Trying to find an area with little cloud cover that night...god dammit Washington...
My Miata seats are a little tired (as they should be after 25 years). I'm considering some new ones, and the new ones WILL BE heated. The coldest I've gone was 16 degrees, up over Loveland pass at about 11,000 feet... it was very, very cold. Stoked that you're loving the convertible. I don't get to drive mine every day... but the days I do are better for it.
Dude the 2002-2004 Porsche 996 is the ultimate Miata. And they're cheap right now. If you told me cars would actually go up in value ten years ago I would have laughed in your face but if you told me Porsches would depreciate an annoyingly small amount I would have agreed because Porsche people are like the Apple people of old - they hang onto their shit until it's completely obsolete. And cars don't get obsolete. Go drive one. I've hated Porsches my entire life but once I took one around the block I started to understand. by the time I'd done a few hundred miles of the PCH I was in awe. They're just great little cars. $90k great? Well, I don't think anything is $90k great. $20k great? hell to the yes.
I have loved Porsches my whole life. There may be some day when my magical internet money allows me to make the jump... but until then - I will keep paying off the mortgage and feeding little mongrel faces. (but I thank you for the 996 tip... I'll take a look)
2001 Porsche 996: $23500 2014 Miata: $24600 Just sayin'. When the old Miata needs to make way for a new Miata, check out the German Miatas. They're pretty goddamn delightful.
I'm tellin' ya. Few things: 1) the '02 revamp has fewer engine problems. The engine problems associated with the 996 are pretty overblown (real failure rate is less than 5%) but the engine problems associated with the 996 are no laughing matter (real failure mode is catastrophic and terminal). It also has prettier headlights. 2) the intermediate shaft bearing needs to be done when the clutch is done. Everyone freaks balls about IMS failure but realistically speaking, if the car needs a clutch, it needs an IMS bearing. If it had a new clutch without a new IMS, it still needs an IMS. 3) It's really fucking easy to put a stereo in them. 4) Insurance and registration is appallingly cheap. Apparently the insurance companies have figured out that the median Porsche driver is a 65-year-old dentist. 5) 911 drivers, just like motorcyclists, wave at each other.
I see how it is... You're calling me fat. I won't stand for it. I won't be bullied. I won't be pushed around. I won't be fat shamed. Kidding aside.... I do own a Miata.... short story long is: My grandpa bought a little convertible when my dad was a teenager... might have been a Karman Ghia, might have been an MG - I can't remember. My pops was bit by the "fun little convertible" bug and spend his years pining for the day when he could get one. Being a college professor that was both BROKE and completely non-automotive (probably could change a tire, but I'm not sure), he was never confident buying a British car, or anything else he had to "monkey with". Along comes 1992 and through a perfect confluence of events, he finally had some discretionary money, and Japan had finally cranked out an affordable roadster... he bought one. And his son (me) was then bit by the same "fun convertible" bug.... Fast forward to 2014 - he finally decided he was tired of getting in and out of it at the ripe old age of 70+ and it was time for his son (me) to inherit the ol' beast. You can call it a girl car... it probably is. You can call it a wimp car.... it probably is. You can call it underpowered and kinda tired... and it probably is... But when I've got the top down in almost every month of the year and get to rip up and down canyons around corners at speeds that scoff at the suggested yellow speed signs... you can call it whatever you want... I love driving the thing. I mean love it. And yes... all 200+lbs and 6'2" of me fits in the car. But I do occasionally drop a Chris Farley impression "fat guy in a little car".
That never entered into my mind. Just the fact that a grown man, husband and father has been riding around in a GIRL CAR. And I wanted to see what a sports car looks like after it's actually been used like a car, and not a toy kept in a humidity and temperature controlled box, only taken out on specific days. Love the Farley impression, keep kicking ass like you do.You're calling me fat.
Partly to mostly cloudy in most places around the Puget Sound, down to Rainier, up to parts of the Cascades. At least according to the two sites I've looked at so far. Peninsula looks fairly clear, so that's where I'll be headed.