Don’t Jalops only buy used cars?  “Those” people are the reason you can get the monster AMG wagons used in a few years.

There really isn’t. You can’t just weld extra aluminum to an aluminum frame without seriously risking the heat messing up 1) the dimensions of the frame through wrapping and 2) the native heat treating of the aluminum and, thus, actually weakening the materials, nevermind possibly also not having any space to work…

Where’s the Evora 400/410/430?

The fear with that Z8 is that it may be only a few miles away from tearing its frame and totaling the car.

It is a shame, however, as pretty much all small hatchbacks have vacated the U.S. in recent years. If you’re looking for something with a big rear door, the Corolla hatch is about as small as you can get these days.

The fuel economy of a motor is shown by the brake-specific fuel consumption map. Every motor has a different consumption map and while certain motors can be very efficient at one load and one operating speed, it might be inefficient at other loads and operating speeds, or vice versa.

The problem is, a Honda Accord old enough to drink which has spent its life in the Midwest is not really a reliable car.  When it was newish, it was reliable, but age takes its toll on any car.  It’s why I no longer consider any NA Miata a reliable car; there will just be age related issues with it.

There’s a section of us constantly telling him to get something, anything, reliable.  But he just ignores us.

While true, I feel like Honda is being a little too realistic in this case. There wasn’t a huge gulf between Honda and Renault last year. And while I appreciate that development is hindered due to regulations so Honda doesn’t have a whole lot of possibilities to improve, I do wonder if just trying to beat Renault is…

Goodwin and 949 have broken V3s. V4s are still quite new, so in my opinion it’s in the “jury’s still out out” category. Too soon to tell since the conventional wisdom previously was that V3s would be fine and look where we’re at now.

I ask about the Recaros because Goodwin mentioned that they’re not an improvement over the standard seats, but others swear by them.

1) How are the Recaros? I’ve heard conflicting stories about whether they’re an improvement over the stock leather seats.

The 124 uses the NC Miata gearbox. Which doesn’t break when tracked regularly, unlike the ND gearbox.

You joke, but that’s ACTUALLY the reason to get one. The ND gearbox has a glass tranny reputation when tracked. If you autocross or track extensively, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll break it. By contrast, the 124 uses the NC gearbox which has been proven to reliable. The MultiAir motor is also reliable.

Right.  Basically, tuners can’t leave well enough alone.  And then they bitch at the automaker when turning things to 11 causes stuff to fail.  Newsflash: automakers aren’t obligated to design components that’ll take your mods.

The Magic Man and El Diablo

Sure, but I’m trying to convince someone to accept a car, and it’s a lot easier to do that playing up the cool factor. “It’s ordinary and practical” isn’t gonna get her out of her ordinary and practical crossover.

Trying to convince my fiance to consider a wagon (preferably one of the Volvos) a few years down the line.  This is a good article to make the point that “they’re cool now!”

Just in time for 2019.  Convenient.

I love how Japanese catalogs can make even total basket cases look great.  David Tracy take note!