Aspire

lol, sorry but I can't ignore the irony, why would anyone Aspire to own one of those??:bloated:

my dad has one :rolleyes:

it aspires to be a better car :D

Originally posted by focalBlur
my dad has one :rolleyes:

it aspires to be a better car :D

So you have a better car than you fathers?
I wouldn´t aspire to own it even on a budget but I think it´s a better car than the Metro, more roomie etc. Was it originally made it by Ford or Kia? In Koreaand some other countries it was called the kia Avella, yes, and then I think it sold the product to Ford to introduce it in America as an econobox.

Ugggggh Aspire Blah..........

Hey!!! Enough with the bashing!!!! UGH!!!! I should be used to it by now.

I am an Aspire owner. Yes, I'll admit it. I have almost 120k miles on and it still runs great.... for an Aspire.

40+ MPG on average, 45+ when the weather is nice. Its nice when the gas is $2 a gallon.

Plus its a fun car to drive. (No, I'm not smoking crack) Tight twisty turns, exit ramps... The steering feedback is great. (OK maybe a little crak here and there) The motor definately wont get you into trouble, even in snow.

Plus its easy on parts. So far have put on front brakes once, tires 3 times, changed the oil and filed the gas tanka time or two. Thats it!!!!

BTW I can smoke a new Bug (non turbo) from stoplight to stoplight.


At least I have my bike to go fast. Not many cars out there can come close to keeping up with it.



I can't believe there is an Aspire forum!!!! :smoka:

Originally posted by Kennedy200
Hey!!! Enough with the bashing!!!! UGH!!!! I should be used to it by now.

I am an Aspire owner. Yes, I'll admit it. I have almost 120k miles on and it still runs great.... for an Aspire.

40+ MPG on average, 45+ when the weather is nice. Its nice when the gas is $2 a gallon.

Plus its a fun car to drive. (No, I'm not smoking crack) Tight twisty turns, exit ramps... The steering feedback is great. (OK maybe a little crak here and there) The motor definately wont get you into trouble, even in snow.

Plus its easy on parts. So far have put on front brakes once, tires 3 times, changed the oil and filed the gas tanka time or two. Thats it!!!!

BTW I can smoke a new Bug (non turbo) from stoplight to stoplight.


At least I have my bike to go fast. Not many cars out there can come close to keeping up with it.



I can't believe there is an Aspire forum!!!! :smoka:


LOL they do steer nice, do you have the stick??

OK WTF is an Aspire????:confused:

Originally posted by Jimmy_11_cars
OK WTF is an Aspire????:confused: ROFL funny guy here heheh

Originally posted by Jimmy_11_cars
OK WTF is an Aspire????:confused:

A butt fugly commuter car. Nothing more, nothing less. It was designed for those of us who put a billion miles a year on a vehicle, so we can get to work economically.

Here's a pic link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=600687033&tc=photo6226

Originally posted by sohowcome



LOL they do steer nice, do you have the stick??

Mine is a stick. I won't drive anything else.


This car in the pic is not mine. Its is the one linked to above.


http://abacus.sj.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_4da22437eb78356e9b10cc7298/i-1.JPG


Is this guy on crack??? $2000 for a 96 Aspire!!! Get real. Maybe $1500 max. Even that would be a stretch. Gotta love E-Bay idiots.

Actually Ford designed the Aspire with Kia, for the emerging markets and also in Asia the car was named Kia Avella, now I don´t know who built it for who, I guess Ford for Kia, that´s how Kia started ´emerging´, just like Mitsubishi gave the designs and technology (still does) to some Hyundai cars that are sold maybe not in USA but around, and also like Daewoo was developed in their beginning with GM. see? :rolleyes:

Oh OK we know this Korean-built car in NZ as the Festiva

Talk about a piece of shit

For clarification, Ford never built the Aspire. Kia produced the car for Ford. I has been marketed under Kia and Ford (and, I think, Mazda) badges in various parts of the world. I don't actually think Ford had much to do with the design of it, as Mazda, not Ford, helped Kia "come of age" and become a manufacturer.

Until 1998, Mazda owned a larger chunk of Kia than Ford did. It was in 1998, that Kia was sold out from under Ford (the high bidder in the bankruptcy auction) to Hyundai.

Dammit, there seems to be a trend among this board to potty mouth inexpensive cars. I for one love cheap cars. You may have never experienced the liberation that comes from owning a car with no payment, low maintenence, cheap operation costs and the freedom from worry about appearence. Look at you nearest Corvette owner; he doesn't own that car, it owns him. He is always concerned about it's appearence, and as a result it dictates his driving habits, where he parks, and where he goes. If the honeys won't let you in cause of your car, you need to get away from the golddiggers. People with cheap cars bring home more money since they don't have the car payments, high insurance, and depriciation to worry about.

Originally posted by enginerd
Dammit, there seems to be a trend among this board to potty mouth inexpensive cars. I for one love cheap cars. You may have never experienced the liberation that comes from owning a car with no payment, low maintenence, cheap operation costs and the freedom from worry about appearence. Look at you nearest Corvette owner; he doesn't own that car, it owns him. He is always concerned about it's appearence, and as a result it dictates his driving habits, where he parks, and where he goes. If the honeys won't let you in cause of your car, you need to get away from the golddiggers. People with cheap cars bring home more money since they don't have the car payments, high insurance, and depriciation to worry about.


Sold to the man that sees the vehicles purpose!!

Yep! going going gone........

yes I do drive a nicer car then my father he does see any reasion to replace his car and that is why he keeps it however he is finally thinking about gettting a new one he has it down to 2 cars
Mini Cooper w/1.6liter 115hp motor
or
the new E-Class comming out w/a diesel motor(what ever one they happen to offer in the USA)


the Aspire(1995 3door 66,000miles) is terrible, but then again what do you expect out of a car that cost under $5000 new
the car handles so badly in the rain that I wont even drive it when it's wet out(no traction, slides all the time)
handling in the dry is not much better(thanx to a crappy suspension setup)
however pickup is not too bad for a car with 63hp and a 5speed but the car is not very good on the highway
top speed is about 75mph and the car starts shaking like mad above 50mph, plus a mild cross wind will throw you off the road
parts are very overpriced and stuff has been breaking alot lately
$600 to fix odo and speedo
$600 for a new CAT
now the brake lights don't work and need to be rewired
but the car is only worth $1200
also gas milage has dropped off, used to get 41mph all the time now only about 31mpg

Sounds like your car has some issues.....

I found that I have to put decent tires on my Aspire. If the tires are worn down too much it will hydroplane real easy. Remember, the car only weighs 1700 lbs.

Have you tried a basic tune up??? Distrubutor cap and rotor, plug wires, plugs, air cleaner, fuel filter??? It made a night and day difference on my Aspire. I also found the any drop in the air pressure in the tires makes a world of difference. For what its worth, I can run at 75 mph no problem, and it tops out at just under 100.

I think I waslucky with my speedo. It made it 115,000 miles before it broke. Well, actualy it didn't really break, the needle fell off. (You gotta love Ford quality.) I have been using my GPS for a speedo. its a pain in the arse sometimes. But, I always remember that I paid $3000 for this car. I don't expect a lot of quality for $3000. I have definately got my money's worth out of it.

I just had to drive this car for a week, my dad drove from MD to MA and does not really trust the Aspire on long trips so he took my car

the car is really not that bad but the Shifter is HORRIBLE
it sticks like crazy so you think you are in gear but you are only halfway in so when you let out on the clutch you grind the gears
1st-2nd I never have problems but it sometiems takes me 5 trys to get the car into 4th and R is just as bad

worst Stick shift I have ever driven

Have you tried lubing up the shift linkage. Just crawl onder the car and unbolt the bar that links the shifter and tranny. Slap some grease in the holes the bolts go through and put it back together. 15 minute job. It made a world of difference to my car. I include this in my regular maintence.

Have you changed the gear box oil? My car was shifting like a POS at about 80K miles. Greasing the linkage didn't help, so I decided to change the gear box oil. Its pretty simple, its as easy as changing the engine oil. If you want instructions, I can post them.

enginerd: there are cheap cars, and then there are CHEAP cars. An aspire is nothing but a Kia with a Ford badge, it's the modern version of the Festiva I guess.
I like cheap cars (I drive a freaking 87 Accord) but I do get a cheap car it better look halfway decent and have at least 3-digit power figures!! :D

I here a bunch of people out here bashing the Ford Aspire. Well, let me tell you a little something. I own a 1994 Impala SS (Yes a Chevrolet). My wife owns a Ford aspire. My Impala is a "Collectors Car" and an everday driver. It has cost me over 4500.00 in repairs in the last 2 years. It has HALF the mileage that my wifes car has on it. The Aspire cost use NEW and stripped down from the dealership 6300.00. My Impala cost me 28,300. I have had to put NO money in the Aspire in the last 7 years! Nothing! Not one cent!, other than oil. Not even a battery until this year! I am just now starting to have things start to go wrong with it.

As for you that say "why would you even buy an Aspire?" Simple. Cost, Gas Mileage, Dependability. My wife was in college when she bought hers. It was a simple decision. . . Stay on compus while attending school, or buy a cheap car and drive it everyday. Lets see. . . If you stay on campus you pay 450-800 per month or you can buy a car and drive an hour a day and pay 63.00 per month and have a used car when you graduate. For her the question was simple. Buy a car you can afford and drive to school.

She has now graduated and is a CPA. She STILL drives the car as a work car. . . with a little over 200,000 on the clock. And it runs everyday!

FYI, the Aspire was built by KIA and Ford bought and badged it because they had to lower their fleet avg. mpg. in order to stay legal. There aren't mpg standards for individual cars, however an automaker's entire fleet for a year has to average below a certain mpg. And without the Aspire, Ford would not have made it.

And here is some educated criticism on the car (not mindless bashing):
I test-drove a 1997 Ford Aspire in 2000. It had 60,000 mi on the clock, and they wanted $3750 for it. After driving the car, I decided I would NEVER EVER own one. The first problem I noticed when I got in the car was that the seatbelts seemed to be mounted about 1 foot behind the front seats. I had to contort myself just to reach the darned thing! When I started trying to drive the car, I was even more disappointed. Though it was a stick-shift, there was no tachometer, which meant I had to guess when to shift by the engine sound. Impossible. The thing sounded like it was powered by a bucked of bees. The amount (and pitch) of engine noise generated by the Aspire at about 1,000 rpm (estimate) was equivalent to the noise my 1.6 Sentra produced at 7,000. As soon as I started driving the Aspire, it sounded like it was redlining (at 10 mph!!) so I shifted, and the engine promptly died. It's not like me to kill engines like this, I'd been driving stick for a full 6 months at the time. Once I figured out the shift points, I drove around a bit, but didn't dare attempt to get the car up to freeway speed. As other users have posted, the steering is indeed satisfactory, though that seems to be the only attribute. After bringing the car back to the dealership, I inquired about its ownership/repair history and learned that the transmission (not the clutch, but the entire transmission) had been replaced only 5,000 miles ago. !!! Since when does a manny-tranny kick the bucket at 55,000 miles???? Since it's driven VERY VERY poorly, that's when!! That was a huge warning sign, and though I already disliked the car, it instanty became a strong no go. (I was considering everything previously as I was severly restricted by price.)

Ultimately I bought a 1991 Sentra, one of the best cars ever made when balancing price, reliability, performance, etc. Though the Sentra WAS powered by Hamsters, I suppose that's better than a swarm of bees. :)

Well, I must agree with you that the seatbelts and the seats are a rather poor. But I disagree with the engine sound. Mine is quiet as can be at ALL rpm's. Even flooring it on the onramp (you have to do that often) to get up to highway speed it does not sound very loud to me. The car does have a shift light if you have trouble shifting.

Now, the transmission. I must also agree with you on that too. I also stay away from that. Ours has over 200,000 and is a manual shift and has never had any trouble. . .yet. I think that the person who had the car first DID NOT take very good care of it, and that is what was wrong with it.

Originally posted by nytetyme
Well, I must agree with you that the seatbelts and the seats are a rather poor. But I disagree with the engine sound. Mine is quiet as can be at ALL rpm's. Even flooring it on the onramp (you have to do that often) to get up to highway speed it does not sound very loud to me. The car does have a shift light if you have trouble shifting.

Now, the transmission. I must also agree with you on that too. I also stay away from that. Ours has over 200,000 and is a manual shift and has never had any trouble. . .yet. I think that the person who had the car first DID NOT take very good care of it, and that is what was wrong with it.

Yes, I do believe I was looking at a rather poor example of the car, however it was a few design flaws that bothered me ( and yes, the engine was REALLY REALLY LOUD ) that kept me from ever considering the model again. In addition I'm concerned about the crashworthiness of the vehicle. Seems it would be the vulnerable car in any wreck, let alone a wreck with an SUV.

All the more power to you for having found a reliable Aspire. I have heard of many people who've been satisfied with theirs (like my boss's wife, whose Aspire is lt. purple) but I have also heard many stories from dissatisfied folks who ended up with a bad one.

My sympathies on your Chevy. GM seems to have an uncanny ability to produce some really good cars, and many really poor cars. You never know which you'll get, so I stay away from the whole bunch.

I do REALLY have to agree with you on crash worthiness. It worries me every day! It WILL NOT stand up to a SUV, No way!

Hey there...

I'm actually from Australia where the Aspire is known as the Festiva (They stuck with the name.. :))... Crashworthiness is not all that bad. Although it does have a 'poor' rating by the controlled test, ours has been in 2 accidents. 1st was a rear ender... Rear ended by a B-double (those huge 2 trailer semi's we have along our major freeways)... Suprizingly it survived and was returned in perfect condition... Next was a head on at 60km/h (38mph) when a car turned right infront of me as I was going through a red light. Guess what? Only body damage! Even the radiator survived. I think it might be something to do with standards though, as many American made cars aren't allowed to be imported without major safety and suspension upgrades (aparently cars sold in the US generally have softer suspension and lower grade tyres to keep noise down).

BTW, I love my Aspire... 100,000 Miles (160,000kms) never broken down (and they don't if you service them regularly and treat them well...) Performance? Not earth shattering, but it loves to be revved and loves mountain drives (Great steering with proper tyres). Also what's the deal with people beeing afraid to get up to highway speeds?!?! Australia = Long distance city - city highway drives for 8hrs +... The Festiva/Aspire was one of the most popular small cars when it was being sold (stopped in 2000). Oh dont get that confused with CARS in general, remember... Small cars, you can't compare an Aspire to a Viper.

Head still in your arse?
-Josh

Funny thing!

Long after this thread started, I bought a 94 Aspire for $750.00 running. It had 158,000 miles when I bought it. I have just turned 171,000 miles and I haven't done anything to it except change the oil.

39 mpg.

Best $750 I've ever spent.

slap a turbo in that BIA and see what happens:flamer: :angryfire :eshooter:

I'll take one, make mine blue.;)

Originally posted by bk2kmax
I'll take one, make mine blue.;) They don't make that color, would Lavender suit you? :right:

Oh OK we know this Korean-built car in NZ as the Festiva

Talk about a piece of shit






:hehe: :hehehe:

I dont care what anyone says. My Aspire has been a good vehicle. I paid $3000 for it (used) with 30k miles on it. I now have close to 130k miles on it. I had to replace the ignition switch, front brake pads and discs once, plugs twice, oil and filter every 3k to 4k, the air filter a few times, and I had to remove the resonator (sp?) in the exhaust because it rusted out. Pretty minimal maintence for 100,000 miles. I had to replace the windshield because a car load of high school assholes though it would be funy to smash it out. And, I had to 'rig' the lock in the hatch because someone broke it when thry tried to break into it.

I cant complain about the power too much . The lack of power has kept me out of trouble. I have never been pulled over by the man. It does have enough power to keep up with traffic.

I like to compare me Aspire to my father in-law's Blazer. He bought the top of the line Blazer a few years ago. At 15,000 the rear end went out, at 20,000 the trans went out, at 35,000 the trans went out again. After the warrenty ran out, the power seats broke. They will not move. HE was replaced: the water pump, the alternator, intake, a few injectors, the radiator, the radio. The Ac doesnt work, one of the power ondows doesnt work, its rusting through... I find it funny that I paid $33,000 less for my little pos and have minimal problems with it. :licker:

Originally posted by Kennedy200
......At 15,000 the rear end went out, at 20,000 the trans went out, at 35,000 the trans went out again. ...

Any car with that many and that severe of problems that soon is legally considered a "lemon" under national and state laws. That is not representative of all Blazers (as much as I'd like to call 'em crap) Chevy would not be in business if that were the case. I'd suggest he look into returning the car as the state will back him up if it's had this many problems.

I find it funny that I paid $33,000 less for my little pos and have minimal problems with it.
:thumbup: LOL LOL

Mitsubishi made the Aspire... if oyu look in the mitisubishi form they have a sub forum on them.

Interresting.

The tag on the drivers side door sill has 'Made By Kia for the Ford Motor Company' and 'Made in Korea' stamped on it.

Although the intake manifold dies have a Mitsubishi 3 diamond logo cast into it.

It makes me wonder how many car companies are in bed with eachother.

Now at 184,000 miles and still running strong..

About Mitsubishi.....

Mitsubishi provided a lot of the electronics for the car.. Probably why I have a ghost short in the brake, horn, rear hatch light circuit!! The body, and running gear are Kia.

i picked mine up at an auction about a year ago for $275 it had been a theft recovry the igniton was broken the shifter was pushed down (olny a little bit of plastic holds inside the car) the cat had went bad and it was driven hard (the front air dam thing was scrached to hell)all in all at $400 it was a steel i just want to know who in their right mind expected to get away in an aspire

Originally posted by pod
i picked mine up at an auction about a year ago for $275 it had been a theft recovry the igniton was broken the shifter was pushed down (olny a little bit of plastic holds inside the car) the cat had went bad and it was driven hard (the front air dam thing was scrached to hell)all in all at $400 it was a steel i just want to know who in their right mind expected to get away in an aspire

You picked the right username, thats the nickname of your car:D "THE POD":hehe:

me and my uncle have one and thats his nickname to the entire genare i guess the name just stuck

me and my uncle have one and thats his nickname to the entire genare i guess the name just stuck:D

btw has anyone squeled the frount tires in 1st :confused:

Breaking the front tires lose in first is pretty easy. I usualy run high mileage tires. The tires wont chirp bracuse of the harder compound of the rubber. A few times I have managed to break the tires loose in 2nd.

The Aspire is a blast in parking lots in winter. You dont have to jack the e-brake to get the ass end to swing around. Get the car turning, lay into the gas with your right foot and brake with your left foot. With a little practice, you can drift it like a mofo. Passengers are usualy impressed that you dont have to use the e-brake to get it to come around. :sun:

yah they are a blast i have swung the ass endin the summer time on gravel roads aothough on the same gravel road ive done 95 mph. Anyone know where to get performance tires that fit stock rims?

The aspire is an absolute beast! :-) Not only does it get 40 miles to a gallon....it was cheap as hell, and what better than a cheap car to take away miles and bad weather driving from a great car. Plus it does a public service to all ricers.... I mean finally a car they can beat off the line.

Originally posted by pod
btw has anyone squeled the frount tires in 1st :confused:

Yes. teaching my son how to drive, he got frustrated when he snuffed the motor twice at the light. I saw the tach hit 5700 when he dropped the clutch.. yes basically sidestepped the clutch. I was cringed up waiting for CV joints to explode.

Instead it left about 30' of dual dark burnout marks.

Another noble job of an aspire....teaching newbies to drive stick. The aspire got through teaching my gf to drive manual. And I must say it is still running!

That was with 183,000 (give or take a few) miles. Maybe it'll survive the 2 kids left to teach.

sence i am a nubie to driveing i bought the car ($275) to learn stick and be an over all affordable first car

190,000 miles and still running strong.

I was surfing websites looking for engine mods. for the 91 Escort gt I just bought. I came across this website that has mods. for Festiva's and Aspires. There were a couple cars in there where they dropped in the 1.8L. Escort(Mazda) motor, even one with a turbo. What a clean fit!

Temptation-temptation-temptation. I love sleepers!

Did they have any performance numbers for the engine swapped aspires?........it is fun thinking of a hot rod aspire!

Anyone ever hear of Jay Leno's festiva?!? Droped a taurus SHO v-6 in the trunk for its engine with a hefty amount of Nitrious, now that is a sleeper!

thats actually the shogun festiva it has really big wheel farrings so it can fit the toras tires

this info taken from fordfestiva.com



talking about the n/a b6

The existing B3 engine management will run the B6 (SOHC), so it is a bolt-in deal. The only physical change would be to the exhaust system to compensate for the downpipe as the B6 exhaust manifold is longer. An alternative is Festiva Motor sport, who does sell a header for the B6 SOHC. You'd want to run at least a 2.0" custom exhaust.

B6 sohc is rated at approximately 72hp and 83hp (Mercury Tracer and 323 respectively), and 90-93 pounds of torque. The torque is what makes the most difference compared to the B3. Festiva mounts can be used (check Festiva Motor sport also for a stiffer version). The B6 SOHC 8-valve is almost exactly the same as a B3 and hard to tell apart from the exterior. Primary difference is bore size, intake and exhaust runners (in both manifolds and cylinder head), con rod journal, and valve size. All of these being slightly larger. - Rich



talking about the turbo b6

If you want maximum performance and reliability, then use the trans that comes with the B6T. However, substantial modifications would be required to fit the G25M-R transaxle into Festiva. So best bet is to use existing Festiva (Pride in your case) or an Aspire transaxle. Note that the transaxle from the 91-94 Mercury Capri XR2 or 88-89 Mazda 323 GT with the B6T uses a cable operated clutch like Festiva.

The stock B6T ecu fuel map was designed to provide reliable performance at the (relatively low) factory boost settings. Once you perform modifications (and it doesnt take much more than a custom exhaust), you will be seeing boost levels of 11-12 psi. Thats roughly I guess somewhere from 160 - 175 hp, depending on what you have done, state of tune.

The requisite air filter and exhaust that essentially are already immediate installed in a typical Festiva B6T swap should get the B6T close to the limit of maintaining proper A/F ratio under all possible conditions with the stock ECU. So to be safe, some additional fuel should be added. This can be handled by an aftermarket auxiliary fuel controller (electronic preferred), or an upgraded chip for the stock ecu. With this, how does 16 psi and 195 hp- sound?- Rich

here's some info on the shogun

The Shogun is essentially a well executed car conversion performed by a company called Special Editions in Upland, California. Notable features was the Ford Taurus SHO V-6 drivetrain installed in a mid-engine configuration within the Ford Festiva bodyshell.
The concept for the Shogun is credited to Rick Titus (drove a Saleen Mustang to become SCCA 1987 Escort Endurance Champion and magazine editor). Titus approached Chuck Beck with an idea to install a Ford Taurus SHO V-6 (4 cams, 24 valves, 220 horsepower) drivetrain in the rear of a diminutive Ford Festiva (Beck was a chassis fabricator well known for his Porsche 550 Spyder replicas and work with the Shelby GT-350 and Ford GT-40 racing programs from the Sixties).

The fender flares were designed to end at the door seams. This allowed the doors and hatch to be left as is. Everything is functional in this respect like the Festiva. The Shogun was in every aspect, a car capable of handling daily driving chores (ride height was high enough not to worry about rough roads). The rear flares feature functional scoops. The hood featured a exit duct for hot radiator air (hints of Daytona Coupe).

All of the Shoguns were built to customer order to work around the DOT certification laws, however the car did meet emissions regulations (including California of course). The stock SHO drivetrain retained all the original emissions equipment. The Shogun's sticker price was somewhat of shock to some ($47,500 US). It is important to remember though that included in the price was a new Taurus SHO and new Ford Festiva (SHO drivetrain was new). These both were required for the conversion. The production Shoguns were not based on salvaged cars with exception of #005. The quality of this conversion done by Beck was impeccable

The fender flares were designed to end at the door seams. This allowed the doors and hatch to be left as is. Everything is functional in this respect like the Festiva. The Shogun was in every aspect, a car capable of handling daily driving chores (ride height was high enough not to worry about rough roads). The rear flares feature functional scoops. The hood featured a exit duct for hot radiator air (hints of Daytona Coupe).



Performance of the Shogun was simply awesome. The Shogun was relatively light at 2572 pounds (without driver) and each of the 220hp had to move only 11.7 pounds. The rear weight bias (61 percent of the vehicle weight was on the rear tires at rest) and wide, sticky rear tires contributed to excellent acceleration from a stop. 0-60 and quarter mile figures to the tune of 4.9 seconds and 13.3 seconds at 98.6 mph respectively were achieved by an experienced test driver for a magazine review). Chuck Beck also demonstrated for the magazine that by drag race style launch and power shifting, these figures could be dropped to 4.6 seconds and 12.9 at 100.9 mph.

All the Shoguns were painted a different body color. Those that I know are: silver #003 (Leno's car), purple #005, blue #001 and #002 (Chuck's shop car), purple #005 (Customer supplied worn out beat up Festiva (black I'm told) and asked Chuck Beck to build as cheap as possible. This car got used motor and trans from salvage wreck. Customer later modified suspension etc. KJ Byrnes is current owner), and red #004 (car went to San Franscisco). I do not know what the #006 color was

Top speed of the Shogun is approximately in the neighborhood of 140-145 mph.:eek7: :spit:

man nearly 150k and still going strong

i have one cause i got it for a 100bux and i rail on it like nothing else...cant believe the thing still runs...even though i do have to jump start it every time

205,000 miles and running like a champ.

Loaded to the gils with Christmas presents, and other various crap. 38mpg @ 75-80 mph.

yours goes 80 :eek:




ive done 105 :evillol: :eek: :smokin:

Right? i got my aspire up too 103 and it was shaking so i stopped, I dont knwo why people make fun of it, a great long lasting car, handels fine for a stiff rear end, doesnt slide in the rain, goes good in the snow because of a near perfect weight balence, gets go gas mileage, well mine doenst see my thread, plenty of room inside, a little under powred but does fin around town. i have only had to fix a wheel berring on mine cost me 12 bux in parts and i did the labor. comfortable seats, not a bad car.

At 90 I don't feel in control, and so it rarely sees that kind of speed.

The best part is while I'm watching these people sweat bullets at the pump right now, I spend my measly 20 bucks and go another 300+ miles.

I have to replace both inner and out bearings in the front on both sides. The bearings look okay, but the races are showing mass wear. I don't figure that 200,000 on the original bearings, grease and seals is too bad.