Talking About Cars

So we've had the Mazda3 for about a week now, and it's quirks and personality are beginning to jell. Here's what I think so far:

Cool

• Giddyup : What a fun little car to drive! Especially when you use the quasi-manual shifting, where you tell it when to up and down shift. Those 160 ponies really move it. The first Explorer we owned had barely more horsepower and weighed probably twice what the Mazda weighs. It's not the fastest car I've owned, by a long shot, but it must have the best "dollars to fun" ratio of all time.
• Room : there's more room than I thought. With just one of the 60/40 rear seats folded down, it fits my goalie bag and everything.
• Light show : The dashboard has quite the light show going on. It is bathed in red, and when you adjust the sound system, you get visual effects. It might get tiring after a while, but so far it is cute. Also, the interior lights phase on and off as you get into the car, and there are plenty of lights when you first open the door, for things like the ignition spot.

Not Cool

• Speedometer : The speedometer goes to a ridiculous 140mph, leaving very little room for the more useful range from 0-65. As it only goes about 2/3 the way around anyway, there's a scant 2 inches or so left for the legal speeds. I would have stretched it out further around the circle, and only gone to 120 at the most. It's very hard to judge at a glance whether you are going 40 or 50.
• Seats : I haven't yet found the perfect seating position. There are plenty of adjustments, so the sweet spot must be there somewhere.
• Color : While it is a nice blue, our previous two cars were blue, so I'm a little bored with it. As I wanted a car in the lot, my color choices were limited, and I wasn't particularly keen on the regular red, but still...
• Rear windows : The rear windows go all the way down, which isn't really a good thing with two little kids. But the girls fit okay in the back, especially if I have Adrienne behind me, rather than the taller Rhiannon.
• No cassette player:-( Thus, no books on tape. While you can get books on CD, I only have a in-dash 6 disc player. The minivan has a separate 6 disc changer, and a single CD in dash player, so it is possible to mix music with books and not lose your place. But that can't happen with just the changer.
• The headlights have a very sharp horizontal cutoff line. It was mentioned in the Consumer Reports review of the Mazda5 as well, so it isn't just me. They light up just fine, but if you are going up or down a hill, it can be hard to see far enough ahead under low beams.

No word yet on the gas mileage. Given the nearly US$3 per gallon cost, I have high hopes! But I suppose if I can get 25-30mpg, I'll be pretty happy, given the short around town trips I usually do.

Dodge Charger 2.2

Cars I've Owned

1. '67 Mustang Convertible (blue): Bought by my father for a song, we hoped to get it fixed up. I drove it for a bit, until we tried to get it inspected and found that the frame itself was pretty much rotted through. We had fun using it in the fields after that, anyway.
2. Toyota Corolla (blue): Picked this up pretty cheap and it was barely worth that. My dad tried to warn me off it, noticing the excessive dark smoke coming from the tailpipe, but I was too entranced with the fancy metallic blue paint job and the top end car stereo. By the end of the summer, I was pouring 50 weight oil into it every week.
3. Plymouth Fury III (blue): One of the few cars I ever made money on. Bought it for US$300 in the spring and sold it for US$600 before heading off for college. Huge car - I could stretch out in the back seat. Had a nice little 308 V8 that ran like a charm, got 25mpg and was the perfect summer car.
4. 3/4 ton Chevy pickup truck (blue): Pretty new pickup truck. Once I banged up the side, it became the perfect car for driving into Boston. Nothing scarier than a 20 year old at the wheel of a big, heavily dented, pickup truck barreling into a rotary!
5. Dodge Charger 2.2 (red): My first new car, an early part of the Chrysler/Dodge recovery. I always said it was one of the best engineered and worst manufactured cars I owed. The engine, when it was running right, was beaut and it handled well. But I started having problems with it at 250 miles and it never stopped being a lemon.
6. Mazda GLC (tornado silver): Finally got rid of the Charger by trading it in on the GLC. A Great Little Car indeed, with good gas mileage, sharp metallic silver/gray paint job and just a solid car all around. A refreshing change from the trouble-prone Charger.
7. Mitsubishi Starion (white): turbocharged heaven. An absolute blast to drive - tight handling and incredibly fast. It didn't last long enough to give me the kinds of trouble my friend had with his, as I slammed it into a guardrail and totaled it with, luckily, no lasting physical damage to any of the occupants. The oddest thing about the accident was just after it happened, on a winding country road, some neighbors ran out to see what happened. First thing they asked me was if I was drinking. When I said no, they yelled over to call the police! How considerate. I think.
8. Due to getting screwed by the insurance company, I owned a couple of junkers for a couple of years, getting by mostly on my Honda CB900F motorcycle.
9. Mitsubishi Montero (red): Probably the car that elicited the most comments. An early SUV, boxy and fun to drive. I used to cruise around looking for people to help out on snowy roads. People would be walking by it in a crosswalk and would stop and ask us about it. Not sure why it was so interesting.
10. Suzuki Sprint (blue): The most economical car I ever owned, by far. Paid less that US$5,000 for it, and it got nearly 50 mpg. The 1 liter, 3(!) cylinder engine was barely bigger, with one less cylinder, than my CB900F! I drove it into the ground, until I was rear-ended on Rte. 128 by an out of control Explorer (ironic, given our future car purchases). I actually drove home after it, albeit with a broken seat back, while the Explorer had to be towed.
11. Acura Integra GSR (green): I'd have to say this was the best car I've owned so far. A beautiful metallic green, with the most horsepower of any non-turbocharged 4 cylinder engine. A silky smooth 6 gear manual shift mated with an engine the red-lined at over 10,000 rpm made for one heck of a fun driving experience. It also made for a very good car to teach Gabrielle how to drive a stick, as you could do 0-60 in pretty much any gear. An absolute blast to drive.
12. Ford Explorer (green): But we needed more room, so we picked up an Explorer. Our big Labrador just wouldn't fit in the back of the slim hatch of the GSR, and Gabrielle's Chevy Blazer was dying a slow, ugly death. The Explorer is a great car to have with a dog. Plenty of room, flat folding rear seats, and Homer just loved to sit up between us.
13. Ford Explorer (blue): Yup, for awhile there we were a two Explorer family. I was resisting the move to a minivan and, after checking out all the cars at the local auto show, found that the Explorer was still the only one offering things like flat folding seats, opening rear window, etc. And Ford made some nice improvements - full time all wheel drive, better gas mileage, as well as beefing up the horsepower (my main complaint with our first Explorer). A very nice car.
14. Honda Odyssey (blue): Finally broke down and got a minivan and we don't regret it for a moment. Much easier getting kids in and out of the car, cavernous storage area with the fold flat third seat and just a better family car all around. We've been very happy with this car. Good power. My biggest complaint has been the poor gas mileage; less than 20 mpg. Very reliable as well. I only wish the power points would work with the key off.
15. Mazda3 (blue): Hmmm, no wonder I'm a little bored with blue! My first four cars were blue and the last three cars have been blue.