GT_Indy wrote:1990 Beretta GTZ - QUAD4 - 5 speed manual
1996 Beretta Z26 - 3100 SFI - Auto 4T60e
Both cars are rust free and have no issues, up to date on all maintnence.
Both cars have their flaws corrected, such as the 3100's LIM gasket, and the QUAD4's oil pump.
Which would you pick to do a cross country trip, and then daily drive 2 hours a day every day there after in a constant 100+ degree climate?
Which car would be more reliable?
Why?
Second-thoughts on selling the '96?
Being stuck with only one car would be a bad kind of purgatory for me, but going beyond that point, for hypothetical considerations...
'90 Quad vs '96 Z clone... The Quad's Muncie is nearly bullet-proof if kept full of fluid and not hammered-on, whereas the 4T60, while good for an auto, is still a life-limited slush-bomb. However, the 3100, maintained as you've stated, will last and last... Quads are great little engines, but high-strung, and it doesn't seem to matter how mature we all get, drop a high-revving 180 H.P. racer in front of us and hand over the keys, occasionally we are going to push that thing. The oil-pump is not the only weak-link on the Quad, and not even the worst one IMO.
Efficiency still should play a part, and the Quads can get great gas-mileage. On the other hand, my old '95 Z-26, wide-port 3100 and 4T60E, got well over 30MPG on my last cross-country drive with it last summer, no issues whatsoever, even after sitting for several years.
I think the homogenized feel of the 3100/AOD '96 would have me chewing on the steering-wheel after a month or two of driving just the one car, whereas the Quad has such a range of character to it (based on my experience with my 2.4 Twin Cam Turbo 5-speed Z-24, that I never have really gotten 'tired of'). So, unless I could mix that up with a 3100 and 5-speed, as a driver I would pick the '90 Quad.
Reliability? Again, LIMG-F-up fixed as you have done wins on the '96 Z, but the Quad's five-speed beats the 4T60 by more than just the extra gear. No clear winners there, so let's go with the simpler (no ABS) '90 chassis, very little else to distinguish between the two, aside from the slightly comfier ride in the '96.
No real surprise that I would vote for the '90 Quad though -that is one Beretta that is still on my list to get someday, so yeah, I may be a little biased...
Should we do
my Berettas next?