Mazda 3 hatchback (also available in sedan but go for the hatch please)

Maybe a little too obvious, since Tom very frequently says Mazda 3, but why not a Mazda 3? The guy literally described it in his request. . . 

All rational recommendations. What’s happening at Jalopnik?!?

Nik should clarify if he lives in Boston or “Boston”. If he’s out in Waltham / Newton / Brighton and has garage parking those beautiful wagons make plenty of sense. If he’s in Boston proper and parking on the street, he should consider something that will live a short brutal life.

Please provide a poll to vote on writer submissions. And since places with snow get potholes get something with sidewall. 

Stop driving like morons... I have at least one close call per week and would be livid if someone wrecked my low miles 2019 Tundra, where would I get another.

Great tip!  That should be shoehorned in that hot mess of racket I wrote up above for sure!

With regards to 4 and 5, I’ve told people to leave the radio off for a few minutes and listen when starting out in the morning. And if it feels wrong or different, it’s probably not your imagination. 

From the technician -

1. If shit’s dripping under the car, find out what it is, and where the HELL it is coming from. Granted, every car drips some harmless water from the HVAC system. But water from the HVAC doesn’t stain your driveway, and isn’t some color.

2. People! Watch your god damn gauges and lights! Trust and…

I have a nice idea how to fix this “problem”. Exactly 5 minutes before the qualifying/race starts a coin is flipped. The coin decides if the oval is going to be driven clockwise or counterclockwise. The cars cannot be modified in any way after the direction has been decided.

This,

this is a FANTASTIC video. about how they got around the rules over the years... these guys are hilarious to listen to... if you have a few minutes in your day, watch it. it’s absolutely worth it.

As someone who prefers GT racing, this is very funny to me. You want a symmetrical setup? Force compliance through track configuration. Stop making left turns the only turns, eliminating or at least mitigating the advantage of an asymmetrical setup. You wouldn’t even have to change the track exactly, make everyone pit…

Do they really think any of their racecars have any lineage to what the prodcuation models they claim they are? Maybe they think that they are the American version of a DTM car?

“This didn’t sit well with NASCAR for a lot of reasons. It creates further deviation from the Cup cars’ real-world counterparts...”

I have always called it “Dog Tracking”

road hugging weight. feels solid. safer in a crash than those furrin tin cans.

also, they _bragged_ about 18* mpg (*depending how you drive)??!??

I had a short run at an ad agency. The classic Lucky Strike campaign was required learning. Basically, an ad agency guy asked a Lucky Strike exec how the cigarettes were made. He listed the ingredients and described the tobacco as being “toasted” during the process. The ad exec latched onto the word “toasted” and…

His employer made him do it and he wants to stay employed.

Slide shows got you too, Tom?