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Old October 12th, 2009, 01:17 AM   #1
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Fun with rental cars

I had a funny experience this summer that I was just thinking about as I was reading another post about shifting.

When I go away for the weekend with my wife, I like to rent fun cars, if I can swing it that is. Since we are in CA and typically vacation at the coast, this is usually a convertible. While in San Diego this year I FINALLY got my hands on a 350Z Convert - FUN!

Here is the thing though..... for some crazy reason, here in the US all you can rent are cars with automatic transmissions (suck), unlike in Europe. I grew up driving manuals, am not afraid of anything that shifts, and believe it is a mortal sin to have a sports car that has an automatic transmission. Although I try to keep an open mind with some of the new fancy paddle shifting cars, I prefer a clutch I can feather/modulate myself. Now a lot of cars with autos have those "tiptronic" (brand name I think) or sports types, where you can override the auto tranny by selecting your gear...... but they SUCK because they shift so SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWW, and override YOU when it thinks you are being an idiot (maybe I WANT to be an idiot), this brings to mind a certain Airbus crash when the pilot couldn't override the "smarter than pilot" computer... but that is a different story.

Getting back to my story, I realize I digressed a bit. OK, I didn't have a manual to play with, but of course I had to play with the sport shift option (if that is what it is called), to gain a modicum of control. Yes, the tranny really sucked, but the whole package was a blast.... and being a rental it was the more basic trim package. I believe the touring model has an upgraded tranny. So, I'm screaming along, crossing the Coronado Bridge, taking to my bro on the speaker phone, and he says, "what the hell are you doing to that poor car!" He was right too..... I am so used to riding a "sports bike" 365 days a year, that I was trying to shift the poor thing like my bike. Ouch... I did keep it out of the red and brought the RPMs down for the rest of the trip though (no wonder the power band was so weak up there) - LOL
I have an excuse though.... when we got the car there were LESS than 1K miles on it, so I was just braking it in the MotoMan way!
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Old October 12th, 2009, 08:22 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by headshrink View Post
I grew up driving manuals, am not afraid of anything that shifts, and believe it is a mortal sin to have a sports car that has an automatic transmission.
I agree 110%. I have never owned an automatic car, and I really don't plan to (thought I'm sure it'll end up happening one day since manuals are getting less and less common). I don't care what vehicle it is, it's just more fun in stick shift.
However most Americans like auto, and you wouldn't believe how many people don't even have a clue how to drive stick. We went out to dinner a few weeks ago and the valet guy at the hotel had no clue how to drive the car and had to call someone. Hilarious (And scary...you have a job driving cars and you cant drive a car...)

As far as the rentals...I tear em to pieces myself probably a lot worse then you did. It's a rental, they know people are gonna treat them bad, so why not have fun? (this is also why I would NEVER consider buying from a used rental fleet, haha)
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Old October 12th, 2009, 08:23 AM   #3
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Bad boy, no abusing of the poor car. It didn't do anything wrong to you.
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Old October 12th, 2009, 10:50 AM   #4
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should've rented a honda s2000 so much more fun athough they don't come in manual so they wouldnt have any... the s2000 is like riding the 250, keep the revs up, vtec kicks in at 6K - of course it doesn't get the gas milage
I miss that car... I drove a 350z before, its faster but the s2000 screams like a bike, and wants to be revved all the way to 9k (8k for newer ones).


Tiptronic cars are boring. I drove a few of them and I just left it in auto. The "shifting" is pointless to me and only for people who drive auto anyway.
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Old October 12th, 2009, 11:33 AM   #5
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Quote:
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We went out to dinner a few weeks ago and the valet guy at the hotel had no clue how to drive the car and had to call someone. Hilarious (And scary...you have a job driving cars and you cant drive a car...)
I can't believe that!!! I used to be a valet in college. Although manuals are becoming more rare, the valet should still see several in a day, unless they only see BMW/BENZ/LEX. (although I have driven manual versions of all of them). No Porche for you Mr. unqualified valet! Ah the day that beautiful old Jag XKE came in to see me.... or the NSX, mmmmm... or that retched day I called in sick, when the Ferrari came in All of them Sticks only.
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Old October 12th, 2009, 12:26 PM   #6
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I can't believe that!!! I used to be a valet in college. Although manuals are becoming more rare, the valet should still see several in a day, unless they only see BMW/BENZ/LEX. (although I have driven manual versions of all of them). No Porche for you Mr. unqualified valet! Ah the day that beautiful old Jag XKE came in to see me.... or the NSX, mmmmm... or that retched day I called in sick, when the Ferrari came in All of them Sticks only.
Well when we went up, there was an Audi R8 and a few higher end Mercedes parked at the front, so that's the cars they normally valet...most other cars don't valet there since its like 35 per car or something stupid. My cousin pays for everyone to valet, so we don't complain
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Old October 12th, 2009, 12:43 PM   #7
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Well when we went up, there was an Audi R8 and a few higher end Mercedes parked at the front, so that's the cars they normally valet...most other cars don't valet there since its like 35 per car or something stupid. My cousin pays for everyone to valet, so we don't complain
Hope you tip on that
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Old October 15th, 2009, 08:06 AM   #8
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Just FYI, Hertz at the LB airport has an exclusive Shelby GT for rent. AAANNNDD I THINK they might have a Z06.
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Old October 15th, 2009, 11:30 AM   #9
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Just FYI, Hertz at the LB airport has an exclusive Shelby GT for rent. AAANNNDD I THINK they might have a Z06.
That is good to know...
I try to stay away from SoCal, but I occasionally have to and these would certainly make the trip more doable (although don't let me give the illusion that I could even afford the rental).
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