[Chris65LeMans]

Originally Posted by NBF823

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I drove that car 50,000 miles between 1991 and 1993. (I replaced it when I was 18 - so that was quite a feat.) I would get on the highway and drive that thing 115 mph (top speed) for an hour on end with no problems, then pop the hood when I parked and gawk at the red hot exhaust manifold.

I think my dad was pretty smart buying a 16 year old that car. It was rear wheel drive and a 5-speed, so I could flog it pretty good. My favorite thing to do was turn a corner and go down or up a gear really hard to throw the rear out and take corners sideways. (the kids now call it drifting but they, in my opinion, cheat by using the parking brake.)

The day I brought it home, it was raining and I spun it into a curb doing that exact thing. No lasting damage, but I can still see the chunk I took out of the curb.

One problem I didn't mention was the black on the plastic bumpers - that paint would just fall off. I had to repaint those damn things every 6 months! I actually saw a red '87 200SX in San Francisco a few years ago that had perfect black bumper moldings - how did they do that?

I replaced that car with a brand new '94 Honda Civic with 5 speed and a 1.5 liter 130 hp VTEC 4 cylinder. The Honda was a rocket by comparison...