A Miata weighs less than 2500 lbs, and the new model has 180 hp. A BRZ weighs a little over 2600 lbs and has 200 hp.

M-B has made a lot of great instrument panels over the years:

My dad starting flying the Orient route pioneered by Lindbergh for Northwest Airlines which included stops in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. They used to go hunting and fishing on layovers up there, and got to know a lot of bush pilots. Those guys had stories that would make you never want to fly anywhere again.

That would be a tough decision, depending when and where they served. 

There are more than a few airports that make professional pilots sphincters tighten up more than a little. Both Great Falls and Butte Montana are short runways surrounded by mountains with brutal crosswinds. There are wreckages in the mountains above it from years ago.   

Unless you are a commercial pilot, you have no idea how dangerous weather conditions can be. My father was an airline pilot years ago, and more than a few of his peers did not survive some crashes.

We flew into LAX last January in rainstorm ( the mudslides were in full gear at that time). A tail wind from the mountains was blowing us all over the place, and we landed pretty hard, although I think the pilots did a great job just getting us on the ground in one piece. By comparison, the return flight into O’Hare…

A minor nitpick here, but your grandfather flew SBD’s, not SDB’s. And there wasn’t a more harrowing air war mission than dive bombing them, other than torpedo bombing. Glad he survived it.

I work with more than a few specialists of varying professions, and I can't believe the amount of air time you guys log in a year. 

Son of an airline pilot here, wanted to be one when I was young, but am now glad I didn’t. Fun and scary to look through his old log books, more than a few close calls, mostly of a mechanical nature. 

I have a lot less problems with this than treating people like super heroes. For some reason “Tariff Man” comes to mind.

As usual, there is a lot of gray area here regarding what the owner may be wanting, especially as to reliability and ease of maintenance. Also, “fun to drive” means a lot of different things to different people. It would seem like there are two paths that could be taken, an older affordable car on the way to becoming…

Savage Geese did a video review of one last month, and more or less came to the same conclusion. Nice little car, but it’s no Yugo.

So, if memory serves me the last car that made you think it was perfect was a Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet. Your one (slight) concern with that car was that it would make you look like an asshole for owning one. Any similar concern here, or do you just plan to embrace your inner asshole?

The paint on mine has held up very well after four years of ownership, but it has been garaged every day, clayed and waxed every year, and washed frequently. I have owned a lot of Honda’s and Toyota’s, including a Supra. The interior of the BRZ is certainly not luxurious, but I think of it as basic, not cheap. The…

The Interstate is fine if you are trying to get somewhere in a hurry, and the destination is what matters. On  a road trip where the driving experience is the focus I need to get off the beaten path however.

We spent a week on the north shore of Lake Superior this summer, and I want to circumnavigate all of the Great Lakes now.

You must be into pain and torture.

You just swung for the fences my friend.

If you like Leavenworth hop across Puget Sound and go to Poulsbo, a Scandinavian hamlet on the waterfront. Great food, shops and parks to walk through.