The cars and bikes thread!

[Raza]

You probably like their quirky English ways and bad teeth. It's not so much them I dislike actually, it's how the show became not a car show and how they (inevitably had to) become characatures of themselves. And how Clarkson later didn't give car specs "it's faster than the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse and has more power then the pope". I want the know the damn 0-60 and bhp...

It's fantastic car entertainment. May was always my favorite, though.

[Raza]

Yeah Top Gear was a comedy show that featured cars.

But that being said anymore I could give a damn about specs any more. I would rather know how a car makes you feel behind the wheel then how quickly it can get to 60.

So true. I learned a long time ago specs can only show you so much about a car, and that's actually very little. Good to drive isn't on a spec sheet.

[thewalrus]

So true. I learned a long time ago specs can only show you so much about a car, and that's actually very little. Good to drive isn't on a spec sheet.

The Miata is the poster child for that kind of thinking. Almost nothing about the Miata's testing data tells you how much fun the car actually is to drive. I'm guessing a lot of new vehicles (including basic grocery-getter sedans and vans and trucks) outperform the Miata on paper.

[scottjc]

Wasn't that the whole reason why Mazda designed the MX-5? If I remember correctly, it was designed as the ultimate drivers' car with perfect balance. The power was never excessive out of the box as it was about feel more than raw numbers.

[tribe125]

Wasn't that the whole reason why Mazda designed the MX-5? If I remember correctly, it was designed as the ultimate drivers' car with perfect balance. The power was never excessive out of the box as it was about feel more than raw numbers.

That's right. The sports cars it was emulating were rewarding because they handled well and put your bum close to the tarmac. You don't need outright power for fun, especially on twisting country roads. I recall that they also spent time tuning the sonic character of the exhaust.

[scottjc]

My uncle used to drive sports cars back in the 60's and 70's and fell for the MX-5 in a big way, having six in all. The car really is greater than the sum of its parts.

[thewalrus]

That's right. The sports cars it was emulating were rewarding because they handled well and put your bum close to the tarmac. You don't need outright power for fun, especially on twisting country roads. I recall that they also spent time tuning the sonic character of the exhaust.

Yeah... as I recall it was tuned to sound as much like a Lotus Elan as possible. Looked kinda like one too.

[Raza]

Yeah... as I recall it was tuned to sound as much like a Lotus Elan as possible. Looked kinda like one too.

Yeah, the NA MX-5 was basically a carbon copy of the Elan.

[scottjc]

I liked the re-released Elan. It didn't stay in production for long, anybody know why?

[Raza]

I liked the re-released Elan. It didn't stay in production for long, anybody know why?

I think it came out at a weird time. Sports cars were basically dead until the MX-5 revived them, and that Elan was FWD.