Yeah, I was anxious about that theft risk. My GS-R spent time in Vancouver, Canada, and Stamford, CT, both of which were relatively high risk for auto breakins and whatnot. I never had a problem but it did weigh on me at times. My brother has an ITR and has, over the years, suffered various small crimes — badges…

I had a 97 GS-R (purchased new from the Acura dealer in Syracuse who also let me test drive their NSX at the time!), I never modified the car. Best fun was long pulls in 3rd gear, there was enough loading on the engine that the VTEC switchover was hugely satisfying.

I just don’t understand. As the memes say, I can’t even.

Yes, plenty of stories of disgruntled cyclists seeking revenge for some real or imagined sleight.

Yeah, if it was burning carpet or upholstery, I would have been more inclined to Get It Out Right Now, but I’d de-carpeted the car (because racecar) and knew the practical damage risk was minimal. Certainly lower than the risk of antagonizing hundreds of California drivers by creating an in situ traffic jam.

re Miatas ramming things, I ran a Miata in the second-ever 24 Hours of LeMons (when it was still at Altamont), and while T-bone-style hits wouldn’t have been a good decision, the ability to nudge the nose into corners which might have already been somewhat occupied by other cars proved useful. That little car…

Having someone flick their smouldering cigarette butt into my Miata while I was stopped at a red light in traffic, and having it bounce into an inaccessible spot where I could smell it but couldn’t retrieve it promptly due to aforementioned traffic/busy road/etc.

Yeah, I understand. You should get one.

Yup, exactly. I am clearly old and grumpy now but the cars I’m driving these days are a lot slower and lower-grip than what I used to have, yet I don’t seem to arrive anywhere any later or having had less fun. I love that Dodge does 700+ and 800+bhp factory builds, I love that you can get a 10sec car with a…

I think this is exactly right:

Maybe. Could it be insurance fraud? Perhaps they have some crazy declared value policy for big money on the car? Perhaps they want the attention and/or notoriety?

If they were on anything other than a (pseudo-)Lamborghini, I’d say they were trying too hard and gratuitously stupid.

Not really. CarPlay and AA don’t sever any connection that might already be present between the ICE controls and the various modules on the car’s CAN bus. You don’t *have* to use CarPlay and/or AA in any OEM implementation I’ve seen so far; they are, in effect, just alternate UI apps which act as remote displays for…

It’s been a while since I test drove a Mazda with that system but IIRC you can do things like reset the trip odometers, tell the TPMS system “everything will be OK”, etc. So yes, you can write to other modules across the bus.

Primarily because they’re lazy. The center stack can display certain values off the vehicle’s main bus, whether they’re numerical values (e.g. fuel level, temperatures, etc.) or binary values (a warning light that’s turned on). In order to bring those values into the stack, the systems must be connected, and…

Oakland, CA, on I-880 southbound, back in 2003-04 or thenabouts. Mid-afternoon as the commute traffic was ramping up quickly. On a bendy section where the shoulder onto which I pulled was only about half a car wide. In a ‘99 Miata which spontaneously died after running perfectly well moments earlier. I am not…

I suspect most new Miata sales are not to the hard core enthusiasts who end up hanging onto them for a long time. There is still an aspect of ‘affordable fashion statement’ which is, in and of itself, prone to whimsy.

Hush ye, for the Cygnet was an economic necessity to enable Proper Astons without the blight of Chelsea Tractors.

Three separate stories:

When people start creeping into intersections while their light is still red, because they’ve seen the other lights change from green to orange. Then once their light turns green, they’ve become distracted by something sparkly and don’t even pull away promptly.