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Car and Driver Archive Comparison Test: 1989 Budget-Friendly Sports Sedans

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#23 ·
#24 ·
Iroczgirl said:
I don't know about that. Somehow the Brits managed to make an Acura Legend unreliable...how much did they pay the magazine to end up in second place?
Click to expand...
Easy. It was new, and everyone underestimated just how much they could screw up the Legend just by being British.

..and that British overlay gave the kind of sterile looking Acura product the cosmetic sheen it needed - the only real complaint anybody had about it.

Still... the right car won this one.
 
#25 ·
MylesPH1 said:
Easy. It was new, and everyone underestimated just how much they could screw up the Legend just by being British.

..and that British overlay gave the kind of sterile looking Acura product the cosmetic sheen it needed - the only real complaint anybody had about it.

Still... the right car won this one.
Click to expand...
Yep. I remember when the Sterling hit. Everyone assumed it was going to be Honda reliable with a bit of panache, but that turned out... British in its reliability. And if I remember correctly it rusted. A lot.

Most of them were, unbeknownst to the purchaser, in a race for whether the rust or electronics took them to the scrapyard and how fast they could do it.
 
#26 ·
patrikman said:
you have 400 posts. how many accounts did you have before this?
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You're silly.

Though it's actually possible I've mentioned FWD 100 times already. I really don't like it. ("it" would also be a reference). I'm sure I've mentioned that as much as I hate the MK8's craptastic infotainment system, if I could change only one thing about the GTI it would be to make it RWD.

But just to be sure I'm meeting the quota of FWD references within 400 posts: FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD FWD

Happy now?
 
#30 ·
As an E30 owner this was a fun read. As someone who considers rwd cars superior to anything else from a drivers standpoint I cant imagine choosing any of these other cars except for their utilitarian uses or from a cost standpoint.

Car reviews and the cars themselves have changed so drastically in 35 years its mind boggling.
 
#31 ·
I remember wanting a Sterling so bad when they were first headed to the U.S. A large, AWD, hatchback sedan with English class and design and a reliable Honda engine. Even then, I already had my 'thing' for AWD wagons/hatchback cars and I loved English car designs and classic interior woods and leathers. A friend's father had a Jensen FF that I lusted after when I was young - though I was too young to consider how often it seemed to be in his garage and on lifts vs driving around). It was sad to read and hear about how the perfect pairing could have gone so wrong with the Sterling, as reliability was poor. How can you screw up a Honda engine's reliability!? But good old Lucas electrics and Austin/Leyland build quality can achieve miracles.
 
#32 ·
zackiedawg said:
I remember wanting a Sterling so bad when they were first headed to the U.S. A large, AWD, hatchback sedan with English class and design and a reliable Honda engine. Even then, I already had my 'thing' for AWD wagons/hatchback cars and I loved English car designs and classic interior woods and leathers. A friend's father had a Jensen FF that I lusted after when I was young - though I was too young to consider how often it seemed to be in his garage and on lifts vs driving around). It was sad to read and hear about how the perfect pairing could have gone so wrong with the Sterling, as reliability was poor. How can you screw up a Honda engine's reliability!? But good old Lucas electrics and Austin/Leyland build quality can achieve miracles.
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Me too. When I first heard of it, I thought, "Oh sweet, a British-styled car with Honda reliability!" But instead we got Japanese styling combined with British reliability--the exact opposite of what we needed.

Reminds me of the Alfa Romeo Arna--Italian reliability combined with Japanese bland styling:

Image
 
#35 ·
Yeah no wonder the Taurus won with 220 hp, I mistakenly thought the Maxima had the 222HP Z32 engine by 89, and not the old VG30 which was still a solid engine to be fair. Also the E30's mid 7s sprint is surprising as well, I guess they just were that much lighter than E36s?

Also too bad they didn't include the Milano, Cressida or 740 turbo. Or the big boat Bonneville.

Years back I posted a 1982 sport sedan Mexican trip with an Audi 5000, 900 turbo 8v, 740 2.8, Pontiac 6000 STE, Dodge 600, Cressida and Maxima.
 
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#36 ·
Yo Teach said:
Article

View attachment 515617


I enjoyed reading this one. There were a lot of interesting cars playing in this sandbox at the time.

Rankings:
6th Place: Peugeot 405Mi16
5th Place: Audi 80 Quattro
4th Place: Nissan Maxima SE
3rd Place: BMW 325i
2nd Place: Sterling 827S
1st Place: Ford Taurus SHO
Click to expand...
Man, I had just started college in 1989 and dreamed about owning one of these...
As-Tested prices in today’s 2025 dollars: :oops:

6th Place: Peugeot 405Mi16 ($55,004.45)
5th Place: Audi 80 Quattro ($70,521.20)
4th Place: Nissan Maxima SE ($51,242.98)
3rd Place: BMW 325i ($68,362.12)
2nd Place: Sterling 827S ($66,398.14)
1st Place: Ford Taurus SHO ($56,625.06)
 
#37 ·
Silver Stealth said:
Man, I had just started college in 1989 and dreamed about owning one of these...
As-Tested prices in today’s 2025 dollars: :oops:

6th Place: Peugeot 405Mi16 ($55,004.45)
5th Place: Audi 80 Quattro ($70,521.20)
4th Place: Nissan Maxima SE ($51,242.98)
3rd Place: BMW 325i ($68,362.12)
2nd Place: Sterling 827S ($66,398.14)
1st Place: Ford Taurus SHO ($56,625.06)
Click to expand...
I saw that too. $70K for a 130hp Audi.
 
#38 ·
Silver Stealth said:
Man, I had just started college in 1989 and dreamed about owning one of these...
As-Tested prices in today’s 2025 dollars: :oops:

6th Place: Peugeot 405Mi16 ($55,004.45)
5th Place: Audi 80 Quattro ($70,521.20)
4th Place: Nissan Maxima SE ($51,242.98)
3rd Place: BMW 325i ($68,362.12)
2nd Place: Sterling 827S ($66,398.14)
1st Place: Ford Taurus SHO ($56,625.06)
Click to expand...
Yea, I roll my eyes when people complain about car prices today. If you had good credit auto loans were still in the teens then too.

I never got to drive a 3rd gen Maxima (these) but I had and drove 4th through 6th gens. I wonder if the 3rd gen actually drove better. My 4th gens were like 3100lb, torquey, low NVH. But in typical Nissan fashion, all the inputs absolutely sucked. And the rear beam suspension did not agree with NYC pavement.

I still feel like the Maxima peaked with the 5.5 gen. 3.5L V6, ~3200lb, big quiet cabin. The Japanese Pontiac Grand Prix
 
#39 ·
Silver Stealth said:
Man, I had just started college in 1989 and dreamed about owning one of these...
As-Tested prices in today’s 2025 dollars: :oops:

6th Place: Peugeot 405Mi16 ($55,004.45)
5th Place: Audi 80 Quattro ($70,521.20)
4th Place: Nissan Maxima SE ($51,242.98)
3rd Place: BMW 325i ($68,362.12)
2nd Place: Sterling 827S ($66,398.14)
1st Place: Ford Taurus SHO ($56,625.06)
Click to expand...
The SHO and Maxima look a lot better in that context. I have to admit I've never heard of a Sterling 827S. I guess it never made much of an impact being basically a rebadged Acura Legend.
 
#40 ·
We had that generation of Maxima in "Charcoal Pearl." It wasn't an SE but still drove better than any of the Oldsmobiles my parents had up to that point. '90s Nissan was just so strong. Crazy to think how far they've fallen.

We replaced the Maxima with another one, a '97 SE. At the time, I thought buying it was the coolest thing my father ever did. It was black on black. That black leather interior with the white dials was just perfect. It survived 10 years of being driven around the casually paved roads of the Port of Houston before being swapped for a Pilot.
 
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