Nissan Sentra and Geo Metro
 

Yesterday, I brought my wife's car in, for an alignment. The dealership had tried twice already, but still couldn't get it right. A year later (now) we bring it in, and the guy says: you need new tires! $600 (my wife, too frustrated with the whole thing said "fine, go ahead", so we'll have a brand new set of Dunlops today:mad: )

Well, no s**t Sherlock!

So we got a rental car for the day: a Geo Metro. At first I thought it was a POS, but I was more used to it this morning. It feels pretty solid, it's not as noisy as I thought it would be, for a 3 cylinder engine, but if there are any students out there looking at this car, I'd recommend getting it with a standard transmission, if it's available, 'cause that automatic tranny just sucks the life out of that engine.

And if you are considering a Nissan, make sure that you have a good service shop around: ours is the absolute pits, and being 10 miles from home, I'd rather not go back there any more than I have to. They've scratched the inside, messed up the alignment, didn't stock the right parts, etc...

The funny thing is that we got a Customer Satisfaction Survey card in the mail, for each visit, so they know that we're not happy with them, they're just not doing anything about it... Never mind the fact that the dealership sold us the car for $600 more than what Carmax can do, they let us have a car that had 500+ miles on it (another one of my wife's impulses).

I miss my old Nissan 240 ZX, RWD...

Well, I completly disagree with the Geo... I rented one when I was down in Texas this summer... I got it on the interstate, and headed straight back to Hertz... The car was a complete joke, it was a completly rough ride, and it would not go above 62mph...

But then, it could just be Hertz not maintaining it too... So I ended up getting a Taxi to National car rental, and used my Dads prefered member # and got myself a convertable Mustang for 5 bucks more than I paid for the Geo :D

...I plan on actually buying a new car next summer. My 89' Mercury Tracer does me well, besides the fact that I put 200 bucks in it every summer for an AC recharge. It's completly worth it though, Nebraska humidity sucks. I plan on getting a Toyota Corolla. The new ones are quite sexy, and they have the same engine as the baseline Celica. For me, it's the perfect car. I'm not the one to race, or drive like a total jerk off, so it'll work well for me :dome:

The Corollas are great, I agree, and they do keep their value better than most compacts.

As for your Geo Metro, I believe that that was an exception: mine will do 65 mph very easily. It is a rough ride though, but for someone that doesn't do a lot of highway, I'm sure it's good.

As for Hertz, didn't they just acquire Budget? I'm sure they're cramped for cash, so maintenance would be the first budget cut... (speculation).

when I had a metro rental, it sucked and all... till I had it on the freeway and did redline drops on it... you know a 1L engine can sound like an F1 engine if you rev it high enough?! :)

I was thinking "helicopter", but thought that "lawnmower" was more appropriate:)

I down shifted the car at 70 Mph into 2nd gear, and it sure sounded like an F1 enigine to me :) you know, that whine of enigne internals almost coming apart :)

Mine was an automatic, and since it didn't have that gauge, I'd be guessing at 5'000 RPM just to go 60 mph. The spooky thing is when I let go the gas pedal: the car still goes 60 (for a second), but the rpm drops to maybe 1500.

It reminds me of a Renault 5, but the Renault was better!

oh man...someone praising the Geo...seriously!
I've seen it all :)

really it would be sorta cool to build up a Geo engine ( suzuki I think is the one who really makes it). a 1L 3 Cyl...

Build it up very solid, and push like 40 PSI of boost to it :) and give it a redline of 9000 RPM :)

He he, like that old project of squeezing 500 HP in a Cobra!

I already told a Geo owner the reason why a turbo wouldn't work...

But...

Umm what?!

"Vacuum after it got spooled" ??? that makes no sense at all :)


and also there are some very over boosted 1L engines out there. It can and has been done.

if you mean vacuum from teh exhaust turbine "sucking" the exhaust out, then you are mistaken cause no turbo has near enough mass to keep spinning like that to "suck" anything out of an engine, and the compressor housing will never create a vacuum cause its blowing air INTO the engine which would be the opposite of vacuum.

It was a joke I posted to a thread on the H|Forum...

And it makes sense...strangely...

After the first few exhaust pulses...you end up with the scavenging effect...

As for 1L engines...they aren't Geo engines are they :) They are Million dollar Honda and McLaren engines.

This is a Geo engine we're talking about :D

And there are some mighty big turbos out there...

Ahh a joke from the Hf... that would explain it...

Just cause its a Geo ( suzuki) engine doesnt mean it cant be built up. Close the deck, new lubrication system, new internals, new cams, new valves...

a scavenging effect would only come from a BIG MOFO turbine on the turbo. Most turbos with a well sized turbine for the compressor size will have none of that effect.

A Geo engine can't be built up...
The only engine that can...is the Swift engine :)

As for the turbo...the turbo that the joke was made from, had a large turbine housing. Proably came off a Semi or a Tractor.

And why would you want to beef up a Metro!!!
Now swapping a Hayabusa Turbo engine...thats a different story:drool: