Mazda R.E.V.

I got a big fat envelope in today’s mail announcing this new Mazda promo. I guess they couldn’t come up with something using zoom-zoom and because of their previous Rev-It-Up thing they have named this program R.E.V., which stands for Rewards Every Visit. I think it is something like those cards that grocery stores use, the more you buy, the more reward points you get and then you redeem those points for fabulous prizes or something. I’m totally vague on this because the fat envelope came with a cover letter and no less than three (and some of those multi-page) inserts chock full of fine print and titled Rules and Terms & Conditions. And I ain’t slogging through all that to unearth the nugget of fools gold offered. One of them is an application for a Mazda REV credit card. If you drive a Velocity Red Mazdaspeed Miata you might go for it because that looks like what is depicted on the card, but otherwise the minimum 12.99% interest should keep everyone else away. There appears to be some sort of sweepstakes involved and I might try and get in an entry, if they don’t make me fill out too big a form online. You don’t have to get the credit card to play along, but them including it in the mailing will probably get some suckers to apply thinking it will increase their odds of winning.

Comet Gestation Counter: 14 days

Spinners

They started out as high priced LARGE chrome wheels with an additional disc on the outside. The disc spun independently of the wheel, so when the car/truck came to a stop, the wheels looked like they were still spinning. These wheels cost a great deal of money, thousands a piece. Then came add-on spinners to place over your existing dubs, reducing the cost to a mere several hundred per wheel. Not to be left out of this craze the po’ folks demanded a low price alternative. Ever accommodating, car aftermarket manufacturers came through, we now have chrome-like plastic hub caps that are spinners, available at a Wal-Mart near you.

Saw some cheapo ones on a POS green Hyundai this afternoon (one spinning, the other not, on the side we could see.) Donna summed it up perfectly, “They are like baseball cards in the spokes of a bicycle, for adults.”

Hauling U-Haul

I remember when on the back and sides of those small U-Haul trailers there used to be in 3″ high letters, MAX SPEED 45MPH. I guess they must have improved their equipment and their renter education, because today as I cruised down the Interstate at 75 mph, I was passed like I was standing still by a pick-up pulling a U-Haul trailer and it had nary a speed warning on it.

Speaking Of Wheels

While poking around the ol’ hard drive on Thursday I found another chapter of the Life of Brian that I had coded for the Master’s Miata Club’s web site several years ago. All the other LOBs were in word format, but for what ever reason, this one wasn’t, so I missed it the first time through. Chapter 5 happened in late 2000 and concerns the jinxed purchase of a set of tires and wheels from the TireRack.

This purchase was jinxed for the entire life of the tires too. For whatever reason this combination of the wheels and tires had a tendency to spontaneously got flat. Happened 3 times in the two year life span of the tires. Best we (the collective knowledge of the Miata.net Tires forum and I) could come up with was that once the tire pressure dropped below a certain level the bead of the tire could separate from the wheel. The set of Bridgestone SO-3s that came after, never failed in their 2 years before I wore them out.

Comet Gestation Counter: 4 days

Wheels They Go ‘Round In Circles

A friend at work just bought a new Saturn Ion Quad Coupe. One with those oh so trendy small back doors that swing out backward, ala suicide doors of old. To him, the lesser of all the evils in the color choices, was white. Looking at the Saturn web site, I think I would have gone with the blue, but that is me. To me all white cars look kind of like refrigerators with wheels from some angles.

James says the only thing he really doesn’t like about the car is the wheels. And come tax refund time next year he will probably get some after market wheels. I recommended he check out TireRack.com and play around. On the site you can get a crude idea of what a set of wheels will look like on your car.


Here are the OEM wheels. They don’t look to bad here and I think they go with the car. They look good close up, but in the real 3-D world they do leave a lot to be desired.


He mentioned he would get something a little less busy, something maybe with five spokes, something like my OEM Miata wheels….


I think my wheels look good and they are easy to keep clean, but I’ve said it here before, I’d like a 15″ wheel for the lightness factor and to differentiate my car from the thousands of other stock Miatas out there.


The bolt pattern is the same on both wheels, maybe we should swap. In this rendering, just as the one above with the wheels on the Saturn, they look OK, but I’m sure they would still be ugly in real life. Swapping is one of those random weird thoughts that go through your head, but are quickly dismissed if you are a sane person. As I said Wednesday, I may be stupid, but I’m not crazy.

Comet Gestation Counter: 3 days

It’s A Terrible Thing

Peer pressure or maybe just the power of suggestion caused me to blink this afternoon.

Two days ago my boss’s boss and fellow Miata owner had to go home and remove his seats so the wet vac could get all the water out from underneath them. He had his cockpit cover on, but the intensity and duration breeched that shield. We speculate that the reason mine survived the downpour on Saturday and his didn’t the other day was because my higher 2001+ seatbacks form a better tent. So, Russ is now just a little gun shy when the afternoon skies start to darken.

Today he came and told me that he put his top up and maybe I should consider it too. This is standard procedure between us, when one puts their top the other get a courtesy notification. It would be kind of nasty to put your top up and not say something, only to have it rain. After a quick peek at the Weather Channel radar online confirmed thundershowers in the area, I told him I’d walk out and see what the skies looked like. He volunteered to join me. Sure enough, the skies did appear nasty off in the direction that the rain usually comes from, but my gut instinct told me that it wasn’t going to make it to us before I went in 90 minutes. I did say I’d check again in about a half an hour just to be sure.

About 45 minutes later I went through the same steps, radar and then a walk into the parking lot. I reached the same conclusion, it wouldn’t rain before I went home, so I headed back into the building. But the dark skies were a little closer and more prevalent. The wind was a little brisker. It felt cool. Then there were those thought seeds planted earlier, I turned around and went back out to raise the top.

Of course, it didn’t rain.

Comet Gestation Counter: 2 days

Tiptoeing Through The Checkbook

The wait began in earnest today. I would like to say that I could put the spoiler out of my mind and then like magic, one day, it would appear. But that probably won’t happen, mainly because I will be adding one each day to the counter at the footer of each post.

I just raised the wrath of the CFO by spending big bucks on a plastic bit for the car in the middle of her major debt reduction program. I want to finish off the package with a set of the small Mazda side sills, but was waiting until next year when the things had cooled off before brining up spending $350 on this item. Of course, now, wouldn’t you know it, I have a line on some used ones for $150. This is a tempting offer, but I’m not going to try it just yet. I may be stupid, but I’m not crazy.

Comet Gestation Counter: 1 day