ok... big block pinto hoonage wins :) Still no es bueno on the Tribeca though. You know what Subaru SUV looks completely badass with gold STi wheels though? A Forester. Specifically, a 2008-ish Forester XT.

and by “nice” you mean less offense and more mid-2000’s-Chrysler-corporate-face looking?

B9 first gen had the derpiest of derp faces. At least the Aztek had a tent and came in brown to offset the ugly.

Short ratio 6 speeds make me want a reeeeeally tall 7th gear for lazy cruising on the highway.

Ok... Subaru B9 Tribeca (the ugliest car in the world that narrowly beats out the Aztek for sheer ugliness). Ford Pinto (because... Pinto?). Go!

The answer is always miata. Specifically a red 2016 launch edition miata. Saw two of them so far in the past couple weeks (maybe the same one? both were red...) If you look at the back and squint a bit you could imagine it being the Alfa 4C for everyone.

Don’t judge him unless you’ve been in the same situation. You pretty much have two instincts at that point... slow WAAAAAY down and not hit anything (and possibly get rear ended cuz you slammed your brake hard on a hot track) or GTFO as fast as you can manage (and not hit anything). White Megane took the GTFO option…

You’re missing a very important game in the space combat genre... Freespace 2. I wager to say there hasn’t been an action space combat game as good as Freespace 2. While the X series took the Elite model to its logical conclusion Freespace 2 took the Wing Commander model and perfected it.

The back looks like they wanted to go all 240sx retro 90’s style and realized the trunk was too tall and just said fuck it. The front (and wheel arches) are very truck-ish (almost Land Rover like), which isn’t befitting a 4 door sedan, not to mention the rear arches just look... WRONG. The side looks like someone went…

NBA Jam, Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball (the SNES one). Does Super Smash TV count?

Well... I could order one today, and when it’s ready I could head down to the factory (just down the road from me) and they’ll give me a tour of the place before handing over the keys. Or I could have them drop the car off at my door. I dunno... I think I can give up the dealership experience for that.

I think the emphasis is on “had”

My first car I bought was my first stick shift car (Mazdaspeed 6). It was also brand new. It also had a clutch that took some muscle, and a rather short engagement. Even with my hamfisted shifting and stalling (hills scared the shit out of me... even the pathetic NJ excuses for hills) for the first few months that…

haha yeah, I looked this up cuz I have a 94 and I wondered whether I got a real gauge or a fake one. Thankfully mine is real :)

Actually, a blue and red coolant light would be quite useful in all cars. I want that red overheating light to be as bright as possible, and preferably flash in an annoying manner. I say this cuz I had a friend overheat an evo without really realizing it. I happened to glance over at his dash and saw his temp needle…

Your article reminded me of an interesting (and a bit random) fact about Miatas of yore. So first generation miatas had an oil pressure gauge. Then somewhere around 1994-95 they switched over the sensor (or the readout, not sure which...) from a true PSI sensor to an “idiot gauge” that pretty much went straight from…

I, being in possession of a tired but running miata, am wondering about this whole rallyX thing. What kind of suspension is needed in order to survive a jump like that? I can jack the ride height up through the roof and I think I’d still kill my car on a landing like that.

Mazdas have cable actuated caliper ebrakes. My 07 Speed6 has it, as well as my 94 Miata. I’m pretty sure the current 3 and 6 series do as well.

Not sure about “cable on caliper handbrake” being unreliable. Some older ones needed tending every once and a while (mainly after a brake job) cuz you had to adjust the “cable engagement” because the pad thickness drastically changed, but I think most modern cars adjust themselves within the caliper. It does simplify…

The one thing I’ve seen to limit the crazy at DMV is just to show up as early as possible (like, 30 minutes before doors open). You’ll end up waiting 45 minutes anyway, but at least you’ll have fresh employees who haven’t been beaten down by that day’s work.