Cars

CX-5 Wrap Up

As I said yesterday, “The rental CX-5, because it is a Mazda product, was a lot more engaging to drive than the last SUV we rented.” And while it is no Miata, it was pleasurable to drive along the backroads and its turbo engine made passing slow pokes a breeze. It is no wonder this thing is the most recommended SUV by nearly everyone who appreciates driving dynamics.

Because the CX-5 was the top of the line Grand Touring model it had all the bells and whistles. There was a Moon Roof, Navigation, Leather Seats (with 2 person memory for the driver’s), and a Powered Liftgate. The moon roof was barely used, because it was too noisy over anything over parking lots speeds. Navigation wasn’t needed because we had my phone and we brought the Garmin GPS. The leather seats were not the most comfortable because they felt hard and the bottom bolstering was a little narrow. I will admit the powered lift gate was nice, but not really necessary.

There was, of course, the usual suite of safety things, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, rear cross traffic alert and radar cruise control. The blind spot monitoring was worthless because I know how to adjust the side mirrors so I don’t have a blind spot. The lane departure warning was just a rumble in the steering wheel, but it was doing a lot of that because I have a tendency to apex all the corners, so I’m glad it wasn’t the type to try and keep me in the lane. The cross traffic thing did give a warning once that was helpful, but there were 2 or 3 that were not needed because I saw what was going on before it did. The radar cruise kept messing with me, for the longest time I was wondering why the car was slowing down on its own, but by the end of the trip, I was finally getting used to having to keep my foot on it, as I approached a slower moving car that I was going to overtake.

It is a good looking vehicle from almost every angle, front, rear and the three quarters are really nice. But I’m not a fan of the straight on side view though, the nose looks too long. The black one we had was probably the best looking color IMHO on the CX-5 because it makes the black plastic cladding disappear1, but black is the absolute worst color because it shows any and all the dirt/dust, plus any minor scratches show up like they are backlit.

The CX-5 is 3 feet longer, a foot and a half taller and weights a 1,000 pounds more than the Miata, but it returned a respectable 30.4 MPG. The Miata has an overall MPG of almost 28, but on a trip like this were there is a lot of steady cruise, it would probably surpass the CX-5’s figure. The one road trip feature the Miata can’t touch is cargo capacity, with the back seats folded down the CX-5 has 59.3 cubic feet or 11-1/2 times the Miata’s 5.1 cubic feet of trunk space.

Would we buy one? Never say never, but if we are going the SUV way, maybe, just maybe Mazda’s new “activity” SUV the CX-50, a variation of the CX-5, would probably be a better choice. It is a little more rugged looking and it comes in a nice blue…

CX-50

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Tax Day Edition of SORT
As of Monday, April 18, 2022 at 6:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1999 Mazda MX-5 Miata
10th-Anniversary Edition		 1979 Ford Bronco Ranger
XLT Free Wheeling		 1954 Dodge Coronet
Suburban Wagon
There are a few other (1, 2 & 3) nice Miatas this week, but this is the one I’d pick. This is a big beast, but I chose it solely based on the cool 70’s vibe striping. The touring car winner, I can feel myself wallowing down the road in it now.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 2016 Lamborghini Aventador Bid to $480,000 on 4/12/22
Off-Road: 2021 Ford Bronco Sold for $67,500 on 4/16/22
Touring: 1956 Continental Mark II Sold for $53,000 on 4/13/22

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Spring Snow Edition of SORT
As of Monday, April 11, 2022 at 6:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
2016 Lamborghini Aventador 2021 Ford Bronco 1956 Continental Mark II
If this was matte black instead of Maronne Apus (AKA dark gray) it could be confused with a Batmobile. Ford’s Wrangler competitor, it’s optioned up compared to the base Bronco, but $60k! This is a big car. It doesn’t look it in this picture, but it is almost 3 feet longer than a 1956 Thunderbird.

These cars, while very interesting, are not the most interesting of the cars available right now on BAT, this 1981 Honda Prelude 5-Speed is because of the personal connection, in 1981 we bought a new Prelude. We had our choice of maroon or this blue and we picked the maroon over blue because we didn’t want a white interior (the maroon car had a maroon interior.)

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 1974 Porsche 914 Sold for $61,500 on 4/5/22
Off-Road: 1991 Land Rover Defender 90 Sold for $106,000 on 4/6/22
Touring: 1969 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Sold for $26,000 on 4/6/22

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Santa Fe Edition of SORT
As of Monday, April 4, 2022 at 6:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1974 Porsche
914		 1991 Land Rover
Defender 90		 1969 Volkswagen
Karmann Ghia
It was between this and a 2016 Boxster, also in orange, but the 914 is just the right size. With Wranglers, FJs and Defenders to chose from I think the Defender 90 would the winner. I bet this wouold not be the best cross-country tourer, but I’d live with it happily because of the way it looks.

Here is what two weeks ago’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 2015 Ferrari California T Sold for $148,000 on 3/25/22
Off-Road: 1996 Suzuki X-90 4×4 Sold for $8,800 on 3/27/22
Touring: 1949 Ford Custom Convertible Sold for $69,500 on 3/27/22

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Vernal Equinox Edition of SORT
As of Monday, March 21, 2022 at 6:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
2015 Ferrari
California T		 1996 Suzuki
X-90 4×4		 1949 Ford
Custom Convertible
Ferrari people don’t think this is a real sports car, but what do they know? This thing is bonkers. It’s like a toy car. Where do I mount the bicycles? These cars are nicknamed Shoebox Fords, I don’t see it, but what do I know?

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 2013 BMW M3 Coupe Sold for $68,500 on 3/18/22
Off-Road: 2004 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Sold for $27,750 on 3/15/22
Touring: 1955 Chevrolet Apache Pickup Bid to $35,750 on 3/18/22

Car-y Truck or Truck-y Car?

We have been tossing around the idea that we need a different vehicle to take advantage of the outdoor activities that abound in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The lowered Miata is a no-go on anything but a nice smooth road and the Mini has a bit more ground clearance, literally like maybe an inch or so more than the Miata’s three.

We don’t want to do serious off-roading like rock crawling or anything, but we do want the ability to turn down a forest service road and drive a few miles to a trailhead without poking a hole in some vital bit of our car.

Our first thought was Wrangler. We had a real nice experience with a Rubicon we borrowed from Crazy Dave’s Car Rental. So much so, that we currently have a ginormous 5-gallon water jug in the living room we have been tossing change into labeled “Jeep Jar.”

But the Jeep is probably more hardcore than we need. A mid level SUV is not the most desirable vehicle on my list, but would be a good compromise. Donna has always wanted a small pickup for its utility, but today’s small pickups are anything but small.

An intriguing option is a couple of new vehicles that are just appearing on the market that are a mashup of a small SUV and a pickup truck, AKA Trucklets2. They are the Ford Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz. Below is a video from my new favorite car guys comparing them both:

The Everyday Driver guys did separate reviews of the two crucks3, so here are their takes on the Santa Cruz and then the Maverick.

17.8 mile drive take a walk at the Running Y Ranch.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 13

 

And I’m James™

While I’m still a big fan of Everyday Driver and enjoy their YouTube video car reviews along with occasionally listening to their podcast, my latest car review obsession is Throttle House. I hate to give credit to a computer algorithm, but I have to thank the the YouTube version for the discovery of this channel.

It all started with one guy, a Canadian named Thomas Holland, who bought an E46 BMW in 2016 and started posting videos about it. This progressed from “How To” videos to comparing the BMW to friends cars, to reviewing new cars for a Canadian car magazine to reviewing cars as a YouTube business. As the videos move forward they become better and better, but still just a guy talking about cars. They really became something else when a recently emigrated English fellow named James Engelsman joined him in 2018.

Now, the two of them (along with 3 other full time employees) produce a professional grade video of 15 to 20 minutes in length each week. There is typically a brief 2 to 3 minute scripted humorous intro “skit” inspired by the car or locale. This is then followed by both of them driving the car along with discussion of the design of the interior and exterior. There are also track tests and comparisons of old and new versions of the same auto.

Plus they have an “Extra” channel that includes unscripted quick car reviews and other random stuff. All of their content is made with their unique humorous interplay of good friends really enjoying what they do (or they are better actors than car reviewers.)

Today’s post title comes from their “patented” lead in to the driving portion of the videos and they sell a t-shirt in their store with this phrase on it. I considered buying one, but hesitate because people who see me in it will think that is what my name is, unless of course they are one of their nearly 2 million subscribers. I really like the hoodie, so much so, that I’ve actually considered dropping $55 on one. Maybe for my birthday.

If you would like to see an overview of how it started and then over time transformed to its current iteration, I’ve got a playlist of 6 YouTube videos for you or just go straight to the Throttle House channel and enjoy.

7.5 mile round trip to to take a walk in the park this past Monday.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 12