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By now people who have been following my blog are probably getting bored with discussions about hatchbacks or family cars. I diverted my attention to sportier cars (secretly!) and came to the conclusion that there are not that many options.

In retrospect I'd prefer to stick with an American car if possible. Consumer Reports seems to prefer most of the Japanese and German cars, but it does recommend at least some cars in the USA. Most people have told me things like 'F the US economy' but I feel a little bit bad about that.

So I'm looking at good American cars. One that I've taken an interest in is the Ford Mustang:

I'm definitely taking a hit on cargo space (since I was considering that a priority recently), but I don't mind the fact that it's a two door since I rarely have passengers. I'm assuming as long as I stay with the modest 210 hp 4L v6, the insurance won't take a hit (correct me if I'm probably wrong). Of course they have options for sportier engines, but that will be expensive, and I don't really need them. This would be the first rear wheel drive car in the family which should be fine, but might be a bit of a pain when it snows.

Another American car recommended by Consumer Reports is the Dodge Charger:

It's a bit more money, and bigger. It also has four doors. For whatever reason I don't think I like it as much, but I haven't given it much thought yet.

I looked at the Pontiac models (G6,G8) but they were not recommended by CR. Does anyone want to recommend them?

I looked at Chevy. The Corvette is way out of my league. They don't currently have a Camaro. The Cobalt is a pretty commonly seen car in my experience, but not recommended by CR. I realize a car isn't necessarily off limits simply because it's not recommended by CR, so please correct me if I'm ruling out a good car.

I think the American car market is currently somewhat limited. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Did I miss something obvious? I'm not getting a viper

. I definitely want the price to be under 25k. Suggestions like the MX5 Miata would be nice if I was prepared to have a two seater with virtually no trunk space, but I'm not in that position.

Edit: btw will getting a manual on a sporty car like a Mustang hurt the resale of the car more than the 1000 dollars you save when you get a manual?

There has been a new development in my search for a car. I received the new edition of Consumer Reports today which has the promised Road test: Hatchbacks. As mentioned in my previous blog post, I've been seriously considering a hatchback (although I'm not sold yet) but the previous edition of CR, the Annual Auto Issue, did not have data for many of the new models. This has been partially rectified.

They have now published an updated ratings chart for comparing all of the cars in this class. Only the 2008 Toyota Matrix and Scion xD are said to be too new to have reliable data. In descending rating order (best first)(bold indicates highly recommended):

Volkswagen Rabbit:

Toyota Prius:

Mazda3:

Subaru Impreza:

These four hatchbacks are all recommended, but the rabbit and Impreza are highly recommended due to safety features. I read their one page article on the Rabbit, and learned that the only real drawback with it is that it has slightly lower than expected fuel economy. It is hailed for its agility, ride, braking, transmission, controls, solid fit and finish, and turning circle. It's a little bit cheaper than the mazda3. The tested price was 19,725 USD but I'd expect one I'd go for to be 20-21k.

The Impreza seems to be very similar to the Rabbit except it is slightly more money, and has options to be upgraded to a higher level (including a 305 hp turbo). Other than that, I see no real advantage to it over the Rabbit.

I'm still interested in the Mazda3, but I'm also considering both the Rabbit and the Impreza. I'm very open to suggestions or information about how to choose between these models. I'm also still open to talk about other types of cars besides the ones discussed here. It's almost time for me to start shopping seriously, I think.

Edit: I'm not too keen on the Prius right now...

A few weeks ago someone on TL (forget who) suggested I watch it since I like bowling...

Okay wtf. This movie is way too ridiculous. I can't seem to appreciate it even though I know there are many people who do. It sorta reminded me of half-baked... and I don't like movies with strange content and interactions, so you can imagine how much I liked that movie.

I admit there were about half a dozen times I laughed at the comedic value of some incident that occurred in the movie, but for the remainder of the time I was wondering why I was watching it. I think I was continuing to watch because I was hoping that something meaningful would eventually happen in the movie that would justify me having watched the first half.

Carnac seemed to agree with me, at least to some extent... and I'm sure there are others who agree with me despite the large following for the movie...

Poll: Big Lebowski
(Vote): Didn't like
(Vote): Soso
(Vote): Loved

I spent a few days of my spring break watching Hikaru No Go. I was surprised by my interest in it, since I knew nothing about Go. Basically, I watched the first episode on a whim, and had completed the 75 episode series 2.5 days later. I was particularly amazed by how they make the anime so interesting and exciting. I truly didn't expect it.

At this point I consider Hikaru No Go to be a first class anime competing with several of my other favorite shows. When I finished this series I felt depressed that it was over, although I still can watch the special... and read the manga I suppose.

I only made note of this because I don't have anime marathons very often, so this stood out. For those readers who are already preparing to say something negative about anime or Hikaru No Go, there's really no point so be mannered.

If you've seen a few of my posts in other threads in the past, you've noticed that I'm generally an anti-smoking and anti recreational drug use advocate (including weed and excessive consumption of alcohol). More and more I've been noticing on the internet (using teamliquid as my main sample) that there is a movement towards the glamorization of recreational drug use. There is an argument that smoking/weed/alcohol are all inherently gateways into more severe self-destructive behavior (much to the dismay of occasional users) but I'm not interesting in fighting that battle (nor am I sure I believe in such a claim).

Allow me to give some examples of what I mean. The most immediate example of this is the fact that April 20th is considered National Marijuana Day. There have been multiple threads (one announcing it's coming, and another to discuss what you did, and possibly more I missed) where this has been openly discussed. I am not going to cite any specific examples or quote any specific people since my goal isn't to point a finger at anyone. But what I've noticed is, there are many people talking about what they did for the day or wanted to do from the day, and it's mostly from a perspective of drug use being cool. Someone would go smoke weed with their friends in some isolated place where they can actually get away with it. Someone else got shrooms. I stopped reading, but I'm sure there were other examples. I'm sure if someone interjected about these activities from a negative perspective, they would have been promptly told to stuff it (note how in a thread of this nature I didn't even post).

Some other examples in addition to today's obvious case could be the ever-popular 'High Thread' as well as posts in the past where people have discussed their evening including excessive alcohol consumption. I don't think anyone will disagree that there is a steady influx of threads centered around recreational substance use (once again such as weed, alcohol, or illegal drugs). I credit this to the large user base with ages at or near college age.

My reason for bringing this up (my exigency!) is because I don't like the unwritten message you can get from this. In this community, it's most definitely 'okay' to discuss smoking/weed/drugs/alcohol overconsumption. It's generally frowned upon to vocally take an opposing stance. When you are on the internet, you can feel safe to discuss pretty much any anti-authority viewpoint, and those pro-authority users are generally frowned at when they speak up (in the context of drugs*, not so much other issues necessarily).

I was annoyed when I was on irc in a channel where one guy commented:

/me is going out for a smoke

Perhaps if he had matter of factly said "I'm going out for a smoke, brb" I would have still been annoyed, and possibly would have suggested he simply say "brb" and let the nature of his respite remain secret until he discussed it in private with people who were okay with smoking, but I was especially frustrated that he's not only making the conscious choice to smoke, but he's also pretending it's "okay" for pretty much anyone to choose to smoke. He makes it sound as though there are not consequences, either biologically or socially. Depending on how you interpret his statement, you can even claim that he's mocking anti-smokers.

So why is this a problem? Perhaps the pro-authority users are just worrying too much about an issue that shouldn't be a problem. I've heard arguments on both sides for the detrimental effects of weed. Alcohol and smoking I think can be agreed upon by everything to be bad for your health when used repeatedly and/or frequently. So we can agree that, as a whole, you are taking your life in your hands if you maintain an "it's okay" attitude with these substances. For most people, that's simply a life (or perhaps more appropriately 'death') choice that you have to make. But I don't think it's a choice you should be allowed or perhaps encouraged to make early in your life. At the very least one should get to college age before they are prepared to make such potentially destructive decisions.

Does the internet generally segregate people by age? To some extent, yes. But generally, communities such as this one have people ranging in age from young teen to adult. If the adults want to smoke/drink/etc on their own time with their own adult friends, I don't advise it personally but I don't have a problem with their decision. If they are open to discussion about it, I might try to convince them to cut back or stop that kind of behavior, but again it's ultimately up to them. What does bother me is when people feel free to discuss it. "I'm okay with weed/drugs/alcohol, so I'm going to make a thread about weed/drugs/alcohol, because it's okay to make a thread about weed/drugs/alcohol." Perhaps that would be true if you were surrounded by adults, because the other adults could either join in or freely ignore it without being influenced. But in a place where kids and teens may be, you should be much more careful about discussing potentially negative behaviors in such a positive light (discussing it as an 'okay' thing is generally glamorizing it to the less experienced readers). If there were a private society within teamliquid where only forum veterans could go, and entrance was generally screened, you could probably discuss these questionable issues more freely

I think the most frustrating thing is not that people are quick to discuss these sensitive issues, but rather that they are not at all amenable to your suggestions about where/how to discuss them. Even if discussion about drugs is going to happen, then it's going to need to happen in which all perspectives are welcomed to discuss their claims... not just pro-drug posters. If people want to have a one-sided discussion about what they did with their drugs, then they have every right to do it, but they should obey two simple requests: to do it in a place where there are no or very few younger neutral members, and to do it in a place where there isn't a base of people of a contrary viewpoint who are going to more than likely want to interject into your discussion.

When the guy on irc was leaving for his smoke, I asked him if he could be a bit more discreet about it, and he got pissed going off on a rampage calling me every insult a Canadian can (what exactly is a knob?), telling me how I shouldn't criticize his life choices etc. I don't think there's been quite as poor a reception on teamliquid to reasonably made pro-authority posts, but the same principle seems evident. As long as the right to post about drug use on the internet is generally unchecked by online community leaders, and posters are not amenable to suggestions to be more discreet about it unless they are in more private discussion, we are going to continue to propagate to teenagers that drug use/abuse is glamorous.

* At this point I'm assuming everyone will accept that when I say 'drugs' I mean smoking, weed, other illegal recreational drugs, and alcohol overconsumption (to the point of being noticeably drunk and/or vomiting)

1) 1+7

2) 4*3

3) 12-9

4) 14/7

5) How many two dimensional surfaces does a seven dimensional (hyper) cube have? Justify your answer.

This won't be as in depth as my prior blog post, but I feel comfortable making an update. After thinking about it for a while, I decided that I'm going to stay away from sporty cars and get a hatchback or something similar (really like the versatility without sacrificing inexpensiveness). Consumer Reports has been very helpful, alongside the individual car companies' websites.

There are several candidates within my general price range, some being:

Toyota Yaris:

Nissan Versa:

Honda Fit:

Chevy Aveo:

Mazda Mazda3 5 door:

Pontiac Vibe:

Some of the models are found to have poor reliability. Others have issues either with handling, gas efficiency, acceleration, or safety (several are ~2500 or ~2700 pounds). A couple of them are new and Consumer Reports has yet to be able to be able to determine if they are awesome or shit boxes.

The big winner seems to be the Mazda3 5 Door (Grand Touring Trim seems like the best bet). It weighs in at 2930 pounds, which comes close enough to my parents' rule of thumb minimum weight of 3k pounds. The only thing more highly regarded by Consumer Reports is the Mazda Mazdaspeed 3, which is essentially the same body with a sportier engine. However, insurance is enough for a guy under 25 and I really don't need to be paying for a turbocharged engine (with reduced gas mileage) that nobody even knows I have unless they happen to notice the word 'speed' on the back of the car, all the while I'm sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on the parkway XD ...

This is still entirely theoretical and is not set, by any means. I'm still more than open to suggestions. However, suggesting anything that is over 25k, or under ~2900 pounds, or sporty enough to hit me with increased insurance rates, is probably going to be ignored, and possibly laughed at if you are lucky enough. For those of who you much prefer a typical sedan, I'll definitely listen to your reasoning, but to be honest I'm starting to get bored with the 'typical sedan' shape.

I'm starting to get more interested in cars. Back when I was getting my license, I was too dependent on my family financially to really speak up about what interest I had in cars, so I didn't bother researching it. 3 cars and 6 years later, not much has changed: I didn't choose my car but I didn't have to pay for it. However, now that I'm out of college and working, I should be able to actually choose what I want to do about cars for the future. In a few online conversations (including a couple on the tl irc channel) I realized just how much I don't know about cars (both types, and the act of buying them).

I'll start with a brief history of my cars (including their somewhat outrageous fates) as well as a brief history of where I have learned about cars (not a long list...):

Brief History of my Cars:
+ Show Spoiler +

When I first got my license, my sister was away at college without a need for a car, so I drove my family's available third car to high school during senior year. It was a 1988 Pontiac Bonneville, fairly similar to the one shown here:

A couple of years later it was totaled. Was I in it? No. Was anyone in it? No. Was it parked on my driveway in broad daylight? Yes. Someone fell asleep and crashed into it XD.

Shortly after, my dad found out his coworker was willing to part with his '95 Pontiac Grand Am, as seen here:

Mine was actually red, but you get the idea. It wasn't a bad car to be honest. However, one year while I was at college (I didn't bring a car for my first three years) my sister borrowed it for a winter (no I don't have any pictures of her) while she was living temporarily in Albany, NY, and a combination of ice covered roads and drunk people suddenly entering the street resulted in my car once again getting totaled. Unfortunately no drunk people were harmed.

Shortly afterwards my dad saw a car in his lot at work with a for sale sign, specifically a 1995 Eagle Vision Tsi:

It's got a surprisingly sporty engine and is a pretty comfortable ride. It is what I had in senior year of college (intrigue can vouch for the roominess of the back seat) and what I've been using to commute to work this past year (September 2007-Present; ~22 miles each way). The body is also in very good condition considering the age.

Since nobody in my family gives a shit about cars, I never was in a position to absorb very much information about them. My dad drives the cheapest vehicle he can get running (he's pretty good at maintaining cars, and also has a very good mechanic, so you'd be surprised by some of the vehicles he's had), my sister doesn't know the difference between an Acura Integra and a toaster (again, I don't have any pictures of her), and my mother is content with her 1998 Lumina for the time being.

The first appreciable source of information on cars I encountered was...... Gran Turismo 2. The problem is, it's pretty difficult to tell, without doing specific research, which cars are actually available in the USA. I was also barely driving age when I got that game if at all, so I didn't have very good judgment about what cars were realistic.

Since then, Gran Turismo 3 and 4 have both continued to provide me with lots of information that I still struggle to maintain the proper perspective on. Whenever I say to myself "hm I like this car" it is either unavailable in the USA or overly expensive. Just recently I've been watching Intial D (my first car in gt2 was actually a sprinter trueno gt-apex!) and that's one of the things that's gotten me pumped up about cars (as horrible as that is). Yesterday someone suggested I watch Top Gear and I've already started planning to do that.

The past few days I've been trying to do internet research into the many different kinds of cars and different makes and models. It's honestly somewhat overwhelming. I've been reading through old threads on TL about buying a car, and I constantly have to start looking up all the references because I don't know what people are talking about.