car crash

[coolbreeze01]

well i was in a car crash and long story short, he pulled out infront of me and he's at fault so i'm getting a new car, the only problem, which one should i get? i'm trying to pick between 2 cars i really want and i was hoping that someone might have one of these cars. The first is a firebird. I've wanted this car for a long time. The second is a CJ Jeep. If you don't know what that is, it's the small jeep where the top and sometimes to doors come off. This would work great for going on the beach. If anyone has either of these cars and can shed some light on the situation please tell me.

[z]

My roommates have a Firebird, and I had neighbors when I was a teenager who loved old F-bodies. I have driven every generation of Firebird except for the first. These statements apply to every generation of Firebird except for the first unless otherwise noted.

Firebirds handle like lowered trucks. That's not a bad thing in every situation - they tend to have decent cornering grip in a smooth constant-radius turn. Just hope you don't have to make corrections or hit even a small bump[0]. It's easy to blame the handling on the trucklike rigid rear-axle, but early Toyota Supras and Ford's mid-80s Mustang SVO do not share this problem. I'm inclined to think that GM simply didn't care. The car is also heavy, and feels like it. Steering is very light and communicates nearly nothing about what the car is doing. It's a little heavy in the fourth generation, but still numb. The brakes are grabby and difficult to apply with precision. A limited slip differential is a very good thing, especially if you may encounter bad weather. That's true for any car, but it's actually an option on a Firebird.

Some Firebirds are quick. Some aren't. Compare horsepower and weight and you pretty much have the whole story there.

The interior room is very small compared to the exterior size of the car, especially in the fourth generation. They look smaller than they are from the outside. Visibility could be better out of the fourth generation. Earlier models are better. The fourth generation Firebird has a cheap feel to the materials used in the interior. Older generations are somewhat better.

In case it wasn't clear, I'm not a huge Firebird fan. I think Drummer has one, and a different opinion to go with it.

Jeeps totally awesome if you're driving off road and rather out of their element as on-road daily drivers. Comparing a Firebird and a CJ is a bit like asking if you should get a kitten or a pony as a pet.

[0] This assumes you're driving at the limit and should not be taken to imply that the Firebird handles poorly in normal driving. Indeed, it handles significantly better than most cars, especially those with front wheel drive. It's just that most cars are shockingly bad.

[Aj]

Z beat me to it :P
I have friends who have had both. The one who had the firebird has owned 2 of them, he was into the racing and did alot of the stuff for high school drags. Yes they are low, you will feel the bumps, almost all of them. Thats what happends when you have a low-profile car. The interior is very bland and dull to me. No doubt there still are alot of Firebirds on the street, 7 years after production stopped. The only time i'd buy a firebird was if it was the TransAm-Ram Air with the Windsor.

Ironiclly after the birds he bought a Jeep. I have a SUV 4x4 and won't buy anyting less. I love knowing that i can get anywhere i want to reguardless of the weather. If I'm remembering correctly, you said you live a fur piece away from the city? Gravel? Good luck on your daily commute down those roads in a Firebird. In addition, cities don't tend to pave those roads when there has been snow on a regular basis. Well ours don't : ) Used SUV's are a good buy today, cheap.

[coolbreeze01]

well i guess i shoulda been more clear about the jeep, if i get a jeep it's either gonna be a CJ or a Wrangler cause i want the top to come off for the beach. As far as the handling on the firebird, i have licenses to drive a truck, big rig, what ever you wanna call it so i'm not really to woried about how the car handles.

[Aj]

? lol
You want the Wrangler just for the top? The handling on the firebird isnt even close to one on a trucker. Two totally different vehicles

[coolbreeze01]

i know the handling is different, but i keep hearing how hard it is to handle but i'm not really worried about that. and i don't want the wrangler just for the top, i want to go on the beach and get to my job and not have a top on it so i can feel the wind.

[Aj]

Oh ok lol. I guess its not all that weird. A lot of people base their buy on if its a convertible im sure. My advice is to go to kelly blue book's website. Check for known issues and recalls. Would make sense to find out everything about the vehicle

[Kethoth]

before you get a firebird make sure you dont have a lot of train tracks in your area...

[z]

Let me clarify. I'm not saying that Firebirds are difficult to drive. They're not, though visibility out of the last ones is suboptimal. Firebirds are superior to the average non-performance car in every performance category, including handling. There is no reason not to drive one on gravel/snow provided that there aren't large potholes that the car doesn't have enough ground clearance to handle.

A Firebird is generally considered a performance-oriented car. People buying performance-oriented cars often, surprise surprise, care about how the car performs. Relative to other performance-oriented cars, Firebirds handle poorly. Such drivers often care about the "feel" of the car as well. No measurements can properly quantify it, but a Firebird feels like a truck.

[coolbreeze01]

well there is a train quary about 1 mile from where i live, and i have to cross it in order to get into the main towns on delmarva, so that would be a problem, and so far from what i heard, i'd be better to just get a jeep, and i know my friend is selling his for 3,000, it's a 99 CJ7 so i think i'm just gonna buy that. Thx for the advice guys