Texting on a digital keyboard without looking at it is one thing. Doing it while driving is another. There’s a reason texting while driving is illegal in a lot of places; it radically increases the chances of an accident. And it does so because it requires more attention and for a longer period of time than…

I took your observation that all of the cars you’ve had since then require this diversion of attention to mean, basically, “eh, everyone else has this problem too, it’s not a big deal.”

Preserving the system 1s is a reasonable approach, I think.

Question:

If they put bags on the basically-hairy-cows to carry stuff, would they be yakety sacks?

The sad thing is most of the cars with System 1s had them ditched for System 2s because, evidently, a lot of people found the System 1 wheel highly unattractive.

I own an E34 M5. The exciting part of the tach is definitely over 4000rpm, no argument. That said, it does make enough torque immediately off idle to not bitch about pulling away from a stop in 2nd like say, my STI does. The S38 reminds me a lot of the 2GR-FSE in my Lexus, actually; just with considerably higher…

I suspect it’ll depend on what defines ‘better.’

Oh the 1UZ is supposed to have a lot of potential. It’s a very robust engine with a solid bottom end.

Have to do some work to the 1UZ while it’s out to wake it up, too, otherwise you’ve just got a nose-heavy understeery miata with a crappy engine.

• Winter beater until it rusts out or breaks

...Nah. It doesn’t.

People of all political bents tend to be awful, and many of them want to exert some kind of control over their neighbors; the difference is merely what they seek to control and how.

I won’t.

Every Mazda I’ve ever driven, I’ve liked. The 3 in both normal and mazdaspeed form, the 6, the CX-5 with and without the turbo, the RX8, all fine cars.

And without the faint whiff of “my credit score qualifies me for a 4-owner, formerly-a-drivers-ed-car Fiesta but I think very highly of myself and I want my neighbors to, too” desperation, to boot.

Average transaction price for a new car in the US right now is something like $36k. Given that context, I’d consider it a cheap car.

I bought a 2017 STI instead of a Focus RS or a GLA45. I drove all three. I didn’t consider the Golf R at all. At the time, I was anticipating using the car to split year-round daily driving with another car, with this purchase covering 30-50% of it.

They’re the same thing with one crucial difference:
Maltesers taste pretty good. The American version is absolutely inedible.

The e39 is a fantastic car, but they’re pushing 20 years old and it’s going to show. I serviced the cars (like, professionally) 10 years ago and they weren’t low-maintenance then. Reliable, but not low-maintenance (this is an important distinction).

Depending on how this is implemented, the “charge points in every new house” thing is either a fine idea or really incredibly fucking stupid. It sounds like they’re going to require an actual DC fast charger, not just the wiring to install a charger down the road. If that’s the case, this is the dumbest idea I’ve…