[ALEXIS_DH]

maybe i'm overreacting, but i've actually been thinking about getting something like this, or one of the other "baby cars" (pictured is kia rio, but also see hyundai accent, honda fit, toyota yaris, nissan versa)

in all honesty, something like this would probably be the most practical choice for me: a good warranty, 10/100 powertrain on the kia (!), cheap to insure, enough room to haul my stuff without a trailer... and i guess i could get another set of steelies, put V710s on, and toss it around in H Stock. i'd get whipped on by the Minis, but it'd be a more useful car than a 2002 Mini.

agh. i don't want to grow up

you have seen the light young one (heh,, am 2 years younger than you).

one cheap practical car + toy cars. t3h winning formula.

my choice was yaris. 35+mpg, cheap insurance, abundant parts, not so ugly as the previous yaris (or echo, which i also had). its a brand new toyota too, so i will never have to deal with unreliabilty or constant shop trips.
and it wont hurt as much when it gets scratched, bumped and every other city nuissance.

i reviewed a lot of the economy cars when i got mine (after being very close to buying a 2.5ton turbodiesel SUV, fortunately my dad talked me out of it), and IMO, the yaris was hard to beat at its price range. its surpringly roomy inside. its actually the most practical/best value car i´ve owned.:biggrin:
am quite happy with the purchase.

the only downs i find with it, is the weird sounds of the engine. the electric steering and variable valvetrain makes the engine have a funky tone. the plastic parts in teh interior get scratched easily (i have one deep scratch on my dash from the zipper on my backpack), and the silver plastic parts look like the silver coating will get off in the not so distant future.
the drivers cup holders is in an awkard position. and it lacks the little ashtray drawer. it has removable a cylindrical ashtray that scratches its compartment quite easily. but easy fix, i put it on the rear cup holder and use it as a trash bin, i dont smoke.

the peruvian yaris is a 1.3L. the american yaris is 1.5L, so it would not be as slow.
the corolla seems quite nice too, and its like 3k more, so its still on the same ballpark.

 

[Toshi]

my take:

fit - too expensive
yaris - nicer looking but not as sporty, as it were, as the rio
rio - sportier than its stablemate, the hyundai accent. note that the rio/accent totally sucked before its 2006 revision.
versa - a mini-minivan. soft!
scion xa - uninspiring somewhat
scion tc - too expensive, what with feature creep

test driving tomorrow will be enlightening, as there's a kia (and toyota/honda/big brands) dealer in town. i might also take a subie or two for a spin for kicks.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

that kia rio sounds good. 110hp isnt that bad.

my 1.3L yaris has 87hp. needless to say, it lacks torque for city driving. gets a bit uncomfortable at times... but its more of a tiny nuissance than anything else actually. hairsplitting actually for a city car.

 

[Toshi]

the car-hunt spreadsheet has been updated to reflect harsh reality:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pQ2qLNRonuOUzO5Szqv-wHg

 

[Toshi]

today i test drove the Nissan Versa, Kia Rio, and Mazda 3. my thoughts:

3 - surprisingly large dead spot at center of steering. nice interior, cool dashboard lighting, but didn't feel spritely. did feel nice and solid, however, and the driving position was attractive in that it was low to the ground and sporty feeling.

Rio - notchy manual gearbox. felt very light, as it is: sub-2400 lbs! not a speed demon, but felt well controlled. i could live with this car.

Versa - didn't feel ponderous at its weight of 2700 lbs. not quick either. very nice interior -- mp3 player aux input, available bluetooth phone integration. didn't feel all soft like i expected based on the magazine reviews. i'll have to consider this one seriously, especially since the manual version has a 6-speed gearbox! sweet, eh? (i test drove the CVT, the only one on their lot.)

 

[Toshi]

however, i crunched the numbers for the life of the car, and they are not favorable at all: unless i'm missing something this car has cost me something like $8300, independent of operating expenses (gas, registration, insurance).

i found out that my insurance settlement was better than i thought! they cover tax and fees, too, plus i misheard by a couple hundred. this means i'm getting just about an even $20k after my deductible is subtracted. this brings the above figure on money-i-lost-with-the-wrx to about $6700. subtract the $3k spent on the freak month in the shop and then the car doesn't look to be as horrible of a deal as it once did. yay.

edit: to clarify, once the repair costs are deducted out the remainder can be accounted for by my insurance plan's $1k deductible and the $2k i found myself short in coverage: i insured for $4k worth of mods but the car was assessed with $6k worth of them. so the math works out.



(this also means that i could theoretically swing $18k for the replacement car with enough for tax, registration, changeover of insurance. !! looks like i'll have to obsessively pore through the classifieds with a new sparkle in my eye.)

 

[Toshi]

another update:

today i drove two hondas, an audi, a bmw, a mercedes, two toyotas, a mitsubishi, a mazda, a mercury, and a pontiac. yeah, it was a full day.

2003 Honda Civic LX coupe - nice interior. benign. clean. not particularly fast, and not particularly sharp in response to steering inputs. a practical choice, especially as a certified used vehicle, but that's only a 12mo/12k warranty.

2007 Honda Civic LX sedan - awesome exterior styling, sci-fi! cool concept on two layer dashboard. unfortunately the upper layer of the dashboard would be obscured by the top of the steering wheel if i set it up as i like to do. as it was, it was quicker and sharper feeling than the old civic. a nice car, but there are many other nice cars available for less, particularly since i don't need much interior room.

2003 Audi A4 1.8T quattro sedan - poor throttle response off the line and not much oomph in general. floppy feeling steering/suspension calibration. not impressive despite nice choice of colors and materials on the interior. good seat warmers, heh.

2004 BMW 325ix sedan - an awd bmw, sacrilege. drove nicely, what with sharp throttle response, solid feeling suspension tuning and steering response, and a nice if austere interior. not worth the money imo, however.

2000 Mercedes-Benz SLK230 hardtop convertible - the power retractable hardtop is trés chic, and the salesman didn't know about it! i think i made his day when i showed him how it worked. automatic transmission, unfortunately, which dulled the engine response. feels like a nice car to tool around in with the top down, but again not quite what i'm after.

2007 Toyota Corolla S sedan - driven because annika likes it. :-D unfortunately i didn't really like it myself. the leather steering wheel was a nice touch, but i didn't care for the extra body cladding, the high-ish seating position (i don't have suv envy!), or the safe-but-not-overly-exciting suspension setup. it's a solid car for sure, but i want something with more spunk.

2003 Toyota Celica GT coupe - i really liked this one! low, sporty seating, a similarly nice leather steering wheel, pedals placed well for heel-and-toe downshifting, feels small and light as it is, good visibility, and excellent response to steering inputs. for being front wheel drive it wasn't half bad at all.

(i was going to drive the Toyota Yaris, but the only one on the lot was a rental car, for which the keys are unavailable on weekends. i'll drive it sometime next week.)

2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse coupe - drove a base, 4-cylinder, manual tranny model. ergonomics were BAD: my knee hit the dashboard when the seat was adjusted as i like it; the windshield seemed very far away; the side mirrors were too far back; rear visibility was poor. given that it wasn't that entertaining to drive, less so than the celica for sure, i would not be willing to live with those ergonomic compromises.

2003 Mazda 6 sedan - 4 cyl/5-speed model tested. oddly enough it seemed lighter and narrower than the Mazda 3 i drove last night. better low end grunt, too, although the top end was decidedly anemic. quite a fun car, really!

2000 Mercury Cougar coupe - anemic, ugly interior, softly sprung, bad shifter. just not a good car at all.

2007 Pontiac G5 coupe - as bad as the ergonomics on the Mitsubishi were, the Pontiac was 10x worse: the steering wheel was really far away when the seat-pedal distance was right for me, and the shifter was positioned far back in the cabin. when shifting into 2nd and 4th gears my elbow would hit the seat bolster, and it was physically uncomfortable and distracting. a cheap-feeling steering wheel and fussy clutch sealed the deal. GM products still suck. well, except for the Solstice, but the dealer wanted $28k for theirs, with several thousand of that price just pure markup. ridiculous!

 

[Toshi]

cliffs notes for the above:

the Celica and the Mazda 6 are nice. (the 6 has double wishbones up front! how cool is that?! answer: very, sheesh.)

the BMW and M-B SLK are both nice but they each have teh big $$$ sticker.

the rest of the cars pretty much suck

 

[Toshi]

w00t: bought the salvaged car and turned it around for a tidy profit in all of 37 minutes.

 

[WTGPhoben]

w00t: bought the salvaged car and turned it around for a tidy profit in all of 37 minutes.

details?

 

[Toshi]

details?

i've been waiting for more than a month now for the salvage price. originally i was told that it was a percentage of the assessed value, and my hopes were low after the assessed value came in so high. however, it turned out that it's an auction style process, and apparently my car looked unattractive to the salvage-lot bidders, what with the front end damage and two popped airbags.

net result: salvage bid was $2160.40. i'd promised to offer the car up in its current state for $1k more than the salvage bid, and had at least 16 subie owners biting at the hook (with many others circling vulture-like for individual parts). i offered it up via PM to the guy who had been the most persistent, and 37 minutes after it was sent got a "Ill take it. !!!"[sic] in response.



there's no doubt in my mind that the parts still on the car are worth more than $3160.40, but it's frankly not worth my time. i'm out of the subie game, and the $1k profit from this deal will cover my deductible nicely, bringing down the money-lost-on-wrx figure to $5k and change ($2k if the month o' repairs is left out as before). $2k is not great but not horrible for 13 months of service.

 

[Toshi]

drove a few cars today: Toyota Yaris, and took another look at the Kia Rio and Nissan Versa.

Yaris - gauges in center console (and none in front of the driver) actually wasn't that annoying. what was annoying is that the windshield is quite far forward from the driver -- i almost couldn't touch it. this places the large rearview mirror prominently in the field of view, blocking out a good part of the next lane over. not cool. the top of the windshield and top of the side glass was also quite low, even for me with the seat ratcheted all the way downwards. claustrophobic feeling + somewhat numb steering == no thanks.

Rio - was as competent as before if not inspiring. feels small and light if not lithe. shifter felt more notchy. if the warranty wasn't so good i wouldn't give this car another thought, but 10 years, 100k miles powertrain warranty is compelling...

Versa - wasn't as enthralled this time. the interior is nice, sure, but the warranty is middling (3 years/36k bumper to bumper, 5/60 powertrain) and the response in sharp cornering less than agile. i think i'll have to pass on this one, especially since the dealer seemed very recalcitrant when i asked if they'll ever have a 6-speed model in stock to test out.

 

[Toshi]

how does this plan sound to the collective viewing audience?

a) buy a cheap, beater 1993 Subaru Impreza L wagon. awd, 1.8 liters, horribly slow, should be pretty reliable. cheap! drive this through my last rotation in wyoming, which will be ending in june.

b) drive this vehicle to see my big sis get married, etc. return to seattle in it, spend good portion of july recuperating from a year of clinical rotations

c) get a miata or the like in the good summer months.

d) take roadtrip in the new(er), fun vehicle.

i think this will be the easiest to accomplish, as old subarus are everywhere in seattle, and would give me a decently roomy, awd set of wheels to use for moving my stuff to idaho and wyoming, and for going skiing. any flaws in this plan?

an alternate thought, since having two cars really is somewhat silly, is substitute "shifter kart" or other very fun-but-impractical choice for c... an old impreza could tow a kart on a trailer for sure.

 

[Toshi]

mmm late model land cruiser with unimog portal axles grafted in...

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

Yaris - gauges in center console (and none in front of the driver) actually wasn't that annoying. what was annoying is that the windshield is quite far forward from the driver -- i almost couldn't touch it. this places the large rearview mirror prominently in the field of view, blocking out a good part of the next lane over. not cool. the top of the windshield and top of the side glass was also quite low, even for me with the seat ratcheted all the way downwards. claustrophobic feeling + somewhat numb steering == no thanks.

jeesus, how tall are you?
am not tall at all (1.73m, 5´8"-5¨9"?) and it isnt much of an issue. although it does feel minivan-ish. i find the front side windows huge for a car its size actually. are you talking about the hatchback, or the sedan? i´d assume the first.

the electric steering is rather funky. has a bit of a detached feeling to it. the peculiar sound it makes, gets a bit tiresome after a while (but thats not a problem since i got a bigger stero actually).
i´m a bit of a car nut, to the eyes of my friends and family a bit anal about cars, but i really dont split hairs like that. :biggrin: but then, of course my choices are much more limited compared to the US motor market.
btw, why is 2 cars silly?? you can have a realiable easy people mover in one, and a toy in the 2nd. i think both concepts are mutually exclusive. that is unless you are talking big $$.
imo, on cars its frugal, reliable and fast. but you only get to pick 2.

 

[Toshi]

i'm also 173 cm actually, but i'm very picky/neurotic . it was the sedan. toyota may have tweaked seat height and mirror size for the u.s. market.

two cars becomes an issue later: i'll be done with school in june 2008 and probably won't be in seattle for residency. moving two cars would suck.

 

[Toshi]

today i drove more cars still: a VW, a Mini, a Volvo, a Scion, and two Mazdas. i think i've now driven most everything on my list o' prospective vehicles.

VW GTI 2.0T with the DSG gearbox - DSG is a sweet, sweet technology, and the 2.0T is a punchy engine! great midrange response. however, the car itself was underwhelming: just the wrong size, not really tossable, and overpriced. it never was really on the list (i just wanted to try out DSG) but off it goes nonetheless.

Mini Cooper non-S - a handy little car. feels small, narrow, yet stable. good visibility, snazzy dashboard. tiny luggage area, high price (even with a dealer that doesnt mark up), and ultimately not that compelling. it's also off the list despite its resounding successes in GS (G Stock) and HS autocross.

Volvo S40 2.4i - the Mazda 3 and the Volvo S40/V50 share the same platform as the European-model Ford Focus. (the U.S. model Focus is the inferior, old model.) despite this shared, humble heritage, i didnt really like the Mazda 3 yet really liked the Volvo S40. the dashboard is simple, elegant, and functional, the shifter is wonderful, and the 2.4 liter naturally aspirated four banger sufficiently responsive in the midrange. i'd totally rock one of these, and insurance is probably super low!

Scion tC - meh. interior isn't that great, doors are long and unwieldy, clutch balky, and shifter rubbery and vague. oh, and the engine sounds very agricultural. no thanks, even with Scion's nifty youth-targeted advertisements.

Mazda Miata, 2004 (so last generation) - surprisingly off my list: i confirmed that convertibles indeed suck in the winter by driving around a bit with the top down in frigid nighttime Salt Lake City weather. also, even at my modest stature i found my view of the road somewhat obscured by the top of the windshield. i don't want to deal with that day in and day out, so the miata is gone from my plans. plonk.

Mazda RX-8 - yes, the dealer let me test drive a RX-8 without raising and eyebrow. and it was sweet indeed. it didn't feel much larger than the Miata while driving around, and the 9k rpm and linear power delivery were very much as depicted in Gran Turismo 4, that is to say, they were great. the driving position was comfortable and suitable for a sports car, the steering well weighted and precise, and the back seat and trunk are even half usable. couple this with the fact that the RX-8 was the B Stock class winner this year at the National autox championship and it will be tough to beat.

insurance may be the factor that sways this decision... time to get quotes next week.

(note that the Volvo S40/V50 was redesigned as a 2004.5 model. the old model had teh suck in spades, while the new one is snazzy and a half.)

 

[Toshi]

for those of you still trying to keep up at home, the following spreadsheet has the current contenders:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pQ2qLNRonuOUzO5Szqv-wHg

cars that i have test driven, 23 unless i can't count...

Audi A4 1.8T quattro
BMW 325ix
Honda Civic (x 2: 2003, 2007; we also owned a lackluster 1996 one)
Kia Rio
Mazda 3
Mazda 6
Mazda Miata (x 2: 2001 and 2004)
Mazda RX-8
Mercedes-Benz SLK230 Kompressor
Mercury Cougar
Mini Cooper
Mitsubishi Eclipse
Nissan Sentra
Nissan Versa
Pontiac G5
Scion tC
Toyota Celica GT
Toyota Corolla S
Toyota Yaris sedan
Volkswagen GTI 2.0T DSG
Volvo S40 2.4i

 

[Toshi]

this is kind of fun, google:

inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode="

some examples of unsecured webcam/security cameras:

http://66.209.109.2:60006/ViewerFrame?Mode=Motion&Language=0
http://83.171.69.42:88/ViewerFrame?Mode=Motion&Resolution=640x480&Quality=Standard&Interval=30&Size=STD&
http://216.231.170.182:5903/ViewerFrame?Mode=Motion&Language=0

oh yeah, and pics from Alta/Utah to come soon

 

[Toshi]

pics from Alta/Utah to come soon

i ended up going to utah for thanksgiving, but didn't end up staying there very long.

reason #1: i almost froze to death. to save money and be hardcore i decided to sleep in the parking lot of Snowbird, one of the many ski areas local to Salt Lake City. (i skied at Alta, a bit farther up on the road, but they're more militant about kicking out overnight parkers.) later on i found out that the temperature was 15 degrees the next morning, and i assume it was lower during the night. all i know for sure is that even with a sleeping bag, blanket, and my ski jacket on i was so absurdly cold that i idled the car with the heater on full blast on and off for about an hour and a half. i don't think i could have taken another night of that.

reason #2: the snow kind of sucked. yeah, odd that i'd ever say that about utah, which traditionally has lovely, fluffy powder... instead it was washington state getting dumped on, while i skated around on 29" of middling white stuff. there were enough rocks and roots that i put a hefty gouge or two in the base of my skis. ouch. i also broke one of my poles.

reason #3: trying to be cheap. it's hard to be frugal when driving a 15 mpg beast to go skiing (lift tickets are no chump change themselves), but i did my best this weekend. no motel, only one ski ticket, and pretty cheap meals, too. incidentally, i probably would have been kicked out from a nice restaurant had i wandered in, as i looked very much like i slept in my car and then skiied all day. i was a mess.

(i think i look like an alien in this pic, what with huge goggles + fogged up glasses. also note the broken pole stump.)

reason #4: i test drove one final bunch of cars. in case the string of posts above doesn't make it abundantly clear , i've been test driving cars of all varieties. on the same whirlwind day that i went skiing (following the night o' shivering death) i hit up a final group of dealerships. even in my sorry looking state i didn't get turned down when i made the request to test drive some pretty swanky cars, and (as stated in the post two up from this one) i finally have the list of candidate cars realistically pared down to two (Mazda RX-8, Volvo S40 2.4i).

although highlander is right in that there can be only one, ultimately, it's nice to have it narrowed down this far, and i felt that i had accomplished enough that i returned to idaho late that night.

pics from the weekend are up here: thanksgiving in utah. the full size image pages have captions that explain why there are rockets in the photos, etc.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

OMG! you shaved!

 

[Toshi]

OMG! you shaved!

not that day! or the day before. the resolution of the posted pic is just not high enough. my (scalp) hair is getting pretty unruly, btw -- i'm trying to look like more of a skier

 

[Toshi]

people: what do we think about this car?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230056825206&fromMakeTrack=true

carfax is clean, seller has good reputation... no leather but who's keeping track? . plus they say shipping should be ~$400. renting an auto carrier trailer for the expedition would cost that much alone.
http://www.carfax.com/cfm/ccc_DisplayHistoryRpt.cfm?partner=DVW_1&vin=JM1FE173240139716

in other news, i'm abusing the request-quotes-from-dealers-via-email feature, and am stringing along a bunch of volvo dealers for quotes on a new S40. i don't plan to buy one new, but just in case i spring for a used one i want ammo: "uh, i can buy this car new for XX amount more. durr."

 

[WTGPhoben]

people: what do we think about this car?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230056825206&fromMakeTrack=true

carfax is clean, seller has good reputation... no leather but who's keeping track? . plus they say shipping should be ~$400. renting an auto carrier trailer for the expedition would cost that much alone.
http://www.carfax.com/cfm/ccc_DisplayHistoryRpt.cfm?partner=DVW_1&vin=JM1FE173240139716

in other news, i'm abusing the request-quotes-from-dealers-via-email feature, and am stringing along a bunch of volvo dealers for quotes on a new S40. i don't plan to buy one new, but just in case i spring for a used one i want ammo: "uh, i can buy this car new for XX amount more. durr."

Looks like a deal to me (It's basically free after insurance, and you can spend your time driving instesad of looking, which has significant value). I'd wager you will (not necessarily should) buy this car or one similar to it. Here's why:

- it's competitive (none of the other cars you're looking at are)
- it's interesting / unusual.
- it whispers throwback to your Z of old.

 

[Toshi]

ok then, what car should i get?

 

[WTGPhoben]

ok then, what car should i get?

If you want to spend money on your car but have lots of fun in it (until you have to carry something somewhere), you should get that one (rx8).

If you want to spend money on you car but have less fun (until you have to carry something), get the volvo. Backstory: my dad has a 2000 volvo v70 and all he does is throw money at it. It's real expensive to fix, and super annoying when it's always stupid electrical stuff.

If you don't like spending money on your car (then fun is less of an option), buy one of those little boxy things you were test driving.

my .02, anyway.

 

[Toshi]

thanks for the input. your dad's volvo was a "real volvo" tho, no? whereas this S40 is a tarted up euro-spec ford focus/mazda 3... i'm not sure whether that heritage would imply greater or lesser reliability.

food for thought:

S40 interior volume: 92 cubic feet
RX-8 interior volume: 89 cubic feet

S40 trunk volume: 12.6 cubic feet
RX-8 trunk volume: 7.6 cubic feet

 

[WTGPhoben]

thanks for the input. your dad's volvo was a "real volvo" tho, no? whereas this S40 is a tarted up euro-spec ford focus/mazda 3... i'm not sure whether that heritage would imply greater or lesser reliability.

food for thought:

S40 interior volume: 92 cubic feet
RX-8 interior volume: 89 cubic feet

S40 trunk volume: 12.6 cubic feet
RX-8 trunk volume: 7.6 cubic feet

probably was. It was the original v70 AWD

 

[Toshi]

so i'm the high bidder on that rx-8 . reserve is met, 1d 20h left on the auction...

the plan would be to drive the expedition from here (pocatello) to salt lake city, which is about 160 miles, then have the dealer, a trucking company, ship the expedition at their leisure on a car carrier to oregon. i'd drive the rx-8 back up to pokey, back to seattle, etc. assuming all my stuff fits in it...

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

heh... tired from the "unreliability" of a modded impreza.. and jumping into rotary engines..

i had one when i was 17. the most unreliable car i´ve ever had (and for a while, i had a kink in buying unreliable cars).

 

[Toshi]

which rx-? did you have, alexis? the rx-8 is not bad, by all accounts, when you run dino oil, rev it up often to remove carbon deposits (woohoo, it's required!), and simply don't run it dry of oil.

also note that there are 3y and 21k miles left on the powertrain warranty, and that if the engine fails mazda's blowby/compression test during that time it'll get a fresh new engine courtesy of mazda.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

which rx-? did you have, alexis? the rx-8 is not bad, by all accounts, when you run dino oil, rev it up often to remove carbon deposits (woohoo, it's required!), and simply don't run it dry of oil.

also note that there are 3y and 21k miles left on the powertrain warranty, and that if the engine fails mazda's blowby/compression test during that time it'll get a fresh new engine courtesy of mazda.

i had an rx7. a twin turbo 93, with an hks single turbokit. huuuuuge clouds of black smoke and smell of gasoline out of nothing at times, run lean one day, rich the other. bad o2 sensors, it ate exhausts, apex seal problems, rough idle, extremely crappy mpg (like 6), couldnt run on pump gas.....

worse to keep in tune than a six-pack carb!. and that is a lot to say.

 

[Toshi]

ah, you can't judge rotaries based on your experience with the last gen RX-7, let alone a (poorly?) modded one...

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

ah, you can't judge rotaries based on your experience with the last gen RX-7, let alone a (poorly?) modded one...

well, yeah, it was a rather amateurish attempt at modding.
but still, in its pure form, gas mileage is really bad, knowledgable mechanics are scarce, seal problems are plenty and its bad thermal efficiency makes you wonder..... i dont know. i just wouldnt get one for an everyday car out of gut feeling and pavlovian conditioning.

 

[Toshi]

with regard to mileage, agreed.

about mechanics: i don't intend to mod, and there's that warranty for a bit, at least.

apex seals: the renesis is a different beast. no boost for one, different seals for another. http://rotaryengineillustrated.com/how-a-rotary-engine-works/rx-8-renesis-engine-2.html and

are a good read, and an empty but entertaining watch, respectively.

thermal efficiency? don't know. is this just bad gas mileage restated?

in exchange for those drawbacks the linearity of its powerband, the packaging, and the smoothness of its operation are excellent. remember how i said a while back that i didn't like my WRX's turbo lag? well, the RX-8's powerband may be felt to be less than exciting by some pundits, but it's about as linear as you could hope for short of electric motors.

ok, maybe the S2000 has a similar low-torque high-revving powerband, but the packaging of the rotary in the RX-8 lets it actually be a practical car, or at least be a bit less impractical.

 

[Toshi]

w00t. unless the eBay seller/dealer backs out, i'm now the owner of a 2004 Mazda RX-8 Touring package with 29k miles on it.

 

[Tonycalves]

Nice, got your rack for it yet?

 

[Toshi]

i'm thinking that i won't get a rack for it. most all i do nowadays is road biking/commuting anyways...

it doesn't need a ski rack, either: ski pass through. with snow tires, low torque, and traction control i should be golden.

 

[Toshi]

stupid bank regulations:

i deposited the insurance settlement check on monday and thought that it'd clear shortly. instead it's going to be held until december 13th. this is awful. now i don't have sufficient funds to write a cashier's check for it as promised... unless the dealer is cool with my idea to charge it to amex i'm not sure how this weekend's transaction is going to transpire...

agh.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

stupid bank regulations:

i deposited the insurance settlement check on monday and thought that it'd clear shortly. instead it's going to be held until december 13th. this is awful. now i don't have sufficient funds to write a cashier's check for it as promised... unless the dealer is cool with my idea to charge it to amex i'm not sure how this weekend's transaction is going to transpire...

agh.

another "alexis in the US" moment.
when i just moved to the US, i paid a car with a credit card.
the dealer was ok with it. after signing the papers and stuff... they raised an eyebrow when they realized the credit card was peruvian and had my peruvian name (2 last names) on it, insted of the name in my drivers license.
the dealer proceeded to offer me a refund. unknowingly i accepted.

they gave me he refund not 15 minutes after charging the card.
the bad part. i lost like $400. when they charged the amount in US dollars (from the balance in peruvian Soles), the peruvian bank sold me dollars. then, when the refund came in, it came in US dollars, so the bank sold me soles in exchange of the dollars i had just buy from them. lost around $400 in the 2 currency exchanges.
the family in lima was not amused. had to get a job deliverying-installing yard fountains to cover my mistake.