What's up, people of Supramania? Long time no see. I doubt anyone remembers me nor knows who I am. lol
So here's the story: my last daily ('94 Celica coupe) kicked the bucket on me back in April with rod knock after coming home from a short trip to Florida. At that point, I had lost steam (time, space, and funding) in my Supra project as well. By then, my mom had given up on old cars and their problems ever since she picked up her '08 Corolla, so she offered to get me a "new" car to last me through college.
At the time, I was looking at a few cars:
-Subaru Legacy 2.5GT
-STi
-Evo
-S2000
-G35 Coupe/350Z
-Mazdaspeed3
-Civic Si Coupe or Sedan
Looked around for a couple of months doing some shopping on something around the $16K mark and getting the OK with insurance. That meant that full coverage would need to be at about $200 a month or less. So with those criterias, that knocked the STi, MS3, and 350Z off of the list. Finding a low mileage S2000 within the price range that didn't have a rebuilt title due to some a-hole slashing the top was like finding a needle in a haystack. The Si's that were in our price range ended up being a few hundred miles away and we were looking for something as close to home as possible and an affordable Evo didn't pop up until about 3 months later.
So with that, I settled on a 2005 Athens Blue on black G35 coupe in early June. Probably one of the best blues in Infiniti's line-up next to the '03-'04 Caribbean Blue IMO. Private party one owner (was their weekend car), 47K miles on the clock, 6-spd, Sports Suspension, and 19" OEM Rays wheels. Pretty much fully loaded minus navi and tinted windows. Picked it up for an even $17K with $7K down and a $10K loan @ 3% (Yup. Three Percent) interest with full coverage insurance @ $170/month with State Farm and all it is is a 5" longer version of a 350Z with a backseat. Sold the Supra to help pay off the car quicker. Figured I'd pick up another Mk3 in the future.
It's a fun car for what it is given that it has a few quirks. Clutch engagement is a little finicky even with a new clutch. Clutch line and fluid was fail and boiled in stop'n'go traffic, so that was replaced with an SS clutch line and DOT4 fluid. My passenger door lock motor stopped working about 4 months in, but is a simple fix that I've yet to get around to. Seats are a little wide for my small frame. Forget attempting a burn-out or clutch dump unless you can by-pass the VDC and trac controller. The "Rev" gauge in the center of the gauge cluster I find to be totally stupid and pointless. Would have been better off with an oil pressure gauge or something more useful. And I kinda wished that it came with some other luxury enmities that other luxury automakers offered in their cars during that time for the price people paid for when it was new.
Other than that, I enjoy the car and I get great a many compliments on it. It's got some pep to it and handles pretty well for stock suspension.
Anywho, enough of my babbling and onto some pics:
On the day I picked it up.
According to the slipping dyno, I made 464HP at one point with just a K&N drop-in. lol
Did a "quick" detailing on it prior to our Austin Hill Country run only for it to get tagged on the front passenger fender the night before we left for Austin. *facepalm* But hey, it's still pretty shiny after being halfway through our run.
So yup. That's that.
So here's the story: my last daily ('94 Celica coupe) kicked the bucket on me back in April with rod knock after coming home from a short trip to Florida. At that point, I had lost steam (time, space, and funding) in my Supra project as well. By then, my mom had given up on old cars and their problems ever since she picked up her '08 Corolla, so she offered to get me a "new" car to last me through college.
At the time, I was looking at a few cars:
-Subaru Legacy 2.5GT
-STi
-Evo
-S2000
-G35 Coupe/350Z
-Mazdaspeed3
-Civic Si Coupe or Sedan
Looked around for a couple of months doing some shopping on something around the $16K mark and getting the OK with insurance. That meant that full coverage would need to be at about $200 a month or less. So with those criterias, that knocked the STi, MS3, and 350Z off of the list. Finding a low mileage S2000 within the price range that didn't have a rebuilt title due to some a-hole slashing the top was like finding a needle in a haystack. The Si's that were in our price range ended up being a few hundred miles away and we were looking for something as close to home as possible and an affordable Evo didn't pop up until about 3 months later.
So with that, I settled on a 2005 Athens Blue on black G35 coupe in early June. Probably one of the best blues in Infiniti's line-up next to the '03-'04 Caribbean Blue IMO. Private party one owner (was their weekend car), 47K miles on the clock, 6-spd, Sports Suspension, and 19" OEM Rays wheels. Pretty much fully loaded minus navi and tinted windows. Picked it up for an even $17K with $7K down and a $10K loan @ 3% (Yup. Three Percent) interest with full coverage insurance @ $170/month with State Farm and all it is is a 5" longer version of a 350Z with a backseat. Sold the Supra to help pay off the car quicker. Figured I'd pick up another Mk3 in the future.
It's a fun car for what it is given that it has a few quirks. Clutch engagement is a little finicky even with a new clutch. Clutch line and fluid was fail and boiled in stop'n'go traffic, so that was replaced with an SS clutch line and DOT4 fluid. My passenger door lock motor stopped working about 4 months in, but is a simple fix that I've yet to get around to. Seats are a little wide for my small frame. Forget attempting a burn-out or clutch dump unless you can by-pass the VDC and trac controller. The "Rev" gauge in the center of the gauge cluster I find to be totally stupid and pointless. Would have been better off with an oil pressure gauge or something more useful. And I kinda wished that it came with some other luxury enmities that other luxury automakers offered in their cars during that time for the price people paid for when it was new.
Other than that, I enjoy the car and I get great a many compliments on it. It's got some pep to it and handles pretty well for stock suspension.
Anywho, enough of my babbling and onto some pics:
On the day I picked it up.
According to the slipping dyno, I made 464HP at one point with just a K&N drop-in. lol
Did a "quick" detailing on it prior to our Austin Hill Country run only for it to get tagged on the front passenger fender the night before we left for Austin. *facepalm* But hey, it's still pretty shiny after being halfway through our run.
So yup. That's that.