‘Full self Driving Capability’, and the first line of fine text says ‘this does not actually provide the capability for self driving’. I do not understand how you think this helps your point. The name has nothing to do with the product, and people think that’s ok?

Another big problem with the showroom model is used cars. Especially older ones. It’s very hard to compare, say, two 80s sportscars. You have to find two private sellers and waste both of their time if you want a test drive, and that’s usually before you’ve spent the six months it’ll take to find the exact trim you…

I was really hoping they’d ditch the gigantic angled LCD and make it less obnoxious. It already looks like it’s an iPad someone wedged in there...  There’s already a screen for the instrument cluster so theoretically they could drop the secondary one altogether and clean the whole thing up.

These things use a nonsensically complicated hydraulic system to manage both ride height and braking. The whole thing is prone to failure and very, very hard to fix. Parts are not cheap.

I haven’t actually done any research, but why aren’t we building nuclear cargo ships? If an aircraft carrier can do it, why can’t a cargo ship?

It can, but that doesn’t mean it will. The TPMS in my 2017 86 has no output other than a dash light, and that dash light doesn’t even come on until I’ve been driving for more than half an hour without the sensors (didn’t put a set on the winter tires).

There’s a long list of features I don’t want, but number one has to be a screen that I’ll never use that completely ruins the look of the dash. Every time I see a Miata interior I feel the urge to take a hammer to that thing. It’s sooo close to great, then... screen. I don’t use my phone in my car, I don’t want a…

I’ve never understood that. Keeping keys in your pocket hurts if you’re wearing anything other than sweatpants.

Is it weird that my favorite brands right now top both lists?

Not that it matters in Nevada, but I’ve always wondered how solar deals with hail.  You could put clear plastic over the panels, but wouldn’t that lower the effectiveness?  I don’t see spending $10k on something I’ll lose the first time it hails.

None of those are RWD. If you’re ok with FWD there are a reasonable number of choices, but I’m not. I’d buy an auto with RWD before buying a manual with FWD (and used Quadrifoglios are really tempting me that way...)

You can’t play AC or ACC with a controller, and even with AC’s large list of road cars, next to nobody races them online.

This will be the only RWD sedan with a manual transmission that isn’t a BMW, won’t it?

As long as it doesn’t fall into the age range of like ‘75 to ‘90 where it’s too new to be smog exempt and too old to pass smog with the aging stock equipment (that you often can’t get anymore).

So nobody makes a viable electric car yet (assuming you won’t be able to rent a gasoline powered car for long trips), charging infrastructure basically doesn’t exist outside of major cities, power plants can barely keep up with current demand, and the raw materials for sufficient batteries may not exist at all.

A new Mazda 6 with an inline six engine and RWD.

Most unusual was probably a yellow 918 spyder being driven in the rain. Close second would be a pre-production Honda NSX sitting in traffic (the factory is only about an hour from here).

Automakers should not be working in tech, for the same reason that Intel doesn’t sell operating systems.

You don’t need software updates if your hardware isn’t changing. In the world of phones and PCs, your hardware and the hardware the OS runs on is always changing, and so is the software that runs on top of it.

I’ve always thought debadged cars looked bland and incomplete, a lot like the unlicensed cars in your average racing game. Nonetheless it’s useful to know how to get them off, either preparing for paint or to remove those terrible dealer-added badges that are often more firmly attached than the real ones.