do you miss your car

[Hammer Down]

It is all personal opinion I know but I like my wife's 2005 Altima.  Not as 
a sports sedan but for the "drive it 3200 miles in one week long trip and 
not hate it" aspect.  Seats are comfortable and yet supportive, interior is 
nicely laid out for a big car and the egnines 255 hp is enough to keep 
things interesting.  The three kids had plenty of room in the back seat 
without freaking out (did most of the driving at night and sight-seeing 
during the day.  Interior has held up well, as has the rest of the car.  38k 
on the clock and counting.  We have the 3.5 SL version with everything 
except navigation.  Nice car.  No, again, it isn't a sports sedan but it 
cruises right along just nicely, thank you and seems to have a personality 
that the Accord and Camry lack.  17x8 wheels and better performance oriented 
tires have helped to eliminate some of the whallowing the car tended to 
do.....  Stock wheels now hold the winter tires.  Back on the topic, I do 
miss my det'ed SE-R classic.  It was that tossable fun aspect that recently 
made me not want to sell the NX2k (saved from the crusher) until I scored on 
the GTS-t.  It is hard to find a car that I wanted over the Skyline once I 
had a chance to drive all of the real world cars on my "want list" and the 
"cost factor" was thrown into the equation.  I think if money was less of a 
factor and if the Skyline was more of a comon car, then I would have 
probably selelcted the Evo.  It was the "scalpel" of all the cars.  A 
precision instument that begged to be used and flogged and it did exactly 
what you asked of it.  The G35 was nice but more of a GT than a precision 
driving tool like the Evo.  Even the newer M3's left me unsatisfied in 
comparison to the Evo.  The WRX-STi still felt like a FWD car on tight 
manuevers.  Anyway, I love the Skyline.  It has it's own set of quicks, 
mainly the "17 year old car blues" but I can live with that.  As far as 
Nissan's newer products I think they are going a little too mainstream and 
forgetting the hardcore edge they offered in versions like the original SER 
and the 300ZX-TT.  The Azeal Concept car would be a cool car if it had the 
performance (power, handling, braking etc) that was promised but the Versa 
version we have in the show rooms is more than just a dissapointment.  It is 
like Nissan is trying to become more like Toyota, whom figured out how to 
make a better Buick and be profitable doing it....   I don't want a Buick 
and if that is all they have to offer, I will take my purchasing power else 
where.  The 2-door version of the Altima is weird to me.  Is the coupe 
version of the Accord and then the Solara selling that well that Nissan sees 
fit to jump on the band wagon?  It was mentioned earlier but how about an 
affordable RWD and/or AWD platform that is performance oriented and yet 
understanded for the enthusiast with 2 or 3 kids....  The 350Z is cool but I 
can't cram my 3 kids int he back seat.......  it doens't have a back seat...

Take care!
Erik Halvorson

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