And let me assure you - the propane tank that can no longer fuel your grill is by no means empty. You’ll find this out pretty quickly when it’s hit by a .308 round - ask me how I know...

I was almost one of the mad ones. I’ve loved the E12 since I was a kid, and fondly remember the one my mom test drove back in ‘76. Sadly, she didn’t buy it, but instead bought a ‘77 VW Dasher Wagon, and that, instead of the E12, became my first car. :/

Sounds like NASCAR-like weight

To be completely honest, there’s hardly a car that couldn’t use more power. The question really becomes ‘what is what is an acceptable amount?’. My last two vehicles have been minivans, the Mazda5 6MT and a base Ford Windstar. There’s only a 7 HP difference between the two of them (157 for the Mazda and 150 for the…

I’ve worked with those as well and they are HUGE, almost the same diameter as a 737/757/707/727 fuselage. The images below show that quite well:

Having worked lots of 747s on the ramp at LAX, I can tell you that those guys are nowhere near the engine, probably 25 feet or more behind it.

You nailed it, Torch.

The third row in my Mazda5 hasn’t seen daylight in years, but it’s nice to know it’s there. Even the second row doesn’t get a lot of usage. Growing up, we left the middle row out of our Vanagon for ages, turning it into just a 5 seater (6 if you want to count the bean bag chair we’d bring along on long trips, safety…

100% agreed. I’ve grown tired of trying to impress others with the BMWs, Porsches and MBZs I’ve had in the past, and am now the proud owner of a rare Mazda5 6MT.

When I started in corporate IT I was a die-hard Windows user, mostly because I couldn’t afford a new Mac; they were rather pricy back in the ‘90s. But like a lot of IT folks, after spending all day fixing broken computers I just wanted to come home to one that worked, and that’s when I made the switch. At my last job,…

That seems to describe my now-retired parents. In the last three years I’ve been living about 1,800 miles away from them and haven’t been there to help with their tech issues like I used to. Despite my occasionally telling them how good Apple products were they kept on using the same Windows and other non-Apple…

I had a co-worker years ago that experienced something like this, although perhaps a bit different. She was born in Nigeria but spent most of her life in England; that’s where we found her and convinced her to move to Los Angeles. She came here with her 3 year old daughter, but the father of the child stayed back home…

I built one up years ago, although with considerably more power than a GTI engine. Trust me, you don’t want that unless you only like going in straight lines. Learn from my expensive mistake.

A couple of special VW Vanagons, one factory and one decidedly not.

Who?

Maybe it’s just the massive Recaro seat we use. Rather than buying new ones as the kid grows, it just seemed more prudent to get one that can adapt with different inserts.

I’m old, so to me 3 means small, 5 means mid, and 7 means large. 6 was something you bought after the kids were out of the house...

I guess I’m eventually have to buy something with an automatic, but they still feel weird to me. Even my Mazda5 has a manual. I guess I’m just a creature of habit, sticking with what I know and like. Part of it is also the engineer’s mindset, namely that a good design is a simple design; anyone can make something…

A friend’s wife just bought a CPO E90, and that’s what I was basing my opinion on. That and the 3-series GT she had as a loaner - those things get a bit tight with the child seats, which is why we usually use his Passat.

Although I love the smoothness of an I6, I could probably learn to live with the 2.0l 4 cylinder. A 528i with a 6MT would be my ideal BMW these days, but sadly such a thing doesn’t exist. If I’m going to fantasize about non-existent models, you might as well make it a wagon...