--- On Mon, 1/10/11, Larry Daniels <ladaniels@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Some of
the stuff on cars these days
> is ridiculous, as well.
Auther's note:Bear
in mind that I went through 4 years of winters in Albany NY with an MGB as my
only car living in the middle of the city (I had to literally shovel the
interior when it snowed); until 5 months ago my daily driver was an Alfa
Spider. I commuted for 3 years in an S2 Esprit (no frills) as my only car in
Florida with Lotus air conditioning and schizophrenic window lifts as the only
thing between me and the dehydration ward. I have LBCs. I am no stranger to
automotive simplicity.
I love almost anything made prior to 1968. I have
little use for much of the 70s, 80s, and 90s cars. But some modern cars in the
last few years...I love them. I love the memory seats in my wife's crossover
(that's her choice, and with her having been hit at a light previously with
kids in a car by a person in a fuel efficient Kia plowing into her car at 30
mph, I like having that large crush zone around my family, OK?). It sets the
mirrors, pedal position, etc. My wife and I each drive her car almost
everyday, and it's useful. There, I said it. I like her XM radio. We have even
used the free-trial On-Star. My daily driver is a C6 Corvette. It does 0 to 60
in 4 seconds, is an absolute BLAST on the racetrack when I instruct, and gets
a no-sh!t 29 MPG if I keep it at 70. I choose closer to 80 - 85 on my highway
commute when traffic conditions allow, and get 23-25 MPG easily at that speed.
As my brother says, "if I keep my 4 cylinder Audi A4 at 70, I get 26
MPG. Not as much as your 400 horsepower pushrod V8 econobox, but still good."
To paraphrase Dennis Siminaitis, it is a car that keeps my senses so occupied
that I do not feel compelled to make phone calls while driving, and I'm not
sure I have turned on the radio for more than a few minutes.
We slum the car
dealerships around here, especially in these gray winter months, and the
closest is the GM dealer, and they are great people. They know my sons like
the new Camaro and CTS-V Coupe (552 Hp Cadillac!) and encourage them to see a
new color or special edition when they get one in. We spend a lot of our bad
weather days at the dealership enjoying the new car smells. We bring donuts
like Frank does with his upholstery guy or an equivalent. I drove a new Chevy
Suburban this weekend. 8000+ pounds of glorious towing capacity, it drove like
a car (that's what I want when I have a 400 mile tow), and it gets 20 MPG on
the highway. It beats the crap out of my 2002 F-150 XL in every single way,
and it depreciates to half its value in 2 years so I can almost afford one. I
have it on good authority it will get 16-18 towing my exact enclosed trailer
with a Sprite in it. My F-150 gets 9 - 10, and tops out at 70 mph. The
technology is astounding, and I tip
my hat. I need it to go to Newfoundland and back later this year, and I lust
for one. If I end up being able to swing it and you see me driving it on a day
when I don't have the trailer attached to it and think there is some ulterior
reason why I have it, bite me. It's my choice, I like choices. Trabants are
cute, but not when they are mandatory. Too much technology in today's cars?
That's what I thought about my 87 MR2, 1990 Miata, 87 BMW...and they seem
quaint now with affordable parts in the aftermarket compared to my
zero-technology Bugeyes.
Rant/ramble off,
Ron
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