For Honda Accord EX V6 (new battery)

@ 12/06/2009

• Changed the battery
  

For the Altima

On 11/28/2009:

• Oil change
  
• Intake air filter changed
  
• Tire rotation
  

At what milage? I forgot ... :p

For the Accord EX V6 ...

On the Accord @ [I have to update the milage]:

• Replaced right hand size low beam bulb
  
• Oil change
  
• Alignment
  
• Tire rotation
  

I do plan on replacing the dirty K&N slot in filter with a *regular* filter element. You may ask why not clean it? Because I already have a new *regular* filter, I don't have to buy the cleaning kit from K&N, and I don't think K&N slot in filter gave me enough benefit to justisfy the cost.

Its all about my cars ...

• 2001 Honda Accord EX V6 sedan
  I think Honda did a great job on the Accord. I can really see it as the benchmarks for how a good mid size sedan should be. Its roomy and the interior design is well layouted. Everything looks and works well. The seats are comfortable and has plenty of adjustment.
  
  The engine is a 195hp 3.0L VTEC V6. Don't mistake this SOHC VTEC engine with any of its DOHC VTEC cousins. The 3.0L SOHC VTEC is tuned for fuel economy and normal driving situation, rather than peak horse power from that of a high rev-ing DOHC VTEC.
  
  I've put a set of 17" rims from later model year accord. It looks way better than the original 15" rims plus it puts more rubber (and shorter side wall) on the ground. I *think* my mpg went down with more rubber on the ground (more contact patch = more fraction), but I think its worth the ticket price.
  
  This is a decent daliy drive. I like it for what it does. It would be awesome if it comes with more sporty suspension tuning and a proper manual gearbox. Honda did with later mode year Accord. (With more power, 6 speed manual, too bad there's no LSD which it desprately needs ... FWD + lots of tq = wheel spin)
  
  
• 2000 Nissan Altima GXE
  This car will get you from point A to point B, keep on running with proper maintenance, that's it. I can't find anything else interesting about the car to say.
  ...
  
  Ok, lets try anyway. The engine sounds like a truck/pickup, interior is boring, doesn't feel like it has 150hp from its 2.4L 4 banger, it never feel like the car settles at a corner at any speed, plenty of road noise at any speed, things are difficult to work on in the engine compartment, the seats aren't comfortable, the milage is not that good for a 4 banger (maybe less than +2 mpg when compared to my Accord with a 195hp 3.0L V6) ...
  
  
  So, what else you want to hear about the Altima? :-)
  
  
  
• 2006 Toyota Solara SLE V6
  Its a boat. It drives like a boat. It feels like a boat. Its big like a boat. So it must be a boat. Its a comfortable cruiser though. The long wheelbase makes it stable at highway cruising speed. Combine with the soft suspension, it makes a road trip car on the highway.
  
  The long wheelbase also makes a roomy interior. Though this is a coupe, I think it has more interior space than my Accord Sedan.
  
  My major complain about the car is the transmission and steering, which are numb and dumb. The steering is very light weight, great for people that wants to turn the wheel effortlessly. Bad for people that would like to know what the front wheel is doing and how its turning. The tranmission is love top gear, not show but the actual gear that's in the transmission. It up shift very early and doesn't like to down shift by any means. Its great for mpg when you want to cruising, bad for when you need to accelerate to get to where you want to be at. I had to put it into manual mode most of the time so that I can get it to down shift when I need it to. Speaking of the manual shift mode, Toyota is doing it WRONG! (yes, with ALL CAP!) In manual shift mode, the transmission still will shift down to a lower gear for you if it *thinks* it needs to. The bad news is that it take aaaaa looooot oooooooof timmmmmme toooooo thinkkkkkkkkk. There are plenty of situation, when I am in 3rd and needs to accelerate by just hitting the gas (come on! its a 3.3L V6, it odd to have *some* torque down low, right?), and then the transmission *think* this is a great time to shift down to 2nd *for me* (even though I am only trying to hold 3rd gear), and it does the shift down and you feel the aceleration in a whopping few seconds later. A supposingly perfectly safe lane change has just becomes a dangerous cutting-people-off ... I should have opted for the 4 cylinder with 5 speed manual gear box ... -_-'
  
  The engine is a 215hp 245lb-ft tq (if I remember correcly) 3.3L V6 with VVTi (variable valve timing with intellegent or something like that). It turns at low rpm on highway cruising speed thanks to the high gearing of the transmission. For the same reason, you don't feel much punch until you hit maybe 4.5k rpm, then it starts pulling, and not long after you have to up shift. And you'd better up shift fast, because the transmission shifts slow and you WILL hit the rev limiter if you don't shift early.
  
  I do have to say, the solara doesn't look bad from the outside. I quite like how it looks, especially with the SE trim ground effect (which is not available aftermarket or on SLE trim, that's a shame).
  
  To me, the perfect Solara would be a 4 cylinder 5 speed manual SE with ground effect, drop it with TRD lowering spring and put on some 18" Rays rim.