The Miata

Open the door and drop down into the seat. Your hands fall naturally on the wheel and shifter. The seatbelt requires a reach back between the left arm and torso because it feels like there is no room to turn around. Push in clutch and brake and turn the key. The car creeps backward against the brakes until the engine catches and turns a beat or two, then it softens and stills the car. A minimalist shift lever- really just a nub- with short, satisfying throws. Snick into reverse and back out.

Condensation covers the plastic rear window. The wind from driving won't dry it for almost 30 miles so leave the top up. Is trapped moisture on a plactic/vinyl top bad? Who knows but it's chilly any way. Run up through the gears pushing to 3000 rpm in each, then into 5th gear and back off. The cabin is tight and the low roof header blocks your view of traffic signals but everything inside is laid out perfectly and overall visibility is good.

Almost half way to work, on a deserted road now. Mostly good blacktop, no houses, a few curves and scant chance of cops. Let it rip. A smooth left hander, really 2 corners in one, rewards my Honda Pilot and my old 5 series for choosing just the right amount of steering lock. Find that amount- the groove- and maintain it through both parts parts of the corner on a good day. The flow. But not in the Miata.
Shorter wheelbase, faster steering, different suspension geometry- all these things acting in ways I may not even fully understand. The effect is one that I do understand. I have yet to feel the flow in the Miata while taking that corner. The MX 5 breaks the corner down into smaller component parts. What's one smooth arc in the 5 series becomes 3 or 4 separate points of choice (lock, speed, throttle) in the Miata.

The upshot? You drive it more slowly unless you really feel like trying. Everything is felt, everything is direct- the speed you carry is not hidden at all. This car would be phenomenal on the tail of the dragon, but covering much ground with serious hustle takes intense concentration and a high noise/vibration/harshness threshold. Yeah, you're going to be right there in it, not isolated at all. What better way to get to start the day?

The queen size mattress had sat in the garage for months, just an inch or so off the sometimes-flooded floor. Despite that fact it had lived there and not been ruined, it was still unwanted; off to the dump it had to go. Picking the appropriate conveyance from our three car fleet was the easy part; the 2003 Honda Accord sedan and the 1990 Mazda Miata were out and the 2004 Honda Pilot EX-L was in.

I bought the Pilot last year after a lengthy process of pondering and research. I'm a car guy and my first choice of car would have been a Porsche 911, but that was not meant to be this time. We needed a car big enough to take road trips with the kids, and my 1995 540i 6-speed was closing in on 200k with its original clutch. Time for a change....

So what would make the most sense? A mid-size SUV or minivan certainly made sense. A minivan probably made the most sense. However, I was trading in a special BMW- my first fast car- and the thought of moving from that to a minivan was grim. Whatever I did I would need to (at least partially) assuage the sense of loss that would come from no longer owning a real drivers car like the 540i. Is there any possible way to do that? Probably not, but in an effort to do so I employed the rational lobe of my brain and decided to buy used. If I bought a used model and bargained hard I would pay less and maximize the value. Getting good value feels good! Or so the argument went. Could the satisfaction of getting a good deal and a good car compensate for the loss of rear wheel drive, a V-8 and throne-like sport seats? No, not likely, but I could bide my time and earn credits with my wife toward my next fun car. So I went off in search of a good used minivan or suv. Reviews and reliability ratings soon narrowed the choices to Honda and Toyota and my size requirements had me looking at Odysseys and Siennas in the minivan category. Pilots and Highlanders were my targets in the suv category.

Looking at used minivans is awful, especially if you have kids. Once you know the impact a toddler has on the back seat area of a car you know that there are some things you can never fully clean. In each used minivan I saw it seemed a question of when, not if, I was going to find the raisins that someone else's kids had left in there. Crevices chock full of rhino virus probably awaited my girls and it didn't seem right. The same didn't seem to be true of suv's, since they can live very different lives from minivans. Many suvs, it seems, spend their lives as daily drives for people who drive around alone most of the time. In any case, I could more easily see myself driving an suv than a minivan for all the usual reasons. The grubbiness of the used minivans was a surprise, however, and it proved helpful in narrowing down the pool of possibilities.

There isn't much difference between a Pilot and a Highlander. Reliable, comfortable and practical, both have decent mileage and are stylistically bland. My choice between the two was made when I decided on my price range. Spending between 12 and 15 thousand on either the Honda or Toyota dictated a model year of 2004 or earlier, and Highlanders didn't all have 3rd row seats until later. I secured financing from my credit union and found a 2004 Honda Certified Pilot EX-L at Greenwich Honda.

The fact that the mattress fit in the Pilot speaks to the reason it was a good choice. It's a big car but not overly so. We took it on a 2700 mile road trip to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland last June and averaged about 20mpg. This winter I put 4 snow tires on it and never had even a moment of wheel spin and definitely no drama in snow. At the dump I pulled the mattress out into the bulk waste pile and two of the rubber mats I have in the "way back" came out with it. When I picked them up they were wet, even though it hadn't been raining. It's probably best not to think about what they were wet with, but it did make me wish, for the first time since I bought the Pilot, that I had bought a pickup truck instead. One time in 10 months- not bad.....

So, is it OK not having a car that makes me smile hard? Does the satisfaction of getting a good deal and having a practical car compensate adequately for the lack of speed and authority of the 540i? More to the point, does it compensate for having a car that is the epitome of both literal and figurative compromise? It turns out that I may never know. Just a few weeks after I bought the Pilot and sold the BMW to a fellow in town my father gave me his Miata. The MX-5 had 99K and is not perfect, but it definitely does not represent compromise. It is just one thing; a sporty, fair weather ride for two people. Maybe that's my next post.

Setting the Priorities

Single, high income and relatively short commute on twisty backroads- the dream set of circumstances for a car enthusiast, no? Well those aren't my circumstances since I have two kids, a longish commute and all the expenses that go along with parenthood. Whether my household income is higher than or right at the national average, I won't be heading to the Porsche dealer for a 911 or Cayman S.

For this car purchase I am looking for some comfort for four, preferably six passengers. I want the car to hold its value and I want efficiency- not just for miles per gallon but for greenhouse gas as well. On this post I am going to list the three or four online resources I will be using to help me choose. These resources are not car enthusiast websites but are consumer information sites designed to help everyone choose their vehicle wisely.

I won't let it go without saying that my ongoing (meaning lifelong) resources are the car magazines I read online and in hardcopy. These are car enthusiast sources of information. Currently Automobile is the only magazine that arrives at my house in the mail but I religiously read Winding Road as well. These two sources as well as occasional visits to the Car and Driver and auto manufacturers websites keep me up to date and, I hope, my perspective fresh.

The first online resource I'll talk about is intellichoice. www.intellichoice.com provides and extensive list of cars and information about how much owning them will cost. Particularly useful are the target prices provided. Target prices are what a consumer should hope to pay for specific models of cars at the dealership. Check out the overall value meter as well. Most Toyota models peg the value meter because they last, are efficient, require few repairs and are not overpriced to begin with. How does your car compare?

The Quest Begins

Ever since I was 10 years old, one part of my brain has always been thinking about cars. While I went through 5th and 6th grades and then through Middle School and High School, I didn't think much at all about the fact I had a subscription to at least one car magazine and that I read each issue over and over until the next one arrived. There was no epiphany for me, no moment when I realized that I was a "car guy." It was conversations with friends and family that tipped me off that my interest in cars was much greater than theirs and that, compared to many people I knew, I was pretty well informed.

This blog will document how I apply what I know and believe in to the process of buying a new car.