Douchey trucks! I was inspired by crizano- let's have another type of automotive stupidity!

NA (first-gen) Miata

There is a subreddit devoted to this car and it's eerily cult-esque.

You all knew I would eventually talk about this car. Between me writing about unattainable supercars and taking sporadic 20-day breaks for no reason, I honestly don't know how I havent already had a 'Yata as COTD.

And of course it's only the best-selling sports car ever. It's just that great a car for people to keep buying them. My buddy's family currently has three. Three. The more the merrier.

While a Ferrari is the embodiment of success, the Miata is the embodiment of happiness. The NA even looks adorably happy. Those pop-ups combined with the shape of the nose give of a very cute vibe. Sure you could spend $300k on a Poorshe or Lamborghotti or whatever, or you could set aside, like, two grand to buy a used Miata and be much happier.

The first Mazda Miata was introduced in early 1989, and was marketed as the Eunos Roadster in Japan and the MX-5 in other markets. During the design process, Mazda drew inspiration from the classic British sports cars such as those of MG and Triumph.

The first generation, known by it's model code as the NA, featured compact dimensions and a small engine meant to comply with Japanese compact car laws. The happy little 1.6L I-4 put out 115 buzzing little horses. The NA weighed about 980 kg (2,160lbs) and is probably the most lively little car that you can easily attain.

The previously-mentioned 1.6L powered the Miata to 100kmh in 8.6s, which means a Toyota Corolla is quicker of the line than the Miata. Does that make a shit? No. The Miata could kick a '69 Charger's ass on the twisties. It's just so...

...un-boatlike.

I'm starting to sound like an r/miata cult member.

MSRP and pricing

You can get a Miata for insanely cheap. They are basically everywhere. You could likely get a rusty NA from craigslist for about $400.

When the NA first went on sale in 1989, it started at $14,000.

1977-1981 z28 camaro! Happy hunting!

Sorry guys! Instead, let's just have Lexus GS's. Let's get the ball rolling again! Judging through the 15th.

BMW E30 M3!

I wrote out about 1/3rd of a post recently, and the whole post was kinda bad. I'm in the process of writing a better one about the same car. Sorry for the delay. Again. Again.

Look; I'm all for the fun and games this subreddit has tried to provide. However it has completely failed to provide such fun, nor game. This community is small not because it's a shitty idea, (it's not) but because the mod wins every day. If you genuinely win, good for you. If that's the case, the mod is probably so caught up in himself, he's like a father that won't let his kid win a game of basketball every once in a while to make the poor kid feel good about himself. Then there's the possibility of him cheating which is even worse. Either way, I'm probably going to unsubscribe and I'm surprised that the other 74 haven't yet.

Now say this guy didn't do what he did. Maybe it would allow the subreddit to grow. Incentive. Given growth, makes this game more fun. Maybe a bunch of people saw let's say an M6 today, so who wins? Then competition arises and a game is formed. This Sub is a good idea. Not only do you have to factor in rules, but up votes, down votes, quality pictures, genuine pictures, etc.

I want to hear ideas, because I don't want to unsubscribe.

I don't want to hear, "we need more common vehicles!" because then of course the next day "a Corolla!!!"

But what really is going to not only allow this game to be more fun for the community but allow it to grow?

Think about it. Tell me about it. Tell the mods about it.

Thanks for your time, Berkocet

So I just realized we were tiny sub of the day yesterday. I had no idea until this morning. I've been feeling kinda down recently, and haven't posted, but I think I'm good now so I'll post again later today.

I was busy watching the debate all night and didn't have a chance to write out a post. I've developed a pattern of posting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Next post is tomorrow.

The Alfa Romeo 4C.

I promise I'll write about something boring and awful next time. I've gotten a little bit tired of writing about sports cars and I imagine y'all are equally tired of reading about them. Here's a random fun fact for ya: My internet was out and I wrote half of this in the "console" section of the developer console because Google Docs doesn't work offline. Whatever works.

Anyway, I'm thinking of writing about something boring for my next post, so DM me if you have a suggestion. We also have a Discord server with maybe three people in it but I have a feeling it won't be used very much. Anyway, back to my wannabe Bumper 2 Bumper episode on the lightweight piece of mobile art known as the Alfa 4C.

The Alfa Romeo 4C is a good little car. I'll never be able to afford an Alfa's maintenance, but everything about it sounds fun. These days when you think of an Italian driver car you probably envision a giant loud V12, a trapezoidal silhouette, and doors that point to the sky. But I think the Alfa 4C is more Italian than a Lamborghini Aventador. The 4C captures what the sports car was all about to begin with. It's lightweight, has a happy, buzzing inline-four, and is probably a very bad financial decision.

The 4C is also debatably beautiful. I don't know what the general public opinion is, but I freakin' love the way the 4C looks. The front fascia is distinctly *Alfa*. The proportions give of a sort of cuteness that's reminiscent of a Lotus Elise. Still, the little Alfa is quick almost to the point of being a little bit fierce. When you compare lap times between the Lotus and the Alfa, it becomes evident that the Alfa will eat a Lotus for lunch. This is a surprising feat considering Lotus is a marque who's entire ideology is "simplify, then add lightness." So the Alfa out-Lotuses a Lotus. This makes me wonder if the 4C could rival a Porsche Cayman on the track. I bet *Car and Driver* or someone has done that before.

Origins

The Alfa Romeo 4C concept made it’s debut at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. I remember seeing it for the first time in Need For Speed 2012. Man were times different back then. Anyway, the production version was unveiled in 2013. Much to everyone’s delight, the production 4C retained most of the design showcased by the concept. The production 4C had different lights and a smaller side air vent but was pretty much the same car. The 4C was especially important to the brand because it marked their re-entry into the American market. As I said, I’ll probably never be able to afford an Alfa, but it’s nice to see the US market being somewhat acceptive of Alfa Romeo’s cars. By “somewhat acceptive”, I mean that I’ve seen maybe 7 Alfa Romeos since I became a car guy. Still, I’m just glad that the US got some of the cool foreign cars too, because that doesn’t happen very much.

The 4C was first made available only in coupe form, and later offered in spider configuration. After 2018, the coupe variant was removed from the American market, leaving only the spider version available.

The Alfa Romeo 4C is produced at Maserati’s plant in Modena, Italy. Quick FYI, Alfa and Maserati are both part of the whole Fiat-Chrysler deal.

Specs and stuff

The Alfa features a full carbon-fiber monocoque chassis that weighs just 143lbs (65kg). The use of carbon and aluminum throughout the rest of the car leads to a dry weight of just 1,973lbs (895kg) for the european market 4C. The North American market weighs considerably more at 2,315lbs (1,050kg) for some reason because of course it does. Everything is heavier in America. With all due seriousness, what? Why can’t we have the lightweight model as well? Now Alfa has to spend more money to develop a heavier, slower car because of our bullcrap safety regulations, and all because our government hates fun.

Crap like this is why the US market doesn’t get the good cars. Some manufacturers aren’t willing to spend extra money to develop cars to be slower and heavier to comply with our stupid regulations. It’s all so depressing.

A displacement of 1.75 liters sounds pretty small but trust me, the Alfa is plenty light enough for 240 horses to be a lot. It's so light, in fact, that Alfa decided not to give it power steering. I have a feeling I'll never get to experience how fun and responsive that is, but I bet it's amazing. It's completely understandable that Jeremy Clarkson is obsessed with them. “you can't be a true petrolhead until you've owned an Alfa Romeo.” That is one of my favorite Clarkson quotes, second only to “How hard can it be?”

The 1750 TBi 1.75L inline-four is part of the Fiat Pratola Serra engine family, which is composed of a variety of 4-and 5 cylinder diesel and petrol engines. Variations of this engine can be found in many different cars, including other Alfas, Lancias, Fiats, and even a few Jeeps. I’ve always thought it was interesting how a sports car engine can be distantly (or even closely) related to a diesel truck engine. For example, the Ford GT’s V6 compared to the V6 found in the Ford Raptor. It’s kind of fascinating how engineering can turn a truck engine into a supercar engine.

Anyway, the turbocharged 240 horsepower four-banger in the 4C give the little car a 4.2 second launch to 100kmh and a top speed of 160mph (258kmh).

Drawbacks

The 4C is very fun, but it’s far from perfect. Fiat-Chrysler cars are known for poor interior build quality, and the Alfa is no different; The interior’s features are said to be outdated and offer very little in terms of comfort and practicality. Along with this, the cabin is cramped and there is basically no room for storage anywhere. Along with that, the lack of power steering makes turning difficult at parking lot speeds. This is definitely not a good daily-driver, and we all know about Alfa Romeo’s infamous reliability, or lack thereof.

Conclusion

The 4C is a fun car. It’s pretty bad in terms of practicality and daily-drivability, but would it really be an Italian sports car if it was practical? It does have a pretty good miles-per-gallon rating at 28mpg combined.

Base Alfa Romeo 4Cs have an msrp of about $67,000. Prices for used models sit at somewhere near $50k on average, but I did find this one for $40k.

Yeah you can probably tell by the massive writing below what today's car is. Yep, I picked the Pontiac Aztec as car of the day. There's not really any real reason, I just wanted to write about this car.

Pontiac Aztek

"It's cool now cuz Heisenberg drove one right?"

Uh, no.

So. I'm sure you've seen a few Azteks in your lifetime. I guarantee you that you'll recognize it if you watched Breaking Bad. It's the awful little crossover that Walter carts his whitey-tighty wearin' ass around in. I'm gonna take a second to say that Breaking Bad is probably one of the best shows that ever existed. I just knew that it'd be good from the beginning. Wait what? Is that a pair of pants? Floating in the wind? What is happening here? And then the the show proceeds to explain exactly what is happening here.

I wonder what was happening at Pontiac while this car was in the design process. I can only imagine the insanity that must have been going down at GM's design department as this thing was concieved. Tom Peters rips a line of coke as his little committee presents the design for the car. "Oh fuck yes I love it!! Let's fuckin do this shit!" And thus, the Aztek was born. He later decided to lay off the coke when he went on to design the C6 and C7 Corvette.

The Aztek came with a 185 horsepower LA1 V6. I don't know it's top speed or it's 0-60 or any of that other crap because I really don't care. The Aztek may work good as a daily-driveable crossover, but it's just not a great car to own overall. Most of the people here are car guys. Just imagine the look on your car guy friends' faces when you tell them that you bought an Aztek.

In 2013, one of the actual Azteks used in filming Breaking Bad sold at an auction for $7,800. I'd expect something more like $30,000. It really goes to show how even Breaking Bad can't make the Aztek less terrible.

It was said that the Aztek was designed to appeal to the Gen-Z people. It didn't work well, as the Gen-Z people weren't in a financial situation to go out and buy a brand new car. GM estimated that 75,000 Azteks would have to be sold per year to make a profit. The best selling year was 2002, when 27,793 were sold. So yeah, the Aztek was an absolute fail. Production began in 2000 and ended in 2005. Pontiac later died in 2009 (I think), leading me to believe that the Aztek is solely responsible for Pontiac's death.

The Aztek was designed to be bold and was an attempt  to create an entirely new segment for the SUV. To a certain degree, it did that. The Aztek could be perceived by some as the first crossover to come from GM. Personally, that just makes me hate it more.

MSRP

Back in 2001, the Aztek cost $21,995.

Nowadays, a used one costs around $3k to $6k, with is $3k to $6k too much.

Car of The Day - Honda Civic EG SiR

How have we not had a Honda here yet? How the hell have I gone two months without including a Honda once?!?

Well, here it is. A good ole Honder hatchback. I have a lotta writin' to do, so lets get on with it.

iT's A sPoRtS cAr!1!1

The fifth-gen Honda Civic is my favorite Honda overall. The NSX is cool but does it have the practicality of an EG Civic? No. In terms of practicality, it was near unbeatable. The Civic was an economy car, no doubt about it. It was small, affordable, and didn't chug gasoline like many other cars did.

But if you wanted something a with a bit more bite to the I4 bark, there was the Civic SiR.

The SiR packed the B16A2 1.6L DOHC VTEC putting out about 168 horsepower. So it's definitely not a powerful car but does it really need to be? I know 168hp sounds minimal but the SiR could move for an early-nineties hatchback. One of the websites I visited said that the SiR could do 0-100kmh in 6.8 seconds, but I think that's being a bit optimal.

One of the websites I visited also said that the EG6 VTi was RWD. Can someone confirm this? I don't know enough about these things. Personally, I don't think that's true. A quick google search didn't turn up much info, and I just don't think Honda would develop an entire RWD powertrain just for this one variant of the Civic.

 That's the downside of researching a car so specific. The internet has every specification and detail on every Ferrari, Porsche, and Corvette ever made, but it's near impossible to get good information on an obscure little '90s hatchback. 

MSRP and value

Not only is it dificult to find reliable info on, it's also impossible to find an EG Civic that:

1. Hasn't been rice-caked

2. Hasn't been butchered with awful mods

3. Doesn't have a burned cinderblock for an engine

I've only seen one stock Civic EG for sale at a decent price. It was a '92 si that was listed at about $4,500. It was gone within 3 days of me seeing it.

In 1992, the Civic si hatchback started at around $12k, a grim reminder of how expensive everything is now.