MotoGP ran in Aragon last week; a track where the Marquez brothers typically perform well and where Marc has a turn named after him.
In an upset MarcO and not Marc seized pole position with an all time lap record. Marc was on pace to better it in the final moments of qualifying but a brief loss of the front during his attempt left him relegated to 2nd place. Alex Marquez qualified third ahead of Raul Fernandez in fourth. Championship leader Jorge Martin began from fifth, and Pedro Acosta took the last spot on the second row with 6th.
In the sprint Marc Marquez dove for the lead into turn 1 and held on to it for the entirety of the sprint. This bumped Bez back, as he had to check up with Marc in the way, and Alex took second place. There he would remain as he could not catch up to big brother. Acosta made a couple of places up to finish fourth, Jorge Martin finished where he started for a 7 point shrink of the championship lead.
Fermin Aldeguer and Johann Zarco, both back from injury, finished in the points in a strong showing for each of them.
The race proper began similarly with one key difference: Marc failed to deactivate his rear ride height device and, instead of maintaining the lead after turn one, scraped his bike along the ground and lost momentum bigly which allowed Bez to retake first place. Marc fell to 3rd with Jorge Martin also taking advantage of Marc's error. Alex Marquez had to check up and was shuffled back to 6th place, Raul stayed where he was and Pedro moved forward to 5th.
Marc quickly made up the place in lap 2 on Jorge Martin as he stood him up going into the back straight. Pedro Acosta took advantage and slid past Jorge, whose drive was ruined, to take 3rd. Alex Marquez also succeeded in his pass on Raul Fernandez. Raul crashed out of the race a short time later.
Pedro then put on quite the show pressuring Marc as Marc waited for his tires to come in and close down the near second gap to Bez in first. The three were close going down the back straight in lap 6. Marc, on the preferred line, pulled side by side with Bez and their bikes drew one another together at 180mph. As they barreled into turn 15 Bez backed off, on the dirty part of the track, and pulled behind Marc to cede first. Pedro, meanwhile, flew past Bez on the outside and just managed to get his bike slowed for the turn to take second place away from Bez.
Pedro haunted Marc until Marc's attempt to break away succeeded with stunningly low laptimes around laps 12-15 to open up a significant gap. The rest of the race ran just about as is with Alex moved to a lonely fourth after passing Jorge Martin.
Marc is now 19 points away from the championship lead after an incredible weekend at Aragon.
The new Telluride looks like a Dollar Tree Range Rover.
I especially hate the stupid notches on the wheel arch trim. Looks like they were falling off and the cheap owner temporarily taped them back in place.
Every Hyundai/Kia/Genesis design is a rip off of something else, or minimum, rips off details of something else. That’s a prime reason I refuse to even consider one of their products.
the palisade is 10x worse than the telluride. the sante fe is better than both, and it is admirable that kiyundai brings "premium" exterior features like matte paint to folks for pennies on the dollar of a "frozen bimjob" paint option. that being said i always look down my nose a bit at people transparently leasing disposable pieces of garbage.
I spent a lot of time in a Hyundai dealership over the past year or so trying to manage the process of getting a new engine to replace the piece of crap installed in my daughter's Tucson. Gave up (halfway? through the process - no way to know) and traded the thing for a Mazda CX-30. Anyway, I would amuse myself by checking out the vehicles while I was waiting. The matte paint is quite nice, if one likes grabbing a trend as it ebbs. I was surprised by how cramped the inside of a Santa Fe is.
many such cases. gotta say it completely steered me away from even considering an elantra N. i think matte paint, while it is admittedly at the final stage of the exotic-sports car-luxury suv-prole suv human centipede, is actually better suited to the less premium end of the chain visually, at least. care wise, once you adjust your washing process, i think is a little easier and eliminates the inevitable microswirling that comes on glossy paints from people who rub it down with a 25 year old chamois
The traditional tunnel "soft touch" carwash has entered the chat. I'd bet a sizeable amount of money that most of these owners have no clue about the ideal wash procedure of standard paint, let alone matte. I can't wait to see what they look like after 3-4 years of weekly subscription rounds through the tunnel of scratches.
I work with a guy going through that same process with his Santa Cruz that will used nearly 2 quarts of oil every 1kmi. I'm shocked that a CAT hasn't failed yet.
I think leasing a Hyundai or Kia is actually the way to go. You still get the aggressive pricing, but don’t have to worry about questionable mechanical durability or precipitous resale values. The cars are plenty competitive/performant (luxury, fuel economy, features) and impress enough people that the only things they really have against them are the aforementioned long-term concerns; leasing removes those risks.
I don’t personally like the way most Hyundais and Kias are styled, but plenty of other people do…
its the way to go if you are, ahem, cash flow constrained. you get a predictable and low monthly payment on a car that when the motor blows up before the lease period is even out, you get a loaner to drive for the remainder of your time. and in the off chance that your car limps through the lease period, you get to throw the keys at the dealer and drive back off in whatever the new $499, 4k down lease deal of the moment is.
like renting a living space, there are perks to a 3 year rental on a car, particularly one with a limited lifespan. and in some cases it makes financial sense. but its different when youre leasing an RR autobiography for obvious reasons.
A loaner isn’t a guarantee. It really depends upon the dealership. When the engine in my mother’s former 2012 Sonata Limited (2.4) went out in 2021 at 120K miles, the local Hyundai dealer gave her a loaner for the month it took to install a new engine. When the engine in my sister’s 2014 Kia Soul + (2.0) went out in 2022 at 64K miles, she got no loaner. We found out that the local dealers had all sold off their loaner inventory during the COVID craze and not gotten any others. We ended up having to rent her a car, at considerable expense, while we waited for the Soul to be fixed.
A loaner is more of a guarantee on a luxury-branded car. The Lexus dealer around here (Eskridge Lexus of Oklahoma City) is particularly nice. They have a large loaner fleet and they just charge you $10 for the use of the loaner. You get to use their toll pass for free and don’t have to worry about refueling the car.
I also would not put shit down on a lease or a very-low-interest/no-interest loan, or not any more than the bare minimum. You’re only mitigating the lender’s risk if you have an adequate GAP policy, which all leases do. And especially on something with heavy depreciation. My best friend and his husband purchased a brand-new 2025 Mustang Mach-E. At the time, Ford was doing 0% interest. I told them to put down nothing and just take their $15K downpayment and put it in a high-yield savings account. Instead, they put that amount down. Earlier this year—through no fault of theirs—the Mach-E got totaled. But the depreciation was rough, so in the end, they only walked away with $5K to put toward another car (an Equinox EV). They basically paid for their own depreciation, upfront. Worse still, they paid upfront for BlueCruise and had to fight the insurance company to get their valuation upped for that, since it couldn’t be transferred or partially refunded from FoMoCo.
I can’t get over the Santa Fe’s “We Have Defender At Home” styling and barrel-sided profile, with far too much tumbehome. It’s just an ugly car. The H-signature headlights and too-low-mounted taillights really put the nail in the coffin.
Whereas the prior Santa Fe, especially post-facelift, was attractively styled, IMO.
We are all products of our times and I grew up in the glorious - and now sadly past - sports sedan era Jack describes. I suppose that is why I have a 2011 328i with sport package (albeit an E91) and a 2015 IS350 F Sport (I'm not too proud to admit that Jack's musings were influential in my decision to purchase it back in 2015 - and what sage advice that was; thank you Jack!) in the driveway.
The E91 has much better steering and is more fun on curvy country roads - while older 3-series generations can certainly make the claim, I think the E90 series with sport pack is as sublime a driving experience as it gets for a sedan/wagon - but the IS is the better overall vehicle with unparalleled build quality and reliability. I would happily drive it from coast to coast tomorrow with no worries about ignition coils, cooling system issues, etc. - which is not to say the BMW is unreliable per se. In any event, I cannot fathom getting rid of either for anything new.
The "new" IS Gen 3.5 or whatever is much the same car underneath (which is why it gets pilloried by many commenters) and looks great but is undesirably larger exterior-wise but no bigger inside (understand the cramped comment, but for 5'9'' me, it's great).
As for new BMWs, no thanks. Recently went to the GenM event and sampled the new Ms and M-lites ... blah. The B58/S58 and ZF combo is an excellent, powerful, and exceptionally smooth powertrain for sure, but otherwise the vehicles are boring and bereft of any steering feel. The F30/F80 electric steering sucked but at least there was a little bit of something there.
I test drove an IS500 hoping for a roaring DOHC V8 muscle sedan with Lexus reliability. Instead I got the most muted let down experience this side of taking a stunning but boring 28 year old runner out for drinks.
IS500 and CT4 Blackwing top my list of recent "so close" cars. The Lexus was just a manual transmission (and, as you said, a little rowdy streak) away from extremely compelling, and all the little Blackwing needed was a Small Block.
CT4BW has also had awful teething/reliability issues and interior is a letdown. the inputs are nice, but frankly id MUCH rather have an ITS even with the slower pace.
like i have said in the past, some people GET to drive a toyota, and some people are SENTENCED to drive one. my wifes 4G RX is THE best entry level luxury car in the world - a nice change of pace and quiet for baby car naps but theres no way i could drive it every day. the IS500 is the 4G RX of sporty sedans.
I don’t understand why they didn’t just go ahead and resurrect the IS F, with that car’s track-optimized upgrades…instead of just stuffing the V8 back in and creating a cramped cruiser. I have also driven an IS 500 F Sport Performance (the car’s official name) and come away disappointed. An M340i, with or without xDrive, blows it away, and a regular-ass 330i nearly does. About the only reason to buy one is resale value, although if you don’t already own one, you’re going to overpay for the privilege.
Now, an LC 500 (Coupe or Cabriolet) makes a much more compelling case for itself with that same 5.0-liter V8 engine, IMO.
Didn’t he write that story like 10 years ago? Older brother comes home from space war, takes out the 392 after filling it up with some black market 93 and is gunned down on the highway by the environmental police?
The good thing about a Lexus sedan you admire today is that it’s sitting in gramp’s garage right now not being driven, and the kids will sell the low mile grampa car when gramps is done with it.
I don’t know much about the current LS500, but even one of those might be a good buy at a discount years from now if they’re not too needy.
I was really hoping it would be THE car. Checked every block on paper: Power, reliability, specialness, looks, space, price. Drove it and found out Lexus was confused whether they wanted to build a quiet sedan or a fast emotional car
"The traditional October event has been canceled for financial reasons; if you know anyone who wants to sponsor it, apparently they were about fifteen grand short of putting it on."
How much would each of us have to contribute to ensure the race goes on, and would they allow us to call it the Racy McRaceface Racing Race?
Forever stuck in my mind, from more than 50 years ago, is a day when I was listening to a local Easy Listening AM radio station that, for whatever reason, carried the Texaco Metropolitan Opera Saturday-afternoon live broadcasts, with intermission "color commentary" by my future mentor (and friend) Maestro Boris Goldovsky.
His mother and brother and he fled Moscow during the October Revolution. They landed on their feet in pre-Hitler Germany; young Boris, at age THIRTEEN made his piano-concerto debut with the Berlin Philharmonic. After he and his mother and brother fled Hitler to the US, he became Fritz Reiner's conducting assistant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Goldovsky
Anyway, I was working in the wine shop one Saturday afternoon, listening to the Met broadcast (which was my idea of "MILF Bait," but wait! When I say "MILF," I really mean "Mature Intelligent Lady Friend!"), I heard Mr. Goldovsky theatrically say:
"Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen! This is Boris Goldovsky, with a Musical and Dramatic Analysis of this afternoon's opera... (and then he played a huge crashing chord on his Knabe piano)... TOSCA!"
He then went on to explain how the first four chords set the emotional tone of the opera, etc. Not a soothing Overture to spoon-feed you each character's motif or theme music. We are thrown right into a conflict between a brutally corrupt State, and an absent or feckless Church--or, if you prefer, an absent or feckless God--"Why me, O Lord?"
Because of my friendship with Mr. Goldovsky, who had been, in Berlin, a piano student of Schnabel's, there are only four people shaking hands between me and Beethoven, and not the usual six.
Speaking of Chinese blob vehicles, can someone explain how Waymo is able to import (very ugly) Chinese vehicles for their autonomous ride service? Who did they have to pay off? They are starting up service here in SD. UGH.
The "future" isnt subject to regulation. Which is why a data center can get eminent domain and and a full build before you can get approval to add a deck to your home
Let's just say it isn't ALWAYS better to ask forgiveness than permission. Sometimes, Dudly Dooright from the Planning and Zoning Department wants to justify his sorry existence and poor life choices.
I’ve said it before- China lies. That’s all you need to know. Do I trust any company- no. Do they want to kill me. No. Do the Chinese want to destroy America- yes, in non-military ways if possible. Any data the Chinese get will be used against you, now or later. Their technology has never been superior to the US in any way I can think of. I sincerely doubt it is the case now.
I have a friend who is a development test engineer for a company you IT people have heard of. They use all the American AI options but only paid for, nothing free. They seem pretty confident their data isn’t going out to the world.
I also have previously mentioned my experience with EVs in Europe and my ride with a colleague who ditched his Range Rover for the Chinese knockoff. He is happy and saved a lot of money. He is Italian and doesn’t case about Briton. In 10 years I want to know what % of these Chinese EVs are still on the road. If the main giant screen goes out and can’t be replaced, then what? This isn’t like in the US where service parts must be available for a period of time.
If you're using "free" AI, you can be 100% sure that _your_ data is being used to train the AI.
If you're paying for it, from a US company, and your company's legal team is worth its salt, then it's unlikely (but still possible) that your data is being used.
This is similar to how many companies are now outsourcing their IT to Google Docs because of Google's contractual obligations to keep data private. Versus people who use free gmail which gets strip mined for advertising purposes.
Now if you're using embedded Chinese AI in Apple hardware you purchased, I'm not sure. There may be hardware backdoors installed by the manufacturer (not Apple).
The AI companies are retaining every single prompt you ever give them. They kind of HAVE to. Now, if your prompts are nothing but "Make Natalie Portman's tits bigger" that's one thing but you can be certain that the vast majority of the fortune 500 code base has been fed to the LLMs for perpetual storage.
Oh, talked to my IT person (Yes, I have one) and mentioned the supposition that the AI companies were buying up memory for the reasons stated above. Their response?
They're not that smart. They're actually pretty stupid - maybe the guy from Nvidia (they said his name, I forgot it) but he's not rich enough.
I think plenty of them are cunning enough to apply the basic hydraulic despotism concept here, even if they aren't the geniuses portrayed in the media.
“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor. If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign. The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!”
Yeah. I wish I could be as blithely positive about Trump's graft and stupidity as the average woman was about Obama's coordinated campaign to kneecap this country, but i can't.
Every time I'd go into the colo in Kearny Mesa, I was impressed at how library like it was. This huge building with the outdoor phone to ask the secretary for admittance to the lobby, then the badge AND biometric scanner to get through the metal doors into the actual building, then the badge into your particular room. There were usually maybe 10-20 cars in a lot that could hold 100, and if I bumped into anyone in the hall on the way to the always unoccupied room that housed our cage, I'd startle.
Facebook built a data center in Kuna, Idaho. It might have 20-30 staff there, maybe. Meanwhile, Micron has 30 people just emptying out the port-a-potties at the new fab site that's a short drive away.
Of course they have JERBS. That's where they go every day, right before they beg Big Daddy Trump to level their playing field. They're 1979 Lee Iacocca without the dignity or charisma.
Lexus: I find it a bit upsetting that these cooler variants of cars get such limited production typically with one or two colors. Then again the numbers are also showing new car purchases are down. At least it exists and I'm grateful for it.
Data Centers: They are all being built mostly for nothing. Each generation of this fake AI crap has taken MORE SPACE and MORE LAND and MORE MONEY. It hasn't given us much at all. Remember all those malls we used to have that had whole ecosystems associated with people shopping at them? Yeah, we could buy every single one and have money left over. Funny videos? Could have put all the AI money into buying all major publishers and studios and had money left over. It's all fake. All of it. It is providing real jobs for some people, but I question for how long. This is the very definition of a bubble and some real people are going to be hurt for a long time because of it.
China: This kind of goes to the data center thing and companies trusting China with our data and citizen info.... WHAT THE F IS WRONG WITH ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT IS OKAY?!?! The Chinese (And I include Hong Kong in that now) are NOT the same as us. They never will be. They're going to be Chi-Com first every single time. America first isn't just a stupid MAGA slogan, it's a common sense way of thinking. We should also be wary of say India... or the Saudis... or Israel... or fill in any country that isn't the USA. Even England and Canada have come to a point where they do not have values fully aligned. That doesn't mean we shouldn't work with some of these countries, but have a bit of restraint. Somewhere along the way the multinational tech companies forgot where the garage they grew out of was located and WHY THEY WERE ALLOWED TO EXIST AT ALL.
Racing: It's so good to see and hear about some real track time by real people who aren't just manufacturer paid entities. I can't wait to head to Mid O with the family and watch the leaves fall as the cool air of the cars brushes the hair out of my daughters' faces.
Jaecoo: This was inevitable. A country that allowed a hallowed brand such as Rover to be sold to Indians and then continued to see prices marked up was always going to go for the knockoff. It shows too with how they're voting... because they're voting for knockoff british too!
IWC: It's a pretty watch, but my heavens that cost. I guess we can all expect future world champ Kimi to wear one and that probably makes it worth that to the superfans... regardless of who is making it. Can I also say that I'm happy and hopeful these dashes of color for items will stick around? There's a place for neutral tones, but I really love the boldness of purple on this.
Reading about those old E30 325e's made me think. If CAFE would fuck off wouldn't it be "cool" to the kids to drive something similar albeit with a more modern drivetrain, crank windows, manual locks and a retro sound system with Bluetooth?
Awesome to see that Neon out. Miss those cars at the SCCA races at Road America.
A few years ago when I saw the next gen Sante Fe's and Palisades being unloaded I snickered at how Land Roverish they looked. Guess the chinese had to get in too on making garbage cool.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a64745361/1986-bmw-325es-archive-test/ The 325es is BECAUSE of CAFE. We got the is despite of CAFE a few years later. My first car was an 86 es and I was always envious of the is cars when I read about them in Roundel, imagining they were far superior to my pokey little low revving economy engine. When I finally got one I realized that the eta engine with a JimC chip was pretty much as good as a stock is, while learning the hard way about the nature of how some heads flow compared to others and just because something said BMW on it and was German that didn't mean it was automatically good.
There were enough not good things about the e30 that they shouldn't just restart the production line with a modern drivetrain. Also crank windows suck.
It would be interesting to see what could be designed if you benchmarked the weight, dimensions and power of a later e30 and used modern materials and design. Better to start with an Alfa 75 though.
I think we have the near universal adoption of the long stroke turbo 4 because people simply don't care. We got the is, but more importantly the M50/52 because enough people did, although why NA didn't get anything with an aluminum block...
Just using Ford as a comparison, the M50 was obviously far better than an Essex or Vulcan V6. Things got tighter with the Duratecs. Currently it is not obvious to me that the turbo 4 in a 3-series is any better than the one in a Bronco. No one buying a 3-series seems to care so why offer something better? Regulations are pushing us towards mild hybrids too, and that is a fantastic way to reduce the drivability issues associated with high powerband large bore short stroke engines, but no one wants that.
What’s the story on R-12? Some say that because of the strict recovery rules, there is more now than when it was manufactured and not hard to get. Others say it’s hard to get and expensive and no one will work on r-12 systems other than to recover the r-12 and convert the system.
id rather the 500. thats available with a v8 and bright yellow paint right?
"one of those companies will develop an actual conscious intelligence then rent that intelligence to people rather than simply using it internally to unbalance the world"
ask the mechanical superbrain a question for only 4.99
"the possibility of espionage out of locally-operated Chinese models or the certainty of training Sam and Dario"
i bet buying it outright is more preferable than a perpetual and seemingly varied subscription price
"perpetually corner the market for computer memory so people can’t get the systems that would run AI locally"
i just want videocards and ram to not be stupid expensive again
"who kept trying to bump the Neon in his Spec Racer"
how was that even supposed to work anyway? like what was the expected outcome
"He finished 4th of 13 in class, ahead of a Corvette and various Miata, using a V6 Accord on all-season “WeatherReady” tires. I think he might have a talent for autocrossing. This is not necessarily a good thing!"
extremely impressive work especially in something like that. whats the problem with being good at autocrossing? its always been touted as cheap driver training but i suspect its not quite that
"able to fund $55,000 in engine work"
HOW
"Who are these mutts willing in the Chinese invaders, ushering into our once-proud nation heaps of metal that shame the concept of chic and style?"
all this vitriol for an suv but nothing for the actual threat invading their real homes and raping and murdering their women and children. safe edgy
"A significant percentage of the engineering is now done in India"
uh oh
"It’s ironic, really: so many people have spent so much time undermining the West for their own purposes, failing to consider that their parasitism has also weakened the host for other invaders"
how rude of them to not consider that they might be hogging the corpse
"Would you wear it?"
nah. being broke aside i dont like the relation to hamilton and iwc doesnt usually do it for me
Used for me, too. Only new car I like is the Nissan Z.
Sometimes I’ll see a new car on the road and think “that doesn’t look too bad” but then look at its interior online and there’s ALWAYS a giant screen plopped on the dash. Except for the Z.
I refuse to drive anything where there’s always a giant screen in my field of vision.
My speedster has about a 12" high windshield -- it's the styling element that makes them look so freaking cool. Being shaped as I am (like an orangutan with short little legs, and loooong arms and torso), when I sit normally in the car with standard seats, the top of the windshield frame hits me about mid-nose. I've got my seat dropped to the point where I'm pretty much sitting on the (dropped) floor so that my head fits behind that tiny little windshield. The front end is out there "somewhere" where I have no hope of seeing it.
In that 12" mail-slot, I have a Valentine 1 radar detector and a suction cup phone mount so I can run Waze as I roll down the road. There's a rear-view mirror sharing space with everything else, so that the center of the (one foot tall) available real estate is covered pretty much top to bottom with googaws and whatnot. Over in the corners of the windshield, I've got stickers from places I've been, etc., kinda' like badges without drilling holes in the car or restricting the airflow through the rear grill.
The net/net is that my field of vision is better than the slot on a Sherman tank, but markedly worse than any other vehicle I've ever owned. I'm opposed to the tablet on the dash too, but I've done far worse on a car that deserves so much better. If Honda, etc. wants to commit crimes against industrial design, I've had to make peace with it or drive older stuff. I've got no time to find decent older stuff, so here I am... with a tablet on my dash.
They are my actual dream daily driver. Would love one,
However, if ISF values are anything to go by, they will literally never cost less than $35k even in 15 years time lol. It will forever remain a dream deferred.
MotoGP ran in Aragon last week; a track where the Marquez brothers typically perform well and where Marc has a turn named after him.
In an upset MarcO and not Marc seized pole position with an all time lap record. Marc was on pace to better it in the final moments of qualifying but a brief loss of the front during his attempt left him relegated to 2nd place. Alex Marquez qualified third ahead of Raul Fernandez in fourth. Championship leader Jorge Martin began from fifth, and Pedro Acosta took the last spot on the second row with 6th.
In the sprint Marc Marquez dove for the lead into turn 1 and held on to it for the entirety of the sprint. This bumped Bez back, as he had to check up with Marc in the way, and Alex took second place. There he would remain as he could not catch up to big brother. Acosta made a couple of places up to finish fourth, Jorge Martin finished where he started for a 7 point shrink of the championship lead.
Fermin Aldeguer and Johann Zarco, both back from injury, finished in the points in a strong showing for each of them.
The race proper began similarly with one key difference: Marc failed to deactivate his rear ride height device and, instead of maintaining the lead after turn one, scraped his bike along the ground and lost momentum bigly which allowed Bez to retake first place. Marc fell to 3rd with Jorge Martin also taking advantage of Marc's error. Alex Marquez had to check up and was shuffled back to 6th place, Raul stayed where he was and Pedro moved forward to 5th.
Marc quickly made up the place in lap 2 on Jorge Martin as he stood him up going into the back straight. Pedro Acosta took advantage and slid past Jorge, whose drive was ruined, to take 3rd. Alex Marquez also succeeded in his pass on Raul Fernandez. Raul crashed out of the race a short time later.
Pedro then put on quite the show pressuring Marc as Marc waited for his tires to come in and close down the near second gap to Bez in first. The three were close going down the back straight in lap 6. Marc, on the preferred line, pulled side by side with Bez and their bikes drew one another together at 180mph. As they barreled into turn 15 Bez backed off, on the dirty part of the track, and pulled behind Marc to cede first. Pedro, meanwhile, flew past Bez on the outside and just managed to get his bike slowed for the turn to take second place away from Bez.
Pedro haunted Marc until Marc's attempt to break away succeeded with stunningly low laptimes around laps 12-15 to open up a significant gap. The rest of the race ran just about as is with Alex moved to a lonely fourth after passing Jorge Martin.
Marc is now 19 points away from the championship lead after an incredible weekend at Aragon.
I saw a Jaecoo SUV thingy recently here in SD. Probably had MX plates but I didn't notice.
The new Telluride looks like a Dollar Tree Range Rover.
I especially hate the stupid notches on the wheel arch trim. Looks like they were falling off and the cheap owner temporarily taped them back in place.
Dollar Tree Range Rover made me lol for real. nicely played
Once you see it, you definitely can't unsee it. The saddest part is people could have a real Range for that price. Yes, used, but still!
A 50k range rover seems like a bad idea. They are a bad enough idea new
A 50k range rover is a 70k range rover waiting to happen.
Also, thumbs down to the four-spoke wheels that so many are wearing from the factory.
Agreed, they look like cartoon wheels.
Every Hyundai/Kia/Genesis design is a rip off of something else, or minimum, rips off details of something else. That’s a prime reason I refuse to even consider one of their products.
Design language: "Here's an uglier, ripped off version of a superior competing product!"
What is the K5 supposed to be? Nothing else in the automotive universe since the AMC Gremlin is that ugly! 🤢
The Ioniq 6 is the ugliest vehicle to ever exist and I’ll die on that hill.
the palisade is 10x worse than the telluride. the sante fe is better than both, and it is admirable that kiyundai brings "premium" exterior features like matte paint to folks for pennies on the dollar of a "frozen bimjob" paint option. that being said i always look down my nose a bit at people transparently leasing disposable pieces of garbage.
I spent a lot of time in a Hyundai dealership over the past year or so trying to manage the process of getting a new engine to replace the piece of crap installed in my daughter's Tucson. Gave up (halfway? through the process - no way to know) and traded the thing for a Mazda CX-30. Anyway, I would amuse myself by checking out the vehicles while I was waiting. The matte paint is quite nice, if one likes grabbing a trend as it ebbs. I was surprised by how cramped the inside of a Santa Fe is.
many such cases. gotta say it completely steered me away from even considering an elantra N. i think matte paint, while it is admittedly at the final stage of the exotic-sports car-luxury suv-prole suv human centipede, is actually better suited to the less premium end of the chain visually, at least. care wise, once you adjust your washing process, i think is a little easier and eliminates the inevitable microswirling that comes on glossy paints from people who rub it down with a 25 year old chamois
The traditional tunnel "soft touch" carwash has entered the chat. I'd bet a sizeable amount of money that most of these owners have no clue about the ideal wash procedure of standard paint, let alone matte. I can't wait to see what they look like after 3-4 years of weekly subscription rounds through the tunnel of scratches.
I work with a guy going through that same process with his Santa Cruz that will used nearly 2 quarts of oil every 1kmi. I'm shocked that a CAT hasn't failed yet.
Yep, my daughter's was at 1 qt per 500 miles. At least they are consistent. However, her cat failed. Twice.
I think leasing a Hyundai or Kia is actually the way to go. You still get the aggressive pricing, but don’t have to worry about questionable mechanical durability or precipitous resale values. The cars are plenty competitive/performant (luxury, fuel economy, features) and impress enough people that the only things they really have against them are the aforementioned long-term concerns; leasing removes those risks.
I don’t personally like the way most Hyundais and Kias are styled, but plenty of other people do…
its the way to go if you are, ahem, cash flow constrained. you get a predictable and low monthly payment on a car that when the motor blows up before the lease period is even out, you get a loaner to drive for the remainder of your time. and in the off chance that your car limps through the lease period, you get to throw the keys at the dealer and drive back off in whatever the new $499, 4k down lease deal of the moment is.
like renting a living space, there are perks to a 3 year rental on a car, particularly one with a limited lifespan. and in some cases it makes financial sense. but its different when youre leasing an RR autobiography for obvious reasons.
A loaner isn’t a guarantee. It really depends upon the dealership. When the engine in my mother’s former 2012 Sonata Limited (2.4) went out in 2021 at 120K miles, the local Hyundai dealer gave her a loaner for the month it took to install a new engine. When the engine in my sister’s 2014 Kia Soul + (2.0) went out in 2022 at 64K miles, she got no loaner. We found out that the local dealers had all sold off their loaner inventory during the COVID craze and not gotten any others. We ended up having to rent her a car, at considerable expense, while we waited for the Soul to be fixed.
A loaner is more of a guarantee on a luxury-branded car. The Lexus dealer around here (Eskridge Lexus of Oklahoma City) is particularly nice. They have a large loaner fleet and they just charge you $10 for the use of the loaner. You get to use their toll pass for free and don’t have to worry about refueling the car.
I also would not put shit down on a lease or a very-low-interest/no-interest loan, or not any more than the bare minimum. You’re only mitigating the lender’s risk if you have an adequate GAP policy, which all leases do. And especially on something with heavy depreciation. My best friend and his husband purchased a brand-new 2025 Mustang Mach-E. At the time, Ford was doing 0% interest. I told them to put down nothing and just take their $15K downpayment and put it in a high-yield savings account. Instead, they put that amount down. Earlier this year—through no fault of theirs—the Mach-E got totaled. But the depreciation was rough, so in the end, they only walked away with $5K to put toward another car (an Equinox EV). They basically paid for their own depreciation, upfront. Worse still, they paid upfront for BlueCruise and had to fight the insurance company to get their valuation upped for that, since it couldn’t be transferred or partially refunded from FoMoCo.
It wasn't all that long ago that you could lease an Optima or Elantra for $200/month with nothing down.
I can’t get over the Santa Fe’s “We Have Defender At Home” styling and barrel-sided profile, with far too much tumbehome. It’s just an ugly car. The H-signature headlights and too-low-mounted taillights really put the nail in the coffin.
Whereas the prior Santa Fe, especially post-facelift, was attractively styled, IMO.
Whenever I see a new Santa Fe go by, I expect it to stop and the weasels from Roger Rabbit jump out of it...
We are all products of our times and I grew up in the glorious - and now sadly past - sports sedan era Jack describes. I suppose that is why I have a 2011 328i with sport package (albeit an E91) and a 2015 IS350 F Sport (I'm not too proud to admit that Jack's musings were influential in my decision to purchase it back in 2015 - and what sage advice that was; thank you Jack!) in the driveway.
The E91 has much better steering and is more fun on curvy country roads - while older 3-series generations can certainly make the claim, I think the E90 series with sport pack is as sublime a driving experience as it gets for a sedan/wagon - but the IS is the better overall vehicle with unparalleled build quality and reliability. I would happily drive it from coast to coast tomorrow with no worries about ignition coils, cooling system issues, etc. - which is not to say the BMW is unreliable per se. In any event, I cannot fathom getting rid of either for anything new.
The "new" IS Gen 3.5 or whatever is much the same car underneath (which is why it gets pilloried by many commenters) and looks great but is undesirably larger exterior-wise but no bigger inside (understand the cramped comment, but for 5'9'' me, it's great).
As for new BMWs, no thanks. Recently went to the GenM event and sampled the new Ms and M-lites ... blah. The B58/S58 and ZF combo is an excellent, powerful, and exceptionally smooth powertrain for sure, but otherwise the vehicles are boring and bereft of any steering feel. The F30/F80 electric steering sucked but at least there was a little bit of something there.
I test drove an IS500 hoping for a roaring DOHC V8 muscle sedan with Lexus reliability. Instead I got the most muted let down experience this side of taking a stunning but boring 28 year old runner out for drinks.
IS500 and CT4 Blackwing top my list of recent "so close" cars. The Lexus was just a manual transmission (and, as you said, a little rowdy streak) away from extremely compelling, and all the little Blackwing needed was a Small Block.
more like fill in the blank: "all the ______ needed was a Small Block"
All my CX-9 needs is a small block.
Yes, this seems to be true in all cases.
even some of the worst of economy cars are fixed with "this one simple trick automakers don't want you to know":
https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a26516748/ls3-swapped-chevy-sonic-rally-car-video/
or if you really need some spice in your life a big block:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXd8keSm7sQ&t=66
CT4BW has also had awful teething/reliability issues and interior is a letdown. the inputs are nice, but frankly id MUCH rather have an ITS even with the slower pace.
like i have said in the past, some people GET to drive a toyota, and some people are SENTENCED to drive one. my wifes 4G RX is THE best entry level luxury car in the world - a nice change of pace and quiet for baby car naps but theres no way i could drive it every day. the IS500 is the 4G RX of sporty sedans.
I don’t understand why they didn’t just go ahead and resurrect the IS F, with that car’s track-optimized upgrades…instead of just stuffing the V8 back in and creating a cramped cruiser. I have also driven an IS 500 F Sport Performance (the car’s official name) and come away disappointed. An M340i, with or without xDrive, blows it away, and a regular-ass 330i nearly does. About the only reason to buy one is resale value, although if you don’t already own one, you’re going to overpay for the privilege.
Now, an LC 500 (Coupe or Cabriolet) makes a much more compelling case for itself with that same 5.0-liter V8 engine, IMO.
That's why I ended up with a 392C. HUGELY more interesting experience. But 15 years from now I'll wish I'd bought the Toyota.
15 years from now you will have bought one of the last 2024 Lexus ES350 Ultra Luxuries
15 years from now he will be stuck in a Waymo wondering how it all came about.
The waymo business model can't work here unless you make energy AND plastic free. Thankfully.
Didn’t he write that story like 10 years ago? Older brother comes home from space war, takes out the 392 after filling it up with some black market 93 and is gunned down on the highway by the environmental police?
I'm hoping to buy my father's red with white interior base 2024. But I would RATHER have a UL!
The good thing about a Lexus sedan you admire today is that it’s sitting in gramp’s garage right now not being driven, and the kids will sell the low mile grampa car when gramps is done with it.
I don’t know much about the current LS500, but even one of those might be a good buy at a discount years from now if they’re not too needy.
I bought the Hemi. The car came with it.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
This is analogy of the month, easy.
I, too, test drove an IS500 and ended up with something else. V8 is cool and the car is very solid but I was not as wowed as I expected.
I was really hoping it would be THE car. Checked every block on paper: Power, reliability, specialness, looks, space, price. Drove it and found out Lexus was confused whether they wanted to build a quiet sedan or a fast emotional car
All that and the transmission isn’t that great.
I would have settled for an in car intake sound
"The traditional October event has been canceled for financial reasons; if you know anyone who wants to sponsor it, apparently they were about fifteen grand short of putting it on."
How much would each of us have to contribute to ensure the race goes on, and would they allow us to call it the Racy McRaceface Racing Race?
I like the name, but only if we can add the line, "Home of the greatest racists on Earth!"
"Home of the greatest racists racing races" would preserve the alliteration.
The raciest racists racing in races.
“The Most Lovable, and Most Loved Racists On Earth”
Unlike Target:
https://youtu.be/YpvDNyfWLHw
Forever stuck in my mind, from more than 50 years ago, is a day when I was listening to a local Easy Listening AM radio station that, for whatever reason, carried the Texaco Metropolitan Opera Saturday-afternoon live broadcasts, with intermission "color commentary" by my future mentor (and friend) Maestro Boris Goldovsky.
His mother and brother and he fled Moscow during the October Revolution. They landed on their feet in pre-Hitler Germany; young Boris, at age THIRTEEN made his piano-concerto debut with the Berlin Philharmonic. After he and his mother and brother fled Hitler to the US, he became Fritz Reiner's conducting assistant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Goldovsky
Anyway, I was working in the wine shop one Saturday afternoon, listening to the Met broadcast (which was my idea of "MILF Bait," but wait! When I say "MILF," I really mean "Mature Intelligent Lady Friend!"), I heard Mr. Goldovsky theatrically say:
"Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen! This is Boris Goldovsky, with a Musical and Dramatic Analysis of this afternoon's opera... (and then he played a huge crashing chord on his Knabe piano)... TOSCA!"
He then went on to explain how the first four chords set the emotional tone of the opera, etc. Not a soothing Overture to spoon-feed you each character's motif or theme music. We are thrown right into a conflict between a brutally corrupt State, and an absent or feckless Church--or, if you prefer, an absent or feckless God--"Why me, O Lord?"
Because of my friendship with Mr. Goldovsky, who had been, in Berlin, a piano student of Schnabel's, there are only four people shaking hands between me and Beethoven, and not the usual six.
s - j
Thanx for the Like, Jack!
john
Speaking of Chinese blob vehicles, can someone explain how Waymo is able to import (very ugly) Chinese vehicles for their autonomous ride service? Who did they have to pay off? They are starting up service here in SD. UGH.
The "future" isnt subject to regulation. Which is why a data center can get eminent domain and and a full build before you can get approval to add a deck to your home
And the DOJ is committed to help force them through.
At this point all we can do is wait for God to get them...
or start American Revolution 2.0
Sadly, if it hasn't started yet, it ain't gonna.
Joke’s on you, I never pull a permit to work on my home.
Exactly my approach.
The stories I could tell...
Let's just say it isn't ALWAYS better to ask forgiveness than permission. Sometimes, Dudly Dooright from the Planning and Zoning Department wants to justify his sorry existence and poor life choices.
Still, in aggregate, not a bad approach.
well, yeah, if you are adding a second story addition to your house and you live in sight of city hall, one probably better get a permit.
if you are running wire for a new plug in the basement, hell no.
thats why i have a fence, a gate, and no trespassing signs.
Permits? We don’t need no stinking permits!
as a general contractor... I approve
And why you can fire up a few defunct nuke plants after years of the greenies screaming “no more nukes!”
Tata might be an Indian company, but there are many Britons pulling a salary and spending money. Buying local supports their salaries.
I agree. I've said in the past that i prefer invader-owned companies that hire Americans to American-owned companies that hire invaders, as well.
“Invader” 😂
Sorry.
"COLONIZER"
You are from a family of immigrants.
If I had to choose, I'd go with how we allow 100% foreign direct investment in most industries compared to how China restricts FDI.
I wouldn't. Look at what their strategy produces
I guess it depends on whether you want to be a trading nation or a mercantilist one.
britons or "britons"?
I’ve said it before- China lies. That’s all you need to know. Do I trust any company- no. Do they want to kill me. No. Do the Chinese want to destroy America- yes, in non-military ways if possible. Any data the Chinese get will be used against you, now or later. Their technology has never been superior to the US in any way I can think of. I sincerely doubt it is the case now.
I have a friend who is a development test engineer for a company you IT people have heard of. They use all the American AI options but only paid for, nothing free. They seem pretty confident their data isn’t going out to the world.
I also have previously mentioned my experience with EVs in Europe and my ride with a colleague who ditched his Range Rover for the Chinese knockoff. He is happy and saved a lot of money. He is Italian and doesn’t case about Briton. In 10 years I want to know what % of these Chinese EVs are still on the road. If the main giant screen goes out and can’t be replaced, then what? This isn’t like in the US where service parts must be available for a period of time.
If you're using "free" AI, you can be 100% sure that _your_ data is being used to train the AI.
If you're paying for it, from a US company, and your company's legal team is worth its salt, then it's unlikely (but still possible) that your data is being used.
This is similar to how many companies are now outsourcing their IT to Google Docs because of Google's contractual obligations to keep data private. Versus people who use free gmail which gets strip mined for advertising purposes.
Now if you're using embedded Chinese AI in Apple hardware you purchased, I'm not sure. There may be hardware backdoors installed by the manufacturer (not Apple).
Google Docs completely and utterly SUCKS.
The AI companies are retaining every single prompt you ever give them. They kind of HAVE to. Now, if your prompts are nothing but "Make Natalie Portman's tits bigger" that's one thing but you can be certain that the vast majority of the fortune 500 code base has been fed to the LLMs for perpetual storage.
I think they would be fun to look at but ultimately upset the balance of the universe. We are talking about corporate code still right?
Yeah
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQArG9TT6ntOQYTle0ubYm19TvwFefJ85A1v1ff91RV-givh92RBTKo-aZo&s=10
That is the first watch I've seen in a long time that has tempted me, and I don't even need the stopwatch function. I really do like the way it looks.
I don't even have a passing interest in watches but I agree, this one is sharp.
Oh, talked to my IT person (Yes, I have one) and mentioned the supposition that the AI companies were buying up memory for the reasons stated above. Their response?
They're not that smart. They're actually pretty stupid - maybe the guy from Nvidia (they said his name, I forgot it) but he's not rich enough.
I think plenty of them are cunning enough to apply the basic hydraulic despotism concept here, even if they aren't the geniuses portrayed in the media.
Sam Altman and Wario Amodei don’t have JERBs.
Altman doesn’t even have direct OpenAI equity (yet).
Oh, and also:
“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor. If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign. The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!”
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117190477440173795
User SHOULD be BANNED for linking to that site.
Yeah. I wish I could be as blithely positive about Trump's graft and stupidity as the average woman was about Obama's coordinated campaign to kneecap this country, but i can't.
Do you (wish you were blithely positive regarding DJT's graft and stupidity)?
Probably not.
Since when are you NOT “ blithely positive about Trump's graft and stupidity” - ?
I thought you were a manly makeup wearing MAGA man??
With all due respect, GFY Mr. President. I hear from your acquaintances that underage brothels are profitable. Or opium dens.
Sherman has no problem with that. It's the natural market in doing natural markety things.
I just had a call with one of the new Onlyfans investors today!
Every time I'd go into the colo in Kearny Mesa, I was impressed at how library like it was. This huge building with the outdoor phone to ask the secretary for admittance to the lobby, then the badge AND biometric scanner to get through the metal doors into the actual building, then the badge into your particular room. There were usually maybe 10-20 cars in a lot that could hold 100, and if I bumped into anyone in the hall on the way to the always unoccupied room that housed our cage, I'd startle.
Facebook built a data center in Kuna, Idaho. It might have 20-30 staff there, maybe. Meanwhile, Micron has 30 people just emptying out the port-a-potties at the new fab site that's a short drive away.
Of course they have JERBS. That's where they go every day, right before they beg Big Daddy Trump to level their playing field. They're 1979 Lee Iacocca without the dignity or charisma.
Billionaires don’t have JERBs.
They are value creators, demonstrably.
When you have to beg Daddy Trump to cover your action, you have a JERB.
Since when does Wario beg Trump for anything?
This is rich coming from an arch protectionist who wants DEI for white people (so that the “colonizers” and clankers can’t take away the JERBs).
you mis-spelled "destroyers"
A man who doesn’t have equity who is a billionaire is a grifter or a con man
He has equity in OTHER businesses.
E.g., have you ever heard of a company called Reddit?
Lexus: I find it a bit upsetting that these cooler variants of cars get such limited production typically with one or two colors. Then again the numbers are also showing new car purchases are down. At least it exists and I'm grateful for it.
Data Centers: They are all being built mostly for nothing. Each generation of this fake AI crap has taken MORE SPACE and MORE LAND and MORE MONEY. It hasn't given us much at all. Remember all those malls we used to have that had whole ecosystems associated with people shopping at them? Yeah, we could buy every single one and have money left over. Funny videos? Could have put all the AI money into buying all major publishers and studios and had money left over. It's all fake. All of it. It is providing real jobs for some people, but I question for how long. This is the very definition of a bubble and some real people are going to be hurt for a long time because of it.
China: This kind of goes to the data center thing and companies trusting China with our data and citizen info.... WHAT THE F IS WRONG WITH ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT IS OKAY?!?! The Chinese (And I include Hong Kong in that now) are NOT the same as us. They never will be. They're going to be Chi-Com first every single time. America first isn't just a stupid MAGA slogan, it's a common sense way of thinking. We should also be wary of say India... or the Saudis... or Israel... or fill in any country that isn't the USA. Even England and Canada have come to a point where they do not have values fully aligned. That doesn't mean we shouldn't work with some of these countries, but have a bit of restraint. Somewhere along the way the multinational tech companies forgot where the garage they grew out of was located and WHY THEY WERE ALLOWED TO EXIST AT ALL.
Racing: It's so good to see and hear about some real track time by real people who aren't just manufacturer paid entities. I can't wait to head to Mid O with the family and watch the leaves fall as the cool air of the cars brushes the hair out of my daughters' faces.
Jaecoo: This was inevitable. A country that allowed a hallowed brand such as Rover to be sold to Indians and then continued to see prices marked up was always going to go for the knockoff. It shows too with how they're voting... because they're voting for knockoff british too!
IWC: It's a pretty watch, but my heavens that cost. I guess we can all expect future world champ Kimi to wear one and that probably makes it worth that to the superfans... regardless of who is making it. Can I also say that I'm happy and hopeful these dashes of color for items will stick around? There's a place for neutral tones, but I really love the boldness of purple on this.
I drove down US-12 on my way to MIS Sunday morning. They’ve wasted no time erecting “The Barn” in Saline.
Data center?
Pam "Yup" dot gif
Brought to you by courtesy of Jocelyn Benson's husband personally delivering the application. YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS SHIT UP
It’s disgusting. The same playbook as the battery plant north of GR, only Oracle has a lot more money than Gotion.
Reading about those old E30 325e's made me think. If CAFE would fuck off wouldn't it be "cool" to the kids to drive something similar albeit with a more modern drivetrain, crank windows, manual locks and a retro sound system with Bluetooth?
Awesome to see that Neon out. Miss those cars at the SCCA races at Road America.
A few years ago when I saw the next gen Sante Fe's and Palisades being unloaded I snickered at how Land Roverish they looked. Guess the chinese had to get in too on making garbage cool.
the whole CAFE thing should have been completely killed long ago.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a64745361/1986-bmw-325es-archive-test/ The 325es is BECAUSE of CAFE. We got the is despite of CAFE a few years later. My first car was an 86 es and I was always envious of the is cars when I read about them in Roundel, imagining they were far superior to my pokey little low revving economy engine. When I finally got one I realized that the eta engine with a JimC chip was pretty much as good as a stock is, while learning the hard way about the nature of how some heads flow compared to others and just because something said BMW on it and was German that didn't mean it was automatically good.
There were enough not good things about the e30 that they shouldn't just restart the production line with a modern drivetrain. Also crank windows suck.
It would be interesting to see what could be designed if you benchmarked the weight, dimensions and power of a later e30 and used modern materials and design. Better to start with an Alfa 75 though.
True, but the same regulations that forced the eta on us have gone further and forced the long stroke turbo four on us.
Kind of like how r134a is starting to become hard to get.
I think we have the near universal adoption of the long stroke turbo 4 because people simply don't care. We got the is, but more importantly the M50/52 because enough people did, although why NA didn't get anything with an aluminum block...
Just using Ford as a comparison, the M50 was obviously far better than an Essex or Vulcan V6. Things got tighter with the Duratecs. Currently it is not obvious to me that the turbo 4 in a 3-series is any better than the one in a Bronco. No one buying a 3-series seems to care so why offer something better? Regulations are pushing us towards mild hybrids too, and that is a fantastic way to reduce the drivability issues associated with high powerband large bore short stroke engines, but no one wants that.
Lemme' know what you need. I can buy it in 30 lb cylinders all day long.
What’s the story on R-12? Some say that because of the strict recovery rules, there is more now than when it was manufactured and not hard to get. Others say it’s hard to get and expensive and no one will work on r-12 systems other than to recover the r-12 and convert the system.
"I would rather have this than an IS500"
id rather the 500. thats available with a v8 and bright yellow paint right?
"one of those companies will develop an actual conscious intelligence then rent that intelligence to people rather than simply using it internally to unbalance the world"
ask the mechanical superbrain a question for only 4.99
"the possibility of espionage out of locally-operated Chinese models or the certainty of training Sam and Dario"
i bet buying it outright is more preferable than a perpetual and seemingly varied subscription price
"perpetually corner the market for computer memory so people can’t get the systems that would run AI locally"
i just want videocards and ram to not be stupid expensive again
"who kept trying to bump the Neon in his Spec Racer"
how was that even supposed to work anyway? like what was the expected outcome
"He finished 4th of 13 in class, ahead of a Corvette and various Miata, using a V6 Accord on all-season “WeatherReady” tires. I think he might have a talent for autocrossing. This is not necessarily a good thing!"
extremely impressive work especially in something like that. whats the problem with being good at autocrossing? its always been touted as cheap driver training but i suspect its not quite that
"able to fund $55,000 in engine work"
HOW
"Who are these mutts willing in the Chinese invaders, ushering into our once-proud nation heaps of metal that shame the concept of chic and style?"
all this vitriol for an suv but nothing for the actual threat invading their real homes and raping and murdering their women and children. safe edgy
"A significant percentage of the engineering is now done in India"
uh oh
"It’s ironic, really: so many people have spent so much time undermining the West for their own purposes, failing to consider that their parasitism has also weakened the host for other invaders"
how rude of them to not consider that they might be hogging the corpse
"Would you wear it?"
nah. being broke aside i dont like the relation to hamilton and iwc doesnt usually do it for me
IS500 stopped production in late 2025.
aww
i going to have to buy used anyway so
Used for me, too. Only new car I like is the Nissan Z.
Sometimes I’ll see a new car on the road and think “that doesn’t look too bad” but then look at its interior online and there’s ALWAYS a giant screen plopped on the dash. Except for the Z.
I refuse to drive anything where there’s always a giant screen in my field of vision.
Confessional time:
My speedster has about a 12" high windshield -- it's the styling element that makes them look so freaking cool. Being shaped as I am (like an orangutan with short little legs, and loooong arms and torso), when I sit normally in the car with standard seats, the top of the windshield frame hits me about mid-nose. I've got my seat dropped to the point where I'm pretty much sitting on the (dropped) floor so that my head fits behind that tiny little windshield. The front end is out there "somewhere" where I have no hope of seeing it.
In that 12" mail-slot, I have a Valentine 1 radar detector and a suction cup phone mount so I can run Waze as I roll down the road. There's a rear-view mirror sharing space with everything else, so that the center of the (one foot tall) available real estate is covered pretty much top to bottom with googaws and whatnot. Over in the corners of the windshield, I've got stickers from places I've been, etc., kinda' like badges without drilling holes in the car or restricting the airflow through the rear grill.
The net/net is that my field of vision is better than the slot on a Sherman tank, but markedly worse than any other vehicle I've ever owned. I'm opposed to the tablet on the dash too, but I've done far worse on a car that deserves so much better. If Honda, etc. wants to commit crimes against industrial design, I've had to make peace with it or drive older stuff. I've got no time to find decent older stuff, so here I am... with a tablet on my dash.
They are my actual dream daily driver. Would love one,
However, if ISF values are anything to go by, they will literally never cost less than $35k even in 15 years time lol. It will forever remain a dream deferred.
It's better that way. The only thing buying your dream car does is destroy the dream.