Mazda Zoom Zoom Live last Saturday saw me and Sun trying out the new MX-5 (Miata). This one is an automatic, since Sun can’t drive stick and it was convenient to just switch drivers after the run.

It had paddle shifters, but I flubbed it at the start, followed by complete unfamiliarity with RWD turning capabilities (I’m used to understeer, oversteer is quite different), and seeing as I’m not that great an autocrosser (yet) pretty much means I’m too embarrassed to post my time. Let’s just say it doesn’t win any awards. At all.

You can see in the back the Mazda RX-8, which we also got to test drive around a coned course. I did better then. Not great, but better.

I have to say that while I prefer the RX-8 in looks, the MX-5 Miata is more comfortable to sit in and handles better as well. It being a convertible isn’t to my tastes (I do prefer coupes), but after driving them I have changed my mind now and would say that if given the choice between the two, I’d pick the 2006 MX-5. So see? The event did teach me something about myself.

So the insurance money came in for the 740i that got totaled a month back (Sun was so not hurt it didn’t make news, okay? Didn’t need to dwell on it) and in the meantime, Sun’s dad was waffling over getting a newer pre-owned 740i or letting Sun pick out another car, depending on whether he’d drive or she’d drive. After a couple of flip-flops, the decision was made in the ways of Solomon the wise: an even split. More or less. So now Sun could pick a car, but it had to cost half the insurance check while her dad would use the other half for, well, he hasn’t quite decided yet, but that’s not our concern.

During this time, I began my great campaign. I had always planned to push for a turbo wagon of some sort in the future when Sun’s Camry lease ran out, but here was an opportunity to get one two years early (yes, selfish, selfish, but seeing as my own car will never be replaced, I have to live vicariously until we own a three or more car garage — this could be never). Thus, I did some research based on the budget given, and there really was only one choice. it was the same choice back when the money was in full, it was the same choice now that the check was halved; the only difference was that the year had to be earlier. The rest was the same: I pushed for a Volvo 850/V70 T5.

It had to be an 850 or V70 (same damn thing, the difference being the name was changed in 1998 and the platform was swapped out in 2001), it had to be the wagon not the sedan (I already have a coupe), and it had to be the 2.3L high pressure turbocharged engine with enhanced suspension/handling badged as T5.

Luck and fortune to us both, for not only were we able to find one: a 1999 Volvo V70 T5 Wagon; and we found one in the color Sun wanted (classic red), we found one with a third seat w/extra cushion, we found one from an autobroker who tunes up and services the car prior to sale, and who sold it at an honest price way below Kelly Blue Book retail (they sell the world over, so have a look at C&H Auto Brokers – New and Pre-Owned Volvos and Saabs if you’re looking).

Five minutes after we showed up to look at the car, a couple asked about it. Twenty minutes after that, a cab pulled up into the driveway and a guy got out holding a printout of the car — and he’d flown in from Vegas. The car was going to sell that day, period. And we were there first. I asked about the tires, which were branded Sonar. The dealer, Rick, simply said, “”We’ll include new tires.”" He replaced them with Yokohama ES100 ZR16s. Very, very, very decent of him.

Sun needed it quick so the aesthetics such as detailing and dent removal were skipped when we picked it up last night. In a couple of weeks we’ll head back down for that stuff to get done, but in the meantime, it’s in the garage and I find myself staring at it, smiling.

A few hiccups this evening. The seat wouldn’t fold down, something was jammed. Managed to fix it, the tab release was misaligned; snapped back in place without a hassle once I figured out what was going wrong. The next was that the radio was locked. The code given by the dealer didn’t work, so the radio was a replacement for the original (whatever it was), but luck again was on our side as the previous owner or installer was silly enough to put the code on the radio itself, as revealed when I pulled the radio out to get the serial number. I scratched it out once the radio was working and I’d written it down somewhere else (you know, not on the radio).

So now the only nitpicky issue left is a bit of a creak coming from somewhere inside, which is dying down so maybe it just needs to settle. Beyond that, the car is just plain clean and purrs and, this is key, it goes very, very fast. And as it is pre-owned, no breakdown baby time, nuh-uh — slam that pedal down, baybee!

Ahem. Just kidding. We’re all responsible drivers in this house.

Heh.

Enjoyable movie. Not as fantastical as Gilliam’s other movies, but this probably makes the movie more consumer-friendly. I wouldn’t know, I have absolutely no index for what the masses go for, and frankly, if I were I’d be in the biz.

Anyhow, enjoyable movie. Good for a matinee for everyone, and for those who like this sort of thing, splurge on the full price.

link

Short and taut. Good enough for a matinee.

link

Funny, constantly. I don’t think there was a pause between chuckles and guffaws that lasted more than 1 minute.

link

You know, when Daylight Savings Time as a way to control energy usage takes up half of the year or less, then fine, that works.

But when you make DST more than half, to say what it will be in 2007, where it will be seven months out of the year… wouldn’t it make more sense to just revise business hours such that work is at 7 and people get off at 4? We’d all make Happy Hour, too.

Yukiko got married Saturday. I made it on two of the slides… Powerpoint slides, it’s the new thing at weddings apparently. Woot.

I’d never seen a more giddy, happy bride. Nhat, maybe. She was laughing her ass off, too. Cheerful and short, that’s pretty much how they should be.

Congrats, Kiks.

Good movie, found it much more enjoyable than 8 Mile, which didn’t have as much, dare I say it, energy. Yes, comparing the two is inevitable, even if perhaps unwarranted. So leaving that aside, let’s just say Terrence Howard is great, Anthony Anderson proves he can do stuff other than be annoying/unfunny, and in fact do stuff well.

Go see it.

link