The forces involved can cause compression fractures in the spine and some ejectees literally come away shorter. So yeah, bailing out is preferable to riding it into the ground, but it’s not a cakewalk when you’re being yate from an airplane by a rocket strapped under your seat.

This 2015 Model S just came in last week with 236,00 miles on it! Replaced the PPF, polished, and re-coated it. Looked brand new inside and out! Range was at 190 miles on the display but didn’t see what percentage the battery was at.

If the starting point is 72%, then their definition of range must be “highway range”. Further evidence to support the idea EVs should just have a reported highway range and city range, instead of a confusing jumble of the two.

I believe Porsche has better paint than Lexus, not that Lexus is bad at all in that regard, but I remember watching a video that showed a comparison between different car manufacturers’ quality of paint by using a tool that can read the depth of paint and Porsche took the edge.

I’ve been in cheap Toyotas that had poor quality interiors, and I’ve owned a Toyota with leather and some good options that was closer to Lexus quality on the interior. Not quite, but getting up there. Yeah it definitely wasn’t perfect but it seems like there’s a lot of variance on Toyotas and maybe it has something…

Everyone should do themselves a favour and try a Mexican-made Coke.  It’s made with cane sugar and is so much better than the American crap.  You’ll curse the corn lobby for ruining sodas.

When I first saw your post, I thought it was gonna be about how Scion made that third brake light go across the trunk...then failed to actually have the LEDs inside of it do the same:

1990-2010 plastic parts in the engine bay. I’m looking at you BMW and VAG and your crappy plastic dipstick tubes, plastic water pump impellers, plastic EVERYTHING.

This is make/model agnostic, but a true summertime classic. Aluminum inlays on the top of shift knobs. Although a common bugbear in many cars, the one in my C30 gets ridiculously toasty after a few hours in the sun unless I remember to use a sunshade.

Yep. It’s the cliche answer, but the miata is popular for a reason. Cheap, fun, reliable. Popular also means you can find spare parts and the aftermarket is great.

I second the Si.  We had a 2018.  Gave it to new driver grandson last year. He dreaded it at first but now he appreciates the skill and admiration he gets from friends and acquaintances.  I think its worth roughly what we paid new.  Replaced it with an Acura Integra - also manual.

Fiat 124 Spider might fit into that $15k sweet spot. I know, it plays second fiddle to the Miata but sometimes different is good, right?

Power Steering! I’m old enough to remember (and have experienced) the Armstrong days of manual, unassisted everything, including steering, brakes, transmissions, windows, seats, doors, HVAC, and chokes.

V12 Hemi 639 would be better but until then any V12

Heated steering wheel, I can’t go back to a cold wheel.

The R50/R52/R53 Mini Cooper also had the air conditioned glove box as an option!

Cupholders.

The official term for this was “DUI compartment”

Gotta be the little disk of Shag Carpet on the dash that my Nissan Cube came with.

The Dodge Caliber was by many accounts a questionably built mid-aughts Chrysler product. It did, however, have one really cool feature (dad pun intended): the air-conditioned “Chill Zone” glove compartment. It only worked when the A/C was on, but it was perfect for keeping your Mtn Dew, Surge, or Red Bull cool on…