drive a Honda now. I don't see why people drive anything less personally...
However it was pretty beat up cosmetically from my various accidents, as are most 95-99 Maximas of darker color in NYC, and to boot, the Bose stereo CD player died. Damn you Clarion...So anyway, the days go by, I finish my 2nd semester at Cooper Union in Manhattan, and I think maybe 2 weeks after I got out it happened. A tire blowout in the rain cost me (and my father) a gem of a car. My 190HP highway eater was gone forever...well, not really. It was more sold to another Maxima guy who wanted to do an auto to manual swap, among other things. He picked up the running but frame-bent Max for 1250 on a flatbed.
Now what?
My friend and fellow car nut always joked that one day I would be driving a buzzy little bubbleback Si, with the Dropzone drop and the unpainted midwing. Lo and behold, my uncle, who was not faring well with his marketing masters degree decides to become a Honda dealer to survive.
Oh boy.
After convincing my parents, we join forces and he starts to look for my car. The constraints? It has to be a Honda, Nissan or Toyota (bleech to Toyota) under 90K miles and $3800. For weeks he tested out Sentra after Sentra, G20 after G20, Altima after Altima...and we almost came close to buying a 93 G20t. However my dad was not too hip to me "upgrading" to an Infiniti (even though he has a Primera in Ghana that he got ripped off for, true story), so we decided to look into Accords, as the Sentras were all old and 100K+, and my uncle didn't like the Altima's feel.
So what were we eventually presented with? A CD coupe and sedan, and the CB sedan I'm driving now. It was narrowed down the coupe and my car...it all came down to whatever we could get cheaper, and what I preferred...which was the CB 4 door of course. Well, it just so happened that the lady with the CB7's husband died
and she didn't want his car around. To add to that, she was fed up with the whole car selling process. In the end, we got the 93 EX w/71K miles for $2200. After a tune-up (in which they missed my missing PCV valve, those Koons bastards)it all came to about 2900 incl. tax. So how did I like it?
Well, when it got to my house I noticed right away it was super clean. Or at least a lot cleaner than my dingy/badly repainted Maxima. Once I got in, I noticed a lot of things that were different. For one, the shifter and clutch were excellent, light years ahead of the UPS truck units in my Maxima. Also, the view out was really good, which was surprising, as the car's a lot lower than anything I was used to. I fire it up, and instantly take a liking to the engine note. It's a little raspy and a lot more emotional than the VQ was. Pickup is decent, but more importantly there's a new dimension of driving I hadn't experienced before.
The handling.
The steering is heavy with great feedback, and the car feels so light, even though its only 100# less than the Max. The suspension is nice and taut without all that floatyness the Max shared with my mom's minivan. In the end it proves to be more fun than the Max ever was, as I could only enjoy the Max on the parkways...
Now, about 3 months later, I already have a homemade intake, a new stereo, and a drop that's on the way, and an appreciation for underdogs that handle like bobsledders. Once I find the power to match this awesome chassis I don't know if I'll look at anything else unless it's a RWD 2+2 coupe...
So yeah, I drive a Honda now. I don't see why people drive anything less personally...
...ok, not that way. But before I got my Accord I was a power/looks nut. Now I want to auto-x and road race which is prob. 10000x more fun than parking your car at some show or going straight for ~15sec...
)
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