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The BMW 745i. It features the most technology packed in a car.

K-CAN-S (Body control area network system ) Maximum data rate 100 kbps, Linear network topology

D-BUS ( Diagnoctic Bus ) Maximum data rate 115 Kbps Linear network topology

Byteflight Safety System Bus Maximum data rate 10 Mbps network topology star

MOST ( Media-Oriented System Transport ) Maximum data rate 22.5 Mbps network topology Ring

K-CAN-P ( Body Control Area Network-Periphery) Maximum data rate 100 Kbps

PT-CAN ( Power Train Control Area Network ) Maximum data rate 500Kbps
Linear network topology

iDrive Control Features as many as 700 User Functions

Ambient Light Sensing Instrument Cluster ( adjusts to amount of light )

Electronic Parking Brake, and many more things.

my budget would be under 20 grand. For that price the 2002 Volkswagen GTI or Jetta 1.8T would be the best performers in their class. For under 20 grand i don't think u can find a better car than those two. It has a good combination of luxury n perfomance.

Don't ever get a crappy civic, they SUCK! I drive a civic ex n it goes from 0-60 in about a freakin week. Steer clear.

[quote="hoser"]I have to wholeheartedly agree with you Gundyrat, the Eagle Talon is a hell of a car. I used to have a '90 TSi. Just the fact that an inline 4 cyl can put out a stock 200hp (turbocharged) is amazing. [/quote]

What's so amazing about 200 hp from a turbocharged 4 when the S2000 gets 240 WITHOUT turbocharging?

The perfect vehicle in my humble opinion is the BMW M5

Why? anyone who has seen the BMW films "Star" & "Chosen" will understand a little. After having owned 2 older 7 series BMW's I'm hooked. The cars are tanks, they handle as if they're psychic (you think it the car does it) and they're fast and comfortable, cruise control became my best friend, due to the speed creeping up on me (above 75 theres very little to tell your going faster, 100+ feels like 80......lol)

There's something about a sedan that can pull family duty that has 400 horsepower

johnleiwoo wrote:

my budget would be under 20 grand. For that price the 2002 Volkswagen GTI or Jetta 1.8T would be the best performers in their class. For under 20 grand i don't think u can find a better car than those two. It has a good combination of luxury n perfomance.

Don't ever get a crappy civic, they SUCK! I drive a civic ex n it goes from 0-60 in about a freakin week. Steer clear.

My wife & I have been seeing a newer black Jetta around here lately that is just beautiful. I've never owned a non-American made car but this makes me consider it.

How are the automatics in the new Jettas? Any good? We would have to have an auto.

Here's a technology review from the good folks at Ars Technica:

Caesar wrote:

I find the technology used in hybrid cars to be fascinatingly clever. I mean sure, technology in general is clever, but so much geekery today involves building fatter pipes and crankin' up the MHz. This Civic Hybrid tries to gain more from by consuming less, and while doing so it meets the needs of a typical compact sedan owner. Would I ever buy one? I don't know, I'm a bit biased towards torque, but man this is cool.

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/02q3/civ ... -hy-1.html

Dan 'FaceDown' Carson wrote:

The words just won’t come out right. You look at the car before you get into it. It looks no different than any other car out on the road (save for the “Hybrid” tag on the back with its green background). Still, your mind knows that this car is different from almost all other cars out there. The simple act of sitting in the car makes you feel better about yourself and your driving habits. You are a better person than that guy next to you in the Camaro or the F150. You know that’s not necessarily the case, but it feels that way. At least, it does if you've either bought the car or are seriously considering it.

$13,000 - Probably a Ford Focus with a friend's discount; reliable, good gas mileage, and at that price, no one's looking for good looks.

$25,000 - A new Chevy Astrovan, or Dodge Savana, depending on which dealer is closest to my house (they're pretty much the same van). Painted black, no rear windows, giant white skull-and-crossbones painted on both sides, and the lisence plate "ARRRRR".

Haven't really thought about anything above that.

I've recently had experience with a rental Focus. It is a surprisingly decent car, with exceptionally-good handling and ride. If Ford hadn't had to recall it so many times for defects, the Focus might pose real competition for Honda and Toyota.

The main problem with those hybrid cars, among many, is that California criminals in the legislature and governor's office decided to violate the American single market enshrined in the Constitution, and Congress hasn't seen fit to correct them yet (thanks to cowardice and corruption). The criminals in CA forced car makers to offer cars with absurd gas mileage. So the companies had to come up with these hybrids. But they also have to sell enough of them to comply with the law. So they subsidize every buyer with a huge discount, and lose quite a bit on each car sold.

When this first went into effect, if I remember correctly one American company was losing $9,000 for every car sold. That's obscene. I sure as hell wouldn't participate in any extortion scheme like that.

While I appreciate the effort that you put into ranting against the elected leaders of our government, I believe that you may be slightly confused about the facts.

Ragnar Dan wrote:

When this first went into effect, if I remember correctly one American company was losing $9,000 for every car sold. That's obscene. I sure as hell wouldn't participate in any extortion scheme like that.

No U.S. company has offered a hybrid vehicle yet. The subject of your rant might be more closely related to a few early all-electric development vehicles from GM.

Only 3 hybrid gasoline/electric vehicles have been offered to U.S. consumers:
1. Honda Insight
2. Toyota Prius
3. Honda Civic Hybrid

The sticker price of the Civic Hybrid is slightly more expensive than similarly-equipped all-gasoline Civic EX or LX Sedans. Honda would not plan to sell over 20,000 of them per year if they were not covering their costs. If you are really wanting to "stick it to the man," remember that you can claim a $2000 federal tax credit if you purchase a hybrid vehicle.

The next hybrid vehicle to reach the market will likely be a Ford Escape.

2000 camaro ss, sick fast high performance car,fast car and it can pick up any chick u want =)
not to expensive either

JustAnEngineer wrote:

While I appreciate the effort that you put into ranting against the elected leaders of our government, I believe that you may be slightly confused about the facts.

Ragnar Dan wrote:

When this first went into effect, if I remember correctly one American company was losing $9,000 for every car sold. That's obscene. I sure as hell wouldn't participate in any extortion scheme like that.

No U.S. company has offered a hybrid vehicle yet. The subject of your rant might be more closely related to a few early all-electric development vehicles from GM.

Only 3 hybrid gasoline/electric vehicles have been offered to U.S. consumers:
1. Honda Insight
2. Toyota Prius
3. Honda Civic Hybrid

The sticker price of the Civic Hybrid is slightly more expensive than similarly-equipped all-gasoline Civic EX or LX Sedans. Honda would not plan to sell over 20,000 of them per year if they were not covering their costs. If you are really wanting to "stick it to the man," remember that you can claim a $2000 federal tax credit if you purchase a hybrid vehicle.

The next hybrid vehicle to reach the market will likely be a Ford Escape.

I think you're right about the American thing. As corrected, I'm thinking it was the Toyota now, but I would have to go back and look up the coverage I read about it when this first happened. I'd have to pay Nexis to do that, probably, and I'm not that interested in it to do so. As for the $2000 tax credit, again, that's involving oneself in a crime if you ask me. Even though the feds call it OK, receipt of stolen property is still a crime, just like it is for all those EITC recipients.